Your Diet is Aging You! Top 5 Anti-Aging Foods for YOU!

I can tell what my 3-year-old daughter has been snacking on because it’s visible all over her precious face. Would you be surprised to learn that the telltale signs of what you have been eating – or avoiding – are equally noticeable just by looking at your face? It’s true. Dermatologists explain that our skin is a window into our overall health and can show clues of what’s going on under the surface.

New research reported in the British Medical Journal states that enjoying a Mediterranean-style diet including a combination of olive oil, seeds, nuts, fresh fruits, vegetables – and only moderate alcohol intake – can improve overall health and longevity. And when we look at the faces of men and women from Mediterranean countries, who consume large amounts of olive oil, we see fewer wrinkles and firmer skin (despite avid sun-worshipping). And they not only have beautiful skin but cleaner arteries (on average) to boot!

Examining the faces and diets of many Asians shows that a diet rich in green tea can help the skin remain clear and blemish-free for decades longer than people who sunbathe, smoke, or otherwise rob their skin of ”free radical-fighting power.” Green tea is rich in polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties to neutralize the toxic effects of what we call reactive oxygen species.

To cut through the biochemistry lingo, simply understand that by simply breathing in oxygen, we create unstable molecules called free radicals, which are responsible for the visible and invisible signs of aging. Environmental factors that stimulate free-radical production include UV rays, radiation, cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust, and pesticides.

We also cause free-radical damage by not getting enough rest or sleep, not properly managing our stress responses, and not eating healthfully. Free radicals can damage the very DNA of your skin cells (and every other cell in your body) and destroy the collagen and elastin that provide tautness and elasticity to skin. From wrinkles, dryness, and sensitivity, to vibrant and glowing, your skin broadcasts your inner state of health to all the world.

So if vanity will prompt you to finally look at your diet seriously, I say, welcome to the new generation of empowered people!

Click here are 5 of my favorite Super Foods for age-defying beauty and overall vitality brought to you by my blog on www.Skinsight.com

Weight Loss Motivation – Pain or Pleasure?

I am attending a “Love Your Body” panel discussion here in LA this weekend and I started thinking about the types of motivation that drive us to take on new challenges – like losing weight. Are you someone who has to hit rock bottom before you will make a change in your life? For instance, do you need to feel totally embarrassed on a plane because your seat belt doesn’t fit? Or do you need to be at risk of not getting health insurance because your BMI is too high in order to finally get your weight under control?

Studies show that when we engage in a change out of fear or force we are not likely to stick with the change. That’s why New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight, go to the gym and eat healthy don’t work well. When we ‘resolve’ to do something it means that we have finally given into pressure or are being forced to perform.

I wonder how many of us can remember a time when we just felt good in our bodies. Can you think of a time when you loved something about your body – your feet, your legs, your hips, or other ‘lady humps?’

I wonder if self-love and a sincere desire to give your body the food it really craves, the movement it was uniquely designed for and the fluids that keep it supple and flowing could motivate you.

In my first book, The Pennington Plan: 5 Steps to Achieving Vibrant Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Spiritual Growth I explained that I find it best to have at least 5 motivating factors when creating a new plan for life. Step 2 of the Plan tells you to list your motivating factors. If you mix it up with not just the things that you are trying to avoid – death, high blood pressure medication, insulin shots, etc - but also include reasons you want to get to a healthy weight you will enjoy more weight loss success. For instance, list things like:

·        Being able to run with your kids without getting winded

·        Enjoying how it feels to be light on your toes

·        Loving how your body looks to YOU and no body else!

Share your thoughts and comments about what motivates YOU to say “No” to cookies (or at least say Yes to one or two as opposed to 12!) and what motivates YOU to embrace more physical activity. Is there pleasure mixed into your life so that you don’t feel deprived when managing your weight? I want to know!

You may also want to check out my latest book: The Pennington Plan for Weight Success. If you purchase before Thanksgiving I will send you TWO books for the price of one! Hurry, supplies are limited.

Exclusive Online offer for an AUTOGRAHPED COPY direct from the author!
$7.95 + S/H

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This book is small and mighty! It is packed with the essential information you need to embrace healthy eating habits for weight loss and age-less beauty. In this book I outlined a 5-step motivational plan that I use in my life when I want to be successful at any goal. It’s the same plan that I’ve taught all across the country, empowered my patients with and coached participants in the Travel Channel’s Swimsuit Slimdown competition.

