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Issue Date: June 1, 2003
Beauty is as beauty does
Looking your best means eating right, avoiding stress, staying fit and getting enough sleep -- even if you don't happen to be the most beautiful woman in America.
By Dennis McCafferty
Unless you eat at least five colorful fruits or vegetables a day, you risk not getting enough antioxidants, the prime defense against "free radicals."
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You've always heard beauty is more than skin deep. Now there's solid science behind physical attractiveness and how to maintain it: It's about eating better and exercising regularly, as well as getting a handle on stress.
"We know there is a direct scientific connection here," says psychologist Scott Sheperd, one of the nation's leading experts on stress management. "Healthy behaviors clearly enhance one's physical appearance, just as unhealthy behaviors can have a detrimental effect on how you look. For example, increased and prolonged stress puts a major strain on the body. The organs are bombarded with hormones. This leads to that drab look. You get worn down. The skin gets pale, or you can get flushed like a beet. And if you smoke to relieve stress, that has a terrible effect on your physical attractiveness. Smoking pulls down the facial muscles and makes you look like a basset hound."
Well, USA WEEKEND readers certainly wouldn't want that to happen, would they? With that in mind, we undertook the ultimate health-and-beauty challenge: to find out how anyone -- even the country's most beautiful woman -- can look better, and make it last longer. Thanks to a panel we assembled of the nation's leading experts on nutrition, stress, fitness and sleep, we succeeded. Their advice clearly demonstrates that a few simple steps can boost the beauty power within each of us.
And our beautiful woman? We realize beauty is a subjective quality. But in the cyber age, it actually can be quantified. A host of Web sites let users rate willing participants' attractiveness. The pioneer, HotorNot.com, is a tasteful, entertaining site that has been featured in People, Time, The New Yorker and virtually every other major media outlet. Created by James Hong and Jim Young in October 2000, when they were roommates in the San Francisco Bay Area, the site has featured more than 6.3 million photos submitted by participants, with its users producing 6 billion votes to date. The HotorNot crew crunched the numbers for USA WEEKEND to reveal last year's top-rated woman: Vanessa Abbott.
Abbott, 21, is a model with the Leighton Agency in Phoenix and a communications major at Arizona State University. Of half Lebanese/half English descent, she grew up in Northbrook, Ill., where her parents still live, and is an avid dancer and horseback rider. She is interested in the arts and fashion and plans to be a media-relations specialist or work with underprivileged children. Now Abbott can pursue her goals with a better sense of staying healthy -- both inside and out. "I find it so motivating that USA WEEKEND put this together," she says. "Before, I never really knew what these experts told me. I was somewhat educated on what you should do to stay healthy and look good. But this is a detailed prescription that anyone could benefit from."
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Nutrition
Expert: Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., author of "The Fat Flush Plan" (McGraw-Hill, $21.95)
Gittleman: What do you typically eat in a day?
Abbott: For breakfast, I usually have a bowl of cereal or a breakfast bar. At lunch, I'll have a deli sandwich, usually grilled cheese or turkey, and chips. For dinner, I go out about four or five nights a week, usually for Chinese food or pizza. I snack a lot, too. I take crackers or cookies to class, and I eat applesauce or granola bars in the afternoon. Every night before bed, I have milk and cookies. I grew up doing that, and I can't get away from it. And I love chocolate. I eat it every day, either ice cream or candy bars.
Gittleman's advice: The good news is that Vanessa eats frequently throughout the day. She's constantly fueling her body to avoid dangerously low blood sugar levels, which can take away energy. But she needs to cut back on sugary foods and improve her intake of fruits and vegetables. Everyone should get at least five colorful fruits or veggies a day, or you run the risk of not getting enough antioxidants, the prime defense against "free radicals." These are the nasty chemicals that cause premature aging; they damage cell membranes, lead to deteriorating skin tissues and can damage your hair and nails.
Try a Granny Smith apple in the morning, then an orange in midafternoon. Stick with the turkey sandwich for lunch, but make sure you have it with tomato, onions and romaine lettuce on whole-grain bread. And replace those chips with a dark-green leafy salad. Iceberg lettuce is virtually worthless. The dressing should have olive oil in it. Olive oil has lots of omega 9 fatty acids, which are essential in protecting the skin and nails. Shredded carrots or cabbage are good, too, so coleslaw would be fine with a squirt of fresh lemon instead of mayo.
Like everyone else, Vanessa also needs some protein at every meal to store more long-term energy. Try a hard-boiled egg or a slice of Swiss cheese in the morning. Dairy is good for strong bones and teeth. The pizza at night isn't bad; the cheese provides the dairy, and oregano has a high antioxidant value. But I'd suggest you add some chicken, shrimp or beef, and olives. The meat provides protein, and black olives are packed with omega 9-rich monounsaturated fats.
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Stress
Expert: Scott Sheperd, Ph.D., author of "Who's in Charge? Attacking the Stress Myth" (Rainbow Books, $12.95)
Sheperd: When you know you'll be dealing with a difficult situation, what goes through your mind?
