Decision-making, relationships, emotional health, and general well-being are all influenced by self-esteem. Additionally, it affects motivation since those who have a healthy, positive self-view are aware of their potential and may be motivated to take on new tasks.
What is self-esteem?
The extent to which you believe in and value your unique character, talents, abilities, and accomplishments is referred to as self-esteem. Accordingly, self-esteem can be dependent on how you believe other people see you as a person, just as your body image.
People with poor self-esteem might not always feel good about how they appear or how they feel about themselves. As a result, they frequently find it difficult to recognize their value and abilities.
People who have high self-esteem frequently have a good attitude about their bodies and minds, can identify their abilities, and understand their value and worth.
How does Body Image Affect Self-Esteem?
Your ideas, feelings, and behaviors are significantly influenced by your self-esteem and body image. Particularly, you can never be satisfied with your physique because you can’t measure up when you compare it to someone else’s.
People think there is a standard for beauty because our society is obsessed with social media and photo-shopped images. But it is typically unreal, though. If something isn’t genuine, it can’t be achieved either. However, the majority of people hold a negative opinion of themselves.
What is body image?
Your ideas and feelings about the way your body looks are the foundation of your body image. Your perception of your physique might occasionally be influenced by how you believe others perceive your look.
A good body image is made up of positive ideas and feelings about your look, whereas a poor body image is the result of negative thoughts and feelings about your appearance. A key component of self-esteem, or how you feel and think about yourself as a person, is body image.
Why is it important to improve your self-esteem?
Everyone needs to keep in check their self-esteem because it keeps you optimistic about life and makes you feel proud of who you are on the inside and out. Teens that have high self-esteem typically enjoy life considerably more.
They are more likely to continue with a task until they complete it, develop stronger connections with peers and adults, and find it easier to deal with failures and setbacks.
How to maintain a healthy body image?
Adopt healthy habits
Develop wholesome behaviors to look after your body. Your body benefits from getting adequate sleep and leading a healthy lifestyle. Good habits not only improve your overall health but also increase self-confidence. More importantly, it helps you have a more positive perception of your body.
Eat healthily
Taking good care of your body is part of loving it. Many people who have low self-esteem as a result of having a poor perception of their bodies either starve themselves or overeat to satisfy their needs.
A bad body image is connected to several eating problems. The first step to developing a positive body image and sense of self-acceptance is eating healthily and in the proper amounts.
Praise your body’s features
Praise your body’s favorable features, such as your hands, hair, feet, or eyes, to increase your self-esteem and eliminate negative body image. Describe to yourself the aspects of your physique that you enjoy most and why.
Consult your buddies if you’re having trouble discovering anything worthwhile. You’d be amazed at what appeals to others. More importantly, knowing that your loved ones think your hair or eyes are appealing might help you feel more confident.
Accept your body
Everyone wants acceptance for who they are. It all starts with you accepting this. You need to start enjoying your body and think of it as a friend. Your self-esteem is damaged by self-loathing and critical remarks about your appearance. Treating yourself well comes before treating others.
Remember: boost your self-esteem.
There are actions you can take to feel safer and appreciated. Even while some of the causes of low self-esteem, such as hereditary characteristics, early childhood events, and personality features, cannot be changed. Keep in mind that no one is more deserving than another. You might be able to preserve a positive feeling of self-worth by remembering this.
A cleanse or detox may sound enticing after the holidays or at any other time when you may not have been eating a balanced diet. However, you need to read before replacing solid meals in favor of green juice or lemon water for a few days. These popular diets might not be suitable for everybody.
These fast remedies are quite popular because they promise to cleanse your body of impurities and improve your health. Advocates of cleanses and detoxes claim to have discovered a method for eliminating toxins from the body by substituting beverages, powders, or smoothies for regular meals.
But do a cleanse and a detox differ from each other or can they be used interchangeably?
The difference between a cleanse and a detox
One way of looking at the difference between a cleanse vs. detox: a cleanse helps support your body’s natural detox processes and helps clear out the gut, while a detox essentially takes the trash out from your liver and kidneys, the primary channels of detoxification.
