Eye cream!

I forgot I had this stuff. I bought it a few months ago from a friend selling Arbonne. I don't have much faith in eye creams but I hope it at least reduces my chances of getting crow’s feet. Aging gracefully my ass. That's reserved for the rich who can afford to pay to hold onto their youth and the crazies who enjoy premature aging.

In any case, I can't wait to start using the cream in my 'Countdown to Vegas Beauty'. If it works, I'll let you know for sure!  7 days remain until I fly out with 4 other Vegas minded girlfriends to fun, sun and booze. From the sounds of things, it sounds like everyone is starving themselves and working out like crazy right now in preparation. 
good on them. A gaggle of good looking girls is a great way to travel.

Ok, so on my journey to inner beauty via outer beauty I am currently:

Body: Hot yoga: I'll make 4 more trips to the hot yoga studio in the next week and 1 spinning class
Eyes: Eye cream and potatoes for the bags and the circles
Face: Nightime moisturizer and acne wipes
Mentally: Resting up! 8 hours of sleep per night
Superficial: waxing and nail appointment this weekend

Anything else??  hmmmmm... There can always be more beauty out there.... Ideas, as always, are welcome!

Happy beautifying!

How to fake beauty from within (Part 1)

Ya, ya beauty comes from within. blah, blah, blah. We all know that, but I definitely feel better on the inside when I physically look pretty good on the outside too.


With that in mind I’m setting off to find some beauty tips and secrets from friends, family members and most importantly (and sometimes most reliably) the internet.

Day 2 of countdown to Vegas (8 days to go!)
Last night I slept lots (7.75 hours, woo!) and feel pumped, alive and full of life today. I really gotta keep that up. Let's see what a whole week of proper sleeping does for me, woo!


The problem: I’ve always had under eye circles/bags so today my goal is to find a way to get rid of them… for free!


Potential Solution: Surprisingly, here’s what I found from my dear friend, the internet:


Raw potato slices will help tighten baggy, puffy eyes. All you need is a potato and a knife or slicer!


To Make:

1. Slice 1/4 potato to fit over your eyes.
2. Cut 2 slices or, if you prefer, 5 to 10 very thin slices, several for each eye. Either method works.

To Use:

1. Spritz eye area with water.
2. Lying down, place the potato slices on your eyelids and leave in place for at least 10 minutes for best results.

----------

@ less than $1 for potatoes, I’m definitely going to try this one this week and let you know if it worked. I’ll have to do some before and after shots too I think.


Woo hoo! Bye bye bags!.... (hopefully)


Also, I’ve found a new love -his name is kale and he's delicious! ;)
 

I bought a bunch and have been using it in everything. Last night’s dinner was a pounded 3 oz chicken breast which I covered in shake and bake and grilled lightly in a non stick frying pan with 2 tsps of coconut oil and served over sautéed kale (sauteed in Pam spray and 1 tsp olive oil), cabbage and some leftover leek I had in the fridge. Who needs starchy carbs when you have tasty kale??  Mmmmm.

Happy Eating!

How to look and feel beautiful in 10 days or less

Vegas is just over a week away (10 days, woo!). Now I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I won’t be bikini ready by then and still face the unfavourable trip to the swimsuit shop this weekend.

Now THAT's bikini ready!

Ack.

I’m in the market for Tankinis cuz those are the most flattering on my curvy/jiggly body type I think and they must, Must, MUST have underwire. You big boobied girls know what I’m talkin 'bout. Until I get the dream boob job to keep them in place (gravity, be damned!) underwire in swimsuits will be my twins' saviour.


I'll probably only wear it for one afternoon (out of 4) spent poolside but my plan is to vegas it up as much as possible. This means wraps and jewelry and chains and unnecessary gaudy adornments, all with the purpose to look as stylish and as Vegas as possible.

So I can’t do much in the firm body category in only 10 days but I can make sure every over part of me looks great. In this realm I introduce to myself 10 days of beauty.

Starting with the usual suspects:
- Shaving and a bikini wax
- French manicure (need to get my gels filled)
- Sleeping 8+ hrs/night ( reduces bags
- Cleansing all my makeup brushes (encourages clear skin and less shine)
- Moisturizers In the morning (with SPF) and a thicker one at night to help repair the skin
- Vaseline, plastic wrap and warm socks on the feet at night (makes your ankles soft and beautiful)
- Biore pore strips 2 days before I go (minimize my pores)
- Lots of water (always a safe bet)
- Painting toe nails (this weekend)
- Hot oil treatments for the hair with daily conditionning
- Healthy eating of course (as always)

As I’m still stuck on the ol budget (free me!) I can only do inexpensive or homemade remedies.

