How to Improve Your Skin From the Inside Out

I get told I look 10-15 YEARS younger than my actual age. Here’s how to improve your skin from the inside out.

Sometimes people genuinely think my daughter is my sister or that my granddaughter is my daughter. I use nutrition, relaxation, and exercise to improve the appearance of my skin.

The best part is that the things you do for your skin are also good for your overall health! Here are my top ways to get younger looking skin.

I use nutrition, relaxation, and exercise to get good results.

May 2023 Update: It’s still true that people are surprised by my age. I have three children in their thirties and three grandchildren.

I’ve even had a time or two where I could not convince someone that I was 60. Being young at heart doesn’t hurt either!

This is what works for me and this is how I do it. The other thing about these secrets to good skin is that they are great for your overall health too.

Aging is natural and we can’t totally reverse everything or look like a teenager again.

Yet, I believe that when we take care of our skin and bodies, we feel better overall. Eating food that helps our skin also helps our bodies.

In a culture that values weight loss over pretty much everything, I believe we can sacrifice our overall health and nutrition to the detriment of our skin.

I decided a long time ago, that I was going to try and keep my skin looking young without invasive or crazy-expensive products. I don’t want my face injected with stuff. I don’t want surgery. And I don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on my facial routine.

What I did have was curiosity and a certain amount of discipline to learn and make changes. I don’t have the skin of a 20-year old. However, I am as happy with my skin today as I ever have been. It’s pretty darn good! So no matter what your age, start learning about how to improve your skin from the inside out.

Many people seem to think the two things they need for good skin are sunscreen and a good moisturizer. Some people go an extra step or two in their skin care routine yet for the most part skin care efforts are superficial.

However, just taking care of your skin surface is not going to get you the results that photo shopped ads promise. Though, I 100% also support the use of sunscreen and moisturizers! But they can only do so much.

I don’t know exactly how much damage is reversible but I believe some of the damage is.

Unfortunately, when I was growing up, I spent almost every day of every summer at the local pool. Sunscreen was not only unheard of but as a teenager, I tried harder to get more sun!

Not good. But I’ve spent my adulthood protecting myself from too much sun and also feeding my body things to counteract the damage.

The younger you are when you begin to take care of your skin, the longer you will keep your skin looking great.

No matter what your age, you can improve the quality of your skin by taking steps to stop the damages you are doing and by simultaneously adding some beneficial habits.

My Skin Care Secrets

Eating Healthy Oils

For so long, fat has been a dirty word and something to be actively avoided in our diet. Not so!

Fat is vital for our bodies. Have you ever seen someone who has lost a lot of weight but for some reason, they just don’t look good?

Their skin may be ashy or wrinkles look even deeper? I believe that happens when weight is lost but the dietary fat was reduced too drastically.

We really need fat in our diet but not just any fats. We need the right fats and not all fats are created equal. Some are actually damaging.

My favorite “good” fats are coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. I also welcome the fat in grass-fed beef, salmon, eggs, and other properly sourced proteins. Avocados and nuts round out my fat sources.

Good fats when combined in a whole food diet do not make you fat or have adverse effects on your health. Good fats nourish and heal your body.

They are essential. It can be hard to believe this idea after all the conditioning we’ve been given. And when you first start adding fat, it can be a little scary.

Positive Attitude and Facial Relaxation

As we grow older, our face begins to reflect our most prominent thoughts and attitudes. As a child, I remember seeing a bitter relative lose all her looks to her anger and bitterness.

I didn’t realize until recently when I came across her grave that she was only in her fifties when she died! I thought she was an old lady.

I didn’t know her well as a child but it made such a huge impression on me that I vowed to never carry anger and bitterness around. Taking care of those things is a vital to better skin. Forgiving is the best way I know to do this.

However, the important thing to bear in mind is your face is impressionable. Keep your thoughts as positive as possible and let that amazing spirt shine on your face.

I want to also say, that all emotions are important. I don’t mean push the negative ones under the rug. I mean feel them and process them, but don’t stay there.

You also have control over how tense your face is, whether you are smiling or frowning, and a host of other facial muscle maneuvers.

It is worth the effort of checking in with your face and relaxing tense muscles or thinking about something positive and getting a smile on your face.

Even if you are going through bad times…maybe even especially if you are going through some bad times, it’s essential to relax the tension from your face and elsewhere.

Several years ago, I had lines forming between my eyes. I knew I was tense and it was shocking to see the evidence forming on my face. I began to do relaxation exercises to relax my face muscles.

Eventually the lines disappeared. I didn’t do anything fancy, I just felt into it and consciously practiced relaxing those muscles.

Those frown lines went away for good. I do have some smile lines around my eyes. I’m keeping those because smiling is good for you and can make you look years younger.

Exercise

I exercise every day and I knew it was good for my body but until recently I didn’t know how essential it was for my healthy skin. In fact, exercise may be one of the most important things you can do for your skin.

There are changes to skin that come with aging. That’s something we can’t change completely. However, there are some studies that indicate that exercising can change the composition of your skin.

So, while your skin will grow older, you can have the skin composition of a much younger person because of exercising! This is exciting stuff.

When you exercise, there is a lot going on internally. Blood is flowing. Oxygen is moving. Nutrients are being delivered. Hormones are being regulated.

This is all good news for our skin. These positive effects of exercise are stimulating collagen and elastin production and improving the overall quality of your skin.

I stick with easy and relaxing exercises for the most part. Since I spend a lot of my day sitting and on the computer, I need exercise that relaxes me and gets the kinks out.

Find movements you enjoy doing. I love walking outside, fusion workouts that include yoga, pilates, and barre, and in-home walking. I try to do one or two of these every day for 20 to 60 minutes.

Avoid Sugar and Foods That Act Like Sugar

In my circle of family and friends it is no secret that I think sugar is the number #1 enemy of skin. Sugar is not only terrible for our bodies and overall health, but it is horrible for your skin. I wrote an entire article about just how bad sugar is for your skin.

Eat Skin-Nourishing Food

What you eat plays an important part in your skin care routine. My basic recipe for great skin is proteins, lots of different vegetables, fruit, nuts, and healthy fats.

One way to think of this is when choosing food to eat, chose food that is gorgeous, plump, colorful, and was once alive. Real food is not only beautiful it is full of beautiful nutrients that feed your skin what it needs to repair itself.

Foods bad for your skin are generally colorless, flat, dry, processed. Sugars and foods that act like sugar (breads, pastas, rice, and corn) are NOT neutral agents. They are detrimental to the health of your skin. The more you eat of these types of foods, the less you will be attracted to eating real food.

Here are some of my favorite skin nourishing foods. I try to get all of these in every week.

Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and chard. Carrots. Beets. Tomatoes. Blueberries. Pumpkin and other winter squashes. Sweet potatoes. Apples. Oranges. Bananas.  All vegetables are welcome but these are my favorites.

What is Good for Your Skin is Also Good for You!

Okay, so here’s the bottom line. This isn’t just about great skin. All the ways you feed your skin also feed your body. It all works together. However, skin is the most visible part. It’s useless to spend a fortune on beauty products when you are filling your body with skin-destroying crap.

Taking care of your skin not only makes you look better—it improves your health!

Did you enjoy this post? Pin it so that others can discover it too!