Improve Your Physical Health, Not Just Skin Health

I’ll be the first to tell you to put on the sunscreen before stepping outside. Protecting your skin from UV exposure is the easiest and best way to prevent skin cancer. This is especially important for those previously diagnosed with a skin cancer. But protecting your skin will only do just that – protect your skin. If you are going to take steps towards living a longer and healthier life, you need to do more than protect your skin.

The link between obesity and mortality

With the convenience of food delivery services ordering junk food is easier than ever. In addition, we all have a phone or video game system which can keep us entertained for hours without ever leaving the home. Staying cooped up and indoors like this can be a benefit for your skin health, but a huge detriments to your overall physical health.

Obesity in America is at an all-time high, and obesity is directly associated with some of the most deadly diseases in the world. Heart disease, which is directly linked to obesity, is the number one cause of death in America with other obesity related issues following directly behind it in the death count. By improving your physical health and eating healthy you’ll be susceptible to far less deadly diseases throughout your life. Pair those habits with a quality sunscreen, and you’ll be in good shape (no pun intended).

Getting into a fitness routine

You don’t need to join a gym or workout for hours a day to get into shape. You just need to be doing something. Regardless of your pace, walking from the couch to the fridge to grab a beer doesn’t count as ‘fitness’. And neither do the 12oz curls bringing the beer up to your lips. A few times a week, you should be making a conscious effort to improve your physical health. It’s hard work, but it will definitely pay off in the long run. Start small and work up from there.

Eating the right foods

To be completely honest, this is an area I still need to work on. As a former D1 track and field athlete and current CrossFit instructor, maintaining a fitness routine comes naturally to me. However, I often struggle with eating healthy. I love some really crappy foods, but I’m making efforts to fix that.

Eating healthy all starts with understanding your current situation and making small improvements. Spend a few weeks tracking what you eat and go from there. Apps like MyFitnessPal make it easy to track and count your calories and various nutrients you consume. After a few weeks, take a look at the results and try to make improvements. More often than that it may mean cutting back on calories. More calories = more weight, so in the effort to maintain a healthy weight understanding your calorie intake is important. Another easy option is to simply switch to healthier alternatives whenever possible. Processed or fried foods almost always have more calories than their fresh counterparts.

Living a healthy Life

So please keep protecting your skin, but also protect what’s underneath it. Take care of your body AND your skin and you’ll help minimize the chances of countless diseases in the future, not just skin cancer.