My Self-Improvement Journey

One of my favorite aspects of leveling up is learning about what other people have done to improve. Here’s my journey so far (as of November 2022):

Mental Health

Mental health is where I think everyone should start on their own journeys. What’s going on in your brain impacts every other aspect of your glow up process.

Therapy

I’ve gone to therapy several times over the past five or so years, each time for a specific concern I needed help to tackle and overcome.

When I was in graduate school I used the student health center, and post-grad school I used BetterHelp for online therapy. I had a positive experience with BetterHealth and loved my counselor.

Going to therapy was the best thing I’ve done for my inner peace. Everyone who experiences any degree of anxiety, depression, or anything else should talk to a counselor at least once, I sincerely believe.

But take it seriously. Do the homework your therapist assigns, read the books they suggest, and go to as many sessions as they recommend. Therapy works, but it’s really one of those things where if you don’t put in the effort, you’re really cheating yourself.

Meditation

You can make meditation as simple or as complicated as you want it to, as long as you do it in some form. I follow guided meditations on YouTube because I have a hard time sitting in silence. I’m working on doing it more consistently, though.

Physical Health

There are a few aspects of physical health I consider: diet/nutrition, fitness, sleep, and health maintenance.

Diet

A few years ago I lost about 20 pounds (gained primarily due to an ex-boyfriend who constantly encouraged me to eat more), and for the most part have kept it off. In the beginning it was simple calorie counting, which was effective but it had the unfortunate side effect of incentivizing me to eat pre-packaged food so I didn’t have to calculate the calories of anything I made on my own. So that probably wasn’t ideal for my health.

These days I do intermittent fasting, because I don’t like counting calories. There’s also plenty of research that fasting for 12+ hours is really good for you, on several levels.

Before I was in my current relationship I usually skipped dinner, but now that I’m dating someone who likes to eat dinner together, I skip breakfast. I usually fast Monday through Thursday on a 18/6 or 20/4 schedule. That allows me the freedom to eat with a little less guilt Friday through Sunday.

Fitness

I’m constantly searching for a better way to stick to my fitness schedule. I play tennis in group lessons, but that’s usually only once a week, and it’s outdoors so it’s cancelled whenever it rains. I don’t have a fitness center where I live, or that would probably be what I would do, and I don’t have room in my apartment for anything like a treadmill or exercise bike. I’ve tried going to the local gym for fitness classes (I like yoga and pilates), but it’s hard for me to find classes that work with my schedule.

These days I’m working on body weight exercises and those I can do with resistance bands and a couple of 10-pound dumbbells.

A mix of cardio and weight training in some form is good to aim for, but doing anything is better than doing nothing.

Sleep

Improving your sleep duration and sleep quality is extremely important for both your short-term and long-term health. And I definitely skew toward the 9-hour end of the “7-9 hours of sleep per night” continuum that most humans need.

I’ve read a couple books by medical doctors in the past couple of years, and they convinced me to 1) buy blackout curtains for my bedroom, 2) cover all sources of night light, 3) use night filters on my phone, ebook reader, and laptop, 4) track my sleep quality with a phone app, and 5) try to get to bed in time to get 9 hours of sleep a night.

Overall Health

One of the issues I went to therapy for was my occasionally extreme health anxiety/illness phobia, which I wrote a guide about here. Read that post for the full details, but the basics of staying on top of your health are: 1) Find out every screening that is recommended for you based on your sex, age, and medical history, and schedule those appointments when you’re supposed to, and 2) Pay attention to persistent changes in your body and seek medical advice if they continue for several weeks.

For the rest of it, accept that you’ve done all you could do and focus on living your life. You could also get hit by a bus tomorrow despite being in perfect health (morbid thought, but it helps me).

Skincare

At home, I primarily use tretinoin, salicylic acid, vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid. I also wear a mineral sunscreen before I go outside.

At spas, I’ve gotten IPL but didn’t see any significant results. I also plan to look into chemical peels, fraxel, and microneedling in the future.

Beauty

Not everyone needs to care about beauty, but I consider it one part of my self-improvement journey.

Permanent treatments

The only cosmetic surgery I’ve gotten is my rhinoplasty, which I had wanted to do since middle school and only wish I’d done sooner.

Rhinoplasty (I discuss my experience here)
Teeth filing (I discuss my experience here)

I’m not actively considering anything else. I might look into getting a lip lift one day, but I’m not set on that because I’ve heard mixed things about whether it’s worth it.

Temporary treatments

As I’ve entered my 30s, anti-aging procedures have become more compelling to me. I’ve gotten several kinds of dermal filler:

Nasolabial fold fillers (with Bellafill, which is a semi-permanent solution). I’ve liked the results so far and will probably continue to get it until it’s time for a face lift.
Nose filler (with Juvederm Voluma, before my rhinoplasty, to smooth out the slight bump along the bridge of my nose before I had my surgical rhinoplasty)
Lip filler (with Radiesse Versa)
I’ve also gotten Botox since my late 20s in my forehead/11s and in the corner of my eyes.

Other beauty upgrades

Hair curling: I have naturally straight hair (1b), so it’s always been natural (and easiest) for me to straighten it to look put together. But I’ve learned that soft waves flatter my face a little more.
Understanding my face shape and how to make makeup work best for it. This is an ongoing journey, but I’ve learned to make sure I’m using warm toned makeup.