The Journey of Self Care in 18 Ways

Self care wasn’t always as encouraged as it is now. Growing up when the message from the media and celebrities was clear: if you were slim, you could be successful. It was a culture of extreme diets and excessive exercise. Normative gender stereotypes were rife, women did cardio, men lifted heavyweights. The ideal female body types were slim to very slim, while men should be lean with muscle definition.

But the message most of them had in common was that you should eat sub-1200 calories and that carbohydrates were the devil (unless they resembled a salad leaf). So, it goes without saying that we all have been prey to be highly influenced by trends. I lifted weights and counted macros when fitness influencers became a thing, I bought a Nutribullet and Vitamix when the world was juicing, and I intermittent fasted with the best of them. I’ve counted calories, fat percentages, and weight on the scales.

If only we had grown up in a society that placed more focus on the mind than the body. How different things might look today if generations had been told by glossy magazines and reality TV shows that their success would be measured wholly on skill or intellect, rather than looks. 

Nowadays, we live in a much more accepting world when it comes to body shape. It’s not perfect, by any means, but the body positivity movement has given us celebrities with a variety of body types to look up to—Ashley Graham, Lizzo, Iskra Lawrence, and Paloma Elsesser, to name a few. It’s so incredibly obvious, but life would be so much simpler if we all embraced how we looked.

It’s clichéd, sure, but the saying “health is wealth” rings true. 

Now look, we’re by no means perfect. If you put on weight during lockdown like so many, when exercise was kept up at the start then quickly switched our workouts for wine. What we do want to focus on is being as healthy as can be and making it a lasting lifestyle, not a passing fad. 

So, with all that in mind, 18 tips have been all rallied we can all do today to feel healthier and happier, regardless of weight or clothes size, and show how loving your body is more important than anything else in your voyage to self care. 

18 Steps to Try for Self Care Bliss

1. Eat a Nutrient-Rich Diet

Instead of eating to lose weight, why not eat for glowing skin? Our skin is our body’s largest organ. What occurs on the surface of our skin is often a reflection of what is happening inside our bodies. When we are healthy on the inside, our skin is better able to carry out its role as a protective barrier to the outside world.

It’s important to make sure your diet contains all the essential nutrients. Essential vitamins, carotenoids, and plant extracts all have important antioxidant properties that are essential for your skin and health. Vitamin C and E are important skin-boosting antioxidants that reduce free radicals and boost the skin’s collagen supply. Carotenoids (which are derived from vitamin A) help to protect your skin from UV radiation and plant extracts like green tea, also have powerful antioxidant properties that decrease premature aging.

Cutting out alcohol is another great way to protect the skin. Alcohol dehydrates the skin, its diuretic properties cause us to lose excess water rapidly, contributing to a drier, more brittle complexion. The high sugar content can also lead to inflammation in the dermis of the skin.

2. Get Outside

Go for a walk in natural daylight as soon as you wake up! Natural daylight is important for regulating our internal body clock and circadian rhythms, which closely modulate our metabolism, sleep, and hormones. Daylight decreases our melatonin levels (our sleep hormone) and increases insulin sensitivity when we eat food.

In the evening, melatonin levels increase, and insulin sensitivity decreases, which reduces our metabolism and prepares our body for rest and repair. In these times of lockdown, where we have been inside for more time and using screens more to connect with friends and family and for work, we are more exposed to blue light which can disrupt our melatonin levels and disrupt our sleep. When our sleep is disrupted, this can impact our hunger hormone (ghrelin) to increase the next day, which may increase appetite.

3. Check-In With Yourself: Self Care 101

Often when I’m feeling off I ask myself: have I eaten, am I tired, do I need water and where am I in my cycle? If all those things check off, it can be like a suppressed emotion that you need to move through, which you can do with deep breathwork to lean into and release any tears, sadness, or fear. Writing in a journal is also a great tool to utilize by asking yourself, ‘What is coming up for me?’ And then let the answers, thoughts, and emotions flow as a way of self care!

4. Shake It Off

When breathing deep, add movement, too. Sometimes literally shake it off until it comes up and out (dance or shake like a wet dog. In the morning, shake and let out an audible breath—ridding yourself of the grogginess of the morning, removing anything that doesn’t serve you, while also putting a pep in your step for the day. You start your day letting go of yesterday or any sort of self-doubt as part of your self care journey.

5. Find an Accountability Buddy

The best way to get back into fitness after having a long break off is to have someone else to hold you accountable to ensure you take the steps needed to get back into your routine. It could be as simple as writing down your goals and setting a goal date. How about telling your friends about your goals? You never know, they might have the same goals in mind and you could work together to achieve them. Another great way to be held accountable is by participating in live exercise classes. The instructor can offer you both motivation and encouragement in real-time, and hiring a personal trainer means your goals will become a lot more focused, and offer weekly check-ins to help you to remain motivated.

6. Ask Yourself: What Do I Value?

Do you value being health conscious right now? If not, that is okay, because sometimes when we are in a place of threat and survival (scarcity mindset), we are not ready to engage in changes and we are seeking comfort and safety. If you are now ready to change and feel safe, [think about it you have ever] previously taken care of yourself. How did you think and feel when you were doing that—i.e. I am strong/feel relaxed/feel good.

Visualize in your mind how you looked, thought, and felt when making conscious healthier choices. When we engage in the memory/fantasy, we can engage in the emotion and the physical sense of positivity. We are then more likely to see and engage in the more conscious choices by making our minds and bodies remember.

