My healthy lifestyle change~ `what I eat 編`

Time for the second post about my lifestyle change.
Maybe it sounds a bit pompous or funny, but IDK how to call it, that`s just what it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don`t want to preach, most of those things are not my original ideas, I learned them along the way and read on the internet and so on. And I am not claiming I am 100% right. I`m just writing out my idea of healthy eating and generally what I put into my head and live by now. So take it or leave it, those are just my beliefs and I`m no expert and so on.



I assume it`s obvious that when you eat healthy you would want to quit junk food, sweets, soda and processed food and simple carbs as much as you can. Well, that wasn`t a big issue for me, bc for a good couple years now I wasn`t drinking any soda or eating junk food (from chain restaurants) at all and I don`t even like sweets that much (well, with some exceptions) so I don`t get sweets craving. I never used sugar in tea/coffee and I don`t like the flavor. I admit, I also love to cook, live on my own and have a lot of free time, so limiting processed food and generally eating what I want is relatively easy for me. I`m very lucky with this, I know many of you probably live with your family, don`t have a separate fridge or maybe can`t even buy your own food bc you don`t have the money or just parents take care of that. In that case, I hope your family will support your decision to eat more healthy and help you with it. Calm rational discussion should work and just give them some time to think about it. From my experience parents get really stubborn if you try to push your ideas on them, make them think it`s their own idea and that it`s great if you can... XD

And you know what, we`re just human. If you want to eat chocolate or pizza or whatever - just eat it! Treat yourself! Don`t go on guilt trips and restrict. Just think on a bigger scale - remember your goal, to eat healthy and be good to yourself and know that one bad day won`t ruin the whole effort and your hard work. It won`t! So if your your boss has a bad tantrum/bf dumped you, drink that bottle of wine and eat cookies with your friends! XD Sometimes it`s okay, just don`t fall into bad habits again. Moderation is the key. If you want chocolate eat it, but eat 2 small pieces, not the whole block. And make the better choice, go for 90% cocoa bitter chocolate with ingredients you can pronounce rather than something that`s mostly sugar and you don`t even know what it is.

Oh, and start reading labels!!!! Some of them are like good horror stories, let me tell you. XD Generally if there are things that don`t even sound like food and too many unknown ingredients, I don`t buy it. Like I said - I limit processed food to minimum and always read the ingredients. I try to eat organic and cruelty free. I was a pescetarian, but I quit fish in December and am limiting milk consumption. (But I will always love eggs - I`m not lying to myself about that - but I buy the expensive eggs at the farmers` market, from "happy" hens, that eat good food and run around outside whenever they want, from small farmers. I just think that those mass produced, caged chickens are just so poor and just mentally ill from all the torture. :/ ) I am vegetarian and often eat vegan for periods of time, but yeah I`m not vegan and I`m not really into labels that much, so eat what you feel like eating generally. But for me going vegetarian (pescetarian), over 10 years ago, was the obvious choice. :D But to each his own.

Anyway, I`ll go through my meals and just tell you what they consist of most of the time.

My healthy lifestyle change~ `attitude and sports編`

Hello everyone!

I decided to write a post on a topic different than cosmetics -> health, food, sports and general good things you can do for yourself! :D Actually almost one year ago I got quite fed up with the state I was in. I lost weight from medicine I was prescribed, but then fell right back into bad habits and felt bad and gained weight and generally I wasn`t taking good care of myself, felt quite miserable. :/ (BTW, I am definitely not a person that can do anything they wish easily, actually my own character undermines my plans and even work sometimes. I have also been through two really bad depressions, one putting me in a hospital for 3 months.) At that point last year I was already supposedly "healthy", but I didn`t feel healthy at all. And I realized it`s time to do something good for myself, because I deserve it.

Healthy, healthy, healthy!!!

Hello my blog! XD

As you can see, I am on some kind of a unplanned hiatus, but I won`t give up my blog. 

Since I don`t really do anything fancy with my makeup, just the regular stuff, I will write about how I`ve turned into health "enthusiast", lol. I`ve been eating healthy and exercising since February and it only brought positive results! I feel healthier, more fit, happier. :D But I really got into sport and nutrition and try to collect as much information and try as many things as I can!

I bought myself spirulina as a supplement to fight winter blues. Because the days are getting shorter and darker, everything goes gray and it really affects my mood. I feel so unmotivated and uninspired. (T___T`) But, I`m doing my best to fight it!

What is spirulina? Here is some info from: http://www.antioxidants-for-health-and-longevity.com/spirulina-facts.html

Spirulina is a single-celled, microscopic blue-green algae that is part of the cyanobacteria family. It grows in alkaline waters of South America, Africa and Mexico. Spirulina is grown for the marketplace by commercial processors who grow these it in vast water farms.

Spirulina is thought to contain every nutrient required by the human body, in near-perfect ratios. It is especially rich in vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene and B complex, including B-12*** (not found in plant foods), and chlorophyll. It is also rich in essential fatty acids, carotenoids and minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and zinc. It is recognized to be the most complete food source known; no other food contains as many nutrients as spirulina. It has more beta carotene than any other food, ounce-for-ounce.

*** well I was told spirulina doesn`t contain any active in humans B12, so don`t buy it for that - if you are vegan get B12 supplements from the pharmacy, if you`re not, don`t worry :)

So, basically, it is healthy stuff and you can eat spirulina but also use it in skin care!

