The Beauty Effect of Diet and Exercise

I’ve always tried to live a healthy lifestyle and taken an interest in health, fitness, and beauty-related issues. But, we all struggle with eating right and working out, right? I’ve found that the best way to stay on the right track is to keep my mind focused on the benefits. What will my future self look like? What will I feel like after that workout? How will I feel after eating a salad vs. a burger? Did you know that getting your diet and fitness in check can also immediately improve your face, hair, skin, nails, and overall appearance?

Your Face and Body
Exercising regularly can transform your body. Whether you want bigger muscles, sleeker legs, or a tighter tummy, exercise is the way to get there. Regular exercise can also help tone your muscles, correct bad posture, and even reduce the appearance of cellulite. It can also help decrease stress and anxiety, both during and after a workout. Stress is linked to the skin, so decreasing stress can help reduce acne, eczema, and the signs of aging. So, the next time you’re feeling stressed, go for a jog, take a yoga class, or swim and say goodbye to the worries of the day.

Eating right also makes you look years younger. It can keep your eyes clear and bright, help you lose weight, increase your energy, help your body fight infection, improve bone health, and just make you feel better all-around.

One of the immediate effects of not working out is gaining weight, on both your body and face. Areas like the neck, jowls, and eye area are affected more severely by weight gain. Having more fatty areas around the face and body can also contribute to signs of aging, like saggy skin. To slow down any aging effects on the skin and to keep your skin taut and toned, exercise is a must.

Your Skin
Sweating clears the pores and expels trapped dirt and oil, which can naturally clear the skin. But it’s important to wash your face immediately after working out, or it will have the opposite effect and your skin will show more signs of acne from the sweat. When you exercise, your skin produces more of its own natural oils, which can improve the look of your skin and create a natural flush. Exercise also increases blood flow, which can help carry waste away from the body, including free radicals.

Researchers agree that exercising can affect the shape, color, texture, condition, and overall appearance of the skin on the face and body. Most researchers also agree that your diet can affect things, like acne and your pores, so avoid consuming too many fried foods, dairy products, processed snack foods, salty snacks, and chocolate, which have all been linked to skin problems. Eating right can nourish your skin from the inside out, making your skin appear clear, smooth, radiant, and glowing from within. On the contrary, an unbalanced diet can leave your skin more sensitive to the sun, leading to a greater risk for skin cancer.

Your Hair
Want healthy, shiny hair? Of course you do. Hair products can help improve your hair’s condition, texture, and thickness, but only to a certain degree. Eating right will nourish and improve your hair from the inside out and leave you with thick, lovely locks year-round.

Your Nails
When your nails are thick and strong, they are less likely to break and chip during your workouts. After all, there’s nothing worse than breaking brittle nails on free weights when you’re just trying to bust out a rep. To make them stronger, all you have to do is eat right. Certain supplements, like biotin, can also help improve your nails more quickly, but a healthy diet is essential.

Your Teeth
Yes, even your teeth are affected by the way you eat. If you want strong, healthy teeth, you need to eat right. Consuming too much sugar or caffeine can eat away at your teeth and discolor them over time. Take care of those pearly whites so you can keep chomping on healthy foods at any age.

Your Confidence
When your confidence is high and you are feeling good about yourself and your appearance, it will shine through. We all spend money on our hair, makeup, fashion, and subscription boxes to make us feel more confident and beautiful, but dieting and exercising works from the inside out. Your beauty can shine through before you even touch a makeup brush.

Other Benefits
It’s also important to mention that a healthy lifestyle can improve your sleep, increase your energy and stamina, increase flexibility, increase oxygen supply to the body, reduce stress, and just make you feel better all-around. What could be better? It’s like the most amazing makeover for your body, mind, and appearance. And the cost? Just living a more healthy, active lifestyle. Apparently, the doctor really was right all along: All it takes is regular exercise and a moderate diet to live a healthier, happier life.

How to Reap the Rewards
Most researchers agree that you can reap maximum benefits by spending about 30 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week, on moderate activity. While running has gotten me into shape the fastest (especially after the holidays), I also love Pilates, yoga, dancing, and circuit training. I love to mix things up, some days at the gym, some days at home doing workout videos. Try different videos, workouts, and exercise styles to find what you like. And don’t forget about a workout partner! They can be invaluable in keeping you on track, motivated, and aware of your accomplishments.

Eating a healthy diet also doesn’t require a crazy lifestyle, you just need to try to do as many of the following as possible:

Drink plenty of water.
Enjoy your tea.
Eat more raw foods.
Follow the food pyramid.
Consume more fiber.
Watch your fat and calories.
Opt for all-natural items whenever possible.
Follow the 80/20 (or 70/30) rule: You can be bad 20% of the time, if you’re good 80% of the time. Just remember, everything will eventually catch up with you, your body keeps the best journal of what you eat.
Cutting back on carbs, sugar, and salt can also speed up your results and help you look and feel better sooner, but let’s not get crazy here. We’re already following the 80/20 rule, right?

Certain foods are also jam-packed with vitamins and antioxidants, so you can feel and look better even faster. Look for foods high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and omega-3s, which have all been shown to protect and improve the appearance of the skin.

Subscribing to Bulu Box can be a huge jumpstart for your healthy living changes. Experiment with different foods, workouts, supplements, and smoothies to find what works for you. I currently take a daily multivitamin and fish oil, biotin, and Vitamin D supplements because I don’t eat enough fish and I and have found that this combination works best for me and my skin. You can always ask your doctor what they recommend or just figure out what your diet is lacking and go from there.

Make Your Future Self Proud
They say that what you do now affects the future you. So the next time you want to skip a workout or reach for that cookie, remember that a healthier, more beautiful you awaits if you stay strong and keep your eye on the prize. Make a healthy lifestyle your best beauty secret and you’ll reach your Version 2.0 in no time.