Younger men keep you young
Going out with a younger man can seriously improve your health. Honestly. According to a university study from the US, women with younger partners are proven to live longer than those with older or same age partners. They found it was a combination of genes (a woman who looks younger is likely to attract a younger partner), lifestyle and psychology i.e. ‘being kept youthful’ by the younger partner.
This is very uplifting news – especially because I have a big birthday coming up and we all know what crises these milestone dates can trigger.
Yep, the big FOUR-OH is just around the corner. This week actually and I haven’t even started planning a party or anything yet. I should really, there’s a lot to celebrate. Four glorious decades on this beautiful planet. Forty years is half a life but is it really middle-aged? Middle- age has such stodgy connotations; speak toupees and set perms; hanging bellies and thick thighs; tuning into Terry Wogan and staying in on Saturday night to watch game shows; slowing down and embracing the aches and pains that come with increased age. The thing is I don’t remotely feel like slowing down and my body is definitely far from decrepit. I am in fact much fitter and healthy at 40 than I ever was in my previous incarnation as a gauloise smoking, career junkie who finished off her meals with double grappas for the ‘digestive’ effect. I am probably even more ‘youthful’ looking now. So much so that even my parents commented the other week that I’d never looked so good. Generally women in their forties (and fifties, sixties etc) these days look great. Look at all those cosmetic ads! (OK there is some photoshop at play). The supermodels of the 90s are now in their forties and they’re getting bigger contracts and pulling in more money than the younger girls. And finally Hollywood actresses are getting decent roles beyond 35. If Marilyn Monroe were alive today, she needn’t have gotten depressed about aging.
There are great ‘inner’ advantages to being older of course. You know who you are and what you want. You have self-confidence and panache and are not desperately trying to please like the 20-year-old version of yourself did. In terms of how I ‘feel’ physically, I may just as well be turning 30. (Gosh then I’d still be 5 years older than my boyfriend!) In a way 40 is ideal. You still look ‘youngish’ but your head is firmly screwed on and you can thus live life to the full without worrying about ‘looking fat in this’.
As for life beginning at 40: well it certainly is for me. I just became a mum for the first time and have moved to Goa, India to start a new life with my much younger partner who is opening a yoga beach resort. His sense of adventure is infectious. And my hunger for new experiences has definitely not waned.
By Claudia
For more information from Claudia’s book on younger men visit: here
Comments