時尚雙語:年輕十歲的法則

Eight years ago I was a junk food addict. The delivery drivers from Papa John's and the Chinese food joint could have found their way to my house blindfolded. You could say that I ordered takeout with such frequency that my dialing finger practically started to evolve into the shape of a phone key.

I was sloppy, blotchy and bulging out of my jeans. I was constantly either tired or wired and you could have literally played 'connect the dots' with a crayon on my face; I had a ton of zits.

Today I am slimmer than I have ever been, healthier than I have ever been and, although I am 36, I often get 'carded' when going into bars as I am taken for over TEN YEARS younger. I also no longer have acne. It's true, every word.

I don't diet. I don't count calories and rarely go hungry. In fact, my cholesterol numbers could win me awards. Oh, and I have been this way consistently since I made the change - eight years ago. Annoying? I know.

The thing is - it's so easy, its laughable. In addition to some form of simple exercise regimen, these ten daily habits worked into your routine can provide you with optimum health, beautiful skin and a trim waistline. It's not a diet; I didn’t read it anywhere. It's really just common sense that no one seems to follow.

1. White is Not Right:Having a love affair with white bread, white potatoes and white rice? Kiss them goodbye. Although you were taught otherwise, breads and cereals made from white flour are not good for you. White flour simply breaks down into sugar. Not only is too much sugar bad for you, you ultimately crash as quickly as you peak and therefore you are hungry again in no time! Guess what. You eat more and more until you fall asleep. In the morning, you wake up and have a muffin and start the process all over again.

Avoid 'enriched flour' products. Always stick to brown products: whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes and brown rice, etc. It's better for you, will keep you satisfied longer and - you won't have that 'puffy' look in your face (ladies, you know what I mean).

2. Green Tea -Youth in a Glass: Apart from being exceptionally tasty - drinking green tea could be likened to drinking from the fountain of youth. It's probably the best thing you can do for your body on a regular basis. It is jam packed with antioxidants and is known to fight cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease, infections and strengthen immune function. Try to drink around 3-5 cups a day, add a twist of lemon for extra zing.

3. Go Nutty for Nuts:Remember I said it's not a diet? Stop worrying about nuts being fattening; forget calories. Scientific evidence suggests (but does not prove) that eating a handful of nuts daily will give you less probability of heart disease. Nuts are rich in fiber, and antioxidants and high in Omega 3 (the good fats shown to lower LDL cholesterol). Personally, I have a handful of walnuts, almonds, pecans and 2 Brazil nuts each morning, with my coffee. (Yes, I do drink coffee).

4. Get Smiley with Omega 3:I mentioned it briefly above. You can get Omega 3 from nuts, various vegetables and most importantly fish such as herring, mackerel, sturgeon, and anchovies. You can also take them in supplement form. What will it do for you? Well, where do I start? It’s a natural anti-inflammatory for preventing arthritis, prostatitis and cystitis, for starters. It boosts your brain function and your intelligence; improving memory, recall, reasoning and focus. It's recommended highly for children too. It wards against depression and generally raises your mood and if that wasn't enough, it lowers cholesterol and blood pressure and reduces the chance of blood clots. Last but not least, it also reduces the chances of breast, colon and prostrate cancer. All in all, daily intake of omega three should raise your life expectancy significantly and make you feel happy, pappy and much less wacky, which can't be bad.

5. Avocado is your Best Friend:You are probably thinking right now, this whole list is full of fat (!!). It is - but it's GOOD FAT. And, if eaten in proportion, it won't make you fat; that's a promise. I eat half an avocado every day. Avocado is considered the world's healthiest fruit, because of its nutrient contents such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C and copper. Health benefits include lowered chance of heart disease, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer's disease; keeping you young, fit and fabulous. Need I say more?

My next five rules are not about food, but habits. Here goes:

6. Reverse your Meals:Most people don't eat breakfast, have a sandwich for lunch and gorge on a big dinner. This my friends is waistline suicide. Its been said a million times before, but eating a big breakfast, a smaller lunch and a tiny dinner will do WONDERS for your jean size. Also, try not to eat after 9pm. Can you possibly imagine the joy of going to bed on a stomach that is not bloated or having to concentrate on digesting that rack of lamb you just ate? For one, you will sleep better and secondly, you'll wake up with a healthy appetite. Can you remember the last time you were really hungry? It's a wonderful feeling.

