Looking After Yourself Outwardly: 4 Self-Love Tips To Help You Love the Way You Look

Investing time and effort in our outward appearance often sparks room for debate. Since those individuals who look after their outward appearances are often viewed as ‘shallow’, ‘materialistic’ or ‘conceited’, it can be challenging to look past these stereotypes and start looking after your outward self as you would your inward self. Regardless of the existence of these stereotypes, taking care of your physical appearance is equally as important as the care you’d lavish on your inner self. It has been proven to positively boost your confidence, self-worth, and mental health while helping you love the way that you look.

Self-care is paramount for achieving these positive feelings. Now we’re not saying that you must lounge in the bath with a face mask on and a bottle of wine in hand to accomplish this (unless this is your idea of self-care!). Since self-love is individual, it goes way beyond the physical and can be practised in many unique ways, from spending time with family and friends to getting a good workout at the gym. We understand how important self-care is, so we’ve created this article outlining several self-love tips, ranging from appearance-related and health-related self-care, to help you look after yourself outwardly and love the way you look.

 

Eat A Balanced, Varied Diet

When we think about looking after ourselves, diet springs into mind naturally. Although our diet doesn’t affect our outward appearance directly, what we choose to put into our bodies can impact our outward appearance over time. One part of our outward appearance that is primarily affected by our diet is our skin – which can be affected positively or negatively depending on our choices of food and beverages.

Generally, foods rich in antioxidants and healthy fats such as dark chocolate, avocados, whole eggs, pecans, blueberries, strawberries, etc., are better for making our skin glow and keeping it hydrated. At the same time, foods full of sugar and no nutritional value can impact your complexion negatively and cause blemishes and other skin problems.

Although it’s healthy and good for our well-being to indulge ourselves from time to time, it’s crucial to find the balance so that we’re not indulging too much or too little. Otherwise, it could lead to potential issues with our outward and inner health, leading to possible mental health issues or negative feelings concerning our outward appearance.

If you struggle with incorporating a balance of the four main food groups in your diet, you could look at alternate ways to get these nutrients by consuming very low-calorie diet shakes, protein bars and other healthy snacks. Consider having a look at the range of products from Shake That Weight for a range of healthy snacks designed as an option for a very low-calorie diet or individuals simply looking to better their diet. Peruse their offerings to see how their products could help you look after yourself outwardly and help you love the way you look.

 

Engage In Regular Exercise

Engaging in regular, routine exercise is a great way to practice self-care because doing so has been proven to positively affect your self-esteem and mental health. Self-care practices such as exercising and working out routinely have also been linked to promoting longevity and other positive health outcomes. When you engage in exercise, your body releases chemicals named endorphins which react with the receptors found in your brain that reduces the amount of pain you feel.

Like the effects of morphine, as endorphins are released, it creates a positive feeling throughout the body, making the individual who is exercising feel exhilarated. All of this works together to create the pleasurable sensations that we experience after a good workout. It can also help us sleep better, lower our stress levels, ward off anxiety or other mental health issues and help us love the way we look.

Health professionals recommend that adults engage in at least one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate exercise a week for adults. But if you prefer a more intense workout, aim for around seventy-five minutes per week. Some of the easiest ways to incorporate exercise into your self-care regime are through swimming, dancing, jogging, running, all activities of which are great for your inward and outward health and for practising self-love.

 

Ensure You Get Plenty Of Sleep

Many people neglect sleep as part of their self-care routine because they don’t realise it’s crucial to our health and wellness. Ensuring that we get plenty of sleep is an essential part of self-care, as the duration and quality can impact our immune system, mood and much more.

Understanding why sleep is so important is just the tip of the iceberg; the most challenging part is incorporating it into our self-care regime to ensure that you get a good night’s rest. Depending on your age, the average person should aim for at least seven to nine hours a night to ensure that you’re appropriately prepared for the day pending so that your mind and body can function adequately.

We have several suggestions to help you create a healthy sleep schedule as part of your self-care routine. The following tips should kick-start your journey to a good night’s sleep;

— Avoid all electronics for at least three hours before you go to bed.

— Don’t consume caffeinated drinks and heavy foods right before going to sleep.

— Stick to a schedule to regulate your body clock, so your body will know when to sleep and when it’s time to wake up.

— Try and relax before bedtime by having a bath, reading a book, and avoiding electronics or bright screens/lights.

 

Experiment With Make-Up Or Your Wardrobe

Experimenting with changing your daily look is another thing to add to your self-care itinerary. Making changes to your make-up or wardrobe is an easy way to experiment with trending styles, whether to your hair, cosmetics, or clothes, that aren’t permanent but still allow you to be adventurous.

The fear of other people’s opinions often prevents us from experimenting with our appearance, be it through piercings, dying our hair or our fashion choices. Taking risks and being experimental with our outward appearance can lead to success and positive feelings about ourselves. Feelings that we may not have discovered had we not experimented with our look in the first place and are easily interchangeable if we find that we disapprove of our new choices.

Since semi-permanent hair dyes can be rinsed out or re-dyed, piercings can be removed and left to heal, and bold fashion choices can be sold, donated to charity, or left to be forgotten at the back of our wardrobes. Playing with our wardrobe and make-up choices can even lead to increased self-confidence or self-esteem, as doing so stems from feelings of self-expression and finding our sense of style.

Experimentation helps us branch away from the family or culture we live in and redefine who we are as individuals and where we want to place ourselves in society. Taking our time with getting ready and appreciating our appearance as we do so can lead to us enjoying much more about ourselves than we had initially, and not to mention we’ll leave the house feeling good about ourselves and the changes we’ve made.