Health, Weight and Beauty

This is the time of year when there is so much discussion around weight, losing weight, getting rid of unwanted fat, toning up, whatever you want to call it, but it can definitely be too much. I think it's important to reflect on health with the new year but is losing those last 5 or 10 pounds really about health? Many people are driven by the reducing the number on the scale or the size of their clothes but perhaps that is where the body is healthiest.

Unfortunately, the media constantly shows us photos of the perfect male or female body with ripped, lean muscles. It's not realistic for us to compare ourselves to them because the photos are typically not real. They are photo-shopped or the model has become dehydrated to look more lean. In this blog post, runner Lauren Fleshman shows how she normally looks compared to her runway photo. I recently started posting short videos online and most of the time I don't have makeup on. Honestly, I'm just too lazy to put it on only to take it off later. I was a little uncomfortable at first but I've decided to just be who I am. It may be a day where I'm dressed up with make up on or where I'm in my workout clothes with bare skin. It's who I am. 

Isn't it more important to be strong and healthy instead of thin and frail? Isn't it more important to be a beautiful person inside than to be a beautiful person outside? Our society sometimes loses sight of this and too much emphasis is put on looking lean and youthful. 

It's especially common for women to be judged on how we look. It can strongly affect a person's self esteem but self esteem starts with self acceptance. We need to all love ourselves for who we are today. If the body is not in a healthy status, make changes to correct that. Eat more vegetables, sleep more and use meditation to cope with stress. All of these things improve health and help the body to reach it's optimal weight. Recognize what your optimal weight is, it may be where you are right now and not 5 or 10 pounds less. If you lost that weight you may find yourself cold all the time, with less energy and not actually looking better. If you are an athlete, you may find that you have less power and that will not make you any faster. 

Put health first, performance will follow and let you beauty shine from within.