Skin Care

Any one else tried one of these wonderful little Olay Pro X Cleansing Systems?  I bought mine about 6 or 7 months ago and I LOVE it! I really wanted a Clarisonic system but they are so expensive. This seems to do about the same thing for a whole lot less money! I haven't owned a Clarisonic so in all fairness, I can't really make a comparison. I do love what this has done to my skin! It's really made a difference. My skin feels brighter and firmer and the pores on my nose look smaller!  I've noticed that at this time in my life that it is really important to exfoliate my skin!  If I don't, my skin becomes very dull looking (and old).  I've been really happy with the difference this has made!  (this is not a paid advertisement, I just wanted to share another great product that I use regularly with you).

Find Your Thing!

I LOVE this TV commercial! I think we can all see our self in her!  I think it's a good reminder that we may not love everything we try but if we continue to try new things then we have a good chance of finding something we love!  I'm always trying new forms of exercise in hope of finding something I'm passionate about! If you are passionate about something, you want to do it!

I did the gym thing for awhile and had to force myself to go, it's just not "my thing".  I tried hiking and loved it and I've been hiking 10 miles every Saturday morning since January 2011. 

I started walking a mile on my lunch hour and find that it really does break up my day and makes my afternoon more pleasant. When it's too hot or too cold or raining, I go to the mall that is close by and walk around there.

I tried mountain biking when I met my boyfriend and now I love that too! 

This week I joined a spin class that is held at my gym at work! I tried spinning years ago when I was totally out of shape and it was just too hard. I'm glad I gave it another chance because I loved it. Not only could I feel it in my legs but the next day my arms and abs were a little sore too! 

So, now my workouts will include Spinning on Monday and Wednesdays (45 minutes each day), Hiking 10 miles on Saturdays (about 4 hours),  walking 1 mile on my lunch hour 3 days a week (about 20 minutes) and an occasional bike ride. I also do arm exercises with resistance bands a few minutes each day while sitting at my desk at work. This is a great exercise if you sit in front of a computer all day!

Just how many calories am I burning?

I'm always wondering how many calories I'm burning!  While I'm working out my thoughts are getting a workout of their own....Did I burn off that bagel that I shouldn't have eaten for breakfast? What about that candy bar that I ate yesterday and regret today?  I also wonder what is better: running, biking or hiking?  Luckily, there are lots of calories-burned calculators on the internet! I get inspired just plugging in different activities and seeing just how many calories I can burn doing different activities!  Here is a link to one on the Glamour website.

That's me hiking with my hike leaders last Spring.  That was a tough hike! We burn over 1,000 calories in a 4 hour hike! You have to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound!  Makes sense to me...eat less, exercise more!

Pore Elimination

I haven't tried this yet but it looks easy!  This guy has some really good make-up videos on YouTube!

Baby Oil

 

Back in the day when I was a teenager, Johnson's Baby Oil was the stuff we slathered on our skin before we went to the beach to tan.  Tan? Me? Well that was more like wishful thinking...I would always burn!  Now I can't even imagine putting this on for that purpose but I still use it almost every day! 

I use it to moisturize my skin now.  Every morning after my shower, while I'm still in the shower, before I dry my wet skin, I slather on Johnson's Baby Oil.  Then I just lightly pat dry my skin. It works great on the days I wear skirts because my legs look smooth and silky, with a little bit of shine! (warning though...be careful, the oil can make your shower floor slippery)

Love this stuff... and it's a good deal too!

25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day - Health.com

Did you know that you can drop a pound a week just by cutting out 500 calories per day (based on a 150 lb woman).  That doesn't sound too hard...does it?   Here is a slide show I found with some great ways to cut 500 calories...  25 Ways to Cut 500 Calories a Day - Health.com

Another great way to cut calories is to add a can of pumpkin to a box of cake mix instead of the oil, eggs and water.  I've made them with both spice cake mix and chocolate.  You can't really taste the pumpkin in the chocolate muffins!

You can read about these muffins on my other blog (My Romantic Home). Just click on these links: Diet friendly Pumpkin Spice Muffins or Diet Friendly Chocolate Muffins.

I think I may make some of these this weekend and freeze them! Some mornings it's nice to treat yourself with a muffin with your coffee!

Track your food and excercise for best results!

 

I found I have the best results losing weight when I track my food and exercise!

  When I'm Weight Watchers I use the tracker they give you at the meetings.  When I'm not doing Weight Watcher, like right now,  I use LoseIt.com .  It allows you to either enter info online or use the app on your mobile phone!   

It's simple to use. You just set up your goals by entering your current weight and input how many pounds per week you want to lose (1/2 - 2 lbs), then it tells  you how many calories per day you can eat. You enter the food you eat throughout the day (There is a whole database full of food or if it's not there you can upload the info yourself.)  Another thing I love about this app is that it allows you to enter the exercise you've done that day and you can earn back some extra calories!

Another great feature is that when you set up your goals (I did this online, not on my cellphone), it tells you the date you will reach your goal!  

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the most amazing thing...It's FREE!

This is not a paid review of Lose it..just wanted to let you know about a great free resource for losing weight!