My driver's license renewal arrived in the post yesterday and it forced me to confront a life-changing realisation.... I will never look better than I do now. In the past I've opted for the 3-year license on the basis that there is a period in your life where you get better with age. A woman uses her formative adult years to figure out how best to part her hair, which eyebrow shape suits her best, what make-up and hair colours work for her etc. It's the period where you look back at photos and say 'what was I thinking?', the period in your life when your looks are grateful for the passing of time.
Until now. I've now reached the age where it's time to go for the 5-year license. I want to preserve this look and pretend in the years to come that I still look like that. If only NSW offered a 10-year option like Victoria. From this license photo onwards my hair will start to lose its lustre, my collagen will begin to deplete and the the effects of work-related stress will start to show on my face.
I'm therefore on Operation RTA - I've got 2 weeks before my license expires and I refuse to smile awkwardly for that picture until I'm at my best possible. If you've noted the name of this blog you'll know I'm not one for a diet, but this is an emergency. I'm banning skin-sucking sugar (see previous post), cutting back on booze and trying to lose that current extra kilo which I feel is making my face look fat. I did not even go to this much trouble for my sister's recent wedding – but this photo will stare at me every time I got to pay for something in the next five years...it's gotta be good.
If I sound vain, it's nothing compared to my friends who Photoshopped their headshots for their Glastonbury Festival registrations (you know who you are). But photogenicness doesn't have to come from a computer program. Here is the nutrition advice I provided Bride-to-Be sister in the lead up to her big day (and yes, she walked down the aisle spot free)
- As much as possible cut out sugar - that includes fruit, alcohol and refined carbohydrates like white bread. These all have a high glycemic index, which two Aussie studies have found can cause acne. High-GI foods stimulate androgen production (male hormones) and combined with other external factors can cause mini cities to erupt on your face
- Boost your intake of essential fatty acids, found in nuts, fish and avocados. Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and are great for general skin health, among many other things.
- Eat zinc-rich foods. This mineral is to skin what butterscotch sauce is to sticky date pudding - exactly what it needs. Modern diets are often deficient but you can find zinc in red meat, oysters, nuts and seeds.
- And if a pimple does decide to invite itself to your special day? Find a GP who'll give you a cortisone injection - it'll be sayonara spot.
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