I recently read a headline ad about building confidence. At first I thought, oh how nice, a therapist must be giving a talk to people on how to build their confidence. Then I read on, no it wasn’t this at all. It was an ad for face lifts and cosmetic surgery for the body. I sighed, and thought to myself if you want to build confidence it has to start with inner peace.
Wrinkles or a few extra pounds are not necessarily high on the priority list of genuinely confident or successful people. If confident people were that fixated on changing their outer appearance they wouldn’t be as successful, focused, or as happy as they are today. Cosmetic surgery is not a solution to true inner confidence because the outer results often do not last.
My advice has always been if you want to change your looks start with treating your body well. As I’m known for saying if you want a bigger chest do some bench presses or push ups. Want a firmer butt? Try some squats or go for a walk. As for the face; hydration and a good moisturizer, sun screen, or an anti-wrinkle cream work well along with a healthy diet.
In a recent conversation with a male friend he said to me “I’m glad I’m not a woman so I don’t have to wear make-up”. My response back was “I don’t need make-up, I just like it”. He laughed, but he also knew where I was coming from having seen me comfortably walking around without make-up. There’s a difference, there’s nothing wrong in dressing up and having fun, but to permanently change your body or face thinking it would build confidence is not the real solution.
Real confidence is within, and if you want to build your confidence while reducing your waist size, and enhancing your appearance, start with proper nourishment for your brain and body. For a long term sustainable solution, begin with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) versus cosmetic surgery. Not only is it more cost affective and non-invasive, it’s feeding your body, and building your mind that boosts your inner feeling of well being, and confidence.
A registered dietitian nutritionist can’t take the place of a therapist; we do however council and often work in conjunction with a therapist for a client to receive better treatment for the mind, body, and self love. RDN counseling helps to change how you feel inside and out because improved nourishment fuels the mind, increases your energy that leads to a greater fitness level, decreases stress and disease risk and in turn leaves you truly feeling more confident on the outside, and most importantly peaceful and strong from within, and that’s a genuine and sustainable change that will last forever.