We’re all about change and health and living better—until we realize that we have to do something. What is it about the human condition that too often we want results without sustained effort?
Let’s talk beauty: not the inside kind of beauty that no product can touch, but the outside kind of beauty that people often chase. Let’s keep it real. Most women, myself included, purchase products galore and after a few uses that bottle gets tossed to the back of the cupboard and in comes the new. Most products fail to live up to their lofty claims, but we buy them anyway. But, what if we all stopped buying what the ads try to sell us and did something significant that would make a huge difference in our appearance. Are you interested?
Now, what if I told you that the way to look better is to make better lifestyle choices. What? Are you kidding me? Bummer, right?
Who doesn’t want that secret tip that will fix or change whatever it is about ourselves that we may want to change, and even better if making the change would be effortless. Perhaps it’s human nature to want to take the path of least resistance, after all, we are made mostly of water.
Who out there hasn’t spent untold amounts of money on lotions and potions, under eye serums and pills that make all sorts of promises to lose ten pounds fast, have better skin, thicker hair or whatever look you’re going for… yet when it comes down to it—as mentioned, the vast majority of products don’t work. The people who do look great may be genetically blessed or they put in the time to sweat it out at the gym or at least engage in some sort of consistent exercise and healthy eating regimen. So unless you’re naturally thin, the rest of us have to do something if we want to lose weight: eat less and move more. Diet changes are hard. Who wants to pass up that lobster mac and cheese or the yummy chocolate piece of cake with homemade salted caramel sauce drizzled over top?
Perhaps it’s human nature to want to do something but when it comes down disciplining ourselves to follow through and stick with it—well, it’s just too damn hard! Talk to anyone about making changes and they’ll provide a nod or two, but for most of us, change doesn’t happen until the pain of not changing becomes unbearable.
Looking better outside is about what we feed our insides. Physically, mentally, spiritually; are you feeding yourself good things? As I said in Raising the Bottom, you can gussy up rotten fruit any kind of way you want, but on the inside, it’s still rotten fruit.
Drinking:
Our boozy culture encourages drinking, but the fact remains that alcohol is disastrous for the skin, not to mention what it does to our internal organs, (and to a life once it gets a hold of you).
If you like the puffy face with flushed-red skin—drink up! Alcohol triggers inflammation, dehydration, and causes blood vessels to vasodilate which causes more blood to flow to the surface creating a flushed appearance. I didn’t realize the shocking difference in what alcohol does until I compared a before and after pic of my own. Have a look. The pic on the left is when I’m in my twenties and was more than a little tipsy. I know I’d been drinking because I cropped the Corona out of the pic. The picture on the right, well, that was taken after decades of sobriety, and I’m in my fifties.
Weight:
Alcohol seems to do one of two things: either the person packs on the pounds from all of the drinking or they lose weight because they quit eating in favor of drinking because they didn’t want food to mess up the “buzz.” Whichever camp you may be in, our bodies need real fuel from healthy foods, and alcohol no way measures up. There’s zero nutritional value to drinking and the calories add up, quick.
Your Heart:
All the babble about alcohol being good for your heart… it was the alcohol’s industry’s push to sell more liquor, and it worked. Big alcohol contributed monetarily to most of the studies that touted the benefits of alcohol (which are mostly fabricated or skewed) so of course, the results leaned in their favor and millions got to hear what they wanted to hear: that alcohol in moderation was good for them, but who can define moderation? And, did you know that big alcohol companies’ profits come mostly from problem drinkers and alcoholics?
The short elementary version of what these two organs do is that they help eliminate toxins from the body. And when alcohol is consumed, both organs have to work harder to maintain homeostasis.
As mentioned, the whole push to include alcohol in our diets was a big racket and big pharma is doing the same thing with pills. Both alcohol and pharmaceutical companies are flush with cash and they have the resources to fund many of the studies, and of course, the results are always slanted in favor or whatever drug or drink they want to push onto the public. Big alcohol companies are in it for the profit, and they make fortunes off of other people’s misery.
Beauty is an inside job; we can look good on the outside, but if our insides don’t match, what have we gained? To live a life where our emotions are no longer at war, where we can greet each day with a quiet mind and a peaceful heart—these are gifts that are hard to attain when we are racing around trying to look good all the while killing ourselves with too much sugar, too much wine, chronic stress and no time for self-care other than to pour a drink.
Rethink the drink & reclaim your life, your beauty, and your happiness!
Lisa is the author of the award-winning book, Raising the Bottom: Mindful Choices in a Drinking Culture. (Now available in Audio format too!) For the past twenty-nine years has worked with hundreds of women to overcome alcoholism, live better lives and become better parents. She was prompted to write Raising the Bottom when she realized after twenty plus years of working in hospitals, that doctors and traditional healthcare offer few solutions to women with addiction issues. You can start reading for free on Amazon. Follow her on Twitter @LBoucherAuthor and Instagram @Raisingthebottom.