Moreover, a cleanse can be anywhere from a few days to a few months and can lead to less bloating, better bowel function, and increased energy. While detox is a long-term process that requires certain diet and lifestyle changes. It’s very important to do all that you can to support your body along the way.
Types of Cleanses and Detoxes
The most common reason for recommending a detox or cleanse is the possibility of exposure to toxins in your surroundings or food. These include heavy metals, artificial chemicals, pollution, and other dangerous substances.
So how do you know if you should do a cleanse or a detox? Well, it clearly depends on your goal. If your goal is to let your digestive system take a rest from ingesting solid food, then do a cleanse. But if you want to help your liver and kidneys do the work for you, then you should go for a detox.
Cleanse:
Juice cleanse
Requires cutting out full meals from your diet and substituting cold-pressed juices for a certain period of time. Your body will be able to eliminate impurities and absorb more nutrients as a result of this.
Smoothie or soup-based cleanse
Incorporating additional protein and fiber from whole fruits that have been blended, nuts or nut butter, or protein powder; a holistic nutrition approach that is preferred than drinking juices.
Colon cleanse
Used frequently to treat IBS, gastrointestinal issues, and constipation. Enemas are frequently used by professionals during colon cleanses to remove waste from the colon.
Liver cleanse
Includes relieving some of the strain put on your liver by modern diets that are rich in salt and carbs in order to let the organ function as effectively as possible.
Parasite cleanse
Eliminate all sources of power that parasites can use for survival. For five to six weeks, you must completely abstain from consuming any processed foods, grains, sweets, or carbs. Additionally, you must fully cut off the alcohol from your diet and stay away from the fruit.
Detox:
Green tea detox
Requires replacing your coffee, sugar-sweetened drinks, and alcoholic drink with green tea. Green tea is believed to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, fight heart disease, induce weight loss, and prevent cancer.
Food detox
Eliminates unhealthy food ingredients from our diets such as sugar, dairy, unsaturated fats, salt, and other harmful substances that we put in our bodies. Involves a set fasting time, then a rigorous diet of fruit, vegetables, fruit juices, and water.
Involves infusing regular drinking water with fresh fruits, vegetables, or herbs. Additionally, spices and apple cider vinegar are also used to add flavor to detox water.
Benefits of Doing a cleanse or detox
By removing specific items from your diet for a few days and then gradually returning potential trigger foods, cleansing and detoxifying can assist you in identifying food sensitivities.
Rest your organs by fasting
Stimulate your liver to get rid of toxins
Promote toxin elimination through feces, urine, and sweat
Improve circulation
Provide your body with healthy nutrients
We come into touch with toxins on a daily basis. Examples include pesticides on your vegetables, air pollution, unpronounceable compounds in processed foods, and heavy metals like mercury and arsenic in the soil.
There’s no need to completely swear off these foods unless you have an allergy or sensitivity, despite the “toxic” label some diets give to substances like dairy, gluten, and refined sugar.
Even though everything can be harmful if consumed in excess, most toxins can be handled by your body as long as you don’t accidentally stumble into a radioactive swamp.
Holiday season: the most wonderful time of the year when we get to exchange gifts and cook delectable meals, but sadly, a time when we forget about our holiday wellness.
It’s understandable to get wrapped up in the holiday spirit and get excited about doing a lot of things such as keeping up with Christmas traditions and preparing a feast for your family. Still, it can also be a bit overwhelming and result in burnout.
As you prepare for this festive and busy season, don’t forget to stay on top of your mental and physical health. A well-rested mind and body during this season will not only help you perform everything on your list but it can also help you enjoy every memory in it some more.
Here are 10 Optimal Tips For Holiday Wellness byDr. Stamatina Nikolaou (she/her) MA., R. Psych.
1. Have realistic expectations.
To avoid irrelevant stress this holiday season, don’t set your expectations too high. Be realistic when it comes to your holiday preparation. Although it’s nice to see a house that’s well decorated for the holiday season, it’s also important that you don’t get yourself too tired to put up these decorations. Additionally, understand that some family or friends are busy with their own personal lives so don’t stress yourself too much if they can’t come to your parties.
