The last couple of years have been rough on my health. I’ve been stressed out, my pancreas is still incredibly sensitive, and I’ve gained a lot of weight (stress-related). I decided that I REALLY need to focus on healing my body and mind.

I’m one of those people who doesn’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. If you want to change your life, why wait? Get it started ASAP. I’ve learned that if you’re finding excuses to put it off, it means you don’t actually want it that badly, or you’re not actually ready to make the change. So, with that being said here’s a few changes to my life that I made towards the end of last year when I decided that I NEED to get my health back.

1. I quit my job. I decided that working 40+ hours a week while trying to blog, keep a house clean, do errands, and whatever else I needed to get done was just not working for me. I found myself NEVER cooking anymore. I was simply too tired to cook or go grocery shopping, that we would grab whatever was on the way home from work. Mostly fast food (shame on us). My husband and I are VERY fortunate in that we currently can survive on just his income. I know it’s not something everyone can do, so I am incredibly grateful that we are able to.
2. I have been making a “green” smoothie every day. Or at least I try to (I was too busy 2 days in a whole month, so not too shabby).
   I bought the NutriBullet (because I was on a budget and I could use a BB&B coupon), but if you really don’t like pulp (I don’t mind it) or you’re going to throw in nuts or seeds, I would get the Ninja instead. My friend’s Ninja gives a much more smooth consistency. I, however, love my little NutriBullet and it works just fine for me. A typical smoothie consists of: 1 pear (cored and cut up), 2 Cutie/Halos, an inch of ginger (I like A LOT of ginger so I would reduce if you’re not used to it), about 4 inches of cucumber, a carrot, either a [frozen] banana or half an avocado, a handful of spinach, about 1/2 a cup of cold pressed cranberry juice, and about 1/2 cup of hazelnut milk (you could use regular milk, almond milk etc…). Sometimes I switch it up and use romaine (instead), add a radish, a beet, or fennel. I would switch up the fruits, but pears are in season right now, and they go SUPER well with the ginger. If you need a little extra sweetness, use some honey OR add a little bit of flavored yogurt (I used peach in the beginning).
3. Eating better in general. We’ve been cooking a LOT more and mainly meat (organic & free range) and veggies (all organic). I’ve cut our starch intake a LOT but not completely because my husband would not be happy. Every now and then I’ll make a little pasta or potatoes, but mostly I try to keep it to a protein and veggies. I did get the Vegetable Butcher for Christmas in hopes I learn to cook with veggies I’ve never thought to use or never even heard of, and I got a spiralizer. I’m so stoked to put these into good use to help change our eating habits.
4. Excercise! I haven’t gotten as much exercise and I want with the holiday prepping, finishing moving (which is kinda exercise…), and all the rain, but our new place has LOTS of stairs so on the days that I’m kinda of lazy I make sure to run up and down the stairs for about 15 mins to get at least some cardio in.
5. I’ve been face mask marathoning to get my skin back into a better condition.
   These are what I’ve been using, and I recently discovered that my Lavo Giro Face Cleansing Brush also has a silicone brush head and I LOVE this way more than the original brush head. I don’t even need my Foreo anymore. I don’t have to worry about my face getting scratched up and I get a really good deep clean.

In regards to the eating better and getting more exercise, I already feel better. I’m less bloated, I have more energy, and I’m genuinely enjoying the “diet”. My skin also feels AMAZING, with all these masks. I’m still breaking out, but I attribute that to years of congested pores and toxins making it’s way out. Other than that, my skin feels softer, looks brighter, and looks less dull. I obviously, won’t be doing this super religiously because I don’t have that kind of money with the upkeep of those masks, but these are ones that would buy over and over again, but use them more sparingly. The Dead Sea Mud Mask is actually pretty inexpensive at $16 and is available at Amazon, so it’s one that I could use frequently and not feel bad about it. Be careful with the Rodial Snake mask. I forgot I had picked at a pimple and it was still and open wound. It didn’t actually hurt or swell or anything, but when I removed it I realized it was REALLY red around the wound. Still didn’t hurt or get itchy and it went away within an hr or so I didn’t worry about it.

I’m really excited to have more time to blog, and this year is going to have lots of new vacations, more recipes, and for sure more make- up and skincare.

Thanks for stopping by! XOXO