Abbott: I've learned a lot about this in school. If I feel anxiety building up, I think about whether I have control over the outcome. If it's an exam, for example, I know I can do something about it: I can study more to ease the stress. If a photo shoot is coming up, I can reason that I'm dealing with nice people and everyone wants the shoot to be a success. If an unpleasant conversation is coming up, I try to prepare myself. I think of what I'm going to say and how the person may react. I anticipate the emotions the other person might go through. I've learned that what you say is secondary to their emotional state.
Sheperd: If you're going to have a meeting with someone you don't want to be with, what do you do?
Abbott: It doesn't come up much. But if it does, I try to become their friend.
Sheperd's advice: Vanessa is doing great. The more she realizes she can control an outcome, like performing well on a test, the easier it actually becomes to do just that. I offer this advice to everyone who comes to me: Establishing more "ownership," or control, of a stressful situation is like exercising -- it gets easier the more you do it. Like those of us who practice this through life, Vanessa should keep thinking of ways to do this as she gets older. Paying bills, for example, is easier when you have control over your budget.
I don't agree with her approach to a meeting with an unpleasant person. Friendship is complex; you can't simply make it happen. I advise people not to allow a one-hour meeting to turn into 500 hours of hell by dreading it for days and, afterward, allowing the unpleasant experience to fester. People can get through these experiences best by finding a friend and saying, "This person drives me crazy. Can we practice this meeting so I can better prepare for it?" If the unpleasant person is sarcastic and mean, have your friend do her best sarcastic-and-mean imitation. When you're in the meeting and it's getting under your skin, it helps to keep reminding yourself: This moment will pass. Good moments -- eating ice cream, hugging your kids, walking your dog -- soon will come.
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Fitness
Expert: Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., author of "Dare to Lose" (Avery Penguin Putnam, $16.95)
Lieberman: What's your workout routine?
Abbott: Mainly, I walk a lot on campus. I've heard that 20 minutes of walking a day is good, and I do at least that much at school. I also take the stairs instead of the elevator. I don't go to the gym. On weekends, I'm usually up for hiking. There are so many pretty places to hike in Arizona. But when school is out, I tend to cut back on exercise, and it shows. I'm not going to class, and it's too hot to hike. I have far less energy during the day when I'm not active.
Lieberman's advice: This is good. Exercise is key to maintaining beauty, because it engages all the muscles, including the face and neck muscles, to keep them from getting flabby. But I urge Vanessa to make sure she walks at least 20 minutes uninterrupted. If she walks five minutes to one class or 10 minutes to the grocery store, it's not aerobic. Everyone needs to do 20 minutes straight through for the exercise to really work.
Walking up and down stairs is fabulous. Think how much more fit we'd all be if we took stairs instead of escalators or elevators! This is strength training for the legs, similar to weight training. But that brings up an area Vanessa is missing out on, one that's important for everyone to include in their routine: upper-body strength training. She doesn't have to work out with weights in a gym; she can buy light dumbbells and lift them at home, or she can do push-ups. This has a direct impact on physical attractiveness in the long run, keeping those upper arms from sagging and the whole body firm.
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Sleep
Expert: James Walsh, Ph.D., president of the Washington-based National Sleep Foundation
Walsh: How much sleep do you get a night? Is it undisturbed sleep, or do you wake up a lot during the night?
Abbott: Generally, I try to get eight hours every night. I live in an off-campus apartment complex, so there's no partying at all hours keeping me up. My roommate also is very good about keeping quiet. Still, as my class schedule gets more demanding, my sleep is more like six to eight hours a night. Sometimes it can be a lot less. I might go to a late movie with friends, or my roommate and I will stay up talking. If I don't get a full eight hours, it shows. I can feel it. I'm tired in class, and it's really hard to stay focused. In that case, I'll try to take a nap when I get home, which helps me get through the evening to do my homework.
Walsh: Do you need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning?
Abbott: Yes. I'd probably still wake up without it, maybe 15 minutes late, but I like the reassurance of an alarm clock.
Walsh's advice: Although the public believes there's a correlation between sleep and beauty, such a study hasn't been conducted, to my knowledge. Still, there's a general belief that sound sleep helps us avoid those baggy eyes and that dreary look. We look more attractive when we're energized. That said, it's safe to say Vanessa is on target in trying to get eight hours of sleep. People need 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours of sleep a day to be alert. Some do fine with a little less; some need a little more. Even the loss of an hour a night over a few consecutive nights can produce "sleep debt," which can result in a negative mood. Since irritable people aren't exactly putting on their most attractive face, one might conclude that sleep debt affects appearance. Worse yet, it also can interfere with mental abilities, such as concentration and memory, or cause people to fall asleep while driving.
Vanessa is doing better than many college students, who often get about six hours of sleep a night. She needs to keep this up, no matter what kind of distractions she may face. Physiologically, sleep is not negotiable. You need a certain amount of sleep -- just as you need a certain amount of water, exercise and food -- to stay healthy.
Cover photograph by Wayne Stambler for USA WEEKEND. Styling: Tanya Gill/Solo Artists. Hair and makeup: Kim Goodwin/Cloutier.
Clothing: Jacket and shirt on cover Juicy Couture.
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