Ageless wonders

At Malaika Arora’s birthday party recently, she, Kareena Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and other 40 plus brigade were spotted hanging out with and posing for pictures with girls in their twenties like Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Pandey, and Tara Sutaria who are two decades younger than them. And the best part was they all looked equally fit and young in their fitted dresses and mini skirts. There was no aunty brigade in attendance.

Age no longer has anything to do with looking good. Malika Arora, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Aniston, Karisma Kapoor,  Saif Ali Khan, Milind Soman, SRK are all their late 40s and early 50s but can compete with 20 somethings in the looks department.

These guys never seem to age! Their flab free bodies can give teenagers a complex, just look at Liz Hurley (in her 50s) sporting stringy bikinis every summer. How is it possible to look so good? The formula to looking ageless is a mix of a healthy lifestyle combined with the magic of a good cosmetologist and dermatologist. Dr Shahin Nooreyezdan, a renowned cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon at Apollo Hospital jokingly says it’s not a little, but a lot of help that is needed from the doctor to look like JLo at 50. “Everyone is using non-surgical devices to look their best. Procedures like Ultherapy that help with tightening and rejuvenating skin around the neck and face are used by people from when they are 35,” reveals Dr Shahin. Apart from that the judicious and careful use of routine fillers and Botox make you look youthful forever. Then there are procedures like Coolsculpt enlightens Dr Shahin that freeze unwanted fat and banish it from problem areas. Along the way are also a few discreet nips and tucks that are needed.

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen looks like perfection at 39, but a couple of years ago she was snapped dressed in a burka leaving the clinic of a famous plastic surgeon in Paris. It was later reported that she went in for a breast lift.

While procedures are needed to keep the body looking perky and fit, a healthy lifestyle is the catalyst to looking stunning.

Jennifer Aniston hasn’t aged since she appeared on Friends twenty year ago and she puts it down to, “Fasting, exercise and meditation,” She revealed to the Guardian newspaper in an interview that intermittent fasting was her secret weapon to holding onto her youth. Cutting down on solid food through fasting has given her results that she wanted.

If fasting for 12-16 hours (your sleeping hours count!) is not your thing, don’t worry, well-known Delhi-based fitness expert Kitty Kalra says eating right and working out will just do fine. “Eat in moderation and eat small portions. Even when you are eating healthy keep the portions small because you want your stomach to be used to eating these portions. Appetite remains small. You can also easily afford to eat one gulab jamun and a few treats in a week. Just don’t binge,” says Kitty.

Meditation, even if it’s just for five minutes a days is a must because it helps you achieve inner peace which in turn helps with happiness —— the best look to sport.

The next weapon needed in maintaining youth is exercise. “It helps blood flow in the body which in turn helps in anti-ageing,” says kitty. Even our cognitive functions improved.

Now that you know what is needed to hang on to your 20-something looks forever sign up for that gym membership and start researching on a good cosmetologist near you.