Order a copy today and I will personally autograph it for you!

Solution for Nation’s Health Crisis Requires a Paradigm Shift

The positive takeaway from this whole recession is that American’s now have personal incentives to strive toward wholeness and moderation. We can no longer rely on buy now pay later, we recognize that when it comes to our homes, personal possessions financial security, our health and peace of mind, our very existence requires a new paradigm for living.

We can not afford to live at extremes. Extreme workouts lead to extreme hunger, a sense of entitlement and compromise with near bingeing on tasty treats that are loaded with fat and sugar. We can no longer turn a blind eye toward the sneaky advertising methods, taste and flavor enhancers that hook us – at a cellular neurochemical level! – and say that “we just couldn’t help ourselves.” Just because many of these things have been in our environments since childhood, we now know that the effects of the long term use are dire. The argument of, “Hey, I turned out all right after eating at burger joints, pizza, ice cream and sugary breakfast cereals…”

Folks who read the TIME Magazine piece about the "Myths of Exercise" can recognize your own experience in the writer's story. We have been programmed to believe a lot of myths, lies and fairy tales about how to lose weight. If you've seen or heard me talk about my patient, Jeffrey Banks, who lost over 250 pounds and reversed a 12-year history of type-II diabetes, you now that for over 10 years I've shared with thousands of patients and millions of TV viewers when I was on Oprah, that the calories we consume and the nutrient value of our food should guide our health decisions. My latest book, The Pennington Plan for Weight Success, and the audio companion program Nutrition 101 - The Essentials for a Healthy Weight & Age-Less Beauty can provide you with simple guidance here.

We must turn away from the perverted interpretation of the promise of Democracy – that we can be all we want, take all we want and enjoy comfort all we want. These very misperceptions have led our nation into sedentary, gluttonous consumers and pain-avoiders.

Now the pain is here. Over two thirds of our nation is overweight. This excess weight – both physically and mentally – has pushed us into acute and chronic health conditions that are breaking our personal and collective banks. The pain of the economic uncertainty, emblazoned into our brains by 24-hour news programming, is pushing many to the brink of suicide, homicide and self-identity crises.

Finally the messages that I and others have been sharing in the media, with our patients and friends and family members cannot fall on deaf ears. The nation is finally ready and motivated for change state, because our very lives and livelihood depend on it. This is that ‘teachable moment’ that we coaches and psychologists talk about.

So we are encouraged (and coerced) into moving more and enjoying life’s pleasures in moderation. When we deprive ourselves of joy, nurturing and comfort we are forced to deal with the consequences of the pendulum swinging the other way. It’s time to recognize the wisdom of Buddhist teachings suggesting that we choose the ‘middle way.’

Move more. Eat consciously without relying on fads or gimmicks. Let your body’s original nature program guide you to a life of wholeness. Engage in physical activity regularly because your body craves it and loves it and is stimulated by it. Enjoy in the moment the time with your family members, friends, children.

When at work, stay focused on living up to your potential there. If you demonstrate the worthiness and capability to move up, you will. Allow yourself the wonderful experience of ridding your body, mind and environment of toxic substances, abuse of alcohol and even draining, negative relationships. You will begin to feel a natural sense of vitality that comes from being connected to who you really are and less about trying to live up to some ideal that really wasn’t promised to you at birth, you were simply programmed to believe it. Soon you will find that you can more easily gravitate toward food, environments, relationships and experiences that bring you joy, peace and motivation to live a better life. It’s not automatic and some will take longer to return to this state than others.

That’s where personalized medicine and empowerment coaching enable you to customize the latest statistics, personal genetics and lifestyle choice to create a plan for living healthy that you are more likely to stick with. Align yourself with health care professionals of all types to assist you in your own personal health recovery program.

Good health habits beget more good health habits. Each step we take provides more momentum and positive feeling to encourage us to do more. We can no longer accept complacency. This is the time to live up to our collective potential to be a vibrant, active, healthy society.

I stand committed to helping you achieve that in every way possible. Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions and questions here or contact me directly at DrAndrea@AndreaPennington.com