Not just for sunburns...

Hello Everyone, I feel like I have not spoken to you guys in so long! Well today I am back with a DIY recipe that you will want to learn more about.

I know that most of you, if not all have heard about and used Aloe Vera once in your life. It is commonly known to help your skin recover from a sunburn. It is sold in all stores and is a gel like consistency and originally comes from an Aloe Vera plant, where the gel comes from inside the plant's leaves. 
In my free time I love learning about nature and all of it's benefits and uses. There are so many natural alternatives for health issues etc. I was surprised to find out how many different uses Aloe Vera has. For example, it is an amazing alternative to help fight acne, if you put the gel directly onto a clean face where an acne break out is. 

One of my favorite blogs to follow is 'Free People's' blog. You may know they for the clothing store, but they also have an amazing blog that has everything from recipes to horoscopes, to finding your inner happiness (basically right up my ally). I came across this post about a DIY Aloe Vera Water. I immediately read more about it and knew I wanted to try it out myself and share it with all of you. They talked about how to make a drink made from two ingredients, water and Aloe Vera gel, that would help fight any stomach issues you may have as well as other health benefits. I wanted to try this out because I knew about the benefits Aloe Vera gel had for sunburns and acne, but I did not know you could take it internally and the internal benefits it has. On this same blog, they have a link to all of the benefits Aloe Vera gel has, but I will link it here for you all so you can find more about it.

In their recipe, they used an actual Aloe Vera plant, but I knew that there was other options instead of going out and buying a plant. So I did some research and found out that you can buy the Aloe Vera gel that is found in the leaves of the plant already packaged in a bottle ready to go. Unfortunately, you can only find this at a health food store, which the only one remotely close to me was Whole Foods. So I made the trip and picked up this bottle of Aloe Vera edible gel that was only $4.99, which is such a great deal because in the recipe you only use 2 tablespoons and in the bottle it comes with 16 Fl oz, so you really get your moneys worth. 

Below, is a picture of the ingredients you will need. I have an example of both options, the plant and the already packaged gel but you can use whichever you like. (My plant looks a little dead but the man said all you have to do is cut off the brown part of the leave and it is still good. There were about 2 good leaves on my plant. After you cut a leaf off, it will seal back up on it's own and grow another leaf.)

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of Aloe Vera gel
- 1 cup of water (or any other type of juice etc)
- Blender (to blend everything together, this is a must you can not 
just mix them together with a spoon)







- If you are using the plant, all you have to do is simply cut off one of the leaves and slice it right down the middle. I do not have a picture unfortunately of this step but if you go to the link for the blog I found this on they have pictures. Next, you grab a spoon and take out the clear gel making sure NOT to get the yellow substance right below the gel, but you will only get that if you scrape the spoon against the leaf extremely hard. Just gently spoon out the clear gel until you get 2 tablespoons. 

- Next, measure out 1 cup of water or any other kind of juice you would like to use. 

- Put those 2 ingredients into your blender and blend away for only a couple of seconds until they are fully mixed together which does not take long. This reason you need a blender instead of just mixing them together with a spoon, is because you want to make sure all of the Aloe Vera gel is fully combined and distributed evenly throughout the water. It may look foggy or frothy, but that is normal. Mine looked quite opaque, but it soon settles clear like normal water. 

- This step is optional, but if you do not like the taste of the plain Aloe Vera Water, you can add any kind of citrus juice you want. I added the juice of 1 lemon because I personally love anything lemon and love lemon in my normal water. It did not taste bad at all, and tasted like I was just drinking normal water! 

Also just to make sure you guys know, in the Free People's blog post, they show a picture of their drink with one of the leaves in their cup, but do NOT put one of the leaves in your cup just to make sure because there might be dangerous toxins on the outer part of the leaf. They just did it for a picture!

I hope you guys try this recipe out and I am excited to see if anything in my health changes. I will keep you guys updated and hope you have an amazing day! xoxo

The Ins & Outs of the Outfits

Hello Everyone!

I do not know if it is just me, but I know I want to work out more when I have a cute workout outfit. That may sound silly, but there is something about putting on the perfect fitting yoga pants, and a cute workout  zip up jacket and a nice pair of running shoes that makes working out so much more exciting for me. That may be because I am in love with fasion, and that I am a girl...BUT I think I can speak for a lot of people out there, men and women that having a good set of workout outfits can make anyone feel better about going out and getting your exercise!

