Cameron Diaz’s take on healthy body image

Cameron Diaz is now in her early forties, but if you met her on the street you’d probably never be able to guess her real age. While the actress has publicly championed growing old with dignity, she also understands body image is a huge part of her career. Despite the pressures to stay young and beautiful, however, she has found a way to be content with her who she is inside and out.

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“I actually prefer the way I look now to how I looked [in 2000, while filming Charlie’s Angels]. I don’t mind that I look older because I’m comfortable with who I am and how my body looks and feels,” Diaz told the Herald Sun. “I don’t worry about how others perceive me. When you’re in your 40s, you may not be playing sex symbol roles anymore but who wants to play the sex symbol forever? That was never my ambition.”

Diaz was born August 30th, 1972, and the Latina beauty admits her younger years were not her healthiest. In her teens and 20’s she ate a lot of fast and processed foods, and even though she was slender she never exercised. She also had an issue with severe acne, and the problem only improved when she eventually cleaned up her diet. Since those younger years, Diaz has learned to love her body, even as it ages.

“I know that women tend to fall into a mindset where we compare ourselves constantly with other women, and that comparison is very damaging and has such negative energy,” she said. “I read a quote that said ‘Comparison is a brutal insult upon one’s self.’ That’s true because when you compare yourself to someone else, there’s the implication that what you have isn’t good enough. We need to be able to understand our bodies, learn how to eat healthily according to our body’s specific needs and not worry or judge ourselves in comparison to others.”

Easy live-healthy tips from Cameron Diaz

The tricks to being happy and healthy inside and out aren’t complicated, according to Diaz. What is one of the easiest ways she recommends to get some exercise in during the day? Dancing. Not only does it improve the mood, it gets the body moving, too.

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“[Choose music] that will make you want to dance”, Diaz said, adding to listen to the playlist first thing in the morning and “jump up and down, swing your arms, touch your toes, run in circles.” The goal is to have at least 15 minutes of music to start, eventually adding songs until you have a hour of play time.

But the overall most important part of being healthy inside and out? Diaz says it is all about determination and discipline. “Everything I have comes from discipline,” she stated. “I do what I do because I make myself do it… in order to create the life that I want to live. You shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to change everything at once. Think of it as a lifestyle choice that you’re going to follow because it will make you feel better and look better.”