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Bright and early, my old friend, the beauty and wellness entrepreneur Liz Earle, is standing <br> <br> at my door clutching a Kilner jar with what looks like a small sponge floating in murky water.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'I made kombucha for you,' she says with an enthusiasm I don't entirely <br> <br> share.<br> <br> <br> <br> (The sponge, it turns out, is the Scoby, or 'symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast', <br> <br> which is what's used to ferment sweetened tea to make kombucha.<br> <br> I don't realise at the time, but this hideous thing takes weeks to develop and is in fact a very generous gift.)<br> <br> <br> <br> The truth is, I'd drink (almost) anything if it gave me Liz's zip.<br> <br> <br> <br> At 61, a mother of five and a new grandmother, <br> <br> she honestly looks 20 years younger. Fans of her YouTube channel <br> <br> and her 170,000 Instagram followers will know how bright <br> <br> and smooth her skin is, but in person she is fizzing with energy, too.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz and I have been friends for 25 years - over which time she has somehow seemed to gain in vitality as I,<br> <br> nine years her junior, have... well, deflated.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Beauty and wellness entrepreneur Liz Earle, right, and Beatrice Aidin met back in the <br> <br> 1990s when they were both beauty journalists<br> <br> <br> <br> So here's my plan. I am going to Live Like Liz for a full eight <br> <br> weeks, morning to night, to see just how much I, too, can turn back the clock.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> I am going to eat, drink and exercise like Liz, 'ground myself' in a flower bed <br> <br> in my pyjamas like her, and even tape up my mouth à la <br> <br> Liz. From my gut to my hormones, my brain to the very cells of my skin, I will follow the 'bio-hacks' set out <br> <br> in her new book A Better Second Half: Dial Back Your Age To Live A <br> <br> Longer, Healthier, Happier Life, which swiftly became a bestseller on its release <br> <br> this year.<br> <br> <br> <br> Liz says it can't fail, so long as I commit to it.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 'Who's to say we can't or shouldn't change the way we age?' <br> <br> she asks.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'I was stronger, fitter and more capable in my 50s than I was in my <br> <br> 40s, so why can't I be even more so in my 60s, 70s and beyond?'<br> <br> <br> <br> Perhaps more significantly, after the 'car crash of emotional wreckage' caused by the <br> <br> breakdown of her second marriage, and the divorce she went through <br> <br> in 2020, she now says: 'I'm happier at 61 than I was at 40.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Career-wise, it shows. When we met back in the 1990s we were both beauty journalists.<br> <br> At launches for new products, I'd merrily down the free Krug while Liz sipped <br> <br> sparkling water. 'Ah Bea, you were the yin to my yang,' she says.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Now, her wellness empire has mushroomed... and I'm suffering major work anxiety, <br> <br> a not-unrelated financial crisis and severe sciatica.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Frankly, I look and feel knackered. My skin is <br> <br> dull and I have dark circles under my eyes. Physical pain interferes with my sleep, and I've been turning rather too readily to the sauvignon blanc to <br> <br> help me nod off.<br> <br> <br> <br> Food is not a priority: I'm either not interested or craving sugar, which means I'm <br> <br> a good 10lb heavier than I should be.<br> <br> <br> <br> So, can living like my rather fabulous friend make me feel as young as <br> <br> she looks? More to the point - can I really stick to it, kombucha and <br> <br> all?<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Come on Bea, get off your backside!' Liz demands...<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz (left) puts Beatrice through her paces in the gym.<br> <br> Beatrice needs extra help with exercise because of her <br> <br> sciatica<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Week one: I face up to my middle-age spread<br> <br> Liz's top-line diet philosophy is high-protein, low carb,<br> <br> meaning she's a fan of lots of foods I love but didn't think I should eat:<br> <br> butter, unprocessed meat, avocados, good quality cheese, taramasalata and thick Greek yoghurt.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> High protein helps us 'shift to a leaner, more toned shape, and lose that middle-aged spread,' she says.