Monday, April 30, 2012

WEDDING DRESS HUNT

Searching for the perfect dress can be so much fun and kind of stressful! I mean how many times in your life do you have an excuse to go crazy and try on whatever dress you want? But at the same time how many dresses are there to choose from and you only get one and thats it! 

One thing I learned on my journey is price, designer and who wore the dress means CRAP! I tried on dresses from $99.00 USD-$10,000 USD and what I picked you will be amazed, (sorry) it was not the Monique Lhuillier dress Carrie Underwood wore to her reception but I did LOVE it :) Just not for my special day :) 

The other tip is to try on EVERYTHING, as you can see in my pictures I tried on every style and thats because you never know what will look best on you! That is what matters most :)


Davids Bridal

- Gorgeous dress, I loved how it showed my legs off a bit without being too sexy, I really wanted a classy look!


The Back of that dress

Monique Lhuillier


Dress Carrie Underwood wore to her reception! So much detail and so gorgeous, I kind of fell in love...



Old School Vintage type dress. I really REALLY love the 1940's (I listen to 40's on 4) so I really thought about channeling my inner 40's vixen! Do you like?


Mermaid style, made me look womanly and I LOVED the beading and detailing on this dress!

Alfred Angelo
 Best experience as far as excitement went! I went to the one across from the Beverly Center in LA because they had the biggest selection and we were already out there visiting Monique's!


Felt like a princess in this one, just too large but the detailing was VERY unique which I loved!




The detailing on the Cinderella dress from the Disney Princess Collection. So gorgeous and VERY fairytale! I had fun walking around the store pretending like i was walking on a cloud!


From the Disney Princess Collection. I am pretty sure this one was Ariel. I can tell you trying on dresses that day, I felt like a princess!

My mom designed the guestbook which I LOVE! She is SO creative! I really want her to make these and sell them on etsy! Look at the detail on the pages, all her design! I am SO lucky to have such a creative and loving Mother who took the time out of her busy schedule to do this for us! 






QUESTION: What dress did I choose?


MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY



Have you ever drove yourself crazy trying to be perfection and get everything around you to be just PERFECT? Well I have and it has torn holes in me, and almost always been a downfall. So why do we do it? Not really sure..neither am I? All I know, is that we should start striving for progress

How AMAZING does it feel to look back and see how far you have come on a goal or project? I know I feel so good that I have finished my wedding! It may not turn out to be PERFECT but hey at least I was able to get it pulled together right? (Thankful for my wedding planner) haha*

I can't wait to post pictures of an event that has not even happened! Its going to feel so good to have all that work completed and pictured forever! I am so excited :)

This weekend my LOVE and I just relaxed because we are mentally and physically preparing for this week. I had an advantage because I could just focus on getting the final details taken care of and finish off my cleanse! My cleanse went wonderful :) I am so proud of myself! PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION :)

QUESTION: What stops you from progressing on a project, goal, work, school or fitness?


Saturday, April 28, 2012

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY



Cravings are tricky and really severe cravings are signs your body is sending you to tell you about other problems you may be having. So again, yesterday I mentioned you need to LISTEN to your body and I mean it! For those of you who have a hard time doing so there may be some stress or emotional imbalances you need to take care of first! 

When your body starts craving breads for instance (like "I NEED BREAD NOW") you may be lacking nitrogen or you simply could have a yeast problem or maybe you did not eat enough that day and your body is craving a high energy source (calories are units of energy). If this is a constant battle the first two are most likely if you are not in a stressed, emotional imbalance.

Foods that contain the most nitrogen are provided in the chart above so get eating!

Eat small frequent foods throughout the day but NEVER force food just because its TIME to eat. That always drove me crazy and I learned that eating when hungry, slowly, calmly and nutritiously dense has given me the best results. There are days where I have a bit of breakfast, a snack a bit later and lunch than a snack and than dinner! Some days its just the 3 meals, I NEVER force myself, I LISTEN. Listen to your body and ask why certain cravings occur, ask questions to certified specialists or go for it and research it yourself (pubmed.com) 

I hope all of you have an AMAZING SHINING SATURDAY







Friday, April 27, 2012

FABULOUS FRIDAY

Time to get FABULOUS! Sorry to keep talking about this but its a BIG deal to me..wedding in 8 days!!

Went out last night and stuck to my NEW cleanse! One glass of Malbec Red Wine and a Vegan Meal! Thank you Bar Esquina for making it possible for me to eat an amazing healthy meal :) I ordered a pear, pistachio, arugula with cherry tomato salad. The dressing was an amazing vinegar reduction that I ordered on the side of course, no dairy was in the dressing so I was able to eat it!

