Motivation

Love this outfit! Getting there...

Feeling Awesome and Skin Update

I'm feeling pretty darn amazing today. For not one particular reason I just feel like I need to give myself a pat on the back.  Sometimes we just don't give ourselves credit or love and encouragement. We're so busy doing an pushing forward that we don't take the opportunity to revel in our successes and even those things that we didn't succeed at but learned a valuable lesson.

Right now I'm on Day 4 of another juice cleanse. Though I've modified it and allowed myself almonds and I will eat lunch tomorrow (greens, veggies) but I plan on going like this for 2 weeks consistening of mainly fresh pressed juice. Right now I'm sipping on lunch which is mainly 2 apples, handful of spinach and a piece of ginger.

I had blogged about my skin before and just wanting to have a clear beautiful complexion, something which had alluded me for pretty much my entire post-childhood life. And though my skin isn't where I want it to be I am ELATED with my progress. Yes, I have a few breakouts but I think that is a side effect of the salicylic acid peel, which they say may happen. Which isn't unusual for anything that helps to treat acne...always the storm then the calm. But my face looks remarkable better. The breakouts on my jawline and cheeks...gone. I still have a ways to go but my skin's overall improvement has been marvelous.  I credit it with using steam to help open pores, my juice cleanse but also to getting a really amazing facial. 2 weeks after my skin was so nice! The lady who did my facial said my pores were clogged something super duper awful which was why I was breaking out. Now that could explain that why during the cleanse I was still breaking out, the stuff was coming out but it was blocked due to clogged pores.

My skin regime consists of using the following products:

• Cetaphil (not totally natural, but its a mild cleanser) - I won a big one from Allure during a contest and I'm glad I did.
• Yes To Tomato's - This is the Yes To! acne line. I use their core unclogging cleanser (contains salicylic acid, facial wipes, moisturizer and mask...I actually used up all the mask and moisturizer!)  I also have their acne gel cleanser that I have yet to open. I figured I start that once I run out of Cetaphil
• Grapeseed Oil - I use this as a moisturizer mainly at night after washing and toning
• ACV - GODSEND! this stuff is everything. I use it to mix my clay mask and also use it as a toner...a use equal parts ACV and water for my toner
• Clay - Yes, clay! This stuff is EXCELLENT at drawing out the impurities from the skin. Just mix with equal parts ACV and leave on face for 20-30 minutes, longer if you can stand it.
• Honey and Cinnamon - I mix these 2 together for a great mask that kills bacteria. Love this!

Products I want to get:

• Go Ginger Face Moisturizer - Ginger is anti-inflammatory which is why I always juice with it. I had a sample of this stuff before and it's awesome!
• TCA Peel -  I hear this is great, thou the process is a bit unsightly. I already ordered mine but I may not actually use it until next month. This will help with my scarring and dark marks. 

I really should do a blog post on how I cured my cystic acne naturally. I really think that my journey and struggle for years and years and finally finding a solution can help so many people with the same challenges. And it's not really just one solution, it's really changing a lot of things and realizing external and internal triggers.

I think I'll take a few pics of my skin now. I wish I had of taken them when my skin was acting crazy but it was just too much.  I think as time progresses the improvement from now to say a few months from now will be noticeable. I really hope that things continue so well. I knew that there was a better way to take care of my skin other than all these drugs.  Stay tuned for updates!!

xoxo

Tammy

Get Low, Get Low...

And yes, I'm planking too!

I'm currently on Day 9 and boy was it hard! It was harder than day 8 for some reason. I couldn't hold 1 minute straight. Hopefully by Day 11, I'll have the minute down.

Feel free to join me! Let's get these abs strong!

Squat it Like it's HOT!!

I've started the squat challenge. I think I messed up because I was not tracking my days very well. But I am currently on Day 7, which seems about right. Yes! I banged out 90 squats today! Super excited...I can tell I've gotten stronger already!

Care to join me?  Let's do this. Results in 30 days...who doesn't want a tighter bootay??

Life in Transistion

I'm back!

Well, almost...

The last few months has been a rollercoaster, lots of ups and downs and blogging just wasn't something that I felt lead to do. Yes, I thought about it but that's about it.

Lot's of change in my life from being engaged to being single. It's new...and I'm...managing.

I hope to get back to writing here much more often because no matter what happens life is to be lived to the fullest...I'm getting there.

Here's to my return!

Cheers!

xoxo

Juice Cleanse Finished

Yesterday was the last day of my 30 day juice cleanse! And I feel great! I broke the fast, as they say with prunes I soaked in water overnight. I had that for breakfast and a late dinner. I could only get down about eight prunes totally, I sipped on juice for lunch.  I still struggle with my water intake and getting enough. Some days I do great, others...not so much.

What's next?

For the next week I'll be doing a raw food diet. Nothing cooked. Only fruits, veggies and nuts to ease my system back into the groove of digesting food.

The hardest part may actually be creating a new lifestyle that includes foods that are good AND good for me. My next step is to do a liver/colon/kidney cleanse.  I hope to do a five to seven day juice cleanse again in March or April.

Mission Accomplished

I must say I am so proud of myself for staying the course and completing a goal. Especially this one, which was hard, but it was worth it.

Would I encourage others to try a juice cleanse? Yes, without a doubt!

Getting Spring Ready!

I love the winter. I feel like its the perfect time to "hibernate" and get spring ready. Meaning, ready to shed the coat and bare a little skin. As we all know coats are great for keeping warm and hiding those extra holiday pounds and I've found myself in previous years hanging on to the coat to hide the "results of the winter" once it was just too warm to wear one! Well, now I can't wait to show the results of winter by getting ready now.  Next week is the last week of my juice cleanse and will also mark my 100 day workout challenge. Every day, working out for at least 45 minutes a day. I am hoping to shape and tone to get ready for my first 5k and to rock some form fitting spring dresses!

Also, I'm making sure to take care of my skin from head to toe. I've been protective styling my hair since November. Meaning, I've kept it twisted and under a hat about 90 percent of the time to protect my hair from the cold and from rubbing on my coat collar.  The results have been amazing and my hair is full of life. I also attribute the results to the nutrients from my juice cleanse too.

I've been treating my skin with homemade cures such as honey and cinnamon face masks, homemade protein mask for my hair and DIY lip scrubs with great success.  I've also adopted using Nivea's Nighttime Renewal Hand cream almost every night for super soft hands. Also taking care of my cuticles with tend to crack and peel and my feet thanks to my handy PedEgg and foot bath.

What are you doing to get ready for spring?