I lost 50 pounds in 90 days, and so can you! - my experience with the fad diet.

Except that I didn't, and it took for-fucking-ever, and I'm still not done...

Okay so, I haven't posted in a while, there's been a whole lot of stuff going on in my personal life, and I haven't really had the time or want to write in a bit.  But!  Today is your lucky day, I am literally sitting like a waste of life on my couch, in my undies, watching Friends, eating chocolate cake and thinking about life.  I feel very Carrie Bradshaw, or like a figment in the imagination of a male screen writer: "what do single 31 year old women do with their day off.. I know, she's eating cake.. naked.. no no, not naked.. give her a t shirt.. and those little shorts..yeah.. no bra though, that's good.. what's she watching.. SOAP OPERAS! No, no.. she's not fifty.. FRIENDS! Yes, that'll work..."  I guess at least I'm not painting my nails, or having a pillow fight with my hot friends, so there's that..

Anyways, as I eat my giant piece of cake (it's amazing by the way), I was thinking about how this morning I was feeling extra skinny and put on my tightest, only on skinny days, vintage Levi's and they looked awesome, and I still decided to eat cake for lunch, because I'm an adult, and I do what I want, and also, as previously discussed: I eat like a teenage boy who's parents are out of town on the weekend.  This got me thinking about why I can do this, why can I eat like actual garbage on the weekends and still fit into my skinny jeans, when in the past one bad day would make me put on a few pounds of water weight?  I've talked a bit about my 80/20 rule and why I feel that consistency is key, but I thought I'd dig in a little deeper and talk about fad diets, and why in my opinion they're the bandaid on a bullethole that is never going to give you the results you're dreaming of.

I'm an instant gratification person, I want it all and I want it all right now.  When I was a younger more catholic me, and I used to say my prayers before going to bed, after praying for world peace and my friends and family being happy, I would pray that whatever boy I liked would like me back, and that I would be skinny.  As if god were going to shine his light down and be like "oh shit, you're fat!  I totally didn't see that before, my bad!  Hang on a sec, I got this.. BOOM.. skinny!" and I'd wake up and be all cute and skinny and all of my clothes would be miraculously the right size, and no one would ever even know that I had been fat before, but me and god would know, and I'd look up, and he'd look down, and we'd smile together.  As I got older, this need to be instantly thin drew my attention to the crash diet, the "I have x amount of days before this event, so I'm cutting out this food group or drinking this shake for breakfast and that is what will work for me."  The result is usually the same: lose a few pounds, be really cranky because I'm drinking or eating some disgusting chalky replica of food, and then when I give up because it's gross, all of the weight I lost comes back in what seems like an instant.  Who wants to live in a world where they can literally never eat a bagel again?  No one, that's who.

My earliest memories of dieting are of my mother.  In the 80s and 90s it was all about weightloss programs: Jenny Craig, Lucille Roberts, Weight Watchers, etc.  With all of them comes some kind of gimmick, a half of a grapefruit for breakfast, or bran muffins, and who can forget the famous Slimfast "a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and a sensible dinner"?  There was a frozen yogurt for lunch phase.. with seeds.. someone told my mother that basically eating soft serve ice cream was an acceptable lunch option if you topped it with sunflower seeds, and she totally bought in..  Special K even tried to convince her that she could survive until dinner time on just two bowls of cardboard bits and a cup of skim milk!  The last one I remember trying with her was Nutrisystem, and we kid ourselves into thinking that this disgusting, shelf stable, airplane food was decent for about a month.  I'm pretty sure there's still a box of it somewhere in my parents basement, if there's ever an apocalypse, come on over, I've got a squeeze pack of chicken fajitas with your name on it.

Scary to think that this is from the 70s.. in 40 years do you think we'll look at low carb diets the same way?

