No matter how good your personal, social, or professional life is, everyone goes through those bad days when you just do not feel your best. It’s like the universe conspires against you and everything goes wrong. When this feeling persists and recurs frequently, it can develop into sudden anxiety, stress, and even depression.
Feeling good about yourself is critical in every aspect of your life. You need self-esteem and self-worth to feel happy with your choices, valued at work, and loved at home – in short, satisfied with the direction your life is taking. While it is not possible to feel 100 percent happy and in a good mood every day, there are a few things you can do to take back control and feel and look better right away.
Mind Over Matter
While physical health is important, sometimes you need to prioritize taking care of your mind. When your psyche is out of control, it’s only a matter of time before you develop disorders like mood swings or even chronic depression.
A physical illness is treated with exercise and a proper diet. In the case of a psychological disorder such as stress or anxiety, treatment may just require you to stop for a moment and think about it. Here are some practices you should adopt in your daily life:
● Take brief breaks throughout the day for meditation and/or reflection
● Adopt yoga or mindfulness practices according to the time you have available (you can simply close your eyes and focus on your breathing for 5-10 minutes)
● Engage in hobbies, art, or manual crafts to ward off negative thoughts.
● Take a little break whenever you feel overworked and burned out.
● Talk to family and friends to get a new perspective on things or just ask for encouragement.
● Do or say something nice for someone else.
● Seek professional support when you realize that you are not able to handle your problems.
Put Good In, Get Good Out
To feel and look your best, you need to start paying attention to the things you put into your body. Changing your diet is one of the best ways to lose weight, prevent many health problems (including heart disease), and, in short, live better.
Avoid foods that are high in sugar or refined carbs, and adopt a diet with lots of fiber to encourage your body to get rid of what it doesn’t need faster. When looking for fiber-rich foods, choose dark, leafy greens (such as spinach or kale), grains like lentils and black beans, and fruits like avocados, pears, and apples. All these foods improve your digestion, help the body eliminate toxins, and even promote a feeling of satiety – leading to you eating less throughout the day.
Feel Comfortable in Your Own Skin
It’s common to feel and look bad when you’re too hard on yourself. Sometimes it is enough to change some habits and accept some small imperfections for everything to improve.
Let’s take a look at some strategies to feel better on those bad days:
● Take some time to watch your favorite movie or TV show.
● Get out for a long walk and get some sun.
● Start writing about your feelings in a journal or even on a blog.
● Dedicate time in your day to things that make you feel good, like a long bath or just listening to music (and maybe singing along).
● Use accessories such as eyeglasses and jewelry to accentuate any outfit and bring out your best features. To access a range of options for accessories from the comfort of home, consider shopping online and customizing jewelry or eyewear to suit your personal style or wardrobe the best.
● Be less hard on yourself: instead of dwelling on a mistake or failure, think about what you will do to correct or improve it the next day.
Get Moving
A practical way of feeling and looking better is by being more physically active. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an adult needs 150 minutes of physical activity each week to stay healthy and fight a sedentary lifestyle. But the CDC also recommends that even some minor activity is better than none.
So leave the house at least once a day to walk, ride a bike, run, swim, practice a sport, dance. etc. In short, any activity that makes your body move and produces and releases endorphins, the hormone responsible for sensations of pleasure and therefore essential to combat bad mood and improve your quality of life.
If you don’t have time for it, simply change some daily habits: go up and down the stairs instead of using the elevator, walk to school or the office instead of using your car or public transport, etc. That way you stay active and clear your head of negative or bad thoughts.
The Change is Up to You
Things don’t always go well at work, at school, and even at home. You need to know how to deal with these situations so you don’t get overly irritated, anxious, or stressed. To look and feel your best, you need to first find out which practices work best for you: changing your diet, adopting an exercise routine, or practicing meditation. Maybe all of the above alternatives? Try adopting these small changes in your habits and discover how your mood and self-esteem can improve quickly with very little.
