Blogyear Day 3: Kinda a Fail!

Ya you read the title right, I am challenging myself to Blogyear!  I am going to try and make a post here on my blog everyday this year!  Wow I can't believe I even wrote those words.  That is such a commitment, but I am so ready for the challenge.  I am still trying to learn how to film and edit videos, so hopefully soon I will be able to post more things to my YouTube channel.  But, I see my blog as kinda an online diary appropriate for anyone and everyone to read.  I want people to try and relate to me with everything that is going on in my life.  I try and keep things as real as possible and with me writing everyday, you can truly see the ups and downs of my life.  With that being said, lets move on to how the healthy lifestyle went today......

Or how it wasn't all that healthy. o_O



Breakfast
Spinach cheddar bagel with low fat plain cream cheese
Burst o Berry "smoothie" aka sugar blended with ice!

Lunch
^^I just ate the second half of my bagel from breakfast

Dinner (Pic below)
Chickenless chicken nuggets from Trader Joes
Green Giant Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots (with the cheese sauce)

You don't have to tell me twice.  Today was not my #winning day to say the least.  I shouldn't have had the sugar blended with ice.  It had no nutritional value and obviously I was well aware of that, but unfortunately, it tasted good.  Of course though.  I'm sure I could go outside and grab some dirt, sprinkle some magical sugar on top and it would taste amazing.  Sugar= crack and I need to stay away from it.  This experience reminds me of my junior college coach.  On our way to a match one day, she was talking to us about how to eat and stay healthy.  I will forever remember her telling us we should eat our calories, not drink them. This is one of the BIGGEST problems that I have.  In case you haven't noticed, I have had I think a smoothie each day so far of blogyear.  Anyone that knows me, can tell you I freaking LOVE my smoothies.  This is something that I need to change.  But, on a positive note, keeping track of what I eat makes it SO much easier to analyze and change what I'm doing.  Another great thing was that I rediscovered my love for chickenless chicken nuggets!  My mother is a vegetarian, so growing up, my sister and I would eat tofu, tofu hotdogs, meatless corn dogs, and chickenless chicken nuggets etc.  You name it, I'm sure we have tried it.  My mom usually bought Morningstar products, which are tasty, but after having this stuff from Trader Joe's, nothing compares.  These chickenless chicken nuggets are AMAZING.  I am not a very patient person when it comes to cooking, but I decided to stay strong and put them in the toaster oven lol.  Best decision of my life!  They were so crispy and it tasted so delicious.  You can't even tell that this stuff isn't chicken!  This is going to again, be another holy grail grocery purchase for me.  As far as exercise goes, Pepper and I headed straight to the beach after work.  It was another gorgeous day here in California and it was nice to escape to the beach.  We pretty much go almost everyday, but this time we walked for a bit and then sat down to soak up the sun and take in the Earth's beauty.  All in all, we walked about an hour today in total time.  I know, not much activity here, but to be honest, I really didn't feel like doing much more today! So I will leave you today with a cute pic of my baby girl watching the waves :)  


Until tomorrow,

Always,
Aimee XO

New Obsession: Trader Joes Turkey Burgers

So I have officially found a new holy grail food: Trader Joes turkey burgers! Seriously, these things are so tasty and amazingly affordable! I know sometimes it is really hard to find things that are healthy that don't also break the bank. But this is such a great alternative to red meat and just a great source of protein! You can get 4 fresh turkey burger patties for around $3! I can't get over how fresh and cheap that is! It is definitely worth the taste test. I had this tonight for dinner as well as the Green Giant antioxidant blend of vegetables. So delicious and filling!

Yesterday after looking at what I ate, I needed to make sure I incorporated veggies and protein. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast
Chocolate dipped coconut Luna bar

Lunch
Original size razzmatazz

Dinner
Turkey burger
Green giant antioxidant blend of
vegetables
Small cookie
Piece of bread w cheese

So obviously I ate more food today. I had more of an appetite today. I played tennis twice (roughly 3 hours) and also took my puppy dog on the beach for a walk (about 45 mins). I had such a great day today. Like I said in my last post, tennis means so much to me. To be able to really work out today playing just blasting the ball is a rush like nothing I've ever experienced. It's indescribable. It makes me grin like the cheshire cat :D. Also going to the beach today was amazing. The weather was gorgeous today. I am so blessed to live where I do. I think it was in the mid 70's here in CA. What month is it? January?! Totally unreal! My doggie, Pepper, was starting to get pretty warm on the walk so I took off my tennies and we frolicked in the water. I took some videos of her playing and splashing everywhere. It probably was one of the most special moments I have had with her. She was having the best time in the world playing in the water with me. I know to some people it may be odd, but she warms my heart and soul. I have always felt this way about animals though. They are one of the greatest blessings that God has ever created. My dog is with me all the time except when I'm at work and she goes everywhere with me. I couldn't imagine her not being in my life. The best birthday present from my parents by a milestone! <3

On a beauty note, today my Sephora package finally came! I have the original Naked palette, but I have been beyond excited waiting for my Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay. After I get a chance to play around with the colors, I will write a review and post swatches from both of the palettes. I also was in CVS tonight with the roomie getting some essentials for the house and I finally found the Maybelline bouncy blushes! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for these things! I will also write a review about these when I get the chance to test them out :).