Before I started "exercising" and getting into shape, if I ever went to the gym or attempted to go on a walk or exercise I always opted for the loose baggy sweat pants, and the over-sized t-shirt and worn out, old sneakers. There was something about those clothes that made me feel even slouchy and unmotivated (maybe it was just one of my excuses...? oops). When I started to get serious about getting into shape and losing weight, I started to go on a long walk/jog a couple nights a week. My dad noticed that I was doing this, and I kept complaining that my feet would hurt when I jogged and I got the worlds worst shin splints. Even thinking about them makes me cringe. They would be so mad to the point where I would have to put Icy Hot patches on them and soak my shins in a hot bath every night. They would even hurt during the day when I wasn't exercising! Anyway, my dad has been an exercise finatic ever since I've known him, it is like his form of therapy. So, he knew right away that I needed some new better workout/running shoes. At the time, I was using my 7th grade Nike volleyball shoes that were too big for me, and were literally breaking apart on the sole. So after begging him, we went to the Nike outlet store and picked up my first pair of nice running shoes! I was so excited, I went straight home and went on a long walk/jog! It did help a tiny bit with my shin splints since my feet had more cushion and more support when running on concrete. I just felt better all around, and the next issue was my clothes...

When I started to lose weight and drop some pant sizes, I always just thought first about my jeans and other bottoms, but never about my "workout pants" which were literally falling off of me. I just always put working out with crappy old clothes together and didn't realize how bad it was until they fell completely off one morning in the kitchen...(true story). So I went to my favorite store Marshall's which is a chain of discount stores that sells everything and they have everything at an extremley discounted rate! So I went to the Active section and picked up a new nice pair of spandex black cropped work out pants that fit like a glove and I soon fell in love with exercising because I knew I didn't have to worry about constantly pulling my pants up while running. I just recently, opted for my first ever Victoria's Secret pullover hot pink jacket that is perfect for exercising especially where I live where it's not too cold but I need a jacket! 

Anyway, the moral of the story is, treat yourself to some new workout clothes because they will make you feel better about yourself while working out and they will encourage you to get out there and work out! I know working out is not all about your looks and trust me, I am NOT one of those girls that wears a full face of makeup, does their hair, and wears a push up bra to the gym. I still look sweaty and nasty while working out but it actually helps you have a more efficient workout when you are dressed the part and nothing is falling off, or you don't have to worry about fixing your outfit so you can have a successful workout. 

Here are the shoes that I got a couple months ago:

They are the Nike Free Run 5.0 

Here is a picture I took of a painful night after a run with my shin splints! (OUCH!)

Here is a picture of a jacket really similar to the one I got at Victoria's Secret, mine is just a tad different but I could not find mine on the website I'm sorry! But just a word of advice, I got my jacket at their annual Semi-Annual sale where my jacket was 50 % off, because they can run pretty pricey, but I would go to a Marshall's like where I got my pants, and Ross which is a similar type of store to get workout clothes because they do not have to be designer or super expensive! 

Link to Victoria's Secret Website for the jacket 

Now, here are some items on my workout clothes wish list that I will be purchasing soon! Also some more expensive items that I can only dream about...I just cannot fathom spending hundreds of dollars on workout clothes that will get dirty and sweaty...they may be made nicer, but I would rather get more clothes that are less expensive and get them more often so I can have a variety! That is just me though, but if I had the money I would get some of these items!

LOVE these pants from Victoria's Secret Sport line here

I do although think a nice fitting sports bra is worth the money...which I have not found a good one yet (sigh) Find it here 

I have always wanted a pair of these Nike Pro shorts! They look so comfortable and perfect to run in, because I hate running in shorts because they always ride up! (TMI?)

These are not that expensive but still on my wishlist! Link

 I have always wanted these shoes, but I couldn't find them on the website so I just found them on Google!

But an awesome tip is, never buy them from the actual Nike website! If you Google what shoe you want or just "Nike Women's Running Shoes on sale" you will find so may sale websites that sell them for more than 50% off, also Ebay has awesome deals as well! 

Well, that is all for today's post! I hope you guys enjoyed seeing my workout clothing post and don't feel guilty about going out and getting actual workout clothes for yourself, don't settle on old baggy clothes that make you feel "baggy" hehe! Xoxo

Acai Bowl

Yay, I finally made my first Acai Bowl this morning for breakfast, and I was a little apprehensive, but let me tell you it was amazing! I usually steer away from hot breakfast foods early in the morning, because I always without a doubt have my coffee and that is steaming so I like to have something cool on my throat and this was perfect. The Acai berry smoothie packets that I bought from Whole Foods yesterday and showed in yesterday's post, were frozen of course so they made for the perfect base. I usually do not like a lot of smoothies because of the texture, I don't like how runny and watery they are. I always prefer more of a slushy type and this is exactly what the Acai Bowl was! I wish I took a step by step picture of what I was doing but to be honest it was early this morning and I was so hungry I completely forgot! But I did take a picture of it after (:

I can go ahead and name the ingrediants I used and the steps.

