4 Ways Healthy Living Enhances Your Beauty

Editor’s Note: To help us all stay within our fitness goals and resolutions for 2014, I’ve enlisted the help of our first-ever fitness/nutrition guest blogger Teena Cathey! I’m super excited to offer Teena the opportunity to talk to LBS readers about how to live a healthier lifestyle. Check out her first piece below and show her some love:

Enhance BeautyImage Source

There are tons of beauty products on the market that help you enhance your eyes, skin, and hair. I’m all for enhancing your best assets, especially without surgery. Which is why I love leg day. Doing exercises that naturally lift and tone my butt is heaven. No injections or booty pop needed. But this post is not about my butt. (Stay tuned for another post about that.)

Enhancing is great, but did you know that living a healthy lifestyle enhances your attributes? Oh yes girl. I’ll break it down in an equation for you. Don’t worry, there are no numbers involved:

Equation 1: Poor Diet + Alcohol x No Sleep + Toxic Relationships = Acne, Weight Gain, Depression + Premature Aging.

Equation 2: Healthy Eating + Exercise x Water + Healthy Relationships = Clear Skin, Healthy Hair, Happiness + Longevity.

Which equation would you prefer? I’m sure you chose the latter. Now let me break down how this healthy living helps you look and feel more beautiful from the inside out…

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1. Healthy Eating

You’ve probably heard this more than once. Eating healthy and nutrient-dense foods is a great way to get your sexy back. Fruit, dark leafy greens and whole grains help you from the inside out. They are filled with nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, antioxidants and so much more. Your skin soaks up these nutrients which helps get rid of blemishes. Your skin tone will become more even and will be glowing like Sunday sunshine. Christina talked about how healthy eating helped her skin HERE.  If you missed it, check it out!

Eating healthy also helps your hair grow thick and full, regaining its natural oils. But I’ll get more into that in a few.

Related: 5 Tips For Growing Long Healthy Natural Hair

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2. Exercise

You are probably like “Ugh exercise, I’m not a fan”. I totally understand where you are coming from. Sweating is not cute. However, exercise does wonders for your body. After reading these benefits hopefully you will reconsider.

Exercise helps you:

– Increase energy levels
– Release creativity
– Release “happy” endorphins
– Welcome hair growth
– Clear your skin

Working out also increases blood circulation. This is awesome for your skin because it helps fight off bacteria and infection, including those nasty black and white heads. So that’s less foundation you have to use! Exercising also increases blood flow to the scalp releasing essential nutrients into your hair follicles.

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3. Water

Ever seen the movie “Water Boy” with Adam Sandler? There is this song they sing, “Water sucks it really, really sucks, water sucks it really, really sucks! Water sucks!” Don’t believe the hype! Water does not suck.

You have intracellular and extracellular ways for your body to get water. The intracellular is the water in your cells, muscles and organs. Extracellular is the water outside your cells, aka the water you drink. Your body is made up of 65-70% water.

Water is essential for you to LIVE. Point blank and the period (*Tamar Braxton voice*). Guess what else water does?

– Flushes your body of toxins
– Promotes weight loss
– Improves skin complexion
– Puts you in a good mood

All you naturalistas out there know that water is your hair’s best friend. Don’t let your hair get all of water’s attention. Show some love to your body as well. Help your hair and skin from the inside out by drinking it daily and often.

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4. Healthy Relationships

Just like food, relationships can be toxic too. Trust me on this, I’ve had too many toxic people in my life in the past and it made me tired – mentally and physically.

Toxic relationships bring on:

– Stress
– Headaches
– Breakouts
– Less sleep
– Faster aging

Holding on to unhealthy relationships is dead in 2014. There are beauty products that reverse the effects of aging, but they will not do you any good if you are under constant stress. The effects of unhealthy relationships can cause your hair to fall out, increased weight gain, and loss of focus. Isn’t it crazy how people can effect you like this?

Surrounding yourself with people who will uplift you and not bring you down constantly adds years onto your life. Happy people live longer. Don’t you want to be on this earth for a while strutting your stuff in a fly pair of heels? Making lifestyle changes like drinking more water, exercising, eating healthy and being around positive people can go a long way. All these things will only help to enhance your beauty. Make small lifestyle changes and be fabulous for a lifetime.

Have questions about how you can start living a healthy lifestyle to enhance your beauty? Sound off in the comments. What lifestyle changes do you plan to make or incorporate in 2014?

Teena Cathey is a Certified Personal Trainer and Zumba Instructor. She helps men and women with weight loss, healthy eating habits and ways to fit fitness into a busy schedule. She is a Fitness Specialist at CoreFit Fitness in Novi, MI. Follow her @teenacathey and check out her website www.teenacathey.com.

Christina Brown

Lifestyle influencer and digital mompreneur Christina S. Brown is a New York native, LA resident, and the founder of LoveBrownSugar.com and BrownGirlsLove. She's an award-winning storyteller, a motivational speaker and an advocate for confident millennial black women.

4 Comments
    1. Hey Marie, I totally understand about it being a little rough. But you are absolutely right about taking it “one step at a time.” What challenges are you having? If you don’t mind me asking.

  1. My formula for healthy living is to stay hydrated because water is the only source so to get rid of any kind of skin and health related problems. Thanks!!

    Terry
    dermology.us