Showing posts with label healthy. Show all posts

Wellness Wednesday: Public Service Announcement

This week I have really picked up the pace when making sure to get to the gym and eat better. On Monday I told you all that I had a REALLY bad week last week when it came to food. I managed to get myself to the gym 4 days last week which was great, however due to my carelessness to only eating bad stuff, I am paying now. The sugar alone has reaped havoc on my face. I have red blotches and under the skin breakouts that hurt a lot. I felt very sluggish and unmotivated on top of that. Not so much fun.

I am treating this as a public service announcement to all of you. Think next time you want to fall off the wagon with your fitness, remember this story. Now everyone is different on how they react to certain things, but I do remember a dietician telling me once that EVERYONE has a sugar intolerance to a point. It is not good for our systems in large quantities.


So here I am with all my new gained "Spots" thanks to the sugar high I was on last week. I am already starting to feel better with removing all of the bad food from my system. I learned a valuable lesson. Even if you are having a bad week, eating unhealthy will not make it better.

Thanks for listening and have a great Wednesday!


Going Organic: A Review

Lately I have become really concerned about the products I put in or on my body. It has been on my mind for awhile now, but became more of an issue when my skin really started to become unmanageable. Everything I have been using seems to make my skin worse. A few weeks ago Kate over at The "Florkens" posted about switching over to kinder beauty products. This really got the wheels turning and I went on a mission to see which products I could cut of of my daily health and beauty routine.

Coincidentally I came across an opportunity to host a Party with a Purpose sponsored by Acure Organics. I was provided some full sized products to try out and a link to this awesome video that explains why a lot of our beauty products today are toxic for us. Check it out because it is super informative about our everyday products.




After I watched this video I was so overwhelmed with all of the products I own now and what they all have hidden in them. I couldn't wait to try out something new, hoping they would help my poor skin! Acure sent me 5 full sized products to try out.

organic beauty
Aren't they pretty?!



 From left to right:

1. Cell Stimulating Body Wash: First of all I LOVE the color of this packaging. This gel wash includes moroccan argan stem cell plus argan oil, sea buckthorn plus CoQ10. This stuff smells AMAZING. I would describe it as an almond cookie. I only needed a little bit and this stuff made me feel squeaky clean with its rich lather. I really enjoyed this one. No irritation and it smelled lovely.

2. Day Cream: This one of my favorite products out of them all. I have been using this on my face every morning and my skin feels amazing. This cream has Gotu Kola Stem cell plus 1% Chlorella growth factor. It is geared for normal to dry skin and firms, hydrates, and restores your skin.

3. Sensitive Skin Body Wash: Unlike the first body wash I tried, this one is a cream. This is an unscented wash (It does has a faint floral scent) that has CoQ10 plus Argan stem cell. It is very moisturizing and doesn't cause any irritation. It made me feel nice a smooth when I was done.

4. Conditioner: This conditioner is very similar to the Cell Stimulating body wash. It has a lot of the same ingredients: Moroccan Argan Stem Cell plus Argan oil, CoQ10, and Omega 7. It smells the same too. The yummy almond cookie smell. This conditioner is geared towards normal to dry/damaged/curly  hair. I don't use much conditioner in the summer but I used a little and it did smooth out my wild frizz I have been experiencing. I felt a little oily after but my hair tends to do that in the summer. I can't wait until the fall when I can try it out again and give a better review.

5. Unscented Argan Oil Cleansing Towelettes: So far these are my favorite. I can be pretty lazy when it comes to washing my face at night. These are so easy and gentle. My skin feels clean and no irritation occurs. It takes off my makeup with ease and doesn't leave any residue.  I would recommend these to anyone who is always on the go (or lazy like me)!

This brand so far has me hooked. I really need to purchase some of the face cleansers. They also carry some pretty cool lip glosses.  I recommend checking out their page (here!) and having a look. They have a lot of information about stuff in everyday products and they even sent me a booklet with all of the ingredients they use and what they are. Very cool stuff.

What organic products have you tried? Send me your favorites! I am in need of new stuff.

Happy Monday ALL!

(I was sent all of these products free of charge in effort to share the message with my friends. I was not compensated any further for posting this blog. All opinions are my own)



Fit-Trish: Healthy Recipe + Giveaway!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A series where I talk about fitness and getting healthy on a budget! Check out the new series page where you can find this whole series in one place along with any other series I may do in the future!

This week I wanted to share with you a quick recipe. This is a healthy, inexpensive recipe that you can make in a hurry. I have had this for both lunch and dinner and either way has been delish!


