Weight Loss Blog: September 2012

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[New post] Feeling beautiful

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Feeling beautiful

by Weight Loss and Me

Love yourself. Be confident. Don't compare yourself to others.... We all know these, but since they take a long time to achieve, sometimes we need help in the mean time.

For your face

It's important to cleanse, tone and moisturize your face twice a day - morning and night - and to exfoliate once or twice a week. I often skip this: face cream, pffff, give me a break. Exfoliants? Marketing bullshit. But no, they are important! So, from now on, when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed, I will wash my face, apply some toner and for the finish, moisturize it. Here are the products I went with.

I like the cleanser because it has a little Salicylic acid in it and that it good against acne. Also, this face wash removes all traces of oil, dirt and makeup! So you don't need make-up remover.

The toner is from Burt's Bees and it has willow bark in it, which is great against blemishes. I have moisturizer already that I wanted to finish, but it's back in Ottawa.

So, when you wake-up and go to bed:

Cleanse
Tone
Moisturize

For your skin

Moiturize. Every. Single. Day. I know it's annoying and that you want to skip it, but do it. Some creams are better than other: I like St.Ives because it's great and cheap. Also, I have discovered the incredible benefits of oil in the past few weeks. I had started looking into it, but my friend who is a beauty expert told me it was absolutely great for you. If, like me, you have lost weight and have stretch marks and if you have scars on your body, Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula is for you.

It helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks, dry & damaged skin, uneven skin tones and aging skin. Yes, it's oil, but this one is fast drying, non-staining and not greasy. I'm not even paid to say this! It's really true. I used to be so complexed by my stretch marks, but they are slowly fading away. You just have to stick to it. I think I like working out better than moisturizing haha but it will pay off.

Exfoliating your whole entire body once or twice a week is also great because it gets you rid of dead skin cells and allow your pores to not clog and to breathe more easily. Use a loofah for better results. They are inexpensive and useful.

For your hair

Stay natural. Seriously. Some girls have curly hair, some have straight hair, some have unruly waves... There are products for every single type of hair! I like to straighten my hair every once in a while, but I know curly is the way to go. Trust me, if I only shampoo my hair and go to bed with my hair wet, I am going to look like a lion or a mad scientist the next morning. I use products that work with my curls. Here are two new that I will be trying.

I love mousse because it gives my curls a bounce: they will hold for longer and they will stay put. I apply mousse right after I get out of the shower: my mom gave me that trick. Don't dry your hair: remove a little of the excess water and put your head upside down before crunching the mousse in your hair, from roots to points.

This product I have never tried before, but I thought I would give it a chance. Loose curls are sexy. They really are. My hair is not as long as it was, but I like when I have bed hair: I feel relaxed and quite attractive to be honest. AND mousse is better if you already have curly hair, but with this product, you can have completely straight hair and it says it will work for you too! It's better when you don't use heating instrument in your hair, so next time, instead of using the curling iron, try this!

For your nails

Manicures and pedicures are expensive, so unless you are rolling on gold, buy a few tools and learn how to do it yourself! I never care about my nails. Like, I'll cut them when they are too long, but I never thought about cuticles and all that stuff. I was singing at the bar on Tuesday and a guy hit on me: he told me that I looked like I had beautiful toes and that he wanted to see them. I didn't show them to him because one he was a freak and two because I realized that my toes could look a lot better. So, yesterday, I gave myself a pedicure and now they look great! All for 9.99$. As for colour, I believe in classy colours: red or clear.

For your lips

Burt's Bees lip balm with eucalyptus oil. Enough said. Leaves your lips plump and gives them a cooling sensation. Love it.

For everything

Workout, it will give your skin a glow and water. Drink it all day everyday. Hydration is sexy.

These are just tips, but I really do think it's important to take care of ourselves to feel good. It's not superficial, it's not selfish: it's self-love. When you get a new hair cut and you walk outside the salon, you feel great because you know you look great. Imagine taking ten to fifteen extra minutes in the morning to take better care of yourself and feeling like that everyday. It's worth it.

Weight Loss and Me | September 28, 2012 at 2:34 pm | Tags: a la corinne, beauty routines, diet, fitness, health, lifestyle blog, tips and tricks beauty, weight loss, weight loss and corinne | Categories: Weight Loss | URL: http://wp.me/p1P2SJ-2cf

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Run Eat Repeat (latestItemTitle)

Ask a Monican #44

Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:16 AM PDT

Happy Friday!

Yesterday after work Ben came with me to return the tainted almond butter to Trader Joes.

Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of us shopping when we were hungry Sad smile We ended up with a lot of extra goodies in the cart like these chocolate hazelnut cookies. (Note the way the box is ripped open like we're animals.)

Fortunately (?), after eating 2 cookies after dinner I don't think they're life changing so I'll leave the rest for Ben. And they are tiny for being 180 calories for 2 cookies!

This morning I did an easy 3 miler, 1 mile walk cool down. Then, I rushed home so I could hit up the story before I had to start work. It was a seltzer emergency!

Plus, many of you were skeptical about my pumpkin protein pudding recipe and demanded pumpkin cookies instead. Well, I'll deliver. I grabbed the ingredients for easy pumpkin cookies too!

On the way home I spotted two fun license plates I thought I'd share for Fun Friday:

1. Ben's license plate? Not really, but it fits.

2. Peace.

Breakfast of Monicans.

Ask A Monican #44

Monica from Run Eat Repeat talks about:
Fitbloggin – fit bloggers conference
1. I missed a long run on my marathon training plan. What do I do?
2. How do you stay motivated while training for a half marathon?

Attn: After daily comments that RER doesn't open/work/allow you to see pics I am switching servers. Just a head's up in case it's down over the next few days! I'm working to make RER better leave your suggestions in the comment box Winking smile

Question: What are you doing this weekend?

Leave your Ask a Monican questions below or email me runeatrepeat at gmail

I have a long run planned and a long nap after that.

Pumpkin Protein Pudding Recipe

Posted: 27 Sep 2012 05:18 PM PDT

I had half a can of pumpkin hanging out in my fridge and wanted to do something new with it. I have my usual breakfast round up of pumpkin oats and pumpkin pancakes, but I wanted an orange snack today.

So, I dreamed up this sweet pumpkin-y pudding.

Pumpkin Spiced Protein Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/4 c milk of your choice
3/4 scoop vanilla or vanilla chai protein powder
1 tsp chia seeds
dash each: salt and pumpkin pie spice

I've had this vanilla chai protein powder a company rep sent me for a while and this is the perfect recipe for it! But, you can use regular vanilla powder and add a little extra spice for flava. Note: I didn't use the stevia because this protein powder is sweet enough.

I used A LOT of extra pumpkin pie spice by accident. I didn't realize that jar doesn't have a sprinkle top…

Directions: Mix up all the ingredients and refrigerate for 30 minutes to thicken. Or you can eat it right away topped with a sprinkle of slivered almonds Smile