Do not be afraid to check in with yourself (or an accountability partner) regularly—be the observer of your emotions and thoughts. Often, we are blindly eating and engaging in comfort behaviors. Again, if we do this, we need to compassionately ask ourselves whether this behavior is aligned with our values and whether it is what we need at that moment. The more we criticize and punish ourselves, the worse we feel, which then leads to downward spirals of comfort-seeking and can impact our self care progress.

7. Skip the Scales

Something it’s best to stay away from the scales. The scales have a wicked way of dictating how you dress, how you interact with others, and how you feel about yourself. Also, ask yourself this question—would you prefer to see the number on the scales drop, but feel terrible in yourself, or feel amazing and not see the number on the scales you want to see? It should always be the latter.

8. Change Just One Meal

If you’re trying to eat healthier, you don’t have to do it all at once. Focus on making changes to one meal, perhaps breakfast. Could you take more time with breakfast and swap your morning bowl of cereal for a morning smoothie with lots of greens? Or make an omelet with two to three different types of vegetables? A great breakfast full of green, fiber, protein, and good fat will keep you fuller for longer and reduce the number of snack breaks, i.e. trips to the kitchen to graze.

9. Take a Multivitamin

It can be extremely difficult to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive from food alone, not to mention time-consuming and expensive. This is where supplementing your diet with certain vitamins and minerals can give your health that extra boost.

Common deficiencies include iron deficiency and vitamin D deficiency. If you’re lacking energy, suffering from a low mood, and experiencing a weakened immune system, try a multivitamin that contains these ingredients.

10. Use Visualization

Spend time focusing on how you want to feel, rather than focusing on how you currently feel—visualize a happier, healthier you and notice how you feel at this moment. If you do this and then exercise over the next two weeks, your brain will start to become addicted to the feeling you’re now having, and it’ll begin to do whatever it takes to re-create that feeling. This is your source of unlimited motivation.

11. Curb Those Unhealthy Cravings

If you find that you have unhealthy cravings, curb your cravings with nut butter, nuts, avocados, and eggs (if you’re not vegan).

12. Address Your Relationship to Your Body Image

Achieving your weight goals will not solve the body image and self-esteem issues you may face. The average person spends around one to two hours on social media daily, where one in three influencers are fitness-based. If you have a regular job, looking like an influencer (whose job it is to look a certain type of way) is often unrealistic.

Social media presents a distorted version of reality, and many of the pictures we see are taken in certain angles, or in certain lighting, or at certain times of the day where water retention is low, giving a ripped look. 

Many influencers use Photoshop and filters to enhance their body. Constantly being bombarded with these images can make you feel as if your body is not good enough. We also need to take into consideration that not everyone has the same body type… This is genetic and cannot be changed, no matter how hard you try.

The solution? Unfollow the fitness influencers that offer little or no value. It’s nice to have goals and something to work towards, but you need to be realistic and true to yourself. You need to remember that this is your journey in self care and no one else’s.

Achieving your weight goals will not solve the body image and self-esteem issues you may face.

13. Hydrate!

Something that so many of us neglect is hydration. Mild dehydration can negatively affect our concentration, productivity, energy levels, and make us more likely to overeat. Keep a pint glass in the bathroom and vowing to drink one pint of water each morning—while you’re in the shower or after brushing your teeth is a great way to ensure we start the day adequately hydrated. Self care starts with the basics.

14. Add Electrolytes

When we’re dehydrated, the stomach holds on to water to prevent the situation from getting worse, which in turn creates bloating. Adding electrolytes to a glass of water will encourage fluid to leave the stomach and enter the body to rebalance hydration, thus reducing signs of bloating.

Once we start to feel thirsty, our body is already dehydrated, and drinking plain water will take at least an hour to replenish levels. Consuming electrolytes will speed up this process and energize you for the afternoon ahead.

15. Make Bath Time a Nightly Ritual

Setting aside time for your evening ritual to optimize sleep has hugely beneficial outputs. Swap your restless scanning for news updates and Instagram stories for an Epsom salt bath. From an immunity point of view, magnesium is best absorbed through the skin, working faster to produce serotonin to soothe any anxiety and stress taken on throughout your day. To make your body even more primed for deep relaxation and promote an overall feeling of wellness, add a few drops of lavender oil to really hit that sweet spot of self care.

16. Smile!

There is some interesting science that fake smiling can actually trick your brain into releasing certain hormones including dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine increases our feelings of happiness, while serotonin release is associated with reduced stress. Even a forced smile can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, making you feel better!

17. Be Your Own (Kind) Mentor

Coach yourself through food choices like a supportive parent, not your high school bully. If we want to eat cake for the third time in the day, try telling yourself that you can have a bit more after a walk or after a bath or after you’ve eaten a healthy meal, just like your parents might have done. If you tell yourself you’re greedy and have no self-control and are a failure like bullies do, you’re more likely to make worse choices for yourself due to low self-esteem.

Coach yourself through food choices like a supportive parent, not your high school bully for self care the right way.

18. Take Time for Self Care

Use a Gua sha stone to do some lymphatic drainage on yourself in the evening –it will help to wake up a tired-looking face, decrease puffiness and help to naturally drain toxins from the body. Or, get a massage or facial monthly to give yourself the best kind of self care you can find in the right tranquil atmosphere and the due diligence for your body while also letting your mind get refreshed too.

Call Botanica Day Spa to book your appointment now at 727-441-1711 or online here.

Love,

Gen