Tbh, I'm not sure why I look as young as I do - but I'm grateful! One half of my family look older than they are, the other look their age or older (except for one aunt). In my 20s/early 30s, I burned the candle from both ends AND the middle (lots of drinking/little sleep, no drugs though), and never wore sunscreen even though I grew up in Los Angeles (SMOG) and spent every minute I could at the beach. As mentioned, I smoke. And the last 20 years I've just been through the wringer with stress, tragedies and depression. These days I don't eat as well as I should due to my work schedule, and I definitely don't drink nearly enough water. Yet the only wrinkles I have are on my forehead, from crying so much. The only thing I DO have is olive skin.

Yeah, that's called correlation. I'm a dermatologist, and there's nothing magical about olive oil. Like the OP said, genetics, lifestyle, these all play a factor. If you're lucky enough to look 35 at 50, then trust me, it ain't the olive oil. The antioxidants may play a small role in improving your skin, but not even Tretinoin has that kind of power. Stress, lifestyle, genes, race (and therefore amount of melanin in the skin), environmental pollutants, all play a large role if we're talking "natural" factors as opposed to Botox etc. The only skincare item that truly makes a huge difference is sunscreen, and even then of course the importance of that depends on your skin's tone and how much natural protection you have (but still, wear sunscreen.) Also, olive oil can cause acne in a lot of folks, even older folks.

Sure jan

I do agree that celebs exaggerate things like this because they don't want to admit publicly to surgery. But, I remember as far back as 5 years old and my grandmother making me put olive oil on my skin, and she'd also do hot olive oil hair masks on me. I still do both to this day. Even though I gained 80lbs during pregnancy (long maternity leave and lots of ice cream lol), I have no stretch marks. And at 53, I still get carded buying cigarettes. Last week, I was sitting out by the fire pit at a hotel where I was for business, and a REALLY handsome man came and sat down. We started talking and he was obviously flirting with me. At one point I asked his age, he said 35 and I nodded. He said, "Oh, you're 35 too?" I told him my age and he went 0_o and left pretty quickly after that lol

Do celebrities actually believe they look like that at 50+ because of some old family skincare recipe or fucking olive oil? They really must think we're stupid. I'm not saying it's all botox or those refractory lasers or whatever they're called, having a team dedicated to your diet, exercise, makeup and photo filtering helps, as does amazing genes. But I'm so sick of these "It's just a good skincare routine and being kind," comments. If olive oil made you look like J-lo at 50 olives would probably be extinct already. I know women get shit on when they admit having surgery or treatments like botox, and that's shitty, but I don't think lying about it to the general public really solves the problem.

I have been trying to put a little weight back on pretty much all year to no avail. I'm not a person that eats junk or is sedentary. I had been eating more healthy food trying to gain a little weight and it didn't work. So I bought some hot chocolate mix, and a huge box of granola bars (basically candy IMO) and started making an actual effort to snack. Know what? I gained four pounds in two weeks! Know what else? I feel like SHIT. I'm tired and sluggish and feel hungry more often, but too tired to actually cook. So I eat another one of those effing snack bar things. And that just makes me feel worse. IDGAF anymore if I'm underweight. I won't do this to myself. Do people who eat this way normally feel like this ALL THE TIME? My god.

Shut the fuck up Kelley Ripa, just shut the fuck up already. You are so annoying!! You are screechy and loud mouthed.

It's official- I've lost 30 pounds. I feel so much more comfortable. I'm not huffing and puffing on the stairs at work. My clothes fit better. I'm happy. I know that my health or my value are measured by my weight but I. Am. Happy! This has taken me 5.5 months. I plan to keep it up through the holidays. Next challenge- Thanksgiving leftovers!

Messy is beautiful, OP. You did the extremely hard, hard of healing from your past. I'm so proud of you. The work isn't over, but wow sincere kudos for all the work you have done. Thank you for sharing! May you have continued healing, growth, and evolution.

A lot of meditation. Therapy for past trauma. Hanging out with my inner child. Gaining the perspective that we are all spiritual beings trapped in a skin suit having a human experience. If a certain belief felt off to me, I allowed myself to question why. Meditation is great for that. You can acknowledge the thought and the feelings attached to that thought. I can make the decision to not hold onto thoughts/beliefs that disrupt my peace. It sounds nice, but it's honestly an ugly healing process.