Women deal with constant pressure to be skinny, but having too little body fat can actually work to your disadvantage when it comes to aging. "As women age, they lose collagen and elasticity in the skin. Having a very low body fat actually speeds up this collagen loss," says Alexander Cortes, a Los Angeles-based personal trainer. For your ideal body fat percentage, check your BMI here.
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Work your upper body
While I'm not opposed to working out, I steer clear of the weights because I don't want to bulk up. But Cortes says a weak upper body contributes to a hunched back -- and women are more likely to develop a hunched upper back than men are. The key is to do exercises that'll keep your back and core strong. Exercises like push-ups (great for your chest, shoulders, and triceps) and pull-ups (which work out your back, biceps, and forearms) are especially effective.
Plus, once you hit 30, you lose about half a pound of lean muscle every year -- which translates to a whopping 5 pounds of lost muscle by the time you're 40, says chiropractic sports physician Len Lopez. The only way to offset that muscle loss is through strength training. The good news is that you don't need to spend an hour in the weight room; a high-intensity weight-bearing workout for 15 minutes, twice a week, is plenty.
I have a 35-year-old friend who tells me all the time to enjoy my crow's-feet-free eyes and sunspot-less skin. She waxes poetic about "when she was my age" like she's my grandmother, wistfully telling me stories about a time before she had to spend $300 a month on anti-aging serums and night creams.
Her (very direct) message to me, her 25-year-old friend: "Smarten up, biotch. That perfect skin of yours will go to pot -- and sooner than you think -- if you don't take some preemptive measures."
Of course, she's right. I want to stave off the crow's feet and sun damage as much as the next gal. But I also don't want to shoot myself up with baby Botox now -- or drop an entire paycheck on the newest laser when those first signs of agingdo start to appear. I want to age gracefully -- and look like an even hotter version of myself 10 years from now.
And so, my older, wiser (and seriously aggro) friend inspired me to call the best nutritionists, trainers, docs, and estheticians I could find. My question to them: What should women do -- no matter how old they are -- to look hot in 10 years? Of course, "wear sunscreen" was at the top of their lists, as was eating right, drinking enough water, and working out. But since you know all of these look-hot commandments already, I grilled them for even better ones.
So now I'm going to do something that most 20-somethings never do: listen to my elders.