Here's the thing, it's nice to want things right away, but just like how in 8th grade your mom told you that you'd appreciate that Kate Spade purse so much more if you saved the money for it yourself (it cost a Christmas and a birthday, for the record..), you treat things better when you actually have to work for them, your body included.  So, I treat my body like I treat my Prada backpack: I may be prone to throwing it on the floor or mistreating it for a few hours when I'm drunk, but for the most part, I really love it and treat it like the beautiful princess it truly is.  When you eat well, and exercise consistently, your weight loss may be more slow, but it sticks, it's not just water weight, one piece of cake.. and maybe a burrito.. with guacamole, isn't going to ruin or stall your progress.  You may have the dreaded, food baby belly that comes along with a big meal, but I mean, that's really just poop..  Regular activity boosts your metabolism and that has the ability to make a cheeseburger a cellulite free experience.  

There is no healthy, sustainable way to lose a substantial amount of weight quickly, so the next time you get roped into some gross shake or bar, or cleanse or whatever, just ask yourself if you really picture yourself drinking pea protein with chocolate flavoring and eurythritol happily for the foreseeable future.  If the answer is no, then it's time to move on to something that may be a little less immediate, but a lot more doable.  Get ready to do work, you may not be in a bikini by August, but let me tell you, as someone who took two years to get into said bikini, it is totally worth that effort in the end.  And after a lifetime of trying and failing thirty days at a time, it feels super good to catch your own reflection and give yourself a "damn, Gina!".

The diet and food industry is going to try to sell you something at every turn, and it's important to know that there is no quick fix, and no amount of before and after success stories should sway you on what you, in your heart of hearts already know: the only way to have a sustained weight loss is through consistent healthy eating and exercise.  

Also, (spoiler alert), those detox and "skinny" teas everyone is instagramming about just make you shit your brains out and fill your stomach with farts.. You're welcome.

The Easiest Dinner Ever..

In our family, my dad does most of the cooking.  He says it's because he likes to cook, but I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that he's extremely picky (he pretty much only likes Italian food and like, maybe sometimes a steak or lobster if he's feeling fancy), and that he takes the initiative: it's a carefully planned operation that involves seeing what's on sale, coupon cutting, super market mapping, etc.  When I was living at home, he'd bombard me first thing in the morning with questions  about what I might want to eat for dinner.  My answer was usually the same: "I haven't even thought about what I want for breakfast. . .".  Now that he's retired, he does pretty much all of it, save for the "American" things like Thanksgiving dinner, which,  he leaves to: my Canadian mother.. (she does do a mean Thanksgiving dinner).  But, growing up, there were nights when my Dad had to work and mom had to feed three kids.  She'll probably flip when she reads this (because let's be real, 2016 mom is a bit more refined than 90s mom), but my most memorable "mom meals" were things like tuna casserole, pork chops and apple sauce with "rice a roni", and something she called "Kraft Dinner," which was a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs mixed in.  But my favorite mom meal was chili.  Ground beef, a can of tomatoes, a can of beans, and a packet of McCormick's chili seasoning.  It's the first meal I ever made myself, and to this day it's still one of my all time favorites.  I've changed the recipe a bit over the years, but it pretty much tastes the same even after I dropped the packet of dried herbs and mystery preservatives!

Some people may feel that chili is not a summer food, but I wholeheartedly disagree: this is one of my go to, need dinner fast, stand-by recipes no matter the season!  Start to finish it takes about twenty five minutes which makes it a great option for a quick weeknight meal with plenty of leftovers!

please be advised that more cheese was added after this photo was taken, because: cheese.

Weeknight Chili:

serves 4

1lb ground beef (I usually try to go for 90-95% lean, ground chicken or turkey also works well)

1 15oz can of beans (I use what I have on hand, sometimes it's black beans, sometimes it's kidney beans)

1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes or tomato puree

2 tbs chipotle peppers in adobo (I never end up using the whole can, so I keep the leftovers in the freezer and just break off a chunk when I need em!)

1 tbs chili powder

1 clove of garlic, crushed.

1 tsp cumin

sea salt (to taste)

crushed red pepper (I love spicy food, so I eat this stuff on everything, but if you don't want it to be too hot you might want to leave it out.)