Well hopefully you had a wonderful hump day and can't wait to write some more tomorrow!

Always,
Aimee XO

It's A New Year!

Happy 2012 everyone!  I know I'm a little late on that, but better now than never!  I feel like everyone says this every year, but this past year I have no idea where it went.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  This Christmas, I had to work over the holiday and to my surprise, I had a great time.  That sentence doesn't even seem real, but it was.  Sometimes if you enjoy the people you are working with, it can make you forget about time.  My sister and her husband came home to visit for a split second it seemed like.  They were only home for 4 days, 2 of which I had to work.  I don't get to see them much, and you better believe I treasured every moment I had.  It's hard having her live halfway across the country, but it definitely makes you realize how precious the visits you get are.  As far as New Years went, I went out to dinner with my roomie and we watched one of our favorites, Friends With Benefits. Easy, calm night.  Just the way I like it most of the time.

I have been trying to work on my time management skills lately.  One thing that I am now really excited about is that Blogger has an iPhone app and I am able to write blog posts from my phone!  This is awesome because now I can blog virtually anywhere and it will be easier for me to keep up with my posts.  Blogging is something that I love to do and so I am going to devote my spare time into writing.  I have said this before, I do this because I love to write and I want to share what I think with others.  I obviously hope that my words will reach as many people as possible, but I am still completely satisfied if only a few people take something away from my blogs.

So here is also something that I am going to be working on this new year: a new lifestyle.  I know that one of the most popular/cliche new years resolutions is to eat healthy and lose weight.  Bla bla bla and all that jazz.  But seriously, it is something that I need to do.  Last year I lost about 30 pounds and it was one of the most challenging things that I have ever done in my life.  It took so much dedication, motivation, mental and physical strength and self control.  All of these things don't come easy, especially with weight loss.  Since I started my job last March, I have packed on the pounds a lot faster than I ever thought I would.  I mean, that's just the way it naturally happens.  You don't realize where you are at until it is wayyyyy too late.  I am and have been a tennis player all of my life and I have always kept up on staying active, until lately.  I love to walk my dog on the beach, but that has been pretty much the full extent of my regime lately.  If there is anything that I want to do it  is to get back to my college days of playing tennis.  Tennis is my heart and soul.  I want to get back to playing tournaments and get in the best shape of my life again.  But it is time to take control of my life once again.  I know it will be a challenge, but I am prepared to do so.  This time, I am not alone.  My sister and I are doing this together and then I will have whoever reads my blogs to hold me accountable for my progress and actions.  It is extremely intimidating for me to be writing about my journey, but I think that is what blogging is kinda all about; putting yourself out there.  That's what I love so much about reading blogs, is that you feel like you can get to know the person.  You can relate to what they are going through, what they like etc. It's amazing and hopefully someone is motivated by what I write.

One thing that my sister and I are going to do is write down everything that we ate for the day.  Here is what I had today:

Breakfast

half jalepeno bagel
jalepeno pretzel

Lunch/Dinner

Olive Garden leftovers
handful of chips and salsa

What does this menu show me?  Well, that I love carbs! Duh! What human doesn't?  Honestly, today I was really not all that hungry.  I kinda just forgot to eat halfway through the day.  Just one of those days.  It also shows me that I need to be eating protein!  In my leftovers there were two small bites of chicken, but that was it as far as protein goes.  So, tomorrow, I will try and incorporate more protein and vegetables into my meals for the day!  Today I also didn't do any exercise, not even a walk.  I know, bad.  But its all about making improvements, right?  Tomorrow I will play tennis in the morning so I am looking forward to that very much.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to you all reading about my journey.
Until tomorrow :)

Always,
Aimee

Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleaning System

So..........