Me with my girl Crissty Santana our for her birthday! The theme was GRAFFITI NEON so we had fun rocking our colors! 


Fabulous Friday is all about ways to be fabulous using natural products! Today I wanted to talk a bit about acne. I have been talking with people a ton about how they have such gorgeous porcelain skin and most of the time, unless you are extremely lucky and I envy you, they say I used to have ACNE like you could NOT believe! I than of course ask...How did you change that? Most of the time they say, I figured out I had an allergy! AN ALLERGY! Something as simple as eliminating a chemical or food and they have gorgeous skin! Allergies can also be an allergic reaction to chemicals in your makeup, sunscreen, facial creams even shampoos, conditioners and hair products. You really got to do some kind of elimination of one thing at a time and see what happens.

The best thing to do is an elimination diet. An elimination diet is eating the same as you always do but cutting out all dairy products (for example) for three months and seeing what happens. I say three months, because it takes some time for your body to get rid of all the past dairy. It can be difficult for those dairy addicts but its worth the gorgeous skin you may receive and cheaper than any laser treatment you could ever come across! Than come back start slowly eating dairy and see what happens. If your skin does not clear up move on to something else like something from the list below.

Dairy is not the only one there are also several others:



-Citrus
-Gluten
-Caffeine
-Shellfish
-Wheat
-Nuts
-Eggs
-Alcohol
-Additives 
-Chemicals like food colorings
-The list goes on...check out http://www.acne.org for more information

I used dairy because I am allergic and get severe acne explosions, if I come across it and I am pretty good at knowing if there is butter on any of my food at restaurants!

Your body is your best friend! I swear to you, it talks to you, you just have to LISTEN!  Your body sends signals when it has a hard time digesting something, it sends you signals if it is allergic to something just take the time to listen and you will be much happier in life! Allergies go beyond into why you may have a hard time losing weight? You could be consuming those amazing eggs that are so healthy but could be severely allergic to them! 

I recommend getting an allergy test every 5-10 years. This is important because your body changes as you get older. Some people get adult acne or adult allergies!

Enjoy your weekends and Shine like Stars :)




Thursday, April 26, 2012

THIRSTY THURSDAY


A martini...I could use one... :) 9 days until my wedding and I am still cleansing! It gets easier as I go a long and I think about some of the things I gave up (sugar-free gum, gum, meat (except for one day), and alcohol (except for 1 day)) Not bad :) The gum was the hardest for me..I know how bad it is for me but honestly sometimes it feels so good to just chew (I must be an addict) someone save me

But giving it up for 11 days has made it so I do NOT miss it. Honestly it really has not hit me at all until right now when I started writing my accomplishments in my journal! I believe looking for praise is usually a disappointment and that you should just be proud of yourself and reward yourself in that manner. I love sitting and boasting how wonderful I am in my journal and especially writing about my accomplishments whether super small (I drank 1 more glass of water today) or huge!!

Here is a recipe I came up with for Thirsty Thursday! It uses some of Ashley Armstrong amazing Baja Super Foods! I swear this stuff is so amazing! I am HOOKED! The bag is supposed to last you a month but um...is it bad that I like to eat it by itself? haha Grab some at Baja Super Foods (click the link)


So 9 days...getting a bit stressed but I keep looking at pictures of my girlfriends and its making me SO very excited to recreate some of the memories pictured below :) (I know I have HOT girlfriends ;))

Some of my girlfriends I have not seen in 2 years (ie Tiffy) and the rest its been about 8 months ;( but I am so happy they ALL are able to attend my special day! It makes it that much more exciting and we all have SO much to catch up on!






P.S: My cleanse is still going well! The stuff thats coming out of my nose is scary (sorry for the picture)

P.P.S Anyone doing Tuesdays Tip ? Comment and let me know what these last few days have brought you?? Click the link if you have yet to check it out!



Hope you all are having an amazing day!



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

WORK IT WEDNESDAY



SOURCE



First position releve example.
SOURCE
Romanian deadlift example

Sixth position example


When I get brave enough there will be workout videos that correspond with these just give me a few :) Let me know how this works out for you, COMMENT BELOW!

I worked out with some of my girlfriends this morning and had a BLAST! I love it when I can challenge someone and show them something new that they can use to help with an area they don't like about themselves and want to change!