In a large pan, brown the meat over medium/high heat.  When meat is cooked through, drain off the excess fat and water.  Mix in the remaining ingredients (I usually start off with a pinch of salt and add more once everything is mixed in and simmered for a bit), let simmer on medium/low heat for about 20 minutes.  Taste and add more spice if needed.  And there it is!  Now just top it off with some shredded cheese and some scallions (and maybe some avocado and cilantro, which I would have done if I had some..), and dinner is served!

Nutrition:

Calories: 204

Fat: 5.8

Carbs: 23.8

Protein: 13.8

Make it vegan: sub in the ground beef for 1 cup of roasted broccoli florets, 1 cup roasted diced potatoes, 1 cup roasted cauliflower florets, 1/2 cup roasted carrots, a 1/4 cup sauteed onion, and a 15 oz can of chickpeas.  Sometimes I end up needing a bit more tomatoes when I do the vegan version (the starch in the potatoes sort of sucks it all up), so I usually go with a 28oz can of tomatoes and add more as needed.  Also, roast the veggies just shy of done so they don't turn to mush when you add them to the tomatoes!

Channeling Gwyneth

Today was literally the best day!  I got so much accomplished:  I woke up at a normal hour, skipped my usual Sunday bagel and made myself bacon and eggs, I went to yoga, did all my grocery shopping for the week (and only spent $55!!),  sewed two t-shirts for a friend, and I did all of my food prep for work.  I felt like I had a Gwyneth Paltrow moment, you know, the one that only exists in a post on Goop about women who seem to do it all, and with a really chic outfit on.  Except my outfit wasn't chic, it was.. soggy, something tells me no one looks good in a raincoat and their yoga gear lugging a giant tote bag full of food home.. but in my mind, I was a stone cold fox the entire day and that's all that matters.

See, I've always really liked Gwyneth, maybe it's leftover awe of that Ralph Lauren Oscar dress, but honestly, I think it's because I sort of relate to her.  I too do not own a microwave, and think that there's a huge taste difference between the fancy tuna in the jar and a can of starkist.  I too get hung up on small aesthetic details that no one else will ever notice (like the fact that my can opener does not "go" with my kitchen).  And although I don't know if this last part is true or not about her, I enjoy a smug sense of accomplishment when I show up with an insane cheese plate and everyone else just brought some chips and a can of onion dip.  I don't know why I'm that person, but I am, and I'm becoming more  okay with it as I get older.  I've never loved being the center of attention, but I do love having my work, whether it be something I've cooked, or something I designed, be it.  I love the feeling of knowing that I did my best.

One of the things that I love about Gwyneth is her cookbooks.  The first one, "It's All Good" is one of my favorites.  The recipes are easy to follow, and I feel like every page is an "I'd make that" sort of recipe.  That being said, I think that this book is more for weekend meals and entertaining as some of the recipes can be fairly time consuming.  Which, is why she just came out with a second book called "It's All Easy" that addresses this issue.  I haven't made anything from the second book yet, but having looked through it a few times, I think I will be using it very soon, there's a lot of great ideas for single serving breakfasts and lunches that can be prepped a few days in advance, which, as we all know, I'm a huge fan of.

Just look at all those bookmarks!

So, since I love "It's All Good" so very much, I thought I would share my favorite recipe from the book!

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup With Chipotle + Coriander:
The book says it serves 4, but I just had a pretty big bowl and filled up five mason jars with the stuff, so..

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion (I used a half a large yellow onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 sprigs of cilantro, leaves reserved for garnish, stems tied together with kitchen string (I just kind of threw a bunch in there and didn't worry about that)
3/4 tsp of cumin
1 1/2 tsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I like things spicy, so I added two whole chipotle peppers from the can).
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about six cups)
6 cups vegetable stock (I usually use one 32oz carton of either veggie or chicken stock, and then add two cups of water)

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, cilantro sprigs, cumin, and a heavy pinch of salt and cook, stirring now and then, until softened but not browned, 10 minutes.  Add the chipotle peppers and sweet potatoes and stir to combine.  Add the stock (and water if using) and turn up the heat.  Once the soup comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the sweet potatoes are very soft, about 30 minutes (I cut mine up fairly small so that they cook faster).  Remove and discard the cilantro.  Carefully puree the soup in a powerful blender.  Garnish with reserved cilantro leaves.