I know that I had previously tried the Clarisonic Mia and I didn't have the best results.  My skin has never fully recovered since using the Clarisonic a few months ago.  Being the little testing guinea pig that I am haha, I was not ready to give up completely on these cleaning systems.  I have been intrigued by the Olay Pro-X Cleansing System for a while now.  It is super affordable compared to the Clarisonic.  The Pro-X is about $28 at Wal Mart and other drugstores nationwide whereas the Clarisonic Mia (the most inexpensive version of the Clarisonic) is about a whopping $160.  Here is what I have observed in my few days of using the Pro-X.  The brush is much much smaller than the Clarisonic.  The Pro-X just has a single, small circular brush head. The Clarisonic has a dual brush head, if that makes sense.  (The head is ciruclar, but the outer part of the head rotates at a different speed than the center of the brush head).  The Pro-X has 2 different speeds, but honestly I can't tell much difference between the two.  It is battery operated, and unfortunately doesn't have a charger like the Clarisonic does. Like the Clarisonic, it is waterproof,  so you can use it in the shower if need be.  I like how the Pro-X is much smaller than the Clarisonic.  Not like the Clarisonic is huge or anything, but the smaller the product, the more portable and easier it is to travel with!

Here are my thoughts about my experience so far.  Well, unfortunately, I am going through the skin purging stage, again.  This totally sucks.  But, with any skin cleansing system, this is bound to happen.  So far my skin hasn't had the same skin purging reaction as it did to the Clarisonic.  With the Clarisonic, my skin turned into cystic acne, with deep breakouts everywhere.  With the Pro-X, I have my impurities surfacing, but not nearly as extreme as I had experienced with the Clarisonic.  Even though my skin is purging, each day my skin is improving overall.  I can actually see some results!  So even though it kills me to have my skin breaking out, the end result is hopefully  in near sight.  I only use the Pro-X once a day, in the evening.  This is important for me because when I wear makeup, I want to make sure that I am going to sleep at night without a trace of makeup left on my skin.    I also don't want to use it twice a day because I have sensitive skin and that would just be way too much for my skin. I put a pump of Purpose Facial Cleanser directly on the brush head.   After I use the Pro-X, I also cleanse my face with oatmeal.  (I have a post about using oatmeal as a facial cleanser...please read if interested on the process)  After I get out of the shower, I use extra virgin olive oil as my moisturizer.  I use a pretty liberal amount and I use small, circular motions to work the oil into my skin.  Extra virgin olive oil is so amazing for your skin and no, it will not clog your pores!  In the morning, my skin is soft, well hydrated and I have noticed the redness in my skin has greatly reduced since doing this routine!

These are my experiences so far in the first week of using the Pro-X.  I will keep you updated on how my skin takes to this cleansing system compared to the Clarisonic Mia!  Hopefully my findings might give you some insight and maybe you'll want to try this affordable cleansing system too.


Until next time,


Always,
Aimee XO

Update: The Oatmeal Cleanser Experiment

So.....

It has been almost 2 months since I first started using Oatmeal as apart of my skincare routine.  Here are some of my thoughts on my experience thusfar!

When I first was starting to use the oatmeal as a cleanser, the only oatmeal that I had in the house was the Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal that cooks in 5 minutes.  I noticed that with this oatmeal, the oats themselves were whole pieces.  Why I bring this up is that because the oats were in fact whole pieces, it took slightly longer to get them to the milky texture in order to work them into my face.  When I ran out of that specific oatmeal, I purchased the Quaker Quick Minute Oatmeal, which cooks in one minute haha hence the name!  I actually seemed to like how this oatmeal worked a little bit better.  Because the oatmeal was already broken down into smaller pieces, it was almost immediately when I was able to get the oatmeal soft and into the milky texture.  Also, because the pieces were already smaller and broken down, when I added the water, the oatmeal felt much more soft.  Another plus to using the "quick minute" oatmeal was that it was easier for the oatmeal to go down the drain, less of a mess! 

The only difference between the beginning of my experiment and now is that I was my face with Purupose face wash before I use the oatmeal to soothe my skin.  I have actually been having a lot more breakouts lately.  I have been super stressed out lately, my hormones have been all over the place and honestly, I feel like my skin still has not recovered from using the Clarisonic.  I feel like maybe my purging stage was not over and that all this excess junk is still sitting underneath my skin.  So I will be trying some new remedies to try and see how my skin reacts!  I am sick of my skin being horrible and all I wish is that it would go back to the way that it was BEFORE I was a genius and tried the Clarisonic. 

My overall thoughts on Oatmeal as a cleanser are these.  I think it is a great, affordable option for people that don't have acne prone skin!  While I did see an improvement in my breakouts, the oatmeal didn't prevent my skin from new breakouts.  I did see great improvement in the texture of my skin.  My skin is much more soft since using the oatmeal and I have also noticed my skin has a more even tone to it.  I have always had problems with redness on my cheeks and I have to say most of my redness is gone!  This is probably the main reason why I continue to wash my face with the oatmeal.  My skin isn't as irritated and it is nice that my skin has calmed down from the oatmeal.  I have noticed that my skin has made a small improvement on how oily my skin was, nothing dramatic, but at least an improvement. 