My personal fave is the vaseline and plastic wrap because your feet feel so soft and amazing in the morning.

So starting today - I begin the regime in the countdown to beauty.  If you feel beautiful then you will look beautiful too. It all works together I say.

Any tips out there on inexpensive beauty rituals?? I'm all ears!

Happy beautifying!

The best dessert ever

I had dessert with lunch today.

Yup, dessert. You heard me right. At lunch too.

Seedless Red Grapes. I saw them in my fridge this morning (it's so empty these days now that I'm buying what I need vs. what I just want) and I scooped them up to go with lunch.

I can't believe it!

I even passed up these beauties:

In favour of these beauties:

If only I craved grapes EVERY day. Sigh.

'Will power' is a myth! It's here one time and then gone 10 minutes later!

Hmmm. I wonder if those cupcakes are still in the lunchroom...

The countdown to Vegas begins...

Another weekend down and two weekends to go until Viva Las Vegas! 

I swear, these mini vacations (this one's going to be 4 days only) help me stay on track and VERY motivated. Even my skinny friend is watching what she eats and is having carb free evenings till Vegas.

Of course she also plans to pig out on Mickey Dees when we get there but at least she's eating well right now....I'll work on her in Vegas. ;)

Still working the budget and sticking to it. It's hard to cut your variable spending in half but it forces you to prioritize what you really want to spend your hard earned money on. Turns out, I like to spend it on entertainment and booze which is 2 of the same thing I guess ( heh heh heh).

Re: Budget
Well Vegas counts as the 'entertainment' and if I stick to the budget this month then Vegas is a go! Technically I bought the trip already so now I really, REALLY have to stick to it.  Nothing worse than letting yourself down. the $500 I don't spend in April will pay for the trip and the $500 I won't spend in May will be my spending money (which is WAY more than I need but just an example)

So far so good. Today is the start of week #4 and its a little routine. Week 4 has 10 days though (21st to the 30th) so I have to be EXTRA careful with how I spend the $149.75. 

Eeep.

Re: hot yoga

After another 3 days straight of it, the scale this morning read 179.5! Woo! Thank goodness too cuz today was the charity bake sale at work.  'charity' being the operative word here meaning that I HAD to support the cause.  3 brownies, 2 cupcakes and one slice of banana bread later, my stomach mysteriously hurt. No touching the scale until Friday morning now.  I must be strong and at least maintain this new low!

Multi-day ROLL CALL - memorable healthy meals since the last post:

Dinner Monday night -Chicken Scallopini
Grilled a bunch of mushrooms in Pam oil spray. Flattened a chicken, tossed a lil flour on it and grilled it in a little (2 tsp) olive oil and Pam oil spray.
Created a little sauce with chicken broth, lite cream cheese, green onions and mustard seed. Tossed em all together and voila:

Lunch - Veggie Fried Rice with garlic baked sole and steamed carrots (Tuesday and Thursday)

Lightly fried up some brown rice with soy sauce, hoisin sauce and a ton of veggies. Served with baked sole and more veggies in the form of steamed carrots.

Dinner - Bunless Cheeseburger (Wednesday night)

Romaine lettuce in place of the bun. I'm LOVING this! I put a dollop of jalapeno dip on the cheese and it melted right off the hot cheese. Whoops! Served it with a handful of baked fries and some edamame salad. Filling and delicious. I will definitely have this one again.


Exercise
Today's my rest day as 3 days of hot yoga in a row gets VERY tiring. Had a 45 minute walk after work just to do something though.  Tomorrow I will try the 6am hot yoga class and see how I do.
Yikes!

Wish me luck! ;)

How to spot a dirtbag a mile away (or while sitting in his lap)

I WISH it was as big a party as this!

SCENE: Vendor sponsored party at a nightlcub downtown. Booze, snacks, games and prizes so us sales reps will promote their products.

He was 6ft 4, toned, well groomed and cute. I saw him earlier and noticed him checking me out all night too (woo hoo!)

Heck, I looked good. Yay hot yoga and hallelujah to makeup and control top pantyhose.

Finally, near the end of the night, I slipped over to where he was and stood near while watching the presentations on the stage ahead of us.

He said hi and we got to chatting. He said he noticed me across the room and thought I was beautiful. 
Wow! Great start and great to hear. Big smile!

SIGN #1: He compliments you. Great. He compliments you too much....be wary. He repeated variations of you're gorgeous, you're a 10 out of 10 -no an 11 out of 10, you're beautiful, you're out of my league, etc. all night.