7. The 80/20 Rule:Eat healthy 80 percent of the time - the other 20 percent - eat whatever the hell you like (but not after 9pm). The whole point of eating well for the long term (your whole life) is knowing that you can also have whatever you want sometimes and that yes, a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good. So - how about eating healthy Monday to Friday and saving the fun for the weekend? Works for me.

8. Visualize Yourself as Perfect:I believe in the power of the subconscious mind. Think of yourself as a sophisticated machine. If you only put the best possible ingredients into that machine body, it will work flawlessly. Concentrate on this image and enjoy the knowledge that you are running at your optimum. It's exciting. It will also inspire you to keep at it, daily.

9. Exfoliate your Skin:Getting a facial scrub and using it twice a week can take YEARS off your face, really. Removing all that dead skin hanging around, you'll be stunned. Dark patches, grey areas… scrub it away for a fresh face you won't recognize. Try it and see. Men, you too. Ladies, try sleeping with coconut oil on your face at night. Put it on half an hour before you go to bed so that it sinks in. It won't give you zits and it will make your skin look AMAZING. You can buy it in any health food store.

10. Love Yourself - with a Passion:This is so corny, but it's really at the core of everything. Being happy with who you are, embracing life with a smile, getting excited about the little things can take YEARS off of you. It shows in your face. Love your life, love your spouse, appreciate everything you have. Wake up and get excited to be alive. If you can't do it naturally, fake it until you make it - You will make it. Look at the faces of people around you. Find two people of the same age with drastically different approaches to life. Chances are, the one with the brighter outlook looks years younger. Try it and see.

So, those are my tips for looking great, feeling great and being great.

It works. Simple as that.

八年前，我對“垃圾食品”簡直到了癡迷的程度，我時常叫外賣，Papa John's（約翰爸爸快餐店）和中餐連鎖店的外賣送餐員即使閉着眼睛也能找到我家。可以說，頻繁按動叫外賣的電話號碼，我的手指也快變成電話的按鍵了。

我渾身沾滿食物殘渣，到處是贅肉，肥大的身軀像是硬塞進牛仔褲裏。我經常覺得累而且渾身纏着電話線（叫外賣）你甚至可以用蠟筆在我臉上玩“連點”遊戲，天啊！那時我臉上淨是痘痘。

現在的我比以前苗條健康的多。儘管我已經36歲，但有時去酒吧還被叫出示身份證，因爲我看上去至少比實際年齡年輕10歲。我不再長粉刺了。這是真的，句句屬實。

我不節食，不計算食物的卡路里，也很少餓肚子。實際上，我的膽固醇高的可以讓我拿獎。哦，在8年前開始改變時我一直這樣。令人討厭吧？確實是。

減肥的關鍵是-很簡單的，甚至是好笑的。每天遵守十個日常小習慣加上合理的膳食會讓你保持健康，擁有漂亮的肌膚和緊緻的腰部曲線。這絕不是節食；我並不提倡節食。它們確實是常識，一些似乎沒人遵守的常識。

1. 白色的食物並不一定是好的：喜歡吃白麪包，土豆和米飯嗎？和它們說再見吧。除非有人教你說白色的食物是健康的，但麪粉製成的麪包和麥片實在與人無益。麪粉僅僅會分解成糖。過多的糖不僅有害，而且當體力消耗達到最大時，你很快就會支持不住，所以不一會兒就會覺得餓！那又會怎樣呢？你就會越吃越多，直到你睡去。第二天當你醒來，吃一個鬆餅，然後又會這樣惡性循環。

避免‘富含麪粉’的食物。永遠堅持吃褐色的食物；全麥麪包，紅薯和糙米，等等。它們對你的健康有益，會讓你具有長時間的飽足感-你的臉看上去不會‘肥嘟嘟’的（女孩子該知道我的意思吧）。

2. 綠茶-盛在杯子裏的青春：除了良好的口感-喝綠茶就像飲用不老泉的泉水。喝綠茶確實是可以保持健康的最常見方法。綠茶中含有抗氧化劑，這是衆所周知的能防止癌症的物質，同時它還能降低得風溼性關節炎，高膽固醇，心血管疾病和傳染病的概率，並且增強人體免疫力。每天喝3-5杯綠茶爲宜，當然你可以再擠點檸檬汁來增加口感。

3. 愛上堅果：還記得我說過這不是節食嗎？不用擔心堅果會讓你發胖；忘掉卡路里吧。科學研究的證據暗示（而不是證實）了每天吃一把堅果會減少患心臟病的機率。堅果富含纖維，抗氧化物和高量的歐米加3（一種可以降低膽固醇的有益脂肪）。拿我來說，我每天早晨會吃一把堅果，裏面有核桃，杏仁，大胡桃和2顆巴西果，再喝一杯咖啡。（是的，我很愛喝咖啡）。

4. 對歐米加3微笑：歐米加3的情況在上面已經大致介紹了。它主要含在堅果，各類蔬菜和大多數主要的魚類中，如：青魚，鯖魚，鱘魚和多數魚類。你還可能以補充的形式攝入歐米加3。那麼，它有什麼作用呢? 嗯，我從何說起呢？首先，它是天然的抗炎物質，可以預防關節炎，前列腺炎和膀胱炎。其次，它能加快腦動力提高智力；改善記憶力，提高大腦回憶，邏輯和集中精力的能力。特別推薦兒童食用。它還能抗抑鬱，如果心情不好的話，它能使這種情況得到改善。另外，通過降低膽固醇和血壓，它減少了血栓形成的可能性。最重要的是，它還能降低人們罹患乳腺癌、結腸癌和身體衰竭症的機率。總而言之，每天攝入歐米加3可以大大延長壽命，使你開心，渾身舒暢，覺得正常，總之感覺並不賴。

5. 鱷梨是你的好朋友：你現在可能在想，鱷梨充滿了脂肪（！！）。是的-但是，它是有益的脂肪。而且，只吃某個部分是不會讓你發胖的；我保證。我每天吃半個鱷梨。鱷梨是全世界公認的最健康的水果，它營養豐富，含有維他命K，食物纖維，鉀，葉酸，維他命B6，維他命C和銅。這些讓它具有降低罹患衆多疾病機率的作用，如：心臟病，哮喘，癌症，老年癡呆症；它使你青春不老，保持身材和精力充沛。還需要我多說嗎？

接下來的5條規則不是關於食物的，而是習慣。它們是：

6. 調整你的三餐：許多人不吃早飯，中午只吃個三明治了事，而一到晚上就大餐一頓。這樣做的後果就是無可救藥的發胖。雖然這是老生常談，但是豐盛的早餐，少一點的午餐和更少量的晚餐確實能讓你的牛仔褲大不止一號。另外，在晚上9點之後就別再吃任何東西了。想象一下，上牀時胃沒有任何負擔，它不用集中血液來消化你才吃的烤羊肉，這是多麼快樂的事啊！首先你會睡得更好，第二，當你醒來時，你會有一個好胃口。你還能記得最近一次餓得感覺麼？那真是太美妙了。

7. 80比20法則：每次只吃8成飽-另外的2成，隨便你吃什麼來滿足自己（但絕不在晚9點後進食）。長期（一生）這樣做是明智的，當然你可以偶爾吃點自己想吃的任何東西，吃一點確實對身體有好處。那麼-不妨這樣，週一到週五正常飲食，到週末可以小小的放縱一下。對我來說，這樣很有效。

8. 假設自己是完美的：我相信潛意識的作用。想象自己是一臺複雜的機器。如果你將最好的部件裝入這臺機器，它將完美的運作。集中精力想象着這樣的畫面-現在的你是最棒的，並且陶醉其中，這是讓人激動的。它將激發你想每天都保持這種狀態的決心。

9. 去死皮:買一把面刷，每週用兩次，這確實能讓你年輕不少。去除死皮，你會變的容光煥發。把黑皮屑，暗色區域……統統刷掉，呈現眼前的將是一張光鮮的臉，你自己都不敢認。試試看。男士們也不妨一試。女孩子們可在臉上塗抹椰子油入睡。在睡前的一個半小時塗抹，讓油可以充分的進入皮膚。它讓你的臉不再長痘痘，皮膚也變得超好。你可以在任何健康食品店買到它。

10. 愛自己-充滿熱情：這聽起來會有些老土，但它確實是一切的核心。快樂的作自己，微笑着擁抱生活，對小小的事都感到新奇會讓你年輕。這些都會在你的臉上表現出來。熱愛生活，熱愛伴侶，感激你擁有的一切。每天醒來爲了還活着而激動。如果你不會自然的這樣做，那麼先假裝，直到你能自然而然的流露-你一定會做到。看看周圍人的面孔。找出兩個年齡相仿，但生活方式卻截然不同的人來。結果可能是，那個有着較好前景的人會比另一個看起來年輕許多。試試看就知道了。

好了，這些就是我總結出的讓你看起來更棒，感覺更好，變的更美的小貼士。

它們絕對奏效，而且簡單易行。