With so much conflicting information on social media and in the news, it’s hard to know what a healthy woman’s body is supposed to look like or how to get it. It’s not hard to do, but it requires making changes. We’ll explain how to achieve a healthy woman’s body in this article.

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Achieving a Healthy Woman’s Body

There are many ways to achieving a healthy body as a woman, but here are my best tips:

1. Reduce Your Body Fat

When achieving a healthy woman’s body, most women focus on weight. The most important way to improve overall health is to reduce body fat. An attractive, fit woman is not only at a healthy weight, but also at the right body fat percentage. The ideal body fat percentage for women between 20 and 39 is 21 to 32 percent body fat. For women between 40 and 59, the healthy range is 23 to 33 percent.  Lower than that could harm your overall health and put you at a higher risk for other problems.

Some of the ways you can reduce body fat include:

• Start strength training – Research shows that building upper body and lower body muscle can help reduce body fat and maintain fat-free mass, which increases your resting metabolism.
• Eat a high-protein diet – Eat a diet high in protein and other healthy foods to reduce your appetite and increase fat-burning. Studies have also shown that high-protein diets preserve muscle mass during weight loss.
• Get more sleep – Getting to bed earlier or setting your alarm clock later can help you maintain a healthy weight. You should sleep at least 7 hours every night to allow your body to repair itself overnight. Limit your use of electronic devices before bed and avoid caffeine before bed.
• Eat more healthy fats – It sounds counterintuitive, but eating healthy fats prevents weight gain. Multiple studies show oil- and nut-rich diets can help with weight loss. Diets high in trans fats are associated with excess weight.
• Replace sugary beverages with unsweetened ones – You can promote long-term fat loss by swapping sugary beverages with unsweetened beverages. Drink diet Coke instead of regular Coke. Sweeten tea with lemon instead of sugar.
• Get more cardio – According to research, women should get between 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise weekly.

2. Calculate your BMI

Body mass index is simple if you know your weight in kilograms and height in meters. In case you don’t know these calculations, you can find them online.  If you weigh 64 kilograms and are 1.5 meters tall, or 141 pounds and 5 feet, you have a BMI of 28, which is considered obese.  If your BMI is high, consider adopting some healthy habits for women.

BMI can tell you if you’re overweight, but it’s not perfect. It doesn’t consider muscle is denser than fat. Further, it underestimates obesity prevalence in both genders and gets worse as women age.

Waist-to-hip ratio and hip circumference can also determine obesity risk.

Figure out your waist-to-hip ratio by taking the following steps:

1. Take your waist measurement at the smallest point.
2. Measure your hips at the widest point.
3. Divide waist measurement by hip measurement. The result is your waist-to-hip ratio.

A woman’s waist circumference should be 80 centimeters, or 31.5 inches or less. Anything more increases the risk of health problems, as follows:

• Over 80 cm (31.5 inches) waist circumference – increased risk
• Over 88 centimeters (34.6 inches) – Substantially increased risk.

Use a BMI calculator if you only know your weight in pounds and height in feet and inches.

3. Manage Your Blood Pressure

Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease. You can manage it by watching how much salt you put in your food. There isn’t much need to add salt unless you don’t get enough salt in your diet, or you drink a lot of water. Ways you can reduce sodium in your diet include:

• Choose vegetables that are fresh, frozen, or canned without salt or sauce added.
• Choose “low sodium” or “reduced sodium” packaged foods whenever possible.
• Check nutrition labels to see how much salt is present in various products.
• You should look for prepared meals with less than 600 mg of sodium; this is the FDA’s upper limit for healthy.

You can also take up hobbies that keep you in shape to help you manage your blood pressure.

4. Develop a Positive Body Image

How do you invest in yourself as a woman? One of the best ways to do it is to develop a positive body image. Women with a positive body image are more likely to have better physical and mental health.  

Part of the reason many women have a negative body image is they spend too much time on social media. It’s a good idea to get off social media (at least for some time) and find information on reputable websites. On social media, people tend to post what they want others to see; that may not be what’s happening. Social media images of ideal women may lead to a negative body image.

5. Love Yourself and Who You Are

Finally, love yourself and who you are at every stage of your journey. Love your body shape, let yourself make mistakes, and remember your value isn’t in your body size or body type. Put yourself first and trust yourself to make the best decisions. Once you start loving yourself, you’ll start feeling good again. Remember, confidence is beauty, so practice improving your self-confidence.

Achieving a Healthy Woman’s Body

That’s what you need to know about how to achieve a healthy woman’s body. If you follow these steps, you’ll have a healthy body and mindset. If you continue to practice them regularly, you’ll have a healthy body and mind for a long time. That doesn’t mean you can’t occasionally indulge; just be careful about how much you indulge, and make sure you return to your healthy habits later. If you can do that, you’ll continue to stay healthy and spend doing things you enjoy with the people you love.