Contrary to popular belief, there is much more to a fitness lifestyle than just working out and burning calories to look pretty. Fitness as a lifestyle teaches discipline and adaptability and on top of that, promotes a healthier and more balanced life. All of these factors are crucial components of success, especially for entrepreneurs who like to dream big.

Being a successful entrepreneur herself, Maeurn Smiles explains that entrepreneurship is a hard and exhausting endeavor that leaves a heavy toll on both body and mind. Those who don’t take proper care often end up burned out, unwilling, and unable to continue pursuing their dreams. The solution is simple – balancing the mind and body through the workout.

“Fitness lifestyle is all about living a healthy life and bringing body and mind into sync. When you are healthy, there is no challenge you can’t handle,” she says. “You are physically and mentally capable of doing more and achieving more. You are in a better mood, and you can easily focus on every task that is in front of you. It results in making fewer mistakes and an easier journey to success.”

22-year-old Maeurn Smiles is a real estate investor, influencer, and Instagram model with over 1 million followers. Born and raised in an impoverished region of Cebu, Philippines, she struggled to make ends meet for most of her life, but today she is living a very comfortable life, traveling around the world and enjoying herself to the fullest. She left her home when she was 18, and in the short span of three years, she managed to achieve more than a lot of people don’t achieve in their lifetime.

While a fitness lifestyle plays a huge role in her life, she doesn’t have a special secret or unheard routine she is adhering to. She gets up at 6 am, checks her to-do list for the day, and then takes her dog to the beach for a walk and a morning coffee. She hits the gym around nine, after which she goes for a quick brunch. Then comes the “boring work” until dinner, when she usually goes for a protein-rich meal.

As Maeurn Smiles points out, she works and works out hard, and she takes care of herself. “I really love working out as it helps me keep my focus from the morning. I mostly work on my legs and glutes,” she says. “When it comes to diet, honestly, I don’t track calories or pick what I eat. As long as I work hard in the gym, I can eat whatever I want.”

She likes to call that “taking care of herself” as she believes that extreme workouts and diets don’t have a place in a healthy and balanced life. But she does other things to take care of her body. Besides skincare routines, she loves alternating between sauna and ice baths.

“Ice baths proved to be an excellent remedy for my sleep problems. I’d go to the gym, and they’d have these ice baths, and I’d wonder what that was. But then I actually jumped into one and tried it,” says Maeurn. “It was an amazing experience, especially when I started to combine it with sauna. Hot and cold. When you mix that, you’ll end up having the best sleep in your life.”

But for Maeurn, working out and eating healthy is just one side of the “taking care of herself” routine. As already mentioned, she is a huge believer in balance, and she points out that she never forces herself to do anything she doesn’t want to do. For example, she’ll sometimes stay in bed when she doesn’t feel like working or eat copious amounts of junk food. Anything to stay happy.

“I love taking care of myself, but taking care of yourself, sometimes, also means eating four pizzas and watching your favorite movies. It also means staying in bed when you don’t feel like working, but it also means doing skincare routines every morning and evening, going to the sauna, or taking an ice bath,” says Maeurn Smiles. “Life should be all about balance, and having time for yourself, taking space for yourself, and doing things that you want is important if you intend to reach your goals and achieve the success you want.”