BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY YOU!

In this day and age, beautiful women are those who take care of themselves, who love themselves and don’t easily fall into the traps of modern-day pseudo beauty (the ultra-thin body with bones sticking out everywhere!).

As much as real beauty starts from the inside, the outside also needs to be taken care of, and a healthy lifestyle needs to be maintained. Exercising is still the best way to get a healthy body weight and to improve overall health.

Now, I have to admit, I was an exercise junkie; going to the gym 5 times a week and working out on all the circuit machines and still going to aerobics classes. I guess I was overly enthusiastic, but the reason for that was that I had always found a toned body to be very sexy. I still do to this day. I used to be quite envious of women who had defined thighs and arms and abs that made a normal flat stomach look old-fashioned. I loved how those women had so much energy, and how drop-dead-gorgeous they looked in mini-skirts, and let’s not even go to how they looked in a bikini!

So while I was on my get-toned-fast mission, I got bored with the everyday routine of exercising on circuit machines as well as aerobic and cycling exercises. And besides, work started getting hectic and I found myself with little or no time for the gym. So one morning, feeling rather sluggish, I decided to put my running shoes on and to go jogging. Best early morning decision I had ever made! It was refreshing; just me, the tar road, the trees, birds, a couple of cars here and there and good weather (before it started raining endlessly here in Jo’burg!).

After a couple of weeks of faithfully sticking to my morning exercise (and deciding to ditch the gym), I realized that I started feeling more energetic, less stressed about stuff and more happy. So I decided to do a bit of research on jogging to read more on all its benefits.

I found out that the good mood comes from the release of feel-good hormones from my brain. So when I jog, the brain releases endorphins, which assist in sustainably improving my mood. Also, jogging gives the body a real boost due to the fact that the heart and vascular system pump blood around the body to feed muscles with oxygen, and after time the heart gets better at pumping blood to the extent that the resting heart rate slows down. This means that stress will be easier to deal with, and energy levels will increase, making it easier to do more activities. It helps you stay mentally alert and awake.

After sticking to a jogging routine for a couple of months, guess what you will have? A beautiful, sexy, toned-up body! Jogging tones up the legs, thighs, buttocks, abs and it tightens every muscle in the body. It also helps to rid the body of waste products and to replenish the skin by causing new healthy cells to form and regenerate. And the results? Beautiful, glowing skin. Sleeping patterns will also improve as the body will be more alert during the day and will be easily ready to switch of at night.

So, gone are those crash-dieting days where starvation was the name of the game and you still end up all flabby and unattractive. A healthy body with defined muscles and a woman who has lots of energy and a good mood to be at her optimum best is the in-thing right now. So ladies, grab yourself a good pair of takkies and let’s get his show on the road!

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