Aging skin and a Menopause go hand-in-hand for women at least 40 years of age
I have reached the “age” where I’m irritated with some hot flashes when its not hot in the house. I can’t wait to take my clothes off when I get home from work and put on some lighter clothing. I have also noticed the need for “time for myself” has become so much more important than it used to be. I like to be alone with my thoughts. If you know me, you know that I do not not like anything competing with my thoughts such as loud rock music from my staff, somebody talking to me while I’m in deep thought, trying to concentrate on writing some materials fro work and just the enjoyment of quiet time. I’m a fan of myself. I don’t know if you girls feel this way but I know that with the involvement of trying to maintain my youthful self there are activities I must do to ensure my fabulousness continues into my older years.
Symptoms of menopause are curious in the fact that hair grows out on the chin and other private areas that you certainly didn’t expect in your 30’s. Increased irritability when you don’t know why you snapped at someone that you really liked but maybe they just looked at you wrong. Normally this is a co-worker or family member. Wrinkles appearing around the eyes a little more deeper than the day before, sagging neck and cheeks ever so slightly, soft skin that has turned a little rougher due to the slower skin cell turnover, hyper pigmentation (dark spots on the face or body) and the bikini you used to where now looks like a thong. Geez, it’s not pretty naked girls!
The most noticeable item I see is the dark spots on the side of my face. I used to be cute but now a little more camoflage is needed to maintain my cuteness. They call this hyper pigmentation where you can either bleach it out but you can’t be out in the sun. So its a choice. Hmm. Sum or bleaching. Well, I was bad and chose the sun because it feels so good. Don’t tell Priscilla our skin care specialist she will have my hyde!
The word “older” has a different meaning than it did when I was 20. I used to think my mother was older like a dinasour. Now that I have reached 46 seeing older clients still active and involved in social activities and being social and still having an active sex life has more meaning. I see what their goals are and where they are at in their life. I see what I want and my goal was to retire from working behind the chair at 40. As you can see, I am working harder and have remained engaged with my business and feel better than I have ever felt mentally in my life. Now physically is a different matter. My sisters were always aerobic, active weight lifters and the results are that they have killer bodies into their 40’s. I on the other hand have struggled with the pooch in the front and the back boobs which are disgusting and since I turned 40, it got worse. No matter which diet or excersize program I encountered the weight was not coming off. Since this past year, I was determined to get the fat off. Will I be back to 125 lbs? I’m working towards that. I wish but am happy to reduce the pant size at least by 1 size this year. Small steps. I often tell the nurses that care for my 17 year old son, I’m taking one for the team. This means that we are all in the same boat of the weightloss frustration. The one nurse is always purchasing the next diet program. God love her, I participate and get as excited as she does. We are a team and we are going to win 1 lb at a time. When we are down, we pick each other up, when we are up we high five in the kitchen. Whatever it takes is the mental game we play. I have a vision board that clearly describes what I want to look in that bikini. I’m sure you purchased some workout tapes that you were inspired to do every day until that day comes and you just don’t feel like it. Or the day that you are premenstral and you had to have the chocolate and didn’t think about the consequences of the bag of Hershey Golden Nuggets. I certainly didn’t when I was have a high emotional eating day until I had to do sit ups and couldn’t get up. I felt like a bus ran over me and swore I would never eat chocolate again. forget the moderation, NEVER AGAIN it wasn’t worth doing so many sit ups, crunches, lunges, and finally the frog position on the ball. Humiliation at its best.
As I was speaking to one of my wonderful customers whom I admire her figure and dedication to working out, she told me it would take 6 months to 1 year to see major results. I was shocked and angry at myself. I am going to stick to drinking lots of water and yes I’m still running to McDonalds every morning for my habitual large diet soda. Eventually, I will lose the soda and just stick with water and the protein in the morning. The experts say that the whey protein really helps weight loss. I say is this marketing or true. The one thing I absolutely value is the intense vitamins that you get in a drink. As we eat processed food we aren’t as a society getting all of the nutrients necessary to healthful living.
So girls, I now have a mantra. I AM WOMAN hear me ROAR! Lets take one for the team even if its 20 minutes here and there. some solutions to our challenges are:
a. purchase an active peptide moisturization cream – we use Guinot products
b. Retinols or AHA’s gently turn over the cells whic h lighten the dark spots, smooth the skin texture and give the skin a glow.
c. Eye creams to add lipids to the thinner, more delicate skin tissue that becomes sensitive and dry
d. use hydrating serums or gels that add water and calm the skin when applied under moisturizers. I use serums because they go into the skin deeper especially during the summer months. I am dedicated to this.
e. Body lotions with AHA’s to smooth rough skin
f. Antioxidants, such as Vitamin C, A, E, or others to help fight free radical damage and encourage collagen production. This is important at our age.
So even if we take better care of our skin, we have other issues to contend with such as aging parents with their health problems, adult day care, empty nesting (my daughter graduated from college and moved to Texas) and now I have to think about funding a retirement program that the government may not be able to supplement even though I have contributed for a gazillion years while working. So I have shifted as many other woman have to looking at quality of life and maximizing my time and living values that are important to me. I also have shifted to choosing to be around really positive people. The environment you are in and around will affect or infect your health and mental well being. Protect it.
