Amid the covid-19 pandemic, people have realized that health must be given top priority in daily life. Everything you do must contribute to improving your health or, at least, maintaining it. For both men and women, attractiveness must not be sought at the expense of health.
For instance, unhealthy diets or pills that promise weight loss must be avoided. Beauty products must be scrutinized for toxic ingredients. These days, attractiveness follows being in top physical condition.
Fitness at Any Shape
Unfortunately, many people equate attractiveness with specific body shapes imposed mainly by media and the fashion industry. This was confirmed by most Americans in an April 2021 study by YouGov, with 76 percent pointing to media and 69 percent pointing to the fashion industry.
Because of this, 51 percent of Americans feel pressured to attain such body shapes even if these do not correspond with their natural body type. Thankfully, a body positivity movement promotes acceptance and appreciation of the wide range of natural body types. A majority or 58 percent of Americans see this movement as a positive social development.
Instead of focusing on body shape, it is healthier to focus on body fitness. Each body is inherently beautiful, and that beauty is honored by keeping it fit without aiming to achieve a certain shape. A fit body feels better, works better, and has a lower risk of developing chronic diseases like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, among others.
Fitness is reached through physical activity. According to the latest edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults will gain significant health benefits by having regular exercise. If you can only do aerobic exercises with moderate intensity, you need to do a total of 150 to 300 minutes divided throughout each week. If you can do high-intensity aerobic exercises, you can do a total of 75 to 150 minutes divided by seven days a week.
Once you are comfortable with this, you can add more minutes per day for more health benefits. Strength training exercises involving all the major muscles must also be done at least two days a week. Once you are strong enough, you can add another day. Always have one day between strengthening workouts, though, to enable the muscles to rest.
There are various types of aerobic exercises, so you can choose whatever feels fun for you. You can go outside and speed walk, run, or bike. Indoors, you can follow a wide variety of online aerobic programs. Apart from the usual workouts, there are dance aerobics programs from the oldies to hip hop to belly dancing. They also range from moderate to high intensity.
For strengthening exercises, you can use your body without any equipment when you do bodyweight exercises such as planks, push-ups, squats, lunges, leg raises, and crunches. You can also use weights and other gym or home gym equipment. Get an instructor, even a virtual one, to ensure that you do not hurt yourself if you are not yet familiar with strength training workouts.
Fitness must be accompanied by healthy eating. This means eating moderate amounts of food and avoiding saturated fat, trans fat, too much sugar, and too much salt. Most processed food have these unhealthy ingredients. Hence, it is best to cook fresh meat, seafood, and vegetables. Fresh fruits are great as dessert and snacks.
Body Maintenance
Taking care of the body goes further than physical fitness. You must also take care of your oral health. Healthy teeth and gums enable you to eat well. If you have a tooth that can no longer be saved, a cosmetic dentist can replace it with an implant so that you still have a complete set.
Keeping your skin healthy is essential because it is the largest organ of the body. Avoid long exposure to the sun because this can cause skin cancer. Always use sunscreen even when you are not going to the beach. Dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation can also come from tanning beds.
The skin absorbs products you put on it, so check the ingredients of all makeup and skincare products. This includes your lipstick, eye makeup, and underarm deodorant. Products you put on your hair and nails can also be absorbed into your body. To be safe, choose products that specifically state that they do not contain toxic ingredients and have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Healthy and Looking Great
Look great while being healthy. This must be your goal. Being attractive through unhealthy means is a form of self-sabotage. It will not last long because you are undermining your own well-being. On the other hand, being healthy gives you a natural glow that is impossible to achieve otherwise. This is what makes anyone truly attractive at any shape or age.