Hopefully my experience with oatmeal as a cleanser has given you some insight and has helped you maybe want to try it for yourself!  At least it is a very cheap product to purchase and it won't hurt to try for yourself.  Worse case scenario, you can just have some yummy breakfasts! :)

Until next time,

Always,
Aimee

Roadblock

Hello Bloggerverse!

Again, sorry for the delay in updating.  Today is a very slow day at work and I thought I shall use my time wisely and write a little.  It is amazing to me how important time management is.  Since I have been graduated from college, I feel like I have become so unproductive.  I have all the time in the world (aside from work...) to basically do whatever I please.  And what ends up happening?  Watching Criminal Minds.  That's what happens.  Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely addicted to the show and love it, but....there is so much more that I could be doing with my life.  I am an ambitious person, but at the moment, I feel like I have hit a slight roadblock and need to find that burst of inspiration.  Do you ever feel that way too? I'm sure we all have our moments when this happens.  Here is a list of some stuff that I am trying to work on !

Blog more! Duh!

Learn how to edit my YouTube videos

Read

Spend more time with my puppy dog

Learn how to save my money better!

Maybe this ^^ means I need a second job -_-

Stay positive

Focus on now!

Take more pictures

Be kind

Try new makeup looks

Exercise more regularly

Play more tennis!

Eat less ice cream!

Journal everyday

This is just a small snippet of what I want to try and improve on or do!  I'm sure I'll add to this list sooner rather than later :)

Until next time,

Always,
-Aimee

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Hello Bloggerworld! 

It has been ages it seems like since I have posted an entry on here! I am a slacker! I took a random/last minute trip to Vegas and just got back yesterday.  All I can say is this: AMAZING.  I definitely have always loved the city, there is something magical about that place in my opinion.  I am making a commitment to someday live in this wonderful city! One of the reasons why I love this city so much is that it truly is very diverse.  I don't and have never felt out of place like I have even in my own hometown!  I myself am not a gambler, so what I love to do is explore the city in all its fabulousness and go to shows! My roommate and I took advantage of the see 2 shows for $75 deal and it was so worth every cent! I have always gone to see the Tournament of Kings show at Excalibur and this trip would be no exception.  Every year that I have gone to see the show, they have made changes to make it different, new and exciting.  I have to say this year was the best show yet!  Completely worth going to see!  We were on Team Norway and I have to admit our "King" was a little cutie!  He seemed very young, I would say he was barely 18, but it was cool to see a young actor in such a well known show.  Inspiring!  The Tournament of Kings had humor, action and they added a lot more one on one combat parts to the show.  You really feel like you are in medival times, eating your meal with your hands and the fabulous costumes and routines.  The horses are so well trained and it seems that they are taken great care of.  They have added much more fire and small fireworks that go off and it is such a great suprise where they add it in.  What I also enjoy about this show is that there is not a bad seat in the house.  It isn't a huge arena so it feels pretty intimate and also the seating is staggered so nicely that you will have no issues seeing over anyone's heads :)    I also was quite suprised by how great the service was that we had for our drinks and meal!  I forget what his name was, but he was cracking jokes with us the entire time and was great with everyone in his section.  As some people might overlook this detail in light of the show as a whole, for me, it made the experience even better.  I would recommend this show to anyone!  The second show that we saw was.......THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!!!!!  Let me tell you, I would not be the one to go to a show like this because I am pretty conservative in some respects, but I am so glad that I got out of my comfort zone and went to this show!  It was absolutely amazing and frankly adorable!  I know that might be quite a strange adjective, but it really was!  These amazingly good looking men were adorable, endearing, respectful and SOOOOOO NICE!  This is not what people might think when they hear "adult strip tease show".  It was actually super cute how these men had costumes and actual dance routines to different songs.  And when there were the few individual songs where one guy would dance solo, it was soooo cute how they had their own personal styles integrated in to their routines.  What I would also like to say is that it is very tasteful and just fun.  All you see is gorgeous men without their shirts off and you see some bootay but that is about it! :) They also work the crowd going on tables and take a few girls up on stage with them which is fun and you can see they are also having a great time as well.  The show's host, Marcus, was probably one of the funniest guys I have ever seen.  He made the atmosphere so light and just a great time.  What I also thought was fun was that at the end of the show the men stay around and you can take or pay rather to take a picture with them.  You can chat with them and that is so cool!  They were so sweet and funny and it was a nice touch to end the night.  I would also recommend this show to any other lady just looking for laughs and great eye candy :)  The guys are seriously soooooooooo attractive and it defintiely makes me want to go to Australia.  How could you not fall in love with those accents?!

I will hopefully post some pictures soon that I took! 

Until next time,

Always,
Aimee