Wednesday, January 28, 2015

/Diet/ Week 25: 2015 Progress & Tips & Goals

Nearly a month has gone by since the new year started and I haven't given any updates regarding how my diet has been going. To be honest, it's not going very well at all even with the exercises I've been doing and the changes in what kinds of foods I've been eating. My weight has gone up 2 lbs/1 kg since the last time I posted an update so I was a little embarrassed and hesitant to post it on here.


the graph should be going down....

I think my weight gain has a bit to do with biological factors being a girl, but I was sure there was something else going on in my body. As I watch Blogilates everyday (I follow the workout calendar) I decided to watch this video to see if any of reasons applied to me.


Turns out you can gain weight from

1)being stressed
2)not getting enough sleep
3)not drinking enough water

I feel like I'm drinking a lot of water these days, up to at least 5 cups and I keep a 1L bottle of water with me wherever I go, so that wasn't the main reason I'm retaining weight. I'm moderately stressed out and for some reason I am having trouble going to sleep at night recently. I'm going to work on all those things in the upcoming weeks and hopefully I'll see good results.

So, after browsing the internet last week (I was googling "how to get slimmer legs" ¬_¬) I found this blog by Kelly Konomi where she shares tips on dieting which I found to be helpful. There are many tips on foods to eat and teas to drink as well as other things to do to avoid water retention (hot baths at night!). I do think she's already so skinny though....

In terms of what I've been eating, it's a lot less breads/sweets/meat/dairy and more vegetables/grains/nuts/fruits. Since the beginning of the year, I have been trying to eat less processed foods as well. I learned that the food consumed actually determines our weight more than exercise (I learned this from a Blogilates video, but here's a short blog post explaining how it works). I'm trying to eat more natural and/or organic as well as making my own food instead of buying something pre-made. I started to make my own vegetable stock! It's super easy (takes a long time to simmer though) and it tastes great. I use the one from Whole Foods because I happened to have most of the ingredients in my kitchen. It's great to have on hand as a quick side or a component of a main meal (eat it with quinoa and a salad). Also, whenever I crave something sweet, I eat a teaspoon of raw, organic honey.



It's so sweet that I need only one teaspoon to kick my sugar craving and honey is also a good source of vitamins and anti-oxidants (see here). It's also not that expensive, I got mine for about $5 at Trader Joe's, and it lasts a long time.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing to try and lose weight. I'll continue to post updates biweekly (that's one update every two weeks) and let you know if any methods are successful for me.

Stats
.Weight: 119.5 lbs/54.2 kg
.BMI: 21.1
.Current routine: Blogilates daily (haven't had much weight loss, but I feel stronger & my arms and stomach are less flabby), more stretching
.Goals: continue to do Blogilates, eat cleaner (more veg/fruit/natural less processed), more cardio, definitely try to sleep more

Friday, January 23, 2015

/Lips/ NYX Peaches and Cream Butter Gloss


this was purchased by me.

Ah, another pink lip gloss to give me a pretty pink pout. I'm very much obsessed with lippies and pink is my favorite variety. I had been wanting to try NYX's butter glosses for a long time and I finally indulged in getting one when Ulta was having a sale of 40% off on certain brands. I picked this color because it looked like a warm peachy pinky that would complement my skin tone. After using it for the last few months in various looks, I'm ready to share my thoughts on the butter gloss with you.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

/Make-up/ Lumene Time Freeze Anti-Age CC Cream


this was purchased by me.

As usual my quest for a nice complexion continues with this CC cream from Lumene. I've had a lot of good experience with Lumene products, even reviewing this on my blog, and I think they're a very underrated brand. Anyway, I picked this up during the summer at Ulta as I've been interested in trying this for some time. After months of daily use, I'm ready to share my thoughts on this CC Cream with you.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

/Skin/ Etude House Real Art Moisture Cleansing Oil


this was gifted to me.

When my mom went back to South Korea last October, she was nice enough to pick up a few Korean skincare things for me. Since my birthday is in October this worked out as a way for me to get good presents ^^. Since I finished my last cleansing oil I've been using Etude House's Real Art cleansing oil. This has become part of my nightly routine for the past two months and I'd like to share my thoughts on it with you.

Monday, January 5, 2015

/Announcement/ New Year! Also, Diet & New Stuff

Hello! It's been a while since I made a post...It's not because I was busy, but I didn't have anything prepared to post so I've been working on that lately. Happy (belated) New Year, though! So, for Christmas last month I was avle to receive a new camera! I finally have a DSLR and it has a 24.2 megapixel definition.



This is a tremendous upgrade to the digital camera I've been using so far. My old one was from 2009 (when I was studying abroad in Oxford at the time) and it's kind of falling apart so I was happy to get a new, nicer camera.


selfie w/ new camera!

I'm still reading the manual and getting used to using it, so I'll be gradually using it to take picture for this blog.

Also, I haven't been updating the status of my diet. With the New Year people make resolutions to eat healthier and be more active, but that's what I started doing a while ago. I think it's about 22 weeks in already...? Anyway, I'm still not near my goal of 108 lbs/49 kg (my weight is currently 118 lb/53.5 kg), but I am following the Blogilates workouts daily and incorporating better foods in my diet. I want follow meal plans/recipes from Whole Foods and the Blogilates website. And I got a new weight scale!


It's so pretty and accurate! I like using it even though seeing how much I weigh makes me anxious.
Well, thanks for checking out my blog and sharing this journey with me in beauty, style, and health. I'll be posting new stuff soon, namely reviews, so be patience and be sure to visit again~