Get Healthy With Me!

Hi Beauts !

About a couple of month ago, I got very fed up with the lifestyle I was living. I was eating pure trash really, heavily processed foods, sweets and a ton of white carbohydrates. I felt very lazy and lethargic, my body felt so sluggish and slow just because of what I was feeding my body. My acne was definitely acting up, I was having breakouts and it was just oil overload on my face. I finally told myself that enough is enough, so I made myself change. Before I get into this, please remember I am NOT a certified nutritionist, what I know about health is research I've done on the internet. This is what has been working for my body, everybody is different and I'm not trying to say that you HAVE to change.

• The first thing I did was cut out heavily processed foods. No more frozen pizza or meals, potato chips, fast food, anything with hydrogenated oils, High Fructose Corn Syrup, MSG, GMOs. 
• Soda and Sugared drinks were next. I figured if soda and sugary juices have no health benefits like water, why drink them ?
• Once I had a little better control of my "diet", I started exercising. I started with fast pace walking for an hour and then started to progress into somewhat more intense workouts. Right now, what I love to do is Tone It Up videos on YouTube. Their workouts are amazing and really make you sweat.
• I make myself drink a lot of water. I keep a water bottle with me at all times, even on my bedside table before going to bed. Ever since I started drinking a lot of water, I have noticed a difference in my acne and how I feel overall.
• I love love coffee. I can have it whenever, wherever. I personally don't think that coffee is really bad for you, but some say otherwise. I used to love flavored coffee creamers, I always had to have it with my coffee. I stopped buying them because of the ingredients it has, so instead I use organic half and half, which tastes just as good and is better for me.
• If I can't pronounce it or know what it is, I won't eat it, ingredient wise. If it's loaded with chemicals and preservatives, how good can it be for you ?
• I had to make myself understand that there are good carbohydrates and bad ones, they aren't all bad. I try not to eat anything "white", like bread, pasta, rice and so on. I have substituted all of those with healthier whole grain/wheat versions .
• I like to have fruit and nut bars as a snack or keep them in my purse in case if I get hungry, that way I have something in stomach to hold me over to my next meal. I really like Lara bars and Kind bars, they are delicious and all natural.
• Breakfast ! I love breakfast food but have never been a breakfast person, eating so soon just doesn't make me feel right. I started to ease myself into breakfast little by little. I love having fruit, toast and eggs or oatmeal. It really just depends what I'm craving when I wake up.
• Portion control... Whenever you are starving an finally get the chance to eat, you just go crazy eating, well not literally, but I think we all must have experienced that once in our lives. I had to learn proper portions, like a giant bowl of just mac n cheese or a giant steak isn't really a smart choice. When I eat meals, I like for plate to have lots of vegetables, healthy protein and some carbohydrates depending what I'm eating. So my plate will be half veggies, a quarter protein and the other quarter carbohydrates/starch.

What I mainly strive for is a healthy and clean lifestyle, but that doesn't mean I don't cheat, because I do. It's ok to have a cookie or a piece of cake, those things don't make you unhealthy. The unhealthiest thing you could do to your body is deprive it of everything you love but also going overboard with those things. Anyone can eat clean and have junk food and still be healthy. There is a saying I like to tell my friends when they are on restrictive diets or any diet for that matter, and that is that you an eat everything in moderation. You really can eat that cookie and those two chips and not gain 20 pounds and heart disease, it doesn't work that way. It's really all about smart choices, you can still enjoy food and have a healthy relationship with food if you just live by smart decisions.Eating healthy is not about losing weight, it's about feeling good from the inside out. No matter your size or shape, I believe everyone should eat right, but only if they want to. Believe in yourself and you'll go far. I'm thinking about doing a blog post showing you Beauts just an idea what I eat in a day let me know if that is something you would like to see.

Take Care Beauts !

My Spa Day Must Haves | How To Have A Spa Day at Home !

Hi Beauts !