Tuesday, April 24, 2012

TIP TUESDAY





Today's tip is to start identifying the moods you feel while consuming certain foods. I did this when I started my life long changes and it helped me understand more about my body and myself. Not only was I consuming so much sugar I was on the verge of getting diabetes (not all type 2 diabetes people are obese) I was relying on it as my MAIN food source. That is right all I ate was SUGAR. Fast reliable energy source that can kill you. I noticed it was always a high on the sugar energy and than a huge crash where I would literally fall asleep and than eat more sugar go back up and it just turned into this vicious cycle. I soon learned that I needed to step away from the sugar and start eating REAL foods. When I say real I mean foods that grow in the ground, have a mother (sorry veggies) and are organic and natural sources of food! I can't tell you how much better I feel...healthy, strong and energetic!



I have had clients who eat certain foods when stressed. Its time to look at that and figure out what makes you stressed and why is it that you reach for that salty or sugary snack when those moods/feelings occur. You must IDENTIFY these emotions, deal with them, rid of them and than you can conquer that craving and see results. 

There is also replacing that craving with something else. I used to be a HUGE candy muncher and now I drink herbal tea all day everyday! I love it and it cures my sweet tooth with herbs and low to 0 calories! 

What do you crave? Comment and let me know and feel free to ask questions about your consumption records!





Monday, April 23, 2012

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY


As some of you know I have been cleansing in preparation to my wedding day which is in 12 days! Wow has time flown on by :) Anyways I got A LOT of feedback some great and motivational and a lot of questions (you are so skinny why would you harm your body so and so...) I really love the motivation and the questions because it gives me a chance to explain to people that cleansing is not just about losing weight, as most think. Cleansing is a chance to give your body, organs, soul, mind and digestive system a time to clean out the waste. I have yet to meet someone who cleansed and did not feel more postivie or even more in touch with themselves. If you have noticed, since I have been cleansing my blog actually has a standardized theme now :) See what I mean... I have stopped harming my body and it has opened my mind and self to creativity! If you have ANY questions or concerns let me know I love talking with people about cleansing and asking is learning!

Motivational Monday today was inspired by yesterdays festivities. I really tried to stick to just tasting the wine and crunching away at the cooked veggies but if you see below in these gorgeous pictures it was difficult not to test the chocolate strawberries, VERY difficult not to munch on some grilled chicken skewers and EXTRA EXTRA difficult not to enjoy more wine, but hey as David Guy Powers says EACH DAY IS A NEW LIFE! So why give up now when today is a NEW LIFE and I can start over! 


All set up for wine tasting and scent smelling games! The girls and I learned SO much! How to properly open a wine bottle and more about the scents of Blush, White and Red wines. Little did I know being a wino and all but I had a fantastic time learning how to open a bottle!


Set up of delicious lunch for my lovely ladies! Catered by Teo's in San Jose! Alferdo Aguilar does an AMAZING job setting everything up and uses organic ingredients which is so important to me! The girls LOVED all the food if you would like to contact him his number is 624-157-5943 and he has a restaurant called Teo's right in San Jose if you want to give him a try!

Bacon covered pineapple salad with what I think is feta cheese! The girls finished this one right off!

Smoked salmon salad with cheeses and tomatoes.


Little fruit cakes and those delicious chocolate covered strawberries! Chocolate covered strawberries COULD not be passed up! O well today is a new day :)


All the girls who attended! Thanks again ladies, I had SO much fun! We played games brought by the lovely Rachel Marie and I got some beautiful gifts which I am VERY thankful for!

SUNDAY APRIL 22, 2012 

Hot water and lemon to start off my day and give my liver a jump start for the days activities!


Enjoying a delicious Baja Super Food shake! Tons of greens spinach, celery, and cucumber!

Result...delicious :)


This is my hubby's breakfast: turkey bacon and eggs with a slice of Ezekiel bread and some cheese :) Smells so yummy but only for the HUNNY!



Last night (Friday night), my love and I as well as our good friend went out to Mi Casa for dinner so I enjoyed an amazing salad with zucchini, corn, onions, peppers and leaves with a lovely dressing made just for me. I asked the chef to take all the veggies and blend them in a blender with some lime and boy was it delicious! I later added some pico de gallo on top to add some of my favorite fruit tomatoes :)




Green Shake I had filled with Chia Seeds and all the greens I had in my fridge!


This is what has been keeping me busy! My finished product, welcome baskets for my out of town guests flying in just for my wedding :) One thing I recommend while cleansing is keep busy! It really takes your mind off of it and my creative juices have been flowing like crazy!


The next time you fall off your wagon and turn away from your goals don't worry tomorrow is a new day! Get back on and work it girl! 

Question: What keeps you going towards your goals? What is your biggest motivation? 

COMMENT and let me know!