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Thursday, February 18, 2016

My Cosmetic Side: Body


It is said that the body is the temple of the soul. That is why, in my opinion, we need to take care of our body - just to feel and look good. In this post on My Cosmetic Side, I am sharing how I mind my body.

BODY BALM
The easiest thing which we can do for ourselves is moisturizing the skin with a lotion or body balm. After having a shower and drying the body with a towel, I always use one of them. Applying a lotion to the skin when the skin is saturated, helps to lock the moisture in its cells.
There are many body care products which I have tried, some of them I liked more, some less. However, I have found most body balms really fine too. As far as I know, baby cosmetics formulas are usually more restrictive, considering their (more delicate) ingredients. Therefore, I think - if a balm is good for a baby, it is good for my skin as well.



SUN-CARE
My skin is pale and sensitive to sunlight. That is why I use sunscreen with high SPF number in the summer. I also cover my arms and wear hats to avoid sunburn. As for the sunbeds and solarium - I do not do it, I know my skin would not like it either. I used to work with a lady who was a kind of sunbathing and sunbed addict. She was not very much older than me, but the skin of her decolletage area looked like the soil in a desert - dry and cracked. It looked awful not only according to me but also to the lady's doctor. She told me the physician advised her not to sunbathe anymore but she did not care about that at all. Well, the look of her skin aged her a lot. I do not know how she is doing and how she looks now as I have not seen her for a very long time.

FOOD
'The beauty comes from within' - it is well known that eating habits and what we eat are important to us and our bodies. Personally, I believe that most our food likes and dislikes are connected with our childhood experiences. There are certain things which I did not eat when I was little and nowadays, being an adult, I do not care much for those food items. When I was growing up, there were no fast food places in Poland, no hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizzas - they appeared on our menus much later,  when I was older. And even then I did not eat them often. We always had a salad or vegetables as a side dish for dinner. The main meals were also accompanied by homemade fruit drinks cooked by my mom. Breakfast was always quite light - as a child, I often had milk based soups, later mostly dairy products and jam sandwiches. At primary school, I had lunch at school canteen - it was always a meal cooked by school cooks - no junk food was served. I remember the time when students could get hot milk (it was a cold season - winter or autumn maybe) during a recess, I often put a little piece of chocolate in my hot milk. It was so good!


These days I tend to like eating similar kinds of meals as well. Of course, my menu is not entirely the same as it used to be in the past, but I usually have one big meal a day only. I do enjoy a pizza or a hamburger from time to time, it is not my favorite food, though. I prefer an apple or some other fruit to sweets. Moreover, I try not eat anything late in the evening, before going to sleep.
There are times than I happen to pack myself with food and have more sweets and cookies than I usually do (especially around holidays), but later I check my weight, cut down on candies and come back to my everyday eating routine. Although we do have a dessert almost every day, we do not eat it straight after dinner, just some time later. Besides, when I make a cake, I add a bit less sugar than a recipe calls for.
Of course, a proper diet may mean something different, considering particular people, and may depend on their personal health needs. If you do not know what is good for you, perhaps you can consult a dietitian or a doctor on that matter.

EXERCISING
'Move yourself' is our family motto. It is not easy to follow it as, presently, we all tend to sit a lot during the day. Walking is not always possible and not everybody is a gym person. I am certainly not. Nevertheless, there are different groups you can join to make your body move. Some friends of mine like Zumba classes for example. As for ourselves, we do walking and dancing (no, not Zumba). In my opinion, it is not important what you do, the more important is whether you enjoy it. If you do not, you will not fancy doing it and, very likely, you will quit it soon. If you do like some activities, you will be more into them and, at the same time,  you will exercise more effectively.



SUPPLEMENTS
If you think you need any dietary supplements, I advise you to consult a doctor first (on what to use, how long and when). Some of them - their ingredients - may not be good for you and/or may make you feel unwell. It happened to me, so to avoid my mistake ask your GP about it all.

HEALTH CHECK UPS
Whatever you put on the skin, no matter what you eat, how many times a week you jump or jog, it is not enough. Some time ago, having had a routine check up appointment, I received a reminder from my health care provider. I found the message quite interesting as it contained the information on  suggested screening tests for women - how often and when we should have them done.
To find out more on this topic, visit the womenshealth.gov website.

Take good care of yourself and your body!



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