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Timing matters. Liz eats two meals a day - brunch around 11am and dinner <br> <br> at 7pm. The order matters too: clear your plate of chicken before rice, because eating protein before carbs <br> <br> keeps blood sugar levels stable.<br> <br> <br> <br> In recent years she has increased her coffee intake (before 2pm) because studies <br> <br> show four to five cups is 'strongly associated with living longer' thanks <br> <br> to the bioactives in coffee beans such as chlorogenic acid.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> She eats wheatgerm, soya beans and nuts to <br> <br> up her intake of spermidine - a dietary molecule that interacts with our DNA and mimics an anti-ageing process called <br> <br> autophagy, which de-ages us at a cellular level.<br> <br> <br> <br> Alcohol is basically a no-no. Liz has the 'occasional glass' of wine or tequila, but <br> <br> never more than two and never alone.<br> <br> <br> <br> I chuck out the ready meals and plonk, roll up my sleeves and start cooking from scratch.<br> <br> <br> <br> I grill venison, roast a chicken and make soups with the leftovers.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Eating at specific times works for me - I'm never very hungry first thing - and enjoying the protein part of each meal first means I'm fuller and find it easy to cut back on my carb portions.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Gut health is a big focus, which means more fermented foods.<br> <br> Much to my surprise, I love the kombucha and soon start to brew my own using <br> <br> Liz's Scoby. But homemade kimchi - fermented veg - is a harder sell.<br> <br> When a lunch guest asks me why I'm forcing myself to eat something I dislike so much, I reply solemnly:<br> <br> 'Liz told me to.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Week two: I discover I can do only 3 press-ups<br> <br> I really need help with exercise because sciatica means my normal routine has gone to pot.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Thankfully, Liz reckons just ten minutes a day of exercises <br> <br> such as squats, lunges and press-ups is more valuable in the long <br> <br> term than a high-intensity gym session once <br> <br> a week or a long park run.<br> <br> <br> <br> She introduces me to her personal trainer, Michael Garry, who delivers the (bombshell, but welcome) news that running <br> <br> any distance over 5k can 'start to have negative effects' on our immune system and bone strength.<br> <br> If you're a runner, make it harder by speeding up <br> <br> your time, not increasing your distance.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> At Michael's insistence, I consult a physio about my sciatica,<br> <br> and then he devises a daily regime for me. I try press-ups and <br> <br> make it to three. Mortifying. Perseverance is clearly key.<br> <br> As are weights, especially in your 50s. 'The more muscle you have, the <br> <br> more your bones are protected from osteoporosis, especially during midlife,' says Michael.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> For cardio, says Beatrice, I keep swimming twice a week. But instead of <br> <br> plodding up and down the pool, I start to compete with myself, <br> <br> speeding up the laps<br> <br> <br> <br> For my slack and flabby upper arms, he advises shoulder presses and <br> <br> hammer curls, with 3kg weights in both hands. I try tricep dips off a chair, and quickly find I can increase my reps - until by week <br> <br> four I'm doing two sets of 15.<br> <br> <br> <br> I work out three times a week at home. At first the routine takes 40 minutes but the more I do, <br> <br> the faster I do it, until the whole thing - stretching, press-ups, weights - takes just 20 minutes.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> For cardio, I keep swimming twice a week. But instead of plodding up and down the pool, I start to compete with myself, speeding up the <br> <br> laps.<br> <br> <br> <br> Week three: I slow the hormonal roller coaster<br> <br> I'm menopausal and already on HRT, but I know I could improve how I feel, which is sluggish and foggy.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz introduces me to something called the 'estrobolome' - the specific collection of bacteria in the gut that influences how our body uses oestrogen. <br> <br> Put simply, some microbes improve the efficiency with which <br> <br> oestrogen reaches tissues around the body, meaning we use our dwindling supplies more effectively.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> The best way to support your estrobolome is <br> <br> by eating fibre from veg, seeds and nuts, plus some of the low-sugar fruits such as apples, berries and plums.