Okay a few notes:  Like I said above, I like spice, so I put a lot more chipotle in then the recipe calls for.  Also, I use an immersion blender.  If you make a lot of pureed soups, it's a good thing to have because you can puree it all right in the pot rather than having to transfer hot soup to a blender.  That being said, taking out that cilantro, turned out to be very important.  I left it all in there and the stems got all wrapped around the blade of the blender and I had a very sad moment where I thought I broke it, so yeah, take out the cilantro!

This soup freezes super well.  I put it into mason jars, just be sure to leave about a 1/2" of room at the top when freezing in glass jars so that the soup has some room to expand as it freezes, also I recommend thawing in the refrigerator, one because as I said above, I do not own a microwave, but also because my sister in law tried to thaw gravy that was frozen in a glass jar in the microwave one time and the glass broke, and there was gravy everywhere, and you don't want that.  In a pinch, you could also run the jar under hot water for a few minutes to loosen it up and then let your chunk of frozen soup thaw in a covered pot over low heat, but that takes a while.  Also, side note: don't reheat anything in a plastic container, and be sure to let your food cool completely before storing in one, especially the leftover take out ones we all use, plastic is really terrible for you and putting it in contact with hot food just softens it and allows all sorts of nasties to sneak into your dinner!

Sunday Supper: Spaghetti (Squash) and Meatballs

You guys, I'm in meatball heaven!!  My apartment currently smells like an Italian Nana's house, and I'm not mad about it..

the meatballs in question.

I make sauce pretty regularly.  What can I say, it's part of my culture, and it makes for a super simple dinner.  My usual route is to make a pot of sauce on Sunday and then use it during the following week to make quick dinners.  Sometimes it's as easy as frying an egg and then topping baby spinach with the eggs and sauce.  Other times I'll sauté shrimp to top off my spinach and sauce deal, and when there's just a little bit left, throw it in a frying pan with some hot italian sausage, bell peppers, and onions, and you have one of my favorite meals in the world!  Today is my first time making spaghetti (squash) and meatballs, and oh man, it is so damn good I had to share the recipe!

First off, there's no reason to ever buy a jar of pasta sauce.  It's so easy to make and this way you don't end up with random ingredients and preservatives that are usually in the jarred variety!  Also, making a pot of sauce takes just about as long as heating up a jar of sauce, for what it's worth, so you're not really saving any time with that Prego, my friend.

As for meatballs, this is usually something I leave to my dad, but I have quite a bit of ground beef in my freezer (and my neighbor was cooking something that when filtered through my floors smelled like meatballs and gave me a craving), so I figured I'd give it a go.  My dad usually uses breadcrumbs in his, but since I don't really use breadcrumbs for anything else in my life, I couldn't justify buying a whole pack and letting it go to waste, so I decided to see how quinoa would work instead and they came out really well.

I've also never made spaghetti squash before, so this was an all around experimental dinner that ended up actually turning out great (you never know, sometimes these things are a total fail.)!

I ended up with about four servings with a few extra meatballs on the side, which is good, because if you're anything like me, you'll eat like four (or more) of them before you're even done making dinner.  I'm pretty sure this is why you never see Nana sit down to eat with the rest of the family, she's so full from testing everything while she cooks.. I mean, you have to make sure it's safe, right?

Step one: Meatballs! (makes about 16)

What you'll need:
1lb ground beef (I used 95% lean, you could also sub turkey or chicken)
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh grated pecorino romano cheese (this is a staple in my house, but if you're more of a parmesan person, that will work just fine)
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp olive oil (for the pan)
salt and pepper (I also added crushed red pepper)

- Preheat oven to 400F
- mix all your ingredients up really well in a big bowl
- use a tablespoon (the actual spoon not the measuring spoon kind) to form balls and space them evenly on a lightly oiled baking sheet
- bake for 15 minutes, and then turn them over and bake for another 15.  These are when mine were done, but crack one open just in case, they might need more time depending on how big you make them.

Step two: Sauce

What you'll need:
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (28oz)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil or butter (I use butter, my dad uses olive oil, do what you want)
salt and pepper
some people use basil and oregano and all that, but I never have it around so I just don't bother.

- in a small sauce pot heat up your olive oil and garlic 'til it smells all garlicky and awesome.
- dump in your tomatoes and stir
- season with salt and pepper to taste
- cook on medium-high heat until it's bubbling and then turn down the heat a bit and cover.
- simmer 'til you're ready to use it.  Some people say that the longer you cook it the less acidic it will be, but I don't have the patience to cook sauce all day, so I end up using it after about 20 minutes and it's fine.
- I did this while my meatballs were baking.

Step three: Spaghetti Squash

What you'll need:

1 large spaghetti sqaush
1 tsp of olive oil (for the pan)
salt

Like I said, I've never made this before, so I just kind of went for it.  I took the squash and cut it in half, then dug out all the seeds and stuff.  Then I cut it into 1" slices, put it on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and roasted it at 400F until it seemed "done".  After it cooled a bit I used my hands to break apart the little spaghetti noodle things into a bowl.

Once my meatballs had cooled I added them to the sauce so they could get a nice coating, and then topped my spaghetti squash with a few meatballs, some more sauce, and some freshly grated romano cheese!

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Serving size - 1.5 cups of squash, 1/2 cup of sauce, and 3 meatballs

Calories: 290

Fat: 11.5g

Carbohydrates: 21.4g

Protein: 24.3g

Let's Talk About: Being "Too Fat"! An Ode To My Bicycle On Its 1st Birthday

Trying something new can be really difficult.  Our minds get in the way so much that simply thinking about it can stress you out to the point that you end up putting it off for way longer than you should have, or just never doing it.  How many times do you stress and over think something, and then when you actually do it, you have this feeling of "what the hell took me so long?".  

I'm a pretty straight forward person, and I tend to not stress the inevitable, such as having to give a presentation at work, or going to the dentist, these are things that might make me nervous, but I know there is nothing I can do to avoid them, so I put on my big girl pants and I deal with it.  When it comes to things that I'm in control of, however, like signing up for a new class, or talking to a guy I think is cute, or joining the local food co-op (something I just recently tackled), I tend to build it up so much in my head that I make more of a thing out of it then it needs to be: there are probably going to be other beginners in the class with you, maybe the cute guy was too nervous to talk to you (maybe he wasn't, oh fucking well, you made a new "friend"), everyone at the co-op is super nice and welcoming and not at all "who is this basic fashion bitch shopping the bulk bins??" (that was an actual fear of mine, I was legit scared that everyone there would view me as a some sort of wellness tourist).

I always felt that way about biking.  Of course, when I moved to Williamsburg in 2008 I bought a vintage Raleigh and started day dreaming about riding up Bedford Ave on my vintage cruiser, skirt blowing in the wind, baguette in the basket, meeting my bearded tattooed manfriend for a picnic in the park, no doubt.  But that never happened because I never rode it!  The damn thing was an adorable decoration.  It moved from apartment to apartment, from Williamsburg to the Lower East Side, to Long Island, to Bushwick, and save for a few short rides or my roommate occasionally borrowing it (and once calling me pretending it was stolen as an April Fools joke, thanks Will!), it was never touched.

One thing I've noticed about losing weight, is that I've become more okay with actually admitting the way "Fat Lauren" thought.  And the way Fat Lauren thought, was that I was too fat for everything, I would lie, and say I didn't do x,y,z, because I didn't want to, or I was afraid, or I wasn't interested, it sounds lame, etc., anything to cover up for my insecurity.  But the truth is, in my mind, I was too fat to go to be seen in a bathing suit, I was too fat to go to yoga, I was too fat to talk to the cute boy, I couldn't go to that party because I'd be the fattest girl in the room, I was too fat to wear high heels (because then I'd look tall and fat, and then I'd just be the "big" fat girl!), and I was too fat to ride a bike!  Self loathing is a bitch, and it keeps you from being yourself, and having fun, and trying new things you might really enjoy, but, the silver lining is that it's all in your head!  If Fat Lauren got on that bike, I seriously doubt anyone I rode by would have been all "hey look at that fat girl on a bike!" but that's exactly what I thought would happen.