He wanted to dance. As we head to the dance floor, he starts to giggle a lot. I ask him if he's been drinking (sure, sure we ALL had been. Free drinks were flowing at the beginning of the night after all. But there's drinking and then there's drinking). He said no, he's just giddy cuz he's with me and only had 2 beers before he got there. I look over at his 2 buddies and they're chugging back vodka tonics and shots. Hmmmm....

SIGN #2: He starts lying to you from the start.

The corporate party is getting lame. The free trip to Vegas has already been awarded and the food is gone. He asks where I'm going next.
Time Check:  11:30pm.
I reply "Home. I work @ 8am tomorrow"
He says we need to seize the day and live for the moment and have fun tonight while we're young and while we can. Don't I want to look back on this night as being an amazing one?

SIGN #3: He has a now or never attitude. If it doesn't happen tonight...

Not knowing my last name, he invites me to travel back with him and his buddies to a town 3 cities over.

Again, my reply: "Sorry, I'm going home. I work @ 8am tomorrow"

Now he and his friends want to keep the party going and we head to a nearby bar.

SIGN #4: You suggest future events you can do instead (like a house party on the weekend where time is not a concern) and he's still back to his now or never attitude.

He himself speaks of future things we should do and can do together but in a vague manner and can't be locked into anything.  He also claims he's not a player and would never lie about these things.

Sign #5: He says he's not a player and his feelings for you are true....after only 1 hour.

He continues to pawn and grope me and I still think he's cute so I avoid the obvious signs.

SIGN #6: He doesn't ask you questions about yourself.

We go to the bar and he immediately orders a bottled water (yikes! #1 Sign of having too much to drink!) Meanwhile, while I know where he was born, where he grew up, where he lives now, how many siblings he has, the fact that he loves and respects his mother dearly and that his father passed away a few years ago. HE still doesn't know my last name and I suspect may have even forgotten my first.  

Time check: 12:30AM

SIGN #7: When you say no, for the millionth time, to his offer of SEX (he was happy to have it any form - via hand, mouth or traditional), and tell him that you have to go home now, he DOESN'T ASK FOR YOUR TEL NUMBER.

I angrily leave the bar and then do an about face.  I go back into the bar and tell him that if he was sooooo interested in seeing me again, then why didn't he take my #. He whips out his phone and says of course, of course. I'm start to give him a fake one but he says "And don't go giving me a fake # either". Laughing, I give him my real # (should change it to 604 NO JERKS). 

Next day, I text him to invite him to an imaginary casual house party I'm having this weekend as he had said he would LOVE to hang out again on the weekend- casually.

His response: No thanks, you guys have fun.

I push further to ask him about his great desire for me and repeat all the BS he had spouted the night before (in nice, flowery terms of course).

His response: I was drunk and juss playing. Sorry, not interested.

Aha! I thought so. Still a blow to the ego (doesn't EVERY man desire me??) but it was too much, too soon and too insistent. I reply nicely, remembering his love for him mom & the passing of his father.

My response, via text: Tsk, tsk, tsk.  THIS is why I didn't go home with you. Bad character and full of lies. What a shame. I wonder what your PARENTS would say about their son who lies to people to trick them into bed. Tsk tsk tsk.

(Too harsh? Not harsh enough?)And THAT ladies and gents (non jerky gents that is) is how to spot a jerk.

Poor Sandra's Jesse James

Happy dating!

Personal Empowerment and Control

Well that wasn't easy.

I wish Staples had a NOT EASY button. I'd press that. A million times I wouldda pressed it last night.

Having dinner and then NOT eating after 6pm and going to bed @ 11:30pm.
I had to leave the house and go over to my friend's place. However, on the way there all I could think about was food:

• I smelled delicious curry from the Indian place (spianch curry on special)
• I noticed all the pizza pies at the nearby pizza place (7 large pies on display)
• The mexican restaurant (taco's are now 3 for $5!)
• The hot dog vendor by the train
• McDonalds' billboard advertising the new mcminis
• and I think you get the hint

Luckily my friend's a skinny minny so there's never food @ her pad (thank goodness...for once!)

EVENING ROLL CALL: 3 pieces of gum and 10 glasses of water and crystal light had to satisfy my need to put something in my mouth (I'm single right now as you know, lol)

Results:  Well besides being down 1/2 lb, I'm also way up in self confidence.  It was like a one day test to prove that I COULD DO IT!
I didn't starve myself
I didn't eat too little
and I didn't die from not eating last night.

