Beauty and Wellness by Maria Khaled RD, LD

Beauty and Wellness- a topic widely discussed and pondered over. However, when we think of the nutrition aspect of beauty, we typically think of being fit, in shape and preferably a desired weight for height. Being healthy and having energy also fall under this umbrella. I want to discuss the importance of the beauty industry in a larger context and embrace the idea of being yourself- unique and not always following the trend.

In today’s era, it is a generation of photoshopping, filters, plastic surgery, AI, and holographics, following the recent trends, dopplegangers and catfishing with people pretending to be others online and in person. We see both men and women getting plastic surgery to achieve an ideal form of what they may see as attractive/beautiful, etc. or trying to look like a celebrity etc. and getting work done to achieve this.

I remember I use to occasionally watch a show called Botched about 2 Beverly Hills surgeons noted for seeing patients who got botched surgeries, usually plastic surgery of some kind ranging from breast, nose, lipo, tummy tucks, face, any and everything you can think of and they would see those patients’ cases they believed they could take and correct their plastic surgeries, while refusing some that were too risky or did not meet their guidelines.

I remember being astonished at the lengths people were going to in order to achieve a certain look, some going to several surgeons and having a number of procedures, where these 2 surgeons had to refuse several people also due to certain guidelines patients would need to meet in order to be eligible for surgery. Overall, it looked like the doctors had helped many people; however, I want to talk about the beauty standard of today and what is truly considered beautiful or attractive as a collective and how this relates to our own self-love journey.

Beauty trends are always changing and the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder is one way of looking at it. Having proportional features, being at a good size for your height might be considered attractive to some; while others may find being out of the box with your look and either being larger or smaller is a more attractive fit for them depending on what look they are wanting to achieve. In other words, the classic definition of what is attractive and beautiful may have different connotations to some, with some guidelines that typically remain true.

It is only when things are taken to the extreme and we understand that not all is what it seems can we understand the bigger picture of what is going on here. There are illusions around us that help create this ideal. Through social media, a lot of illusions, photoshopping, filters, plastic surgery, AI, holographics, etc. is taking place to achieve a certain look. Does that look truly make you better or more fulfilled? So, it is important to know that “not all is what it seems and what we are looking at may be altogether fake.”

So, does that mean trying to embody the look of say your favorite celebrity through plastic surgery is unwise? On our own self-love journeys, it really is a choice of what is most important to you. Are you doing it because you truly want to embody the essence of that individual and step away from who you are? Then, it’s something that may need rethinking or reflecting. Or, are you doing it because you honestly feel this will improve your own self-worth, self confidence and remain in your own essence and align mind, body and soul in order to ascend and become your highest self.

I remember growing up and always receiving judgment of some sort- whether good or bad. I remember hearing once as a teenager when I lost some weight through working out, watching what I ate and became a bit thinner I was told once from someone I felt I trusted at the time “you looked better with a little more weight on you or I liked you better before, lol”. So, typically, you would think okay getting in what I saw as better shape as an ideal; yet still gave me the feedback, at least from one or two, that I looked better before. This was not everyone’s view and I did receive compliments too; yet a few had a different take on it. I still felt good about my achievement and did not let this sway me either way. I felt good also hearing those comments and knowing that beauty has different meanings to all. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and knowing one size fits all is not always the standard.

The point I am making and the bottom line is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and embracing your own unique beauty, and staying healthy, is important on our journey to wellness. Knowing that beauty standards are forever changing, trends change and veils of illusions, such as photoshopping, filters, catfishing, plastic surgery, dopplegangers, even AI holographic technology being placed over us, it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not. The importance of the self- love journey is aligning mind, body and soul and tuning into what you want most for yourself; for your own reasons and not for external validation is key. The goal for all of us is to tune into our intuition, keep working on the self-love journey and  keep transforming into the greatest version of yourself- one day at a time.