Claudia Valdez

Claudia Valdez, former Vogue editor, international beauty journalist, and co-founder of Beauty Unscripted Media, has shaped the global beauty conversation with a raw perspective and an approach that challenges convention.

With over 12 years of experience, she has worked with the most influential publications and has been a key voice in redefining beauty standards.

Her signature is disruption, her tool is words, and her mission is clear: to challenge the status quo with intelligence, strategy, and an uncompromising vision.

Elizabeth Ulloa

Elizabeth Ulloa, celebrity makeup artist with over two decades of experience, two-time Emmy nominee, and founder of Beauty Unscripted Media, is a transformative force in global beauty.

Elizabeth has worked with some of the most influential figures in entertainment, blending her technical mastery with a unique sensitivity to diversity and self-love.

Her mission is clear: to build a world where real beauty and inclusion are non-negotiable, inspiring others to discover confidence in their own reflection.

Beauty Unscripted

Body Literacy: How to read your body in the age of data, supplements, and disconnected decisions

Before the collagen shots, before the fizzy magnesium, before the apps that buzz to tell you when to sleep, there’s a question no one teaches you to ask: Are you reading your body, or just reacting to it?

Real, sustainable wellness doesn’t start with a routine.
It starts with observation. That’s what body literacy is:
learning to understand what your body has always known, but got buried under formulas, screens, and social prescriptions.

This piece won’t promise a solution. It won’t promise improvement. It offers something better: discernment.

By Claudia Valdez

I. What You Take (Without Knowing Why)

Supplements aren’t the issue. The issue is skipping the essential question:
Do I really need this?

  • Creatine: strength, recovery, maybe even mental clarity.
  • Protein: not for bulking—just to maintain structure.
  • Beta-Alanine: endurance, tolerance.
  • ZMA: sleep, immunity and balance.
  • Nitrates: cardiovascular efficiency. Quiet, not flashy.

None of them are magic. All of them are valid,  if you understand what they do, and why you’re taking them. If no one explained side effects, it’s not self-care, It’s performance dressed up as discipline.

SUPPLEMENTS:

1. Creatine

Nutricost Creatine Monohydrate: Pure, micronized creatine monohydrate—ideal for enhancing performance and muscle recovery.

2. Whey Protein

Thorne Whey Protein Isolate: NSF-certified whey protein isolate—ideal for athletes seeking purity and performance.

3. Beta-Alanine

BulkSupplements Beta-Alanine Powder: Supports lean muscle development and enhances physical performance.

4. ZMA (Zinc, Magnesium & B6)

Optimum Nutrition ZMA: A blend of zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6—supports muscle recovery and improves sleep quality.

5. Vitamin D

Thorne Vitamin D/K2 Liquid: Liquid blend of vitamins D3 and K2—supports bone and cardiovascular health.

6. Magnesium

BioEmblem Triple Magnesium Complex: A blend of magnesium glycinate, malate, and citrate—highly absorbable and gentle on the stomach.

7. Iron

Doctor’s Best High Absorption Iron with Ferrochel: Chelated iron with superior absorption—gentle on the stomach and effective for improving blood health.

II. What You’re Missing (But Never Investigated)

Most people aren’t overloaded with toxins. They’re depleted in basics.
The most toxic thing? Not knowing it.

  • Vitamin D: mood, immunity, bones.
  • Magnesium: stress, sleep, digestion.
  • Iron: oxygenation, clarity, real energy.

Run tests. Don’t guess.
Fatigue isn’t always stress.
Irritability isn’t always personality.

III. What You Track (As If That Were Health)

Apps help until they start judging. Counting steps doesn’t mean you moved with intention. Tracking calories doesn’t mean you nourished yourself. More data doesn’t mean deeper awareness. Strava, headspace, sleep monitors, fasting clocks… all useful until they replace your intuition. Tracking without reflection is noise. Tracking with self-awareness is literacy.

IV. What Can’t Be Bought (Though They Try)

The fundamentals of wellness are often invisible because they’re free.

  • Sleeping without interruption
  • Breathing without distraction
  • Eating without multitasking
  • Drinking water before you’re thirsty
  • Moving without trying to shrink
  • Sitting still for five minutes, without guilt

That is health. Everything else is packaging.

V. What No One Else Can Do for You

Your body isn’t waiting for another supplement. It’s waiting for context.

Taking care of yourself isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what actually matters. Body literacy doesn’t begin when you add habits; it begins when you question them.

FINAL WORD

You don’t need a new system. Or a better version of yourself. Or another round of “optimization.” What you need is the version of you that knows how to listen to what’s already there.

What your body keeps saying: “I don’t need to be optimized.
I need to be understood.” And to understand it? You need more than instinct.

Consult. Investigate. Cross-check. Seeing a doctor isn’t weakness, it’s a high-level self-love decision. Because your body deserves care. But more than anything, it deserves context. Self-care without knowledge is just well-branded improvisation.

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