<br> <br> <br> <br> Back to the supermarket I go.<br> <br> <br> <br> To boost the happy hormone serotonin, my saintly mentor insists I finish my morning shower with a minimum 60-second blast of icy cold water, resulting - she claims - in a 'post-shock high' and 'genuine glow'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Hmmm. I find it hard to relinquish the comfort of a hot shower and feel not <br> <br> happy but mutinous as I step out of the bathroom shivering.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Week four: I stand in the flower bed<br> <br> Living Like Liz means getting outside first thing in the morning and <br> <br> standing barefoot on the grass. 'Grounding' apparently enables electrons from the surface of the <br> <br> Earth to transmit deep into the body, 'where they have an anti-inflammatory effect'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz tells me she does this in the tranquil grounds of her glorious pile in the West Country.<br> <br> I do it in a flower bed in my shared patio, still in my pyjamas, and feel, well, very self-conscious.<br> <br> Later I graduate to the park, and - look away now - tread <br> <br> in dog mess, which does not improve my emotional wellbeing.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> She also encourages us to keep a Five Minute Gratitude Journal twice a day.<br> <br> 'Gratitude is... a superpower that improves longevity and supports <br> <br> the immune system,' she says.<br> <br> <br> <br> I can't help but think my better-off mate <br> <br> has rather a lot more to smile about than me but,<br> <br> following instructions, I write down three things I am grateful for every morning, and every night a short list <br> <br> of 'good things' that happened that day, plus another (longer) list <br> <br> of 'things that are concerning me'.<br> <br> <br> <br> My scepticism around gratitude slowly lifts as I find it does make <br> <br> me realise what's important and what's not.<br> <br> It helps me see that things are a lot brighter than I thought.<br> <br> Packing in a rush for a weekend away, I can't find my journal <br> <br> and am surprised by how bereft I feel without it.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Week five: I start to sleep well<br> <br> I'm a night owl - I stay up too late watching TV and end up hitting my snooze button past 8.30am...<br> <br> and occasionally edging towards 10am.<br> <br> <br> <br> Liz reckons anyone can improve their sleep <br> <br> if they follow her routine, which means setting <br> <br> an evening alarm for 9pm - to remind yourself to start 'winding down for bed'.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Emails, social media and TV are switched off, replaced by a printed <br> <br> book or a podcast. She takes 120g of magnesium glycinate in a milky drink half an hour before bed (and <br> <br> stops eating two hours before).<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Living Like Liz means getting outside first thing in the morning <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz wears a bamboo fibre nightie or pyjamas to keep warm because she <br> <br> sleeps with an open window, which she covers with blackout blinds and curtains, and sprinkles her pillow with a few drops of neat lavender essential oil.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> I'm an e-book reader, so already failing <br> <br> at this routine. Still, I leave my phone charging in the kitchen and buy a regular alarm clock.<br> <br> The lavender oil makes me sneeze, so I spray my pillows with C.<br> <br> Atherley Geranium Spray instead. <br> <br> <br> <br> Oh, and I tape my lips up - Liz shows me how when she delivers the kombucha.<br> <br> Forcing yourself to breathe through your nose is said to promote more restful sleep.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> All of this is time-consuming and takes practise, but I find the ritual soothing.<br> <br> Five weeks in, I'm getting to sleep earlier than I have for years - at 10.30pm after 20 minutes drop-off time -and waking at 7.30am.<br> <br> How virtuous!<br> <br> <br> <br> Week six: I crash off the wagon<br> <br> I'm doing my best, but then I go for lunch with a friend who chirpily suggests a glass of wine,<br> <br> which turns into a bottle. And then a second. Later, with a daytime hangover, I <br> <br> head to M&S and find reduced dauphinoise potatoes, which <br> <br> become dinner. <br> <br> <br> <br> Liz has got me on a blood sugar tracker called Lingo (£289 for two months <br> <br> - you jab a biosensor the size and shape of a plastic bottle top into your upper arm, and <br> <br> then link it to an app on your phone), which shows a massive post-potato spike and then a huge slump, which makes me tired and irritable.