photo credit: jurvetson
 
 Do you have all your New Year’s Resolutions figured out?  No?

Here’s an Anti-aging Top 10 and a new approach that can change your life in 2009.

Why bother to set goals at all if we never stick to them?  

Maybe a new approach is the key.  If we resolve to be a better, healthier, happier person, what we really need is a lifestyle change approach not just a list of things to do. Most of us have too many to do’s anyway. 

Rituals or ceremonies symbolize our commitment. But modern society is slowly losing its love of rituals.  Let 2009 welcome the celebration of ceremony back in your life. Try the following Anti-aging Top 10 in the order listed. Each one builds on and leads to the next.  Spend as much time and effort as you want on each as long as you complete all 10 in 12 months. 

 1. Start a Journal  

Let’s start with the easy one.  Your journal will serve as your ritual record so get something that has value to you and keep it entirely private. Write in it often, draw or doodle if nothing comes to mind. Want to know more about how to journal?  Try Dr. Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journal program. Dr. Progoff developed a system of writing for self-growth and his program is a complete journal awareness method.  Or check out Journal for You. Deborah Watson has complied valuable resources and articles for your journaling experience.  Sign up for her newsletter to keep you inspired all year.

2. Devise a Destress Program

Stress kills so let’s get a handle on this issue.  Your life will change automatically when you manage your stress level.  Life is stressful as are jobs, relatives and money.  There’s no way to avoid stress but there are ways to disburse its grip.   What stresses you out?   List in your journal your emotional and physical stressors. Getting it on paper is a great destressing ritual. Now come up with some reasonable changes that YOU can make.  Don’t even try to change others or things that you simply have no control over. Change you.  Project Swole has 20 great destress techniques that you can use immediately and with little effort. Check them out for a quick ‘cheat sheet’ for your journal.

3. Detox Your Life

Toxins are poisons and can take the form of people, places or things.  Journal your own toxins such as smoking, drinking, angry or mean people in your life (including you), environmental pollutants, junk food and junk television.  Think garbage in, garbage out.  The best place to start your detox program is with a cleansing diet. When your body feels better, it functions better and you reap all the benefits. Cathy Wong from About.com has come up with a great plan to get you started on your Detox Diet (check with your doctor before starting any diet).  Hypnosis is a great way to assist your efforts to detox of substance abuse and other self-defeating behaviors. Hypnosis Dowloads has an amazing 505 programs from anxiety to workaholism, that you can download for just $12.95 each. Hypnosis “…will help you gain more control over your behavior, emotions or physical well-being.”  Read more about the benefits of hypnosis at The MayoClinic.

4. Practice Calorie Reduction (CR)

It’s hard enough to diet!  Now research indicates that what we really need to do is reduce our calorie intake; not to lose weight but to live longer and healthier. Founded by Dr. Roy Walford, the purpose of CR is to extend lifespan.  But it’s not just about eating fewer calories it’s about eating higher quality calories. No need to go extreme; in fact, a rapid switch to a restricted calorie diet in older persons has been shown to shorten lifespan.  But do forget dieting and return to healthy eating habits of the pre-fast food, pre-packaged food era.  The Okinawa Diet  is a good place to start. The Okinawans are the leanest, longest living people on the planet. Don’t like seaweed or green tea? Then try the Macrobiotic Diet, which is all about natural, unprocessed foods, fresh and “care”fully cooked foods. Don’t starve yourself but do re-think your American Diet attitude and check with your doctor before starting any new eating program.

5. Learn Something Brand New 

Use it or loss it.  Your brain’s gray matter is similar to your body’s muscles.  Exercise increases it volume. Best of all you can grow new neurons just by learning something new. Feeling foggy? It’s time to get those brain cells pumping. Pick something that’s out of the ordinary for you. This is the best way to quickly stretch and grow areas of your brain that have been dormant.  Read:  playing the piano, modern art, juggling, pottery, ballroom dancing, photography, Greek cooking, Spanish language, computer programming, costume making, short story writing. Now which of these were the least interesting to you?   That’s the one to seriously consider. Get a catalogue from your local community center or college and find something that doesn’t scream “you.” Then sign up.  Yale, Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital all agree:  Meditation will increase the “…thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to sensory, auditory, visual and internal perception….” Wow and all you have to do is sit and not think!

6.  Make You Over 

Don’t we just love them on talk shows and the popular What Not to Wear series. By now you should be less stressed and living lighter and smarter. It’s time to look the part.  Call a new, upscale salon and ask for consultation or try one of the online services such as The Hair Styler.  The idea is to get a new take on your old style. Makeup habits die hard. Are you still “doing” your look from 20 years ago or have you lost all interest in any makeup style.  Department stores are a great resource for get a free makeup makeover (buy something for their effort!) or try Face Maker for some great tips and save tons of money on the best anti-aging skin care products at my site Sav’n Face.  Complete your makeover with a wardrobe update. Again your favorite department store is a good place to get free a consultation. A really great site with all sorts of tips is Fashion for Real Women.

7. Develop a Good Habit