- August 2020
Sometimes I am asked how I manage to look so young.
There is no one reply but the reasons might be those: My genes, healthy lifestyle, loving life and being optimistic.
I do come from a bloodline that lives long and that helps me to look younger than my age, I think.
Lifestyle is a huge part of long live if you want to be happy and able to do what comes into your mind.
We do see the ads all the time about quick solutions, how to lose weight in few weeks or even few days, how to get flat stomach after few days and few minutes every day of exercising. This might all be true if you are a magician but in real life I don´t think so.
I was talking to someone the other day and dared to give some advice about how he could lose weight and get less pain in his knees.
Guess what! “It is difficult” he replied.
Seriously! Did I ever say it would be easy?
No, I did not but the effort might safe your health my friend and you would be able to live longer and take care of your family longer!
My argument was a waste of time, sad but true.
When I was in my gym this morning there were 3 people, heavily overweight and I admire them for the energy, the persistence and the dedication to lose weight, to become healthier and to be willing to do what is necessary if they want to be healthy for the rest of their lives.
Those 3 are not making excuses, they are just going for it and they know it will take longer time to get rid of the extra kilos, longer than gaining them. Those 3 don´t say it is difficult, they exercise and it is difficult for them but they don´t care. They are taking care of their health and that even in Covid times. How great is that!
Back to me and my looks.
I have always taken extra good care of my skin, both in my face and my body. The skin is our biggest organ and needs pampering and caressing.
I do eat healthy and most of my food is made by me and I know what is in it. I do once in a while, but rarely, go out and have dinner although I like being with friends and enjoying good food is of course a must occasionally just for the soul.
A simple example is my soy milk. I tried to buy it here in Portugal, when I arrived because I did not have any machine to make it myself. It was full of something that made me not feel good, it was sweet and most likely with lots of chemicals to make it last forever in the packaging. Mine is just made with water and beans, organic beans. I learned this in China.
I learned a lot about food in China but unfortunately I can’t cook it properly the Chinese way. I have not found a real Chinese food here in Portugal, except when I spent 10 days in Algarve some years ago. There I could get Indian food, Chinese food and Japanese food, but not here on the mainland.
I don’t eat read meat, simply because I don´t like it and the closest I come to the red meat is Tuna fish!
Fish I do eat and a lot of veggies and fruits. I do make an effort to get my food organic as much as possible.
And last but not least, my recipe for long live and looking young is meditation and food for the soul. The food for the soul is music, good books, art and wonderful people. The world is full of clowns that make you laugh, but they are not my thing. I prefer genuine humour and a good laugh that has nothing to do with pretending to be funny and playing the clown all the time.
In fact there are clowns in dysfunctional families as well as the over protective ones in there as well. Co-dependency has more than one face and the clown is one of its faces.
Having trustworthy friends is also important for long live. Friends are like the diamonds in the sky. They are there for you when you need them, they laugh with you and they cry with you. Being a good friend of my friends is my motto and makes me happy. I choose carefully who I trust and I appreciate the people in my life.
The art is important for me and singing and music is a huge part which I appreciate and I look for. Here in my little land it is not always easy to find the concerts or the galleries but they do exist and looking for them is worth the effort.
Dreaming about the future and having a goal is a must for well being, at least for me. I dream and I make my dreams come true. I adjust them if needed but I also leave them alone and see them come true.
NO quick solutions, patience, persistence and love for the life is super and will make you look much younger than the years you have in your bag.
I always say, age is just a number.
Take good care of yourselves and be optimistic. Make the effort and you will see results. This morning my training was hard and I was breathing like a whale but I knew I would be ok and in fact I enjoy the challenge. I see results and that makes me happy.
It will be wonderful to see the 3 overweight persons in my gym after some months when they are fitter than today, and the smiles on their faces when they come to the gym, broader. I and they have a goal and we are going to make it. We will all be looking young and we will be happy. We will not think about the number, we will think about living alive.
Hulda Björnsdóttir
My thoughts shared with you 