Eating Clean

Eat Clean & Still Feel Satisfied

The first week of February has passed and I am curious to know how many people are still sticking with their New Year's resolutions and how many have considered defeat.  Even if you have derailed from your goal(s) there is still time to correct and return to your path to success.

I have noticed the hardest thing for me is eating "good for you" food and having it actually taste good.  I love my  potatoes as well as my pasta.  So I started searching the internet and found some great vegetables that can be transformed into the pasta that I so love.

1.  Spaghetti squash- This pretty dark yellow squash can be found at most farmers market or produce carrying stores.  The best way to cook it is to place it whole into the oven for about 40-45 minutes at 425 degrees.  After the 45 minutes are up, remove from oven and cut lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and discard.  Take a fork and fluff out the "spaghetti".  The quash contents will be stringy and almost appear like angel hair pasta but yellow in color.  I like to saute some garlic in extra virgin olive oil and season with Parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper.  You can also just drop some basil pesto with salt and pepper and voila, you have your delicious pasta.  You can top with pretty much any protein you like.

2.  Mashed potatoes- My husband today put together probably one of the best mashed potatoes I have ever tasted, and you would not believe what the main ingredient was.  CAULIFLOWER!! He took 3 cups of cauliflower and 1 medium sized potatoes created a nice creamy puree like texture and added Parmesan cheese and Italian herbs. It was delicious!

If you ever want to try something different and healthy I suggest trying the 2 above mentioned recipes, you will not regret it.  I am actually suffering with a horrible headache along with a cold, so for now this is all the energy I can muster.  Until next time.  Stay healthy!

My Skincare Regimen

My Daily Skincare

Today, I would like to talk about my skin and what my daily routine is to keep it nice and healthy.  All through my teenage years and into my twenty's I suffered with severe acne.  I am not talking about the occasional pimple during Aunt Flow's visit, I am talking about serious cystic acne.  There were times at which, I needed to get shots in my face just to ease the pain.  Thankfully, the acne is finally gone but if I do not take care of my skin properly, I may get an occasional pimple or two.

• Cleanse your face twice a day.  Once in the morning and once at night.  Do not overdue the washing as you may end up drying out your skin. Exfoliation is a must at least once a week. I highly recommended using a Clarisonic brush to cleanse your face as it exfoliates as well.  This will help you take care of your skin without any added time for exfoliation.  I am not affiliated with the Clarisonic brand, I am just an avid user and it made a tremendous difference in my skin.  I use it at night before I go to sleep to remove all traces of makeup.  When I rinse my face I see how dirty the water is, you can see the makeup residue in your sink.  Below is a link at which you can find the Clarisonic Mia for $99 plus take 20% off.  This product normally ranges from $125-$195

          Clarisonic System and Brush head

• Use a Toner to correct the PH balance.  For those of you that want an all natural toner, I highly recommend rose water, it smells nice and is simply the best.  You can find rose water at any vitamin or supplement stores.  If you do not have time to leave the house, Amazon is not a bad choice.
  

• Moisturize your skin.  Even if you have oily skin, you need to moisturize your skin.  You would just use a lite moisturizer versus a thick creamy one.  Aveeno, Neutrogena, La Roche, and Olay are all nice brands and affordable for all budgets.  There is always at least 1 Pharmacy that has them on sale and you can find coupons in the Sunday paper as well as online.  

• Protect from the sun.  You must use sunscreen on a daily basis.  No matter what season,  the presence of sun and its harmful rays can cause your skin to age significantly. I use SPF 35 at a minimum and have use SPF 50 as well.  You may feel like you look like a ghost with SPF50 at first but over 5-10  minutes the ghostly look diminishes.  I absolutely love La Roche products as well as SkinMedica.  They are a bit more expensive but deliver great protection.
  

This is a very basic routine and anyone can follow this.  We have to make it a priority to take care of ourselves.  I know its hard to make time for ourselves when we have dependents to take care of and/or work full time.  The steps mentioned above should not take more than 5 minutes @ max.  For anyone who would rather have 1 system for their skincare, a few brands to consider would be:

Clinique- Their products are allergy tested and are safe and effective for all skin types.
Clinique 3 Step System

Lancome- Lancome has several systems to which you can be matched.  You have to have a Lancome associate to assist you with the selection.  This way you will be matched to the correct system for your skin type and concerns.
Lancome Skincare Finder

Obagi- I use the Obagi system and would not recommend using this product line unless you have visited a skin care specialist and received proper usage instructions.  This system is great for anyone that has acne, scars, wrinkles, discoloration and for anyone that wants to prevent these conditions.  However, this system is pricey, the estimate cost is around $500 for the entire system.  
Obagi NuDerm

If you have any specifics questions, feel free to reach out.

Sample 5 day Menu to get Healthy

Sample Menu to Aid Healthy Eating

They key to eating healthy is planning what you will consume.  This will help you determine how much you need to burn during exercise as well.  I plan my week's menu by Friday night so I know what I need to buy and it takes the decision making out.  With 2 kids running around I don't want to think about "oh, what should I cook today", or "oh no, I will need to go to the grocery store to pick that up", or "it's just easier to order pizza".

