How Well Do We Maintain the Other Parts?

[northernbelle]

As I was brushing and flossing my teeth just before going to bed, a thought occured to me:

Do many of us devote as much time, energy and money to caring for skin, teeth and body as we do the hair?

How well are we doing to strike a balance in all aspects of health and beauty?

To be certain, having a healthy head of hair is very important to me. However, having a healthy, trim and fit body is also important to me, and I devote considerable time, energy and money to that effort as well.

It is interesting: perhaps if Black women *did* in fact devote as much time to developing and maintaining a healthy, trim and fit body, there would not be so many of us so seriously overweight, and with health problems associated with the weight.

Something to think about.

northernbelle

 

[inthepink]

I have thought about this...I do eat well so that isn't an issue for me.

However, I've been trying to make more of an effort to floss my teeth EVERY night. I kept thinking, if I can so easily do all of this crap to my hair, why can't I take a lousy 2 minutes and floss my teeth regularly? So, I'm working on that b/c my teeth are just as important as my hair.

 

[Isis]

That's a good point Northernbelle. Fortunately, while many of us are giving our hair so much attention, I think we are (in most cases) also benefitting our bodies with all of the vitamins, minerals, veggies, protein, drinking lots of water, etc. Some of us may not be thinking about our bodies at all, but as a bonus (or a side effect), we are boosting health and the immune system in this way.

Personally, I do focus and spend time and energy on my body and health. I did this long before I started spending time and energy on my hair, which in my case means I was neglecting my hair period. I would like to think I now have a balance going on with my whole body and mind too.

And I'll always be learning and improving.

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

Well I take care of my teeth because I don't want to wear dentures or any falsies when I get older. I also work on my skin because I want to have flawless skin or close to it so I don't have to bother with foundation. This is second nature for me.

 

[Allandra]

[ QUOTE ]
northernbelle said:
Do many of us devote as much time, energy and money to caring for skin, teeth and body as we do the hair?

How well are we doing to strike a balance in all aspects of health and beauty?

[/ QUOTE ]
I definitely devote a lot of time, energy and money into caring for my skin, my teeth and my body. They're ALL important to me.

I think I'm doing a great job in all areas concerning my health and beauty.

No sense in having the hair looking right when everything else is not looking right, ya know?

 

[shinyblackhair]

[ QUOTE ]
Allandra said:
No sense in having the hair looking right when everything else is not looking right, ya know?

[/ QUOTE ]

Boy has this whole hair obsession turned out totally positve for me. Yes indeedy! I have begun excercising, I'm getting serious about losing this last bit of baby weight from my last child (17 months ago!). I have been using a whitening toothpaste, and will be seeing my dentist for a cleaning right before Christmas (my whole family goes regularly). I will be starting to floss too. I wanna get one of those cool hand held floss thingys. Have you all seen the commercial for those. It has a handle like a tooth brush, but with floss at the top!

Anyhow, yes, I do agree that health and beauty is not about just hair or just makeup or having a bangin' body or whatever...it's a total package. I think starting out small, as I did with my hair, it leads to the other equally important aspects of health and beauty. I'm just a girly girl and always have been, so all these hair regimes, skin care and make-up is totally fun and interesting to me. It's like a really cool hobby.

 

[nebula24]

Good point, Northernbelle. I thought seriously about the same a while ago. I was "hair obsessed" and consumed ten to fifteen pills daily for hair growth/health. I remember in one month I swallowed 450 pills. But thankfully good sense prevailed! All supplements I put in my body now are for overall health. My supplements are powder form only. No more pills for me. I think I swallowed enough of them to last for a lifetime. For good health - I eat well, exercise, drink required amounts of water daily, do regular detox, bi-annual parasite cleanses, liver/gallbladder cleanses, etc. Also very important to me for overall good health is expanding my knowledge and applying principles from alternative medicine. If my hair is long and healthy in the process, then GREAT!!!!

 

[HoneyRockette]

I am more obsessed with my teeth than anything else, and my skin benefits from the same vitamins I use for my hair. I work out every once in a while, but I only target the parts of my body I want to improve, like my arms and my abs. I don't do cardio or anything. My whole total beauty regimen is only about ten minutes a day, so I don't really spend a lot of time on any one part. However, I agree that some of us spend way too much time on our hair and not enough time on the rest of our bodies. We shouldn't be exercising or drinking water just because it is good for our hair. We should want to do it regardless for overall health. It is nice to kill two birds with one stone by doing something for our hair that will benefit the rest of our bodies, but I agree that some of us need to reevaluate our priorities.

 

[JFemme]

* good thread* thanks NBelle

While I am committed to healthy hair , my true obsession is maintaining my health.

 

[Angelicus]

After giving up sodas, tea, and coffee two years ago, I must say that my teeth are looking great

. It's to the point where I am tired of hearing people say "You have some beautiful white teeth."

But since i became a hair fanatic in May, I have been taking really food care of my other parts from the inside.

 

[DDHair]

When I was a child and I was taking care of my hair like I don't know what, I was also taking care of my teeth. My mother worked around the corner from a dentist and I became good friends with the staff. I literally was at the dentist everyday and I was crazy about my hair everyday, so much that my mom called the dentist my boyfriend. After that I had terrible experiences with dentists, so I didn't go as much and my teeth paid the price. Now I am back to trying to take care of my teeth with flossing more often etc. as well as my hair.

As far as my body goes, I usually eat pretty healthy (and excersise every now and then), and this hair stuff has really got me eating healthy or looking out for what I eat. However, when my mother passed of stomach cancer in 2001, my motivation to eat healthy was lost. Not that I just consistently eat junk food and don't care at all, it's just that she ate healthy and still got stomach cancer and I went from a period of seeing her eat her greens etc. to where she could barely drink the juice from cabbage. Even though this hair thing and all of these physical things are short term, I don't deny myself of some of the things I want (I am not a glutton), because there might be a day when I will never be able to have it again. I am cautious of what I do for my future children and family, and possible future illnesses.

 

[karezone]

I really need to have my teeth cleaned but the last time I went the lady really, really hurt me and I had was one filling. I know that I need more but I am afraid to go. I figured that I will go back when I get a toothache. We also just changed insurance and the closest dentist that is covered on my insurance is in Danville, Virginia, that is a nice long drive from Greensboro. I am brushing, flossing, and rinsing to excess. In my home town we have a dental clinic and I think that I might go down there just to see if I can get a free cleaning seeing as I am broke and all.

I am trying to improve my body and overall health. I drink plenty of water and lots of fruit and steamed veggies. I go to water aerobics Monday and Wednesday, gym on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, on Saturday and Sunday I take long walks around campus for at least one hour.

For my skin, I use plenty of lotion, gentle soap and I don't use really hot water because it dries out the skin.

My vitamins also help to keep me in good health.

 

[Lindy]

[ QUOTE ]
northernbelle said:

To be certain, having a healthy head of hair is very important to me. However, having a healthy, trim and fit body is also important to me, and I devote considerable time, energy and money to that effort as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

So do I.

Actually my hair comes secondary to that. I also devote time into skin care as well, and I get my teeth cleaned faithfully every 4 months!!!.

I don't want to be overweight and unhealthy with bad teeth and skin, but with a beautiful head of hair!!

I gotta have the whole package!!!