I am taking the tablets for a couple days now and I really do feel more energized after them! And today I made a face mask! Just mixed the powder with some water:

 

It is super dark green and.... smells like a pond. XD

As the mask dries it tightens on your skin. I washed it off with luke warm water and did a very light peeling with brown sugar and honey. Later I put on my The Face Shop Chia seeds lotion mixed with avocado oil (I use that every day). My face feels super soft, but it is a little bit red and feels a little bit irritated. I`ll have to see how it feels in a while, I hope that overall it will help. ^^` (PS. I had the mask 2 times now, I washed it off earlier and my skin wasn`t irritated. :))

You can also mix the powdered spirulina in smoothies and whatnot and eat it, but it`s easier to eat in tablets form, as it smells like a pond. 

The other thing I got interested in is aojiru, a japanese powdered drink made from kale or young barley. I looked into buying aojiru online, but it is expensive. And I`m not getting a super expensive juicer, because well, I don`t need it and I partially think it`s a fad - you can make green juices/smoothies with other machines too. Anyway, I found powdered young barley here in Poland, online, it is very affordable and practically the same thing as japanese aojiru! (on the right, made in Germany btw)

I was surprised to find it smeels a little bit like powdered green tea aka matcha. :O I will try to make some green desserts with it! :D The only negative thing is it doesn`t dissolve in water and you get this "sandy" feeling on your teeth. XD But I mixed it with orange juice in the morning and it`s completely drinkable :D

Generally I am eating super healthy and buying "real food" aka I don`t buy pre-made food, I cook myself (I always did, but I didn`t choose wisely, just ate anything). Take a look at my food now!

 

cherries, banana, kefir and young barley smoothie for breakfast, very tasty :D

shopping: kale, tofu, okra

and my recent meal: quinoa (under the veggies), sauteed onion, mushrooms and kale with fresh tofu and a dressing of soy sauce mixed with lemon juice (ponzu style) and the other side with sriracha :D

So are you taking care of your body? Have you tried spirulina? Do you think I already reached health-freak status? (LOL, I don`t think so, because I am a rational person and I think I do things in moderation www)

Oh,  Ialso do my best to move as much as I can: http://www.endomondo.com/profile/5898366 Want to be friends on endomondo and inspire each other? I love that app!

Natural skin care! （V＾－°）イエイ！

Hello! （V＾－°）イエイ！

Here`s the post about my skin care update or natural skin care. And when I mean natural, I don`t mean some brand saying their cosmetics are "fresh and full of natural ingredients (with lots of added stuff)", I mean seriously NATURAL stuff, the base ingredients! Here`s what I mean:

refined sweet almonds oil / triple hyaluron acid / organic argan oil / natural avocado oil / organic refined shea butter

I was thinking about buying a Dior moisturizing cream or some other brand, but then I thought "NO!". I was already wondering before, why do cosmetic brands use ingredients like hyaluronic acid (and there is soooo little of it in the product) like it`s some new amazing discovery (when it`s not) and put a ridiculously high price on the ready product? When actual pure hyaluronic acid is so easy to produce by specialist and cheap? You know? I also got into the whole fitblr community on tumblr (yeaaah tumblr, thank you for sucking the life out of me lol) and  found out natural fats and oils are very good for you, for your diet, health, skin, everything. So, I started using avocado oil in my cooking and decided to use avocado oil in my skin care too. Long story short, I didn`t buy the pricy cream and almost completely switched to using only the things in this photo as skin care. And it`s 10x cheaper than the pre-made creams and other skincare! :O

 

I am so lucky to have a store here that offers pure cosmetics ingredients, for people who want to make their own - I am not that advanced and just using the simplest solution worked great for me so far. (ZROB SOBIE KREM (meaning "make yourself a cream") is the store I use, and they ship abroad, but I`m sure you can find stores like this where you live.)

Don`t expect nothing fancy, the products are just what they are, oil, shea butter or some other fluid or substances. ;) I started using aloe vera extract mixed with hyaluronic acid as toner, avocado oil (with some hyaluronic acid sometimes) as milk/cream - and that is all! My skin improved a lot, and makeup stays better on my face, looks way more natural! I use shea butter on my face sometimes (at night), but mostly on my feet, knees, elbows, hands - it`s amazing for that, sometimes on m hair.

You may think putting pure oil on your face and then makeup on it is disgusting, but trust me - my skin absorbs the few drops of oil I use everyday completely - I get no shine and no oily feeling, and even though I have mixed skin (with the oily t-zone), my face stopped producing excess oil and I don`t get shiny anymore. So from my experience the same stuff works for dry (cheeks) and oily (T zone) skin! :O My skin has a healthy glow that shows up through makeup, and foundations go sooo much smoother on my skin over the oily skin care. 

Of course I still use makeup remover (shu uemura / missha oils) and face wash (kanebo elixir superior cream soap) and peelings, but for day/night skin care only the stuff above. It`s summer and I don`t have to work at all now (whoo teachers!), so I often wear no makeup at all, so I just go out like this or use sunscreen on top. 

So I can`t really praise natural skin care like this enough!

If you have a chance, please try it! I`m sure you can find products that work the best for You and you`ll love it! ^^* Please talk to me if you want to try sth like this or are already using natural cosmetics, I`d love to hear and learn more! :)

And if you are interested in random stuff, here`s my bedroom (too pink lol!) and my comfy lazy clothes and my 11kg lighter body (from healthy lifestyle) and a raccoon giving a hug to a cat! ;D

 Have a great day babies! <3

 

********** EDIT **********
In similar spirit, look what I found on tumblr, so simple and so good :D