Here is what I put together for this week.  If you need recipes for any of the items just drop me a line and I will post it.

New Year's Resolution's: Weight loss/Get Fit Plan

New Year's Resolution: Weight loss/Get Fit Plan

In my previous blog, I mentioned what my new years resolutions were and in this one I am specifically going to talk about my weight loss/get fit plan.  I feel for you to succeed at anything there needs to be a plan.  You wouldn't make a cake or cook something without a recipe, right?  You need to have the right ingredients.  So here it is, this is the plan for my success:

1. Make my goals visible.  If I see my goal everyday, I am more likely to work towards it.  I wrote my goal and posted it up in my room, this way when I wake up and before I go to sleep I will see it.  It will be a constant reminder for me.
   
2. Make time to workout at least 3 times a week.  Its hard to find time for myself especially with being a full time mom and a full time employee, but I have a very supportive husband who actually helped me put together a plan that will fit into our schedules.  3 days a week for at least 30 minutes, is very much doable.  I would love to do more but the goal is 3, if I get time to do more than 3 times a week that will be a plus.  I want to setup something realistic. 
3. Eat Healthy.  This is not the easiest thing to do especially when you are brown.  We practically eat rice and/or bread with everything.  I actually did the Dr.Oz Rapid Weight loss plan for 2 weeks as suggested by Dr.Oz, I must say in the 2 weeks I did drop 4 lbs, which is not bad.  What this plan did is it actually reduced my cravings for carbs and sugar altogether.  After, the 2 weeks I have been writing everything I eat.  There is a cool app called myfitnesspal.  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  I have it on my phone and can access it via the web on my laptop as well.  It doesn't get easier than that.  Everyday I am able to see what I consumed and where I need to improve.
   
4. Award myself.  We all work harder, and better when we know once we reach the end there will be an award waiting for us.  So I set up small goals, when I lose 2 lbs I get to go get my hair done, believe me, I will be working hard to lose the 2 lbs because my roots are really showing and need to be done.  The next goal will be to lose another 2 lbs and my award will be a nice gown to wear to an event in February.  Of course, another driving force is I would love to look amazing at the event.  You can award yourself in any way you feel, it should be something that will motivate you.

I hope some of you are able to utilize this information.  If there are any requests or have any specific questions, feel free to drop a line and I will get you the answer or the source that can provide the answer.

Stay tuned for one of my sample menus.

New Year's Resolutions!!

What's Your New Year's Resolution?

The year 2015 has started and we are already 4 days in.  Did you put together a new year's resolution or two?  Well I put together a few that I would love to share and if anyone has a similar resolution let's make them happen by working together.
1.  After having 2 kids, I have not been able to workout like my old self.  Before Olivia and Jacob I could have been called a Gym Junkie.  The gym was basically my 2nd home.  This year by the end of December 2015 I want to have dropped 20 lbs.  If you are wondering, "that is a long time to lose 20 lbs", you are right, it is.  The reason I decided December was I do not want to try to rush the weight loss and end up taking short cuts.  The best fitness/weight loss plan is one that is a life style change and not a month or 2 change.

2.  For anyone that has 1 or 2 kids, you can probably relate to this one.  I want to make more time for me and my husband.  I think it will be nice to have a date night or day once a month.  Actually have adult conversations or just go for a hike/run.  As the kids are getting older, I noticed it has been becoming easier to take some time away from them and hang out with my amazing hubby.

That is all, just 2 resolutions, any more and it will be hard to maintain.  I would love to know about your resolutions.

 In my next post, I will write about the steps I am taking to achieve my goals for this year.  I will also be posting sample menus with recipes to assists anyone who is also looking for a way to eat healthier.

How to Salvage your Skin from Winter's Wrath

1.  Moisturize, Moisturize, and Moisturize.  Winter can really wreak havoc on our skin making it extremely dry.  As all of you may know dry skin leads to ….yes our worst enemy WRINKLES!!!  Find a moisturizer that is oil based, most night creams are oil based so they will work.    The oil will create a nice protective layer on the skin.  Look for non-clogging oils like primrose oil, mineral oil, or avocado oil.  I personally like to apply a nice amount of avocado oil on my skin before I go to sleep.  This is a nice cost effective way to keep my skin hydrated.  

Recommended Products:

 2.   Hydrate your body.  This is not only through applying body oils or lotions.  You hydrate your body by drinking lots of water.   Remember, drinking water also aids in losing weight, and plumping our skin which you guessed it, prevent wrinkles and aging.  In order to determine how much water you need to drink, take your weight and divide it by 2, that will give you the number of ounces you should intake in 1 day.  You can divide the ounces by 8 to determine how many glasses.

Recommended Products:

 3.   Don’t forget those hands.  Our hands have thinner skin than most of our body.  It’s easy to forget our hands when our main focus is our hair, face, and body (figure).  I like to apply castor oil or coconut oil on my hands throughout the day.  I am also a big fan of Bio Oil.  Bio oil is light but serves the purpose.  Bio Oil is also great for reducing stretch marks and cellulite.  If anyone plans to get prego any time soon this oil is an essential for your belly.  I have gone through 2 pregnancies with this and thankfully no Stretch Marks.

Recommended Products: