Products the I'm loving right now.

I had to take a step back from my weight loss jargon for a sec. My blog is a health and beauty blog as a whole. Like my fave section of Walgreens. LOL My workouts and healthy eating are Just a part of the picture. Today I will be just a slight bit egotistical and discuss things I've found for the outside aesthetic.


Clinique Acne Solutions
I'm a super oily girl...sometimes for no reason I'll go check my make-up in the bathroom at work and I'm just one uber oil mess. It's actually pretty gross if you ask me. Not to mention I'm a big sweater and oil and sweat combined have given this chocolate girl some pretty un-cute blemishes. Combine that with high intensity workouts and yeah it got a little shaky there. These products work so well for me!! They are phenomenal! It is a 3 step program (totaling around $50.00) all items are purchased separately as of the date I made my purchase in late April you could not buy a full size kit. I have the Foam Cleanser, Clarifying Lotion, and clearing moisturizer. The clean my skin without stripping it, control oil, and so far I have been breakout free! I do sometimes couple my products with a light coat of clearasil at night for defense sake, and with all the benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid in the products kinda gets me dry sometimes so I use my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. In Love..

The climb....because I can't think of a better fitting song at this moment!

a moment to reflect and a little self-love...

Let's get something straight I love Valecia as is. The princess that I am is something that has been cultivated over the past 27 almost 28 years. I am the woman I am based upon my experiences and I am far more than what I look like on the outside. I have taken a moment to reflect on my mind, body and soul and I realized that I am not as healthy as I would like to be. However that does not mean that I don't love myself. So many people are waiting to fall in love with themselves after they lose 20, 50, or 100 pounds. Weight loss is such a job within itself with so many setbacks that at any given time someone can possibly fail. Does that mean you have failed at loving yourself as well??? If so that is soooo SAD. I will love myself at this 255 as i did at 275 and as I will at goal weight (whatever that may be). And hopefully all others in this struggle will feel the same as well. This beauty......



or.......


are two quite gorgeous non skinny actually downright beautiful women that both happen to be named Whitney, but most importantly are plus size models. These are women that I look up to on this journey to healthy-ness. Beautiful, capable, bodies. That's what I want. I don't feel I'm made to be 130 pounds and I will NOT beat myself up if I don't obtain. I'm busy loving myself on this journey....and I hope you're doing the same.

A not good weekend....*sigh*

So we all know I had my class reunion this weekend??? It was great seeing everyone some of which I started this process with way back in 1986 as kindergarten students. It was great, but it was 90 degrees and it was very very HOT in the club....VERY! It took 3 glasses of water and 2 MGD 64's to get my makeup done in my bathroom GEEEZ! I'm already an oily girl so we can say I looked VERY VERY Dewy!!!! So like all good girls I left the club early because I had to be at work at 5:30 am, but I couldn't find my keys so....I had to walk home and get my roomie's copy and walk back and get my car! UGH! So yeah I got an unexpected exercise session in....logging a total of 2.66 miles at 2 am!! When I arrived back home I heard the roomie screaming about seeing a mouse (Keep in mind the roomie is the ex, therefore the roomie is a man..LOL) so I had a very hard time sleeping...VERY and I woke up for work at 6:15am!!!! yes I woke up 45 minutes after I was supposed to be there. I sped to work in a way that I'm sure would have received the maximum speeding ticket to apologize to my general manager numerous times. FYI You should never be late, but you should never be late when it's your job to open the store, and you should never be late when it's your job to open the store on FATHER'S DAY! An hour later my boss called me and said, "Hey I'm leaving the store right now...are you aware you car is on a flat?" Huh?? WTF! What kinda day was I having? It wasn't just flat either..it was impossible to drive flat. At least I made $120.00 yesterday that was the highlight to a rough 24 hours. Maybe today will be better. I'm starting it off with some Banana Peanut Butter Oats, a slice of pineapple, and a nice walk to the store for some fix a flat *eyes rolling* I have a big list to tackle today. Hope all is well with my followers. Stay beautiful and take care ladies> *MUAH*

The adventures of being a princess......

So I am so sorry that I haven't spent quality time on my blog recently. Summer gets a little weird for me. With so many things I want to do I must be honest money gets EXTREMELY short and certain things (workouts) take a back burner. My gym is across town so I do maybe 2 workouts a week there and to conserve my poor gas I walk 3 miles 4 times a week at the high school track in my neighborhood. I make a point to get it in however I can. The intensity of a 3 mile walk and 35 minutes on the elliptical is a tad different, but movement is better than stagnant behavior. Anywho has anyone seen this:



I am SOOOO excited about this show. Hell I LOVE to dance I wish I could have been on the show! So sad that it's on while I'm at work Monday nights. I have no TiVo either. I must rely on the boredom in television that makes channels play the same things over and over again.

Well I have to get a workout in before my festivities start tonight. This weekend is my 10 year reunion!!! I am sooo excited to see what everyone is up too. Will definetly be posting pics tomorrow. Love you all *muah*

aggravated

So in my last blog entry I expressed just how much I LOVE being at the gym. Moreso than just being there nothing makes me feel better than a great workout. Well Sunday I stretched myself a little farther than I would have liked and decided to put my 255 lb. body to a running test. I DID it I ran/ jogged at a 4.9 speed for 20 minutes! I still feel great about it. However, and there is ALWAYS a however. The statement about larger people not running due to heavy impact on joints is NOT A FALLACY PEOPLE! I am in sooo much pain. My right knee has been throbbing since tuesday and I haven't been to the gym since. I wish my gym had a pool so I could get my water aerobics on at the very least. I have to tell myself this is just one mediocre and very minor setback in a journey to a healthy lifestyle. Well with every negative I must give a positive. Yesterday I headr the cooks in the back speaking in spanish and intently looking at me. They were talking about how much weight I lost and how good I look. It made me proud that the people I spend most of my days with are acknowledging the changes I am making. I love it when others see my hard work. Well enough for now time to hit the J-O-B!

like a little bee.......

I've been so busy busy busy!!! I've been working out religiously with my trainer (whom I love) might I add. I haven't been attending my weight watcher meeting (yeah I know bad bad princess!), but I have been following plan and am proud to say I'm on plan everyday, but I chose to rescue myself from the scale. I was too addicted to the numbers now I'm focusing on my generally overall health. I have so many things going on right now I'm surprised I get to the gym five days a week! My 10 year class reunion is in three weeks (which I'm so excited about), my photo shoot has been pushed back to August first ( I wanna give myself a chance to make the most beautiful pictures possible), and I'm just focusing on creating the most beautiful princess possible INSIDE and OUT.

OMG!!!! I went to Whole Foods Market Sunday and....I'm officially in love. The best place ever I say! I will be spending every Sunday there from here on out. So mad my phone was on it's last bar and I didn't take pics. Had the best piece of pizza there ever: Wild mushroom and gorgonzola cheese YUM!! Monday I stumbled upon (by mistake) the infamous Trader Joe's sweet Lawd Geezus I was in healthy food heaven. It's ashame that I have to drive 45 minutes to get to either, but oh well it's so worth it to me now.

Oh I'm now newly addicted to greek yogurt! Yes I'm addicted and don't care what kind it is : Fage, Oikos, or Chobani this sister is now addicted to the greek and forever will be...Thanks Jaime!

So yesterday me and the ex hit up an old college fave of mine: Jimmy John's. I was craving with a passion some....alfalfa sprouts. Yes alfalfa sprout wtf!? So I ordered the Californian (i Think it's called) with turkey, mayo, sprouts, avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce on this amazingly yummy and chewy 7-grain bread! It was heaven.....I also realized that is was also 790 calories...WTF??? Dangit I must start checking websites BEFORE I head to these places. I could have made that SAME sandwich at home for a third of that *pouting* what a waste of money and daily calories!

Anywho just wanted to do a long awaited recap. Since I'm not focusing on my weight so much...per'se I'm thinking of doing a weekly/monthly photo check in. Tell me what u think. Stay happy, healthy, and beautiful. *smooches*