Eat healthfully: Eat the colors of the rainbow everyday and begin to strictly ration all those delectable treats. Drink plenty of water instead of drowning your growing old sorrows in empty calories.

Exercise: Stop sneaking into the handicapped spaces to park your car. Make yourself park further and further away from entrances. Stand tall, suck in your gut and walk briskly and purposefully to your destination. Slowly increase your daily movement until it can officially be called "exercise".

Begin activities that include wildly swinging your arms in an effort to reacquaint yourself with the location of your toes, experiment doing sit-ups without spitting up, kick-up those heels all the way into a series of vigorous leg lifts, jog in place enough to build up a bead of sweat and maybe even venture outdoors to take a walk on the wild side (or at least down the block).

Pretty soon you'll begin to feel muscles firm and perhaps even that coveted six-pack will start to re-emerge from underneath that jelly belly.


Play Dress-up all Over Again: Say goodbye to that overstuffed sausage bursting at the seam look (which, by the way, isn't a good look at any age) and shoot for more of a suave, sophisticated appearance.

Basically all that means is selecting flattering clothes that fit you properly. Deep-six the stretchy leggings with the extra short t-shirt that displays that muffin top for all to see, give away the minis, trade those over-sized cargo pants for a pair of chinos and for goodness sakes bury that tube top. Invest in simple classic, stylish clothes that highlight the positives and camouflage those areas that are a "work in progress".


Beauty and Grooming Tips: Use them all! Growing old ungracefully means that your ear hair has escaped to entwine with your bed head, your eyebrows have begun to look like a neglected caterpillar, your teeth haven't seen a whitening strip in eons and whiskers have sprouted up unattended in the most unusual places. Get plucking, trimming, and moisturize yourself back into the beauty ballpark.


Skin Care: Has your skin dried up into a wrinkly husk of its' former vibrant, youthful appearance? Did all your skin care products expire over a decade ago? Put your best face forward by investing in a facial rejuvenation regimen that will revitalize and give your skin a fresh, healthy glow.

Get Attitude!

You might be aging but you're still a diamond, maybe roughed up a bit, but you can (and will) bring back the sparkle and shine hidden underneath all that neglect.

Stand proud, throw back your shoulders, hold your head high, suck in both your stomachs and gracefully glide into growing old.



Author: Sue Dolan's (a.k.a yours truly) vast experience in growing old ungracefully spans several decades for which she has achieved absolutely no notoriety other than the realization that accepting the inevitable provides far more shopping opportunities for beauty products and clothes that have no resemblance to an over-stuffed sausage casing.

She is also your instructor who provides the riveting and rejuvenating information on anti-aging skin care for The Skin Care
e-Learning and Resource Center for all those interested in throwing
away the paper bag in the pursuit of growing old more gracefully.