My first foray into exercise on my weight loss journey was walking.  I got a FitBit Zip step tracker, and I would walk everywhere.  It became addictive, beating my steps from the day before, my friend Evanne and I started meeting at the LES side of the Williamsburg bridge after work and walking home together, pretty soon I was walking the bridge to and from work almost every day, I ended up losing about 15 pounds over the course of a few months.  I started mixing in Tabata workouts from Sophie Gray and toning up.  This gave me the confidence I needed to try CitiBike.  I would ride a CitiBike from my office on 37th and 7th down to the bridge, and then walk the bridge home every night.  I did this until it got too cold, and then started back up in the Spring.

A few days before my 30th birthday I bought myself a present: beautiful and impractical Prada heels that cost $700.  I took them home and walked around my apartment in them, they were so pretty, I remember telling my mom that they were perfect, that I'd keep them under my desk and any time I had to go to a meeting, toss them on and immediately look and feel like a boss bitch.  And then I saw an Instagram of the Linus Mixte 3, and it was love.  I had seen it before: locked to a fence on Metropolitan Ave, coming out of a fancy apartment on Meserole St. with it's owner, I always thought it was a beautiful bike but this was the first time I saw it and felt that it should be mine.  So, I did what any newly rational, completely adult thirty year old woman would do: I said goodbye to my boss bitch shoes, and decided to invest in my ass instead.

Our first day together!

On the 21st it will be exactly a year since I bought my bike, and although I'm still partially in debt because of it, it's the best investment I could have made, and the best gift I could have given myself.  In the past year my bike and I have logged over TWO THOUSAND MILES and that's just counting my commute to work.  When I think about that, it's insane to me, I never would have thought I'd be able to do that.  The first morning I rode to work I had this feeling of "what the hell was I thinking?!"  I still had a bit of an inferiority complex: here I was with my dorky helmet, in my work clothes, huffing and puffing on the incline of the bridge, stopping at all the red lights, while the cool girls on their banged up fixies with their cut off shorts sped past me, but the more I did it, the better I got, and pretty soon I was passing people on the bridge, and although I still wear my dorky helmet, and stop at all the red lights, I feel really good about myself and what I'm doing and that's all that matters.  

Not only has riding my bike given me a cheaper and healthier way of getting to and from work, it's changed my outlook on fitness completely.  After riding consistently for a couple of months, I didn't like the excess energy I had on rainy days that I couldn't ride, so I joined the gym and found out that all of my biking, and walking before that, had left me in good enough shape that I could (for the first time in over ten years) run for over a mile without feeling like I was going to die.  This made me so happy that I started going to the gym a few days a week, just to see if I could do more.  The consistent exercise has also turned my once shitty "I stare at a donut and my double chin gets bigger" metabolism into a power house, to the point that one of the girls at my local pizza place asked me where I was "putting it all".  Last summer was the first time since I was a teenager that I wore a string bikini, or felt comfortable in anything short or form fitting, my clavicles, abs, and hipbones have also decided to make a long overdo appearance.  People may think that my style and my personality has changed, but that isn't true, this is just the person I never had the confidence to be finally coming out.  So if you think that my crazy nails, and my short skirts, and my love of crop tops are all a "new phase", just know that this is the girl that Fat Lauren always wanted to be, and if I'm not as self deprecating, or shy and quiet as I used to be, or don't worry as much about what other people might think of me, it's not that I've "changed", it's that I finally stopped feeling like I was "too fat" to be myself.

My reason in sharing all of this with you is that I hope that you know that there is no such thing as being "too fat" or too anything for that matter.  If you want to do something, try it, challenge yourself, it's not always easy to muster up the courage to do something new, but I promise you that it will be worth the risk, you might end up saying "well, now I know that's not for me," or it could end up completely changing your life.

This year went by so quickly, and my bike and I have both done quite a bit: Linus got a new basket and a headlamp (and a few scrapes from a taxi door), and I got a full time job and a boost of self confidence (and am constantly covered in bruises), and I can't wait for what this year has in store for us (I predict making the 12 mile trip to Fort Tilden a regular weekend adventure)!  So, the next time you see a fat girl on a bike, I hope you smile and think of me!

Let's talk about: (less wasteful and less scary) Skin Care

So I've been sick for like a week, it's crazy.  Lately, I was under the self righteous opinion that I didn't get sick anymore...  Well, I get sick, so sick that I've been robo tripping for three days straight and haven't been able to make it into work.  That being said, lucky for you, I ran out of face scrub and it seemed like the perfect time to take a minute and write a post about skin care!

I'm not only a Sephora "VIB" member, but I am a "VIB Rouge" member.  Which means, that in my life, I have spent such an unreasonable amount of money at Sephora that they send me birthday presents, gift cards, and 20% off everything in the store for an entire week, use it as many times as you want to, seriously bring all your friends, we don't give a fuck coupons!  My bathroom was over flowing with products promising to minimize my pores, smooth my split ends, exfoliate every inch of my body and leave me with the glowing skin of a fifteen year old swedish runway model.  And up until about a two months ago, I was really okay with that, then I started thinking about my skin care and make up the way I think about my food: if I don't understand the ingredients, I don't eat it, so why was I willing to slap a bunch of mystery serums and creams on my skin?  Did you know that in the US manufacturers aren't required to list the entire ingredients of your health and beauty products?  There is a whole lot to hide including preservatives and ingredients that have been banned in other countries and are shown to cause birth defects, infertility, cancer, and behavioral and developmental delays in babies and toddlers.  And that's not even getting into things like household cleaners and pest control products.  

My pared down medicine cabinet.

Since I don't like to waste things, it's been sort of a long process to switch over to this new way of doing things: as I run out of a product I move onto a new one that fits into the direction I'm heading.  The first thing I ran out of was face wash (Peter Thomas Roth Anti Aging Cleansing Gel, incase you were wondering), and after a particularly dry winter, I decided to give coconut oil a try.  I use Dr. Bronner's Extra Virgin coconut oil, I scoop out about a dime sized amount and smear it all over my face, then I scrub it off with a washcloth and hot water.  It's awesome, it makes my skin super soft, removes all of my makeup, and I haven't had a break out or any excess oiliness from it, which was a huge concern of mine before trying it (seriously, I had visions of waking up looking disgusting and covered in giant zits, but so far that hasn't happened).  Actually, since using this new skin care routine, I no longer use my nightly retin-a cream (although I might start again because the thought of wrinkles scares me), or any acne spot treatments like persagel or clearasil (not to mention the various peels, serums, and masks I've been coerced into trying over the years).

The next thing to go was my face scrub.  Normally I rinse my face in the morning and then use Kiehl's Micro-dermabrasion Scrub when I'm in the shower.  With my new found love of coconut oil, I decided to take a little jar and mix some (about 2 tablespoons) with some baking soda (around a 1/4 cup or less depending on how gritty you want it).  It's taken the Kiehl's scrub's place pretty seamlessly, and doesn't cost $40 for 2oz which is great.  This lasts me a little over a month for one jar.

Yes, I absolutely have cute little jars for everything.

Body-wash was up next.  I used to buy unscented body-wash from a store in my hometown called Scentsational, which set me back about $22 for 16oz and add Le Labo's Santal 33 perfume oil to it (I'm pretty set on having all of my products smell exactly the same).  Now I use: (you guessed it!) coconut oil!  Except, I put it on before I get in the shower, and then scrub the shit out of myself with one of these.  My skin = baby's ass (better even), but beware, that thing will scrub the tan right off you.  Also, I cut my scrubby towel things into four because they're humongous, so, four for the price of one! Yay!

I know a lot of people like to use coconut oil as a moisturizer, but unless I'm on the beach, I really don't like smelling like a coconut, so for my face I've been using Gabriel Organics Seaweed moisturizer.  And as I said before, I like all of my products to smell the same, so I replaced Scentsational's unscented shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion, mixed with my Le Labo oil, with unscented organic bases from bulk apothecary, which are way cheaper ($25 for an entire gallon as opposed to the $16-$22 for 16oz I was paying before, that's like $150 less per gallon!) and since I just refill the same bottle every time, I get to pat myself on the back for using less packaging.

Now, what about makeup?  I've always been the skin care over makeup girl.  Some light foundation, where needed, and some mascara, and I'm good to go.  My go to's were Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation, which is basically a fancy tinted moisturizer, Benefit's High Beam highlighter, Nars Laguna bronzer and Blinc mascara.  My switch ups are: RMS Organic uncoverup, living luminizer, and volumizing mascara.  And since my skin is on the brown side, instead of translucent powder, I set it with Two Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer, which, according to my three year old nephew, smells like cookies, because it's tinted with cocoa powder.  I have to say that organic or not, the RMS products are the best I've used so far, they're super natural looking, long lasting, and best of all, I can understand all of the ingredients.  That being said, there are some things I haven't been able to part with just yet, for example, I can't do a cat eye without the Marc Jacobs Magic Marc'er Pen (which is almost impossible to remove and probably full of scary things, but it's the only eyeliner I've found that doesn't end up in the crease of my eyelid halfway through the day), and I own about 300 shades of Nars, Tom Ford, and Mac lipsticks, but I've decided that these are my cheat meals of makeup: a little Taco Bell every now and then is good for the soul.. right?

So there you have it, that's how I saved money, and made more room in my cabinets on my daily beauty routine!  I'll share some more of my skin care recipes soon!

Let's Talk About: meal prepping and what a week's worth of food might look like..

Okay, so maybe not a week's worth, but almost!

Sunday nights for me are pretty centered around making my week go as smoothly as possible.  Part of this means cleaning my apartment so I feel like I'm getting a fresh start on Monday, and the other part (very important) is food prep.

So, one of the negative things about living in Bushwick is that I don't have a big organic super market where I can get everything I need for the week in one stop, but what my neighborhood lacks in Wholefood's convenience, it makes up for in the fact that we have some pretty great butcher shops and an awesome food co-op.  So my Sunday afternoons usually include a short bike ride to The Meat Hook where they de-bone and skin three or four chicken breasts for me (around a pound and a half will yield five 4oz servings when cooked), and then a trip to the Bushwick Food Co-op to buy pretty much everything else.  And when all else fails, I can usually go to our little grocery store Brooklyn Natural and pay a little more if I really need something.

Here's what a typical week looks like for me:

I tend to buy the same thing every week when it comes to breakfasts and lunches, and then change it up depending on how I'm feeling for dinner.  My entire food haul today was $55, however, nearly a third of that is for the chicken.  At $15 a pound it's a high price to pay, but oh man, it is the best damn chicken you will ever have.  That being said, if I have time to stop on my ride home from work, or I'm visiting my parents and have access to a market that sells less expensive chicken, I stock up.  It might not be the best chicken ever, but $6.99 a pound for some Murray's chicken cutlets hurts a little less.  Also, you probably can't tell from my photo but some of my produce isn't as pristine as what you might buy at your local market.  This is one of the great things about shopping at the food co-op: produce that is a little less than pretty can be found in the half off bin.  I'll usually turn to the half off bin for things that I know I'm going to use right away, for example, the onion and the peppers I bought today were probably on their way out, but I didn't mind since they were going straight into tonight's dinner as soon as I got home.  I'll definitely be going more in depth about food co-op shopping in a few weeks because it really is a money saver when you eat organic (not to mention more environmentally friendly), and most co-ops have so much more than just produce (like cleaning supplies, grains, nuts, flours, etc, from the bulk bins that you can bring your own jars and shop for a way discounted price by not needing fancy packaging).

My day usually goes something like this:

Breakfast = meusli (not pictured because I keep it at the office) with almond milk and berries
Lunch = salad: romaine lettuce, green onion, cherry tomatoes, feta, grilled chicken, and Annie's Light Goddess dressing
Snacks = two hard boiled eggs, an apple, and then something sweet after dinner like a few pieces of dark chocolate.  There's a chocolate company called Fine & Raw a few blocks from my apartment who have been my go for