<br> <br> Who knew that such deliciousness had such a high glycaemic load?<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> I call Liz to 'fess up. 'I have the odd day when I lie <br> <br> in, eat too much cake and drink too much tequila,' she says.<br> <br> 'But that's fine because you then know what to do to <br> <br> put it right. It's not about being perfect.' Phew!<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Week seven: I tackle my financial mess<br> <br> Re-reading my journal really helps here. By documenting <br> <br> what I was so worried about day by day, my perspective on it changes.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Here, in black and white, is a record of how I felt at the start of this project and how I've evolved.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> I've come unstuck - in a good way. I'm not going to pretend it's been easy <br> <br> because change is uncomfortable, but I realise there's simply nothing <br> <br> to be gained from the worry spiral.<br> <br> <br> <br> If freelance life is tough, and my income erratic, I'm going to do something about it.<br> <br> Buoyed with the confidence that comes with action, I apply for <br> <br> part-time admin jobs. As personal trainer Michael observes as we <br> <br> work out on Zoom, I wouldn't have done this before.<br> <br> He's right. Finally I've started to take control.<br> <br> <br> <br> Week eight: And the winner is...<br> <br> So how have eight weeks of Living Like Liz changed me?<br> <br> <br> <br> Physically, I'm in much better shape. I've lost 7 lb and <br> <br> taken an extraordinary 5 in off my waist and 11 in off my body as a whole.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Those three pathetic press-ups have become a whopping 40 per workout, and the measly 3kg weights are now 6kg, meaning I have proper bicep definition. The sleeveless tops will be coming <br> <br> out again this party season.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Read More<br> <br> <br> <br> Our essential guide to beating back pain: What's causing your aches<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> My skin is clearer, eyes brighter and face more defined because I've <br> <br> reduced the carb-inducing bloat. I'm sleeping better and feeling infinitely less anxious.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Most remarkably - and this is really life-changing - my sciatica is almost <br> <br> gone and I can come off strong painkillers.<br> <br> I know sciatica can disappear of its own accord, but the timing is surely no coincidence.<br> <br> All those exercises have strengthened the muscles around my spine and buttocks and I'm convinced it's <br> <br> done the trick.<br> <br> <br> <br> I meet Liz for lunch, nervous about whether she'll see a difference.<br> <br> <br> <br> 'Oh wow,' she says, taking a good look at her pupil.<br> <br> 'Those arms! You definitely look younger.'<br> <br> <br> <br> We chat for a while and she adds: 'You also seem more content <br> <br> and optimistic. You have an inner glow and a halo of positivity.'<br> <br> <br> <br> Well, yes, she would say that, wouldn't she? (Probably. Though Liz is known for <br> <br> her candour, so it's not a given.) 'I wasn't sure you were going to prioritise yourself enough and commit,' she admits 'You weren't an easy nut to crack so I'm thrilled.'<br> <br> <br> <br> I'm delighted with my gold star. And I'm grateful to her, which is one of the key lessons I've learned.<br> <br> <br> <br> Gratitude makes everything feel better.<br> <br> <br> <br> That - along with the kombucha, ice-cold showers (which I have learned to love) and the odd <br> <br> tequila - are the habits I'll hold on to. But not (shudder!) the kimchi or flower beds.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> As Liz says, everyone deserves to have a better second half - and if I can do <br> <br> it, anyone can.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> A Better Second Half: Dial Back Your Age To Live A Longer, Healthier, Happier Life, <br> <br> by Liz Earle (Hodder & Stoughton, £22).<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Instagram<br> <br> <br> <br> Also visit my web blog ... พวงหรีดกี่บาท <br> <br> - https://Cl-System.jp/question/the-ultimate-guide-to-%e0%b8%9e%e0%b8%a7%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%ab%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%b5%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%84%e0%b8%b2-500-%e0%b8%9a%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%97-%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%97%e0%b8%9a%e0%b8%b8/
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