You Glow Girl

Myth: Blemished skin is the result of bad genetics, not choices.

Fact: The feel and appearance of your skin is in large part based on your lifestyle choices, one of them being the food you eat.

When I think of food, many thoughts race through my head, and none of which are related to calories. Don’t fret beauties, this is not another post on how eating healthy will change your life forever; although, if I am honest, eating healthy will change your life forever. This isn’t a post about labels, diets, or being a size zero (Huge Cheetos fan over here!).

This is a post about everything that comes before eating healthy, and the magic that happens after you’ve made the decision to be a more wholesome you. This is a post about one word: relationship.

What is your relationship with food like? I’m not asking if you’re a calorie counter, vegan, vegetarian, meat lover or pescatarian. I want to know, what is your relationship with food?

The word “relationship” is compacted with a million different adjectives, all of them unique to each person. My very own heartbeat seems to whisper a string of adjectives attached to my relationships: connection, nourishment, boundaries, balance, give, take and communication. I find that all these descriptors not only relate to my relationships with other people, but also to my relationship with food.

I’m constantly urging myself to ask questions that bring me back to this relationship. Am I connected to my body? Is my food fuel, pushing me onwards? Can I say ‘no’ when I need to and indulge when I must? Can I appreciate both the resistance and the giving into? Do I talk to and listen to my body?

Do you?

Our bodies speak, if we dare to and care to listen.

My body speaks loudly to me, but that’s because I have had a lot of practice. I know what it needs. I know what it wants. It’s a love-hate relationship at times, and it is one of the most powerful relationships I will ever have. I am the only one who can nourish myself emotionally, mentally, and physically. So, I must invest in that relationship in order to be a wholesome person. And so do you.

If you want clear skin, sure, eating healthy food is essential. If you want clear skin and to be radiant, then you have to dig deep and explore your relationship with food, with your body and with yourself. When you feel emotionally and mentally well, then making healthy food choices comes easy. Beautiful skin is a byproduct of eating yummy foods. Eating yummy foods is a byproduct of making healthy choices. Making healthy choices is a byproduct of feeling at peace with every speck of your being.

Enough of the deep stuff. Let’s talk about those yummy foods that make us glow from the inside out!

I refer time and time again to Nutritionist, Kimberly Snyder. Her two books The Beauty Detox Foods and The Beauty Detox Solution do a wonderful job outlining what foods make us glow. These books are packed with knowledge, but I’ve taken the liberty to make a brief outline of what foods nourish our skin.

Beautiful Skin:

Red bell peppers, coconut, avocados, spinach

Radiant Skin:

Watercress, figs, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, acai

Soft Skin:

Pineapple, almonds, walnuts, flax seeds

Wrinkle-Free Skin:

Pears, cabbage, turmeric

Blemish-Free Skin:

Probiotics & Enzyme salad,arugula, onions, apple cider vinegar, garlic, lemon

Beautiful Hair:

Pumpkin seeds, dulse, carrots, radishes, nutritional yeast

Beautiful Eyes:

Papaya, beets, blueberries, apples, celery, collard greens, asparagus, bananas

Beautiful Body:

Broccoli, brussel sprouts, sesame seeds, romaine lettuce, cilantro, parsley, buckwheat and oat groats, kale, hemp seeds, quinoa, millet, chia seeds

Beautiful Inner Glow:

Bee pollen, sunflower seeds, sprouts, spirulina and chlorella

Beauties, I want you to have clear skin and shine. That means you have to do the work. Take some time this week to evaluate your relationship with your body and with food in general. Reflect on this topic with a big heart, because a healthy relationship needs to be rooted in acceptance and compassion. Even the relationship you have with yourself! Especially the relationship you have with yourself!

Our bodies are the vessels we walk through life in, so treat every corner of that body with kindness.

Kind beauties are true beauties.

Shine on and be well.