My uplifting Beauty Secret

The other day, a girl wrote to me that despite 25 years of age difference she refuses to call me “teyze” which means auntie in Turkish. She would rather call me “abla”, big sister. That’s very cute of her to say and I am glad that I am perceived the way I feel. Because I definitely don’t feel like I was 40 years old. God, sometimes I look at my kids and am kind of surprised that I am their mommy!

I believe that it’s my lifestyle that keeps me young. It’s not about creams or some lazer treatment. It’s about eating healthy, moving and lifting!

The older you get, the more important it is to lift because resistance training preserves muscle mass that we typically lose as we age. On average, someone who is not working out loses 5 pounds of muscle and gains 10 pounds of fat per decade. So get into the weight room and improve the size and strength of your muscles!

I observe lots of people my age training at the club. There are the guys who recently discovered Crossfit and lift more than their own weight, putting enormous strain on their joints. And there are the girls who talk on their phone while sitting on the adduction machine, opening and closing their legs without any visible effort. If you want your body to change, you have to train harder. Pile on some weights girls, feel your legs shaking when you do the last two repetitions. That’s the way you get stronger and leaner. Whereas for you guys, what shall I say. I think safety should be your priority. Work hard yes, but don’t put your health at risk okay.

When I say work harder, it doesn’t mean that you have to beat yourself up every single time you hit the gym. If I had little sleep and feel tired, I am going to take it easy and work ABS rather than legs. You cannot have a high performance workout five times a week, so listen to your body and challenge it the right amount. You want to leave the gym thinking “Hey, I did pretty good!”

Girls have very unrealistic expectations when it comes to lifting. They think that they will get big if they use a dumbbell any heavier than 2 kilos. This is absolutely absurd. Building up muscle is hard work. You need to lift heavy, eat properly and sleep well. Now the good news is that guys who obviously want to grow bigger will eventually. Because girls have a testosterone level ten times lower than males, they will rather create a stronger, leaner, healthier and better conditioned body than actually grow big muscles. So go on, pick a weight that you can lift at most 11 or 12 times.

Personally I don’t like bulked up bodies. I prefer lean tall guys that look fit and in proportion (like my boyfriend yeeeaaay) rather than the bodybuilding type with huge arms and thin legs. Try to do functional training, working several muscle groups with a single exercise rather than isolated movements for a hotter looking body and better everyday life performance.

Since protein is the builder of your muscles, you should shoot for 30 grams in every main meal. This is approximately the amount that your body can absorb. Any excess protein will ultimately be stored as fat. Great protein sources are egg whites, lean beef, soy, beans, non-fat greek yoghurt and cajun nuts.

Fitness is the secret to how youthful you look, the way you move, and your ability to do whatever you want. I suggest you lift rather than spend a fortune on expensive beauty products and treatments.