Ingrediants:
1 Whole Wheat Pita
Hummus of your choice
Tomatoes
Greens
Deli meat
Olive Oil

 Preparation:
Cut your pita in half and spread some hummus (I chose roasted garlic)  in both pockets as your base condiment.
Layer your deli meat in next (I chose oven roasted turkey breast).
Stack in salad greens and cut up tomatoes. (Add more veggies to your taste)
 Now your pita should be full with all the goodness.

If this is for lunch I just leave the pita as is. A nice quick lunch option with healthy ingredients. If I am having this for dinner I toast the pita with all of the ingredients in it. I add a little bit of olive oil to a saute pan and leave the pitas in until they are light brown and crispy on each side. Only about a minute on each side. Now you have a quick dinner with some warmth.

This whole preparation with toasting the pitas should only take 5 minutes tops. Below is a finished dinner version of this recipe. Lightly toasted with major taste factor!


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Its Friday and I am participating in a Giveaway! Take a  look and get your self entered!

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Happy Friday and ENJOY!



Fitness on a holiday

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish. A weekly series where I talk about fitness on a budget! Today is a very special day here in America. It is America's birthday! So today I want to talk about ways to stay healthy AND have fun on a holiday weekend.



I know most of you are heading out to a BBQ or other outing with friends and family this weekend. There will likely be endless amounts of food and alcoholic beverages. Here are a few quick tips to enjoy your day out without going overboard.

  • Bring a large bottle of water. You will most likely be outdoors. The bottle of water will not only help keep you hydrated, but will help keep your stomach feeling full. It will help you limit yourself from having that third helping of potato salad!
  • Only fill your plate with what you know you will eat. There is no need to overfill your plate and then either waste food or feel you need to eat it all. Small portions are key here. If you are still by chance hungry after eating, then drink more water. 
  • Limit your alcohol/sugary drink consumption. Use alternatives like seltzer or water enhancers if you need a break from water. Replace soda with seltzer in mixed drinks to help cut out the sugar that come in regular sodas. Read my post on water alternatives (here).
  •  Be active. If there is a game of volleyball going on or swimming, get involved. There is no better way to have fun AND get exercise than to join in a group of others.
  •  Remember to let all the stress go away and enjoy your time off! Spending time around loved ones can always help release some steam and get you refueled and back on track. Laugh until your stomach hurts and then count it as an ab workout! You will thank me later for that one :)
I hope these tips help you stick to your healthy goals over the holiday weekend! Now get out there and have some fun! Stay safe and make good choices ya'll!

Happy 4th of July!

Let's Be Social


Fit-Trish: Stress! It's making our bellies bigger!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish: A series dedicated to fitness on a budget. This week is going to a be a little bit different to past weeks. It is 6:30am and I have decided to re-write my post today because I wanted to discuss something that's been slowing me down in my fitness journey.



I have been writing this series now for 5 weeks. I am starting to feel discouraged in my weight loss journey. Not because I am not following my plan I made for myself, but because I am not seeing the results yet. Now you are probably thinking, "Really? It's only been 5 weeks girl?!" Let me explain.

Stress has a huge chunk of my daily life,I know I have written about this before, but I feel it is a very important part of a lifestyle change . Stress can do some funky stuff to our bodies, and weight gain is one of them. I woke up early this morning to research stress and what it's doing to my body physically. I did this because I have noticed my stomach seems to bulge out more lately than it did before I started being healthy.

I came across an article on Women to Women called "Weight Loss and Adrenal Stress." This article is geared towards women and it really hits home. Stress causes weight gain when the adrenal glands are over worked. The body prepares for disaster and starts storing fat and calories. This ultimately leads us to crave more good, lose energy, and that leads to weight gain. This weight gain normally is localized to the stomach area. The adrenal glands will release cortisol in excess amounts when we are stressed. It will stay elevated in our bloodstreams causing our glucose levels to stay elevated in our abdominal calls. This is what is causing the larger waist.

I thought I was doing a better job at managing my stress. Maybe I was for a little while, but I can definitely tell its elevated again and I feel helpless in making it go away. I wrote about some of my stress related symptoms here. Most of those symptoms seemed to have gotten better, but not noticing my stomach growing rather than shrinking gets very discouraging.

I am going to follow these steps listed in the article to see if I can start to maintain and balance the cortisol levels in my system.
  • When you eat matters: Eat smaller meals in regular intervals. Don't starve your body.
  • Have healthy foods on hand: Better snacks choices help reduce the cortisol overload.
  • Supplement your daily diet: Take a daily multivitamin which helps control cortisol.
  • Disconnect: Shut off all electronic devices by 8pm and relax with something like a good book..
  • Sleep: Get to bed by 10pm. Make a goal to sleep 8 hours so our body's recharge and regulate.
  • Exercise: Try to take a 15 minute walk after meals. This makes our bodies and our minds happy.
  • Have fun: Enjoying your time is very important in maintaining stress. Do it often!
  • Don't forget to breathe:  Deep breathes help to calm your body down. 3 or 4 deep breaths often make us feel better.
  • Just let it go: (No not the frozen song.. ) At the end of the day remember yourself. You cannot EVER make everyone happy. You must make yourself happy first. Help where you can, but if you are not happy, you can't really make someone else happy. Always remember that!
Now that is a great list in which I am going to follow this weekend and see how it goes. My best friend will be in town with my goddaughter who is 4. We will be doing all kinds of fun things so it will be easy to disconnect and have some fun. I am going to fight my work stress and let it go.

