Dude! Are you a free radical?

Do you know what free radicals actually are? I didn't until recently. (I know I'm not the sharpest pencil in the drawer...) I've been reading and rereading (it takes a while to sink in) an awesome book called The Science of Skinny written by an organic chemist, Dee McCaffery. She explains in lay terms - sounds so much better than explaining for stupid people - the scientific stuff about food. I mean, check this out... a free radical is a molecule that contains an unpaired electron. It goes around like one of those Pac-Man gobbler things looking for an electron to replace the missing one. When it finds one in a healthy cell it snarfs it up causing that cell to become a free radical too. This can cause a huge amount of damage to our cells because of course we don't just ingest 1 free radical we eat zillions of them. Just one French fry can contain hoards of free radicals.

While our body makes free radicals on its own (as a natural by-product of our internal functions) we eat plenty of foods that cause additional free radicals. To make matters worse we live in environments that produce even more free radicals. Stress, pollution, lack of exercise, are just a few of the things we all encounter that produce free radicals. Scientists refer to the damage caused by free radicals as oxidative stress. Scientific studies are showing that oxidative stress is a major contributor to aging and disease. The good news of course, is that antioxidants help to repair this oxidative stress by providing that poor missing electron without damaging itself in the process.

More on oxidative stress and antioxidants another day. I need coffee.

Chicken neck? Buzzard head?

I went to the physical therapist the other day and found out I carry my head too far forward. (WTF?!) This sounds really weird but apparently it's very common. Seriously. Google it. One of the videos I watched to help correct this said to think of a hook pulling up your solar plexus then hold your chin in and elongate your neck so your ears are centered over your shoulders. I also read that for every inch that your head is too far forward it puts an extra 10 pounds of stress on your neck so with a mere 3 inches your neck has to support a 42 pound head! Holy Crap!

Where did those wrinkles come from?

Gak! I'm approaching 54. That's mid 50s. Crap, that sounds old. Generally I'm pretty happy - ups and downs of course but for the last year mostly ups. Except for the aging part which I am really struggling with (in case it's not obvious.) 
It's weird, I feel no different than I did 10, 20, or even 30 years ago but when I look in the mirror I see stuff I associate with old people. I remember watching my mom putting on make-up when I she was in her early 50s (I was about 12) and thinking where did her eyelids go and what is with all that extra skin? 
In a spurt of personal growth (also can be read as fit of panic) I am reading more, eating better, taking yoga classes, meditating (at least trying to) and I have started making my own skin products.  I know personal growth is supposed to be an inward journey but looking good on the outside doesn't hurt either. Except for waxing, that hurts. And maybe Botox...