As warm weather becomes the norm, it’s time for the question: Is your body beach ready?
SPOILER ALERT: Everyone’s body is beach ready. You don’t need to have a certain physique to go have fun at the beach—or anywhere else for that matter.
The important thing is to be your best self by taking care of your mind and body through healthy habits, no matter what your body looks like. That’s because the ideal body weight and shape is going to be different for each person.
“While body weight is important in maintaining good health, it is not the only indicator of health,” said Katie Throop, a registered dietitian and researcher for Nutrilite™ products. “Your diet, mental health, lean muscle mass, blood sugar levels and blood lipid levels are also important in assessing your overall health picture.
“Your body can be healthy across a wide range of weights.”
Let’s say that again: The ideal body weight is not the same for everyone. That’s true in spite of the fact that many people use the same calculations to determine whether you have an ideal body weight.
Have you ever heard of the BMI, or the Body Mass Index? Depending on your age, learning your personal BMI may have been a key (and potentially traumatic) part of your health or physical education class in high school or college.
Developed by a Belgian mathematician in 1832, the BMI is a formula that uses your height and weight to see where you fall on a scale that ranges from underweight to obese. It was designed to assess large groups of people, not individuals. To that end, it’s a useful general tool to identify trends and potential for health problems in general. But the stated healthy BMI range is not accurate for everyone.
“The BMI is a useful tool but it isn’t perfect because it doesn’t distinguish between body fat and muscle mass and it doesn’t account for fat distribution,” Throop said. “Everyone has different genetics, different body frames, fat distribution and height, and these are all things that help determine a healthy individual weight range.”
While the BMI is one piece of information for you and your doctor to discuss, it should not be the only source used for judging whether you are at a healthy or ideal body weight. And it definitely shouldn’t be used to determine if you are beach body ready.
So, grab your sunscreen and remember some of these tips when you’re headed out for some fun in the sun!
Practice some body positivity. What we tell ourselves affects our mood and our actions, so why not decide to think positively?
Speaking kindly to ourselves is proven to enhance self-esteem—it helps build body acceptance and body confidence, putting you on the road to a healthy body image. Positive self-talk is like practicing an instrument or training for sports: It won’t be easy to start, but you’ll improve over time.
Try this: Identify very specific, genuine, positive statements about yourself. Is your hair straight out of a shampoo commercial? Do you love your skin? Great posture? Make a list and remind yourself of all the great things you’ve got going for you.
Place that list where you will see it often, whether that be on your bathroom mirror or on your phone’s home screen. This will remind you to show yourself compassion and understanding for who you are and what you have been through.
If it feels overwhelming to give thanks for how your body looks, shift your focus and find gratitude for all the incredible things that your body can do. For example, your strong legs can take long walks with your friends or family and keep you healthy.
Saying thank you to your body on a regular basis can also translate into a healthy body image and positive actions toward your body because you’ll want to take care of it.
You’ll tend to make healthier lifestyle choices like eating more nutritious meals, exercising more frequently and drinking plenty of water.
After a long winter, even the most confident person may feel hesitant about putting on a swim suit to take a dip in the water. After all, winter is made for hunkering down and getting cozy with fuzzy blankets and hearty soups while cooler temps take over.
Spring leading into summer is a useful reset for many of us as we naturally shift to lighter meals and more outdoor activity.
Getting back into shape by being healthier and feeling more energetic has nothing to do with losing weight—it is simply returning to the best version of yourself.
If there is still a part of your body that you would like to work on in order to feel like your most confident self, enlist a friend and start a strength challenge.
Self-conscious about your arms? Text a friend to see if you each can do a certain number of push-ups each day for a month and hold each other accountable with daily texts.
Start with doing push-ups against a wall and try to work your way to the ground on your knees. Eventually, you may even be able to do a full push up from your toes. By the end of the month, you’ll feel stronger and more confident as those muscles start to pop.
You can also find community in the various workout apps that allow you to connect online with other users. Find likeminded people through your chosen app while you’re tracking your progress and engaging in group challenges.
A wide array of dietary supplements can help with your body positivity goals. Check out this article for suggestions on supporting your fitness and nutrition. There are also supplements to support weight management.
Nutrilite Carb Blocker includes white kidney bean extract and is designed to inhibit the digestion of both simple sugars and complex carbohydrates when taken with a high-carbohydrate meal. And Nutrilite Slimmetry is a green tea extract supplement that complements weight management when combined with a reduced calorie diet and exercise.
Whether you want to lose weight, exercise more regularly or simply improve your diet by eating more nutritious food, having a plan to follow can help you make better choices, allowing you to feel better about yourself—and that includes your body!
Start planning your beach day and try not to get sand in your swimsuit. Looking for more tips on how to live a healthy, confident life? Check out our other articles at Amway Discover.
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