We all have those bad weeks that by the time Friday comes around, we just need some relaxation and "me" time. When I have really stressful week, I like to take full advantage of my day off. Now sometimes I make plans to go out that day but if I don't make any plans, it's a set pamper day. These days are an absolute must for me, they really help to relax and just unwind and just forget about the past week. Spa days really help you to get in that state of mind where you can think a lot clearer and be happy. Now depending what you like you don't have to go to some expensive spa to help you relax, if you have all the right products, you can do it at home !

What you'll need:
A candle of your choice
Facial masks
Body cream
Hair mask
Sugar Scrub
Nail polish
Blackhead strips
Tea
A movie or book/magazine

 

Facial masks are hands down a necessities for me when I have my pamper day. I have rather oily skin and when you add stress on top of that, let's just say it's not very pretty. I like using either one of these on my skin, it just depends what my skin is needing that week. If I want a deep clean and all the gunk out of my face, I'll use the Freeman Dead Sea Mineral mask, it leaves my skin feeling soft and refreshingly clean. If I want a more mild facial mask, something that will get rid of dead skin cells to prevent any more acne, I'll use Freeman Peel - Off mask. This one is really cool because when you apply it, it has this gel like consistency and as it dries it becomes a very thin, transparent layer on your skin. It is super fun to peel it off of your face and you can see all gunk that it has taken off of your face.

Oily skin means the very dreadful blackheads, and I dislike them very much. I like these because they pull everything out of nose and they don't really damage my skin. The only I will say, is use blackhead strips once a week. The last time I used them, the day right after, I noticed that it dried out my nose a bit, but it wasn't to bad. These strips take out all the oil and dirt that is on my nose to further prevent more blackheads from coming up. I only use these once a week or once every two weeks, it just depends how my nose is looking.

Pamper days don't just mean facial mask, they mean hair mask too. I love washing my hair, it is really relaxing and it really calms me down. I normally wash my hair about 2 to 3 times a week, honestly it just depends what is going on that week. By the end of the week my hair is just dull and dry and my ends are seriously lacking. I like using coconut oil because it really replenishes my hair, it puts back all the missing moisture back in, it makes my hair super silky and smooth and it's natural. I usually apply this first and let it sit on my hair as I do everything else. I normally like to leave it in for an hour to an hour and a half.

It's just not a full on pamper day, if there is no sugar scrub involved. I really like exfoliating my skin with this sugar scrub, it leaves my skin really soft and smooth and moisturized. If you don't have a sugar scrub you can always make one at home or just take some sugar with you into the shower and mix it with a little bit of body wash. If you want to try a homemade one, I have a blog post showing you how I made this exact scrub, Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub. Exfoliating is good for your skin because you are scrubbing off all the dead skin cells that are just laying on your skin, it improves the texture of your skin and helps your skin to look it's best as possible.

Moisturizer ! For my spa day I like to use a rich cream rather than lotion. Body creams, are thicker and because of that they create this barrier on top of your skin that help to keep moisture in. Lotions, on the other hand are a lot more "watery" so your skin absorbs it a lot quicker and it doesn't really create that barrier. I really like this one because it smells really good and it makes my skin super soft. I like to use this after my very spa like bath and just rub it into my skin.

Another thing that I love to do during spa day is paint my nails. It helps to not think about anything else other than what color I want to paint my nails and it helps me feel pretty. Let's face it Beauts, we can't help but feel like a million dollars when we have a killer manicure. So get your favorite nail polish or whatever color you have been dying to use and paint them nails !

I love drinking tea and I especially love it when I'm relaxing. After I have done all my masks and painting my nails and applying cream, I like to sit down with a cup of tea and a good book. I always drink tea when I'm getting ready for bed because I'm such a hyper person and I'm constantly moving, that it just really helps me to relax and fall asleep. I normally will have chamomile tea but I received these in my last BirchBox and I really like them.

Having days like this isn't just healthy for mind, it's also healthy for your body. High stress levels and over working your body can just throw everything out of wack in your body. It's really good to just relax and put your worries aside for just one day. I love having these days because they remind of what really matters in life is happiness. If you are hard on yourself like I am about your outer appearance, little things like these can help you see just how beautiful you really are .

I really hope you Beauts liked this post and found it really helpful ! Hope you all have a beautiful day !