Love Yourself Enough to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

Of all the illnesses that can take a toll on people's health, the ones more common in women are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and lung disease. Sadly, women are more predisposed to experience these illnesses because of both their genetic make-up and societal factors. This is why it’s important to love yourself enough to live a healthy lifestyle.

Women and Illnesses 

It’s been found that women had a higher risk of developing all illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and arthritis. Women with lung disease die at a rate five times greater than men with the same illness. Moreover, women were more likely to be disabled by heart disease, stroke, or cancer.

Despite the extensive research and studies conducted, it’s not exactly clear why women are more prone to develop illnesses, although there are several hypotheses surrounding them. One possible reason is the difference in height and size between men and women. Because women are typically smaller, free radicals and chemicals such as nicotine are more likely to have a greater effect on their bodies. 

Then there's lifestyle, which is often linked with diseases such as lung cancer caused by smoking. Women tend to initiate smoking at an older age then men, which makes women at higher risk of getting diseases such as lung cancer. Women have also been found to start smoking after they’re married, whereas men typically start and quit much younger.

Further, studies suggest that women are more likely than men to believe the myth that smoking helps you lose weight. The belief is so strong among some females that girls as young as 8 have been known to take up smoking as a way to lose weight.

What is the Importance of Self-love? 

It seems that the key to better health for women is to first love themselves. If you love yourself enough to stop smoking and to kick other bad habits, you can prevent and protect yourself against various critical illnesses. It’s not just the physical changes women need to make. Self-love for one’s health also involves mental or psychological changes.

Women tend to put so much pressure on themselves to fit society’s ideals -being a certain size, looking a certain way, or raising families the way others are doing it. This puts a lot of stress on women, which can lead to heart troubles as well.

Benefits of Self-Love 

The health benefits of self-love are plentiful. Better health, increased happiness, better relationships are just a few perks. 

While there is no simple answer to the question "What is self-love,” there are some universal signs of self-love. Often, people who love themselves take care of their bodies, minds and spirits through healthy eating, regular exercise and positive thinking.

When you exercise self-love, you set appropriate boundaries, so you aren't taking on more than what is realistic or reasonable. You also don't let anyone take advantage of you, push your buttons or treat you poorly. Subsequently developing a strong sense of your self-worth, so choosing unhealthy relationships is less likely to happen.

Focusing on taking care of your mind and body by forging and avoiding habits that are bring harm to them such as binge drinking, using illicit drugs, or smoking cigarettes is a another clear sign of self-love. You are also willing to take and extra mile to achieve your goals, but if something isn't working out that way, you either try a new strategy or accept that things don't always work out as planned.    

We hope you take this as a reminder to focus on loving yourself more each day!