Now I feel empowered. Like I can do anything. I feel as though food doesn't control my life - I can control it! Woo hoo!

But!!! Tonight I'm hitting up a soiree hosted by Motorola (yes THAT Motorola).  They typically serve tons of finger foods, give out free booze and offer many giveaways.  I typically gorge myself on all of the above when I go so this time I have to try and gorge on only the giveaways. Eeep!

Last night there was no food at my friend's place to even munch on ('cept for gum and water). Tonight there'll be more food than I'll know what to do with.
I guess the real test begins.

Free food AND free drink. yikes!
What strategies can I use to NOT eat?? Help! :o

Back to the dang budget

The ol $149.75/week one.

Today was a hard day.


I wanted Swiss Chalet or chinese food or anything else for dinner than what I had available. And what I had wasn't bad. It just wasn't what I really, really wanted.

• KFC- I would even try the grilled chicken options (with fries of course)
• Subway (a ham sandwich is less than $5!)
• Sushi (I can get a great combo for $6 or less)
• And the list goes on.

No
NOPE
Nada!

Instead I had this:

My patented (patent pending) shrimp caesar salad with moderately homemade dressing


Delicious.


Followed by lots and lots of water.
I'm dabbling into crystal light these days too.
I love water but every once in awhile I need some flavour and crystal light does the trick.


Btw, $$$$ spent today: $0

Actually, I MADE a dollar cashing in a lotto ticket I found, woo!


Its about 6:30pm now, I won't be in bed till 11pm and I need to NOT eat for the next 4.5 hrs.


Maybe I should have a snack while I brainstorm.
Oh damn.
Right.


ROLL CALL


Breakfast:
The ol breakfast smoothie
1 medium boiled egg
1/4 cantaloupe
1 cracker with peanut butter


Lunch:
Mmmmmm. Sandwich time. Day 3. Tomorrow I will definitely switch it up. But for now...

oh yeah baby. you know it looks good.

Snack:
1 cracker with peanut butter
1 cup air popped popcorn


Dinner. See salad above
Ingredients: red peppers, romaine lettuce, avocado, shrimp, garlic, celery (for the crunch!) and sea salt.


Dessert: spoonful of cookies & cream ice cream @ my friend's house.


Eating is DONE!!

Water for the rest of the night!


oh man, wish me luck.

Happy eating!

Hot yoga, day 2 (of 30??)

Results: Down 1lb already, tee hee. I heart hot yoga! I know, I KNOW! I shouldn't get so excited about it and its probably just water weight but woo hoo! Now I'm back in business. As always, no excuses and no BS. Eat healthy, eat well, proper portions and lots of water and exercise.

I have and had sooo much to do today (laundry amongst the many things) that I opted to go to the 8pm 90 minute hot yoga class instead. Means my last meal of the day has to be by 5pm and a small snack after class cuz I'll most certainly be stah-ving.

I'm back baby! I'm prepared and I'm most definitely READY to slim down to summer! (hmmm. I  think I like that as a future blog post title too)

ROLL CALL

Breakfast:

-Breakfast smoothie (banana, strawberries, almond milk, skim milk, agave syrup, protein powder)

I bought some protein so the ol breakfast smoothie is back. Haven't had it in awhile so I'm hooked again!

-1 medium boiled egg

Lunch:

Cheddar broccoli soup (7g/cup) homemade of course from my fave gourmet recipe site www.drgourmet.com. The recipes are delicious but soooo time consuming! I tried doing a week of them and almost died of exhaustion while my boyfriend at the time nearly died from hunger as our dinners ended up being at 9 or 10pm each night, lol!

Whole grain sandwich with flour-less bread, meat, avocado, veggies and mustard. mmmmm

Now for its close up:

Dinner:

Eggplant Parmesan over brown rice noodles- my low fat, oven fried, veggie packed version (I'll post the recipe another time)

After yoga snack (planned) - peanut butter protein shake (peanut butter, cottage cheese, water and protein)

  

Alright, one hour till I have to leave for class.

Namaste till next time. :)

The hot yoga challenge

This weekend had its ups (partying @ 3AM with a young playboy, a swinging couple and a bicurious female) and its downs (after the party, went for delicious poutine @ 4AM and got the large)

After pulling a tendon in my knee last week I have been couch-bound and knee deep in the refrigerator. Results:  In the past week of not working out I've gained 4 lbs! 4! This just shows how much I work out to stave off weight gain.

Sigh.

Enter hot yoga.

Slimming down!

Toned muscles!

Increased flexibility!

Better state of mind!