2. Accept imperfection.
As much as we want to make things as perfect for our loved ones, it is also important that we accept imperfection. We cannot really expect everyone to be best dressed or well-mannered during family gatherings. There’ll always be someone who ruins the mood or someone who’s a “grinch” during Christmas. Accept their imperfection and focus on their good traits instead. Remind yourself that the holiday is all about giving and forgiving.
3. Accept things you can not control and focus on what you can control.
A good holiday celebration always starts with planning. It’s great to plan your schedule and events ahead of time to make the necessary preparation. It helps you keep things organized. But even remember that sometimes, things don’t go according to your plans and that’s okay. Accepting and focusing only on what you can control can help you avoid unnecessary stress.
4. Try to accept family and friends as they are.
The holiday season is all about exchanging gifts and stories with the family and it can’t be helped that there’ll be some family drama too. A perfect family only exists in movies therefore you should accept everyone’s imperfections and flaws. The same goes for your friendship. What’s important is that you’re there to help each other improve and be better persons.
5. Stick to a budget.
Setting a budget for Christmas shopping and celebration is a must. You don’t need to make this year’s celebration even more extravagant just because the previous years were grand. If you plan to give everyone gifts but you just have a limited budget, then maybe it’s time to make some budget cuts. Moreover, understand that there’s an ongoing global recession so if you’ll be receiving lesser gifts, you should still be grateful for the people who remembered you.
6. Maintain routine and healthy habits.
Even though it’s the holiday season, don’t forget about your daily routine such as working out or doing some meditation. It’s also important to incorporate healthy meals into your diet during this time of the year. For sure you’ll be attending a lot of parties or dining out with family and friends. A good meal consists of eating a balanced diet that you enjoy and that will give you nourishment.
7. Prioritize your self-care and take some time for yourself.
No matter how busy you are with holiday preparations, always make time for yourself. Pamper yourself and take some time to destress. Read your favorite book, treat yourself to a spa, and eat your favorite dish in your favorite restaurant. Rest and take some time off to avoid feeling burnout during the holidays. It is important to maintain holiday wellness no matter how hectic your schedule is.
8. Connect with others.
It’s the season of giving and forgiving so might as well use this time to connect and reconnect with other people. Write them a letter, send them a message, or catch up with some family and friends that you haven’t seen for a long time. Better yet, join some communities with whom you share interests. Making new friends is always better than celebrating the holidays alone.
9. Plan ahead.
Make a to-do list, plan your schedule, and keep things organized. It’s the busiest time of the year and there are a lot of things going on for everyone. Planning things ahead of time will help you take some pressure off your busy schedule. Planning ahead will give you peace of mind no matter what the circumstances are.
10. Don’t be afraid to say no.
If you can’t afford to give everyone gifts, don’t go over your budget just to try to impress everyone. If your schedule is full, don’t say yes to all the invitations that you receive. And if someone is making a last-minute change of plans and you’re not comfortable, just say so. Remember that every time you say yes to other people’s requests, you are saying no to yourself. And this holiday season, you should be giving yourself the gift of self-care and self-love.
2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)
Cooking oil spray
Directions:
In a colander, drain and rinse black beans. Rinse zucchini and shred with a grater.
Rinse and chop fresh spinach. If using fresh parsley or cilantro, rinse and chop.
If using fresh corn, peel. Use a knife to cut corn kernels off of the cob.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add zucchini and cook until zucchini is semi-soft, about 5 minutes. Add corn and spinach. Cover and cook until tender, stirring a few times, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat.
Add black beans to the veggie mixture. Stir to combine. Smash beans lightly with a fork. Add 1-2 teaspoons of water to make a bean-and-veggie paste. If using parsley or cilantro, add now. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Reserve skillet.
Spread vegetable mixture evenly on half of each tortilla. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese. Fold tortillas over. Press lightly with a spatula to flatten.
Spray the skillet lightly with cooking oil spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add one folded tortilla. Cook about 4 minutes per side, or until both sides of the tortilla are golden brown. Repeat until all the quesadillas are cooked.