Have a great Friday everyone. I hope this helped some of you fighting that pesky stomach bulge. Stress is a very real thing and it really does a number on us. Let me know if you are planning to follow these steps or if you have your own methods of dealing. I'd love to hear them!

Healthier choices, healthier me

I know it isn't Friday, but I wanted to post about my fitness journey today. I never really talked about my goals and why I decided to finally take the plunge into a healthier lifestyle. I will be back Friday with my normal Fit-Trish post. I have some exciting topics coming up in the next few weeks!


There are quite a few reasons why I decided to join a gym and get healthy. Back in 2007 I was in a really bad car accident that has left me with a permanent hip and knee injury. It was determined by a jury that I was not permanently injured and nothing further happened. (Sometimes the law sucks ya'll). I have been living in pain off and on since then and was told a good way to help was to strengthen my core muscles and the obvious option of taking off some weight.

I have exercised off and on through the years but never really kept a schedule. I would get into those moments in life where I was depressed, or busy, or any other excuse I could come up with to not workout. The past few months for me have been very stressful at work and it was physically making me ill. I have posted about my struggle with stress. (Check it out of you are lost in finding a reason to why you aren't feeling good.) I have found by eating a better diet and working out regularly has helped me to feel less stress with is leading me to feel better.

This is going to be an every day battle for me. But I am ready to take it. I love food, but not just food in general, I love carbs! Breads. Cakes. Cheeses. Those are the things my little heart desires. I find myself reaching for the rolls, or the cakes, or the breads when there is food laid out in front of me. I am changing that day by day and learning to make better choices. I am replacing those things with more water, fruits, veggies and smaller portions. I will not deprive myself of having something, but I am going to have less of it. I think its a good plan for me.

I am only 4'11. My ideal weight for my height falls between 90 and 120 pounds. I am aiming for 115 pounds. This leaves me 35 pounds to lose. I am at the heaviest I have ever been and my body knows it. I feel sluggish and tired all of the time.I know I can do this. Not only do I want to look good, I want to feel good. I plan to have children one day and I want to be able to enjoy them. Run with them. Play with them. Having bum body parts can get in the way, so I am making the better choices now before it's to late.

How do you lead a healthier lifestyle? Do you do it for yourself or for some other reason? Tell me your stories! I love to hear them!

Let's Be Social

Trish-Fit:Take a hike! Trade in your gym for the outdoors!

Welcome back to another week of Fit-Trish! Every week I will post a new topic on how to stay fit and lead a healthy lifestyle on a budget. This is my third week and so far I have covered  the most valuable free thing you can do to help enhance your weight loss goal. You can take a peak at week 1 here-->(Valuable for weight loss) Last week I discussed some healthy on the go snacks. You can check that post out here-->(Healthy on the go snacks) This week I want to talk about some good old fashion fitness: Take a hike! Or take a walk. Whichever you prefer :)


The weather is getting nicer and nicer by the day. (Okay if you live in central NY it is a gamble, but I'd like to believe it is getting nicer everyday). The warmer weather gives us an opportunity to be outdoors more which leads to more free exercise! Taking walks or hikes is a great cardio option. It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of cardio a day to help with weight loss.

 If you are a beginner you can start off by walking around your neighborhood on flat land. This will help you get used to being on your feet for long distances. Once you feel comfortable walking around your neighborhood you can take it to the trails!

Depending on where you live, you can probably find a park or trail where you can walk on different landscapes. I like to go to my local state parks where the trails are listed and rated by difficulty. This helps you decide what level works best for you. I like to pick moderate to difficult hikes to really get my heart pounding and the sweat pouring. I normally try to take a half hour to an hour hike or walk 3 times a week.

Like any other fitness plan, you want to make sure you are in good health before taking these hikes. This is why it is a good idea to start off easy until you get the feel of it. Always make sure to stretch before going for long hikes. You don't want to pull a muscle while out in the middle of nowhere on a trail. Carry a bottle of water with you. If it is warm out you need to rehydrate to keep yourself from feeling sick. Make sure you have comfy sneakers. You don't want your feet screaming at you 10 minutes in. That's no fun!