Ingrediants:
-1 Acai Berry Smoothie Packet
-8 oz of Soy Milk or what I chose Apple Juice (or any type of juice you prefer, orange would be good!)
-Any other type of fruit you want!
(I went with a handful of frozen pineapple chunks)
-A couple of ice cubes if you want it thicker!
- Granola
- Strawberries for topping
- Kiwi
That is it, and you can use whatever you heart desires in the smoothie and to top it! I have seen recipes where people put flaxseed, and coconut flakes!

Steps:
1. Place everything into the blender
2. Blend away
3. Pour into whichever glass you prefer
4. Top with your toppings
5. Grab a spoon since it is thick and enjoy!

It is very refreshing in the morning and acts as a perfect healthy wake-me-up breakfast!

Here is mine this morning!

YUM!

I hope you guys try it out and let me know what you guys think, I cannot wait to try different versions out (:

Xoxo

Whole Foods Trip: Thoughts and Haul

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a lovely day/night. Today I made a trip, and yes I mean my nearest whole foods is downtown about 35 minutes away (yikes). But I had my mind on a certain product that you can only purchase at Whole Foods.

Now if you do not know what Whole Foods is, it is a well known grocery store that sells health foods, and organic foods only. It is more pricey than your regular everyday grocery store so I do not do my whole shop there, but I do find it helpful when I am in the need for certain products that are not sold in my local grocery store. I am not one to to buy organic everything, and not the type to only eat "gluten free" "vegan" by far, but I do think it is nice to throw some of that into your diet here and there.

There are different opinions about Gluten free, which to me I do not think it is crucial for someone on a diet. I am no dietitian but I have read about Gluten free products online and compared them to the same products with Gluten and the only difference I see in the "health factor" is that they take out the Gluten and add way more sugar. It is crucial however for those who are Gluten intolerant which I know a couple of people who are, which in that case they are forced to eat Gluten free. Organic is another term which I use loosely talking about my diet. I have read some opinions online about what to and what not to eat organic. My opinion, is the only important time to eat Organic is when you are buying your produce, like your fruits and veggies. The tip that I learned which has saved me a lot of money, is when buying your fruit organic only buy the organic fruit if it is a fruit which you eat the outside or the "skin". For example, Strawberries, Apples, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, etc. Those foods you eat the outside and that is where all of the pesticides live in the non organic fruits and veggies. But for example, Bananas, Avocados, Oranges etc you only eat the inside of the fruit and throw the skin away so you can get away with buying the non organic versions of those.

Anyway, back onto my trip to Whole Foods today! I have been seeing these "Acai Bowls" all over the blogs I read, and I was dying to try one because they look delicious and so easy to make. In order to make these bowls, you need these "Acai Smoothie Packets" which is just the Acai berry frozen made into smoothie form. Anything with Acai is extremely hard to find and none of my local grocery stores sold anything to do with them. So, the only logical place I knew would have them because they are known as a health food is Whole Foods. When you go into a Whole Foods, especially when you are on a health kick can be very overwhelming and exciting all at the same time because all of these organic healthy options are intriguing but also extremely pricey! I have compared and some of the items that I find at whole foods is up to $3-4 dollars more expensive! But if you are on a strict healthy diet where you only eat Gluten free or you only eat Vegan per say, it is perfect for you! Anyway, so I got my Acai frozen smoothie packets and picked up some other goodies that I will share with you!

First here are the Acai berry smoothie packets:

These are low in calories, fat and sugars because they are unsweetened! I will have a detailed blog post about when I make my Acai Bowl with full directions and instructions soon!

Next, I had been seeing these "Hemp Hearts" all over the blogs that I read, saying how great they are to sprinkle in with your yogurt, on top of salads etc so I wanted to try them out. I am still unsure of exactly what they are but the description says they are nutritious part of the hemp seed which I am unsure of exactly what a hemp seed is, but they are a great source of Omega 3 & 6 and they are known to keep you fuller longer and they do not have a taste to them at all, so I will let you guys know what I think!

I picked up this "organic" (yes I know organic hehe) base for Tortilla soup. My dad and I absolutely love Tortilla Soup and I thought this would be a healthier alternative than going out to a restaurant and getting some when we craved it! This is just the base, so all you have to do is add peppers, corn, black beans and whatever else you want to add to the pot and serve. YUM

Whole Foods has an AMAZING salad bar and they also have an AMAZING buffet with hot fresh foods (healthy and some non healthy) foods for when you want to come in and get some lunch! They also have a section with quick packaged ready to go lunches that are small portioned and not that expensive. For tonight's dinner because I didn't feel like cooking I grabbed these "2 for $5" meals. The one on top is Pork Pot Stickers and the one on the bottom is a mini Chicken Salad Sandwich.

That is all for today, I will see you soon for the Acai Bowl recipe! xoxo

For Sale?!

Hello guys I am back with a quick random post, but hopefully some of you guys will be interested!

I am going through my house and finding a lot of things that I do not need or have never used before and want to try and sell it! 

This first thing is this beautiful Wall Clock that I have never used, it has just sat around waiting for someone to use it! I think it is gorgeous and I personally do not have a need for it anymore. I is faded where the hands of clock have been for awhile but I think it is still a beautiful clock that would look nice in a kitchen, or anywhere around your house! If you are interested just message me personally on here or you can email me at ddeb12@aol.com

Another item I need to sell is my personal favorite that my mom and I personally made ourselves! We saw it on Pinterest and decided to make one to sell for ourselves and we have not had any luck so far but it is the neatest piece! It is a perfect addition to any room in your home, but we made it for a laundry room so you can clip un-matched socks or whatever your would like! It has a connected wire basket on the bottom to hold anything, or for example it can hold the chalk for the top of the board where we have it saying "Lost and Found". We are very proud it it and it is made out of an old door that we had laying in our garage! It is versatile  because you can change out the saying at the top because it is chalkboard and you can easily use it to hang pictures of you and your family or your friends. If you are also interested in this piece you can email me at the same email that I mentioned above. It is a great way to get organized for the New Year.

I hope you guys like these two items are are interested! For prices and shipping etc just email me at ddeb12@aol.com

XOXO!

Pick me ups!

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is having an amazing New Year so far! I have been having a pretty good one, but I dreadfully am starting to get those winter sniffles...NO! What my dad and I do when we start to feel yucky is try to sleep and drink as much water and vitamins as we can! Also medicine helps too! 

One way I always like to pick myself up, not just if I feel sick but if I feel heavy and I have been maybe eating heavy is a smoothietexture person when it comes to food (let's not talk about tapioca pudding...). Anyways, since I feel sick I knew the perfect lunch for me, which fills me up just as much as if I would have a normal sized lunch which is awesome because of how low the calorie intake is. 

. Today as I am writing this, I am sipping on a smoothie that I just made with my handy dandy NutriBullet which I am obsessed with! I love love love fruit, it is a great way to subside my sweet tooth late at  night, and is also a perfect way to get your vitamins in. I personally only like a couple of fruits which my favorites are, Grapes, Apples, Watermelon, Oranges, Pineapple and Strawberries. Those are about the only ones that I can think of that I like all which make a yummy smoothie! I usually do not like smoothies, because I am a major

Today's ingredients:
-Handful of strawberries
-Half of an apple
-Frozen pineapple chunks
-Skim Milk
-Water
-Emergen-C packet 

Just throw everything into the NutriBullet and blend away and enjoy! (Ended up not using the Spinach)

Now to talk about the last ingredient that I threw in when I was done. These are life savers for my dad and I, they are called Emergen-C packets, but this picture of mine above is the Kroger brand. They are basically packets of powder that has 1000 mg of Vitamin C and 7 B Vitamins which doesn't immediately make you feel better, but Vitamin C is known in large doses of it to eventually boost your immune system and make you feel better! Whatever I can do to make myself feel better I will! My dad makes a Protein smoothie every single day after he gets back from the gym and throws one of these in with his smoothie and he has not gotten sick in quite awhile so I know it works. They have multiple flavors, but the one I have today is the Raspberry Flavor and it honestly tastes really good with my fruity smoothie you cannot even taste it!



Besides a lot of water, smoothie, and Vitamins, the best way to make yourself feel better is sleep and hot baths. I had a long hot bath last night to try and release some of the congestion I had in my nose and it did help me sleep a little better. Also try to rub Vicks Vapor rub on your nose and around your nostrils and also on your chest, because while you sleep it will help your nasal passages to clear up so you can breathe through your nose which I cannot at the moment!

Besides being sick, I am still on track and motivated about my weight loss and am still eating healthy, here and there (oops). We are all human and sometimes make mistakes but it is not something I am going to beat myself up about and it just means that today I have to make sure I eat amazing and do something to get my body moving. I hope all of you guys are making your 2014 Resolutions list and getting organized, this year is the year for each and every one of us and it is up to us to make this year amazing!

Xoxo

2014

Wow, I still cannot believe it is officially 2014! I feel like 2013 flew by! I hope everyone had an amazing New Years Eve and New Years Day, I had a blast. I went to Austin, Texas to stay with one of my friends and we went out on the town New Years Eve and had a lot of fun dancing 2013 away. It is somewhat bittersweet to see such a monumental year of mine leave, but all of the things that happened in the past year are just more motivation to make 2014 an amazing year. Everyone always says "New year, new me", but I don't think people need to change themselves for the new year, just find the things in their lives that need work on and make those their New Year's Resolutions! In my last post I listed some things about my resolutions for 2014 but I think I have officially come up with a pretty solid list. I also think it is good to add on throughout the year. Making this list doesn't mean it is frozen and you can't add anything to it in the middle of the year. 

I decided that with all the new changes in my life I wanted to go above and beyond with my list and turn it into a fun project and make a poster of mine which now hangs up across from my bed so every day when I wake up that is what I see. 

The poster:

To go into greater detail:

Number One:

I am determined to lose the rest of my weight to reach my final goal weight of around 130-135. I need to lose 64 pounds total. I have a time frame in my head of when I want to lose the weight by, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I wanted to lose the weight by my birthday which is April 27th but I don't want to push myself too hard and disappoint myself if I didn't reach that so I am just saying by the end of the year.

Number 2:

I just recently painted my room and re did my room you can say. It went from being a teenagers cave with turquoise walls and my friends painted their names and sayings on one wall, to a de-cluttered room with now light tan walls. I love it so much more, but it still needs some finishing up and I want to get it done! For example, I still need curtains, a full length mirror, new bedding, and more decorations here and there. So that would be nice to cross off and finally finish, I hate unfinished projects!

Number 3:

Learning piano is something that I have always wanted to perfect. I took lessons a long time ago but only took them for a short while and didn't learn anything. I absolutely love classical music and I can listen to piano music for hours! It is so magical and peaceful, so I really want to learn a song that I have been loving forever. It is by the musician Yiruma, but I am not sure which exact song I want to learn of his yet, they are all amazing!

Number 4:

Reading is one of my favorite past times and I have a stack of books that I have read in the past three years that is growing and growing. There is nothing better than diving into a fresh new book and getting lost in the pages. I like books because to each person the book means something to them differently than it would to me, if that makes sense. So each person has their own attachment and feelings about the book because when you read a book you imagine the characters in your mind (well I do) and so you feel connected to them. I can get through a lot of books very quickly so I know this one won't be a problem but I want to say 5 books is the least amount I want to finish more.

Number 5:

This one is a more new resolution that I just recently found interest in. This past Sunday when I was at church, a guest pastor was preaching about the phrase "If Only", which immediately caught my attention because I always use that phrase. You just have to trust me and listen to the podcast which I will link for you guys to go and listen to it because he is hilarious and it really opened up my eyes to what we are grateful for in our lives. We need stop saying "If only I had more money..." and focus more on the things that we do have like a supportive amazing family etc. 

Here is the link to the video 

Number 6:

Challenge myself weekly. This comes from my horrible anxiety which I am sure you guys know of by now because I have talked about it in previous posts! This past weekend when I went to Austin, I challenged myself by driving there by myself which is huge for me because every time I am responsible to drive long distances and everywhere really, I have an anxiety attack and cannot fathom getting lost. Well, after a huge panic attack I sucked it up and drove up there by myself using my gps on my phone and got there safe and sound! It really taught me to challenge what scares me the most more often because in the end it will help me live my life more but more importantly it will help me get over my anxiety a little more.

Number 7:

Being the best version of myself, and doing the same to my friends. To me, being a daughter, friend and nineteen year old girl, I need to take the good qualities I have and make them come to life more, and share my good qualities with the world. Also, helping my friends be the best versions of themselves will make me happier to see my friends happy.

Well, that is it for my resolutions! I am so excited to see where my blog and everything in my life takes me this upcoming year. I of course will be updating weekly, hopefully daily on my progress for my weight loss and also for everything else! Let me know what some of your resolutions are for the new year! God Bless xoxo