Inner peace!

Enlightenment!

If you don't know, Hot yoga consists of 26 poses done over 90 minutes in a room heated to 40 degrees Celsius +(105 F).  You sweat like crazy and the calories are supposed to burn away.

@ my current weight (185 - boo!) I can burn 1200+ calories each class. 4 to 5 classes a week that means I can burn approx 5400 calories a week! woo!

So now I start the 30 day yoga challenge. Between now (April 12th) and May 11th, I will try to do as many yoga classes as I can.They recommend 30 classes in 30 days but that's just plain CRAZY!

Anywho, wish me luck! And please feel free to tell me about your hot yoga experiences!

Happy Monday!

I've sprained my medulla oblongata!!

If you've ever seen the movie The Waterboy with Adam Sandler, then you would totally get that reference.  hee hee hee. No what I actually did was pull/strain/sprain a tendon in my knee.

• Diagnosis: strained my Patellar tendinopathy
• Cause: Over use, over exertion and not enough stretching prior to a heavy quad focused workout last thursday (felt so good too!)
• Cure: Limit leg/knee movement, ice the knee and take anti inflammatories for any swelling.

Booo!

Limited movement and definitely no gym or hot yoga or boxing or running, or jogging or walking home.

I can feel myself getting fatter every day. Wah!!

Today is day 2 of no exercise. I don't know how people can live without working out.  I miss my 5 to 6 days a week at the gym! Now all I have left is food and TV. I can't go shopping and I shouldn't be moving it too much so I'm left with nothing to do.

Well not nothing, but nothing I want to do.  Damn you budget. I can't even buy my happiness now that I'm on a $149.75/week spending cap. A bottle of vodka is at least $23 here. Shoot.

So my knee is out but surely there must be other exercises I can do while laying on my back??
Oh that sounds so dirty! lol! Seriously though, can't anyone help or point me in the right direction?

What exercises can I do that won't aggregate my pulled tendon?

Thanking you kindly,
xoxo

Eating in is so hard to do

Day 8 on the budget and so far, so.... Well okay, I'm $50 over my 149.75 budget. Whoops!

What?? My roomie just told me that its only day 6. April 6. Dammit! lol! So I am WAY over budget already?? Yikes!

The whole point of the budget is to 1- spend less, 2- save more $$$ and 3 - eat the piles and piles of food I have in my fridge, freezer and cupboards.  Every week or so it feels like I'm buying new stuff and throwing out stuff I didn't get around to using, forgot I had or just didn't feel like eating (sorry brussel sprouts)

I expect this experiment to produce several outcomes:

- More $$$ in my pocket
- Based on the food available in my cupboards, I should start losing weight immediately. There's nothing in my house that's as unhealthy as the pre made stuff u can buy.

$149.75/week or 599/month.

Yikes
 

ROLL CALL: 

Breakfast: oatmeal, almond milk & frozen berries
Whole wheat toast (out of the freezer) and peanut butter

Lunch: spinach salad with cucumbers and tomatoes
Penne pasta with chicken (fresh made meal that I froze last week)

Snacks: hershey's kisses (free @ work!) Crackers & cream cheese

Dinner: My patented (patent pending) chicken caesar salad
1/2 cup Chick pea salad
 

Snacks: Almonds, peanut butter, 1oz cheese, granola bar, etc....

Happy spending!

My how time flies...

Has it really been almost a month already that I have avoided this blog??
My bad and never again! My apologies to you slimmingtimes. You must feel so neglected
(gives blog and bloggers a big hug)
April is in full swing for me and I have given myself a challenge for this month. Its food and money related.
#1- I spend too much money. I always have and probably always will. 
#2- most of my money gets spent on food and food related items.

$149.75
The goal: $149.75/week.  This is my food, entertainment and starbucks $$$. All the extras that we don't think about - this is how much I can spend on them per week.
I'm already 5 days in and so far, so good.  I haven't spent much on food and my wallet is thicker for it. Plus the biggest realization is that I have tons of food in my fridge and cupboards and its great to actually be able to use up my supplies BEFORE I head back to the grocery store.
However, I almost over budget because I got my hair done, bikini wax and went out drinking a couple nights this long weekend - whoops! ;) I have $0.50 left until wednesday. I need to either sell something or find more $$$ in my house. 

In the meantime, I'm happy to hear any food related or fun related money saving tips because I've never cared to NOT spend $$$ before but I'm excited to find ways to cut corners while still having a good time. So if you have any money saving tips - please let me know. PLEASE! lol!

More to come and wish me luck! :)