So what do you think? Are you ready to challenge yourself and get out there on the trails? Hiking is very rewarding and you get to see some pretty sites along the way. So what are you waiting for? Dust off those sneakers, wash your comfy workout clothes, grab a buddy and get out there!

Happy Fitness Friday!

New Series! - Fit-Trish

Happy Friday everyone! We made it! I am sitting here thinking about all of the things I should do this weekend, but in reality I want to laze around and do nothing. Ever have one of those weeks? I have been having A LOT of those weeks lately. I have finally decided enough is enough and I need to get my butt moving. I am bringing you a new series every Friday where I discuss fitness and healthy living. I am embarking on a journey to lose some weight and get healthier.. on a budget.

Getting healthy can be really expensive. If you follow any fad diet you will probably fork out a lot of cash. Between food, equipment, supplements, and apparel you can be dropping hundreds of dollars in no time. I want to show you ways to get healthy without breaking the bank. You can achieve this with one main thought in mind. Stay Positive. Negativity gets you nowhere in life. Remember that.
Think Positive


Since this is the first week in this series I wanted to start off with one of the best tips I can offer when embarking on a weight loss journey. It's free and can really motivate you to getting yourself going. What is this awesome free thing? Take pictures! Full body shots wearing a sports bra and shorts if you are a girl and shirtless and shorts if you are a guy. This may sound scary at first, but once you start to see the changes you will appreciate that first scary photo.

I took my photo Monday night. It was really hard to look at because I saw how much I have let myself go over the past year. Even though it is hard to look at for me, it is also a reminder to work harder. I am even going to share my picture. It's hard for me but it's the only way I will continue to do better and get back to a healthy weight.

Here it is. The most awful picture I have ever seen of myself. I know its not pretty and I know that means I have a lot of work ahead of me. I have accepted the challenge and now I am ready to share this adventure with all of you! Keep coming back every Friday for more tips and tricks to achieving a healthy lifestyle on a budget. We can motivate each other to a happier, healthier life!

Share your stories with me! Are you embarking on a journey?
Join me!


Xo Trish
Let's Be Social

So sick and tired of being sick and tired

Since September I have not been feeling "good". Food has been my enemy off and on and I am constantly worrying about eating. I am gaining weight left and right and I feel like I am eating less and less. I have been sick more this year than I ever remember.  I have gone through numerous tests, all coming back with the same result: Normal. I have spent to much money and lost to much sleep over this mysterious illness. As much as I don't want to believe there is something seriously wrong with me, it would be nice to have a diagnosis.

Over the past 8 months I started to notice a constant in my life that I am starting to believe is the main culprit for my "illness". It saddens me to believe all of my problems have come from this. This nasty little bugger is stress. I didn't want to believe it at first; because how could stress be the main reason for my problems? I am constantly bloated, my stomach is upset and I get headaches galore. I have trouble sleeping, have pain in my back and often feel like I am having a heart attack. Can something as little as stress cause this? I did a little research and ended up on stress.org where they listed 50 common symptoms of stress. The answers I got were shocking to me.

# 1 on the list was frequent headaches.
# 5 is neck ache, back pain and muscle spasms.
# 14 lists heartburn, stomach pain and nausea.
# 19 chest pain, heart palpitations. and rapid pulse.
# 26 Insomnia, nightmares, and disturbing dreams.

There they all were. All of my symptoms listed on a common list of stress related symptoms. As I looked through the list I noticed others that I have experienced but weren't as severe. I am not a doctor or trying to self diagnose myself, but this seems like the logical answer to my question. What is wrong with me? All of the other tests have come back fine and I am so tired of hearing "Normal". Tired of being sick. Tired of missing fun events because I don't feel well. Tired of avoiding food because I "think" it is causing the pain. Tired of missing work. Tired of spending money on what seems like a lost cause. I am just plain sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Now the main question: How do I lower my stress level?

I have identified the major stress in my life and it's a hard one to get rid of. My job
Most people find that their job and money are the highest levels of stress that they experience. I am struggling with money like most people are, but I mostly blame my stress on my work environment. I would gladly take a lower paying job if it helped me release some of this stress.

I have taken on some new things to try and lessen my stress:
I started taking a 30 minute walk every day at lunch.
I have been trying to leave work at work.
I have started to make lifestyle changes with my diet.
I am drinking more water.
I am learning to breathe it out when things get overwhelming.

So far these changes seem to be making a good impact. I am starting to feel less sick to my stomach daily and I have lost a few pounds. I cannot change the situation at work, so I will change the way I look at it. With me luck because I am going to need it!

How do you all deal with stress? Any major things I should be changing or adding to my daily life? Anything advice would be much appreciated.

I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired ya'll.


Xo Trish
Let's Be Social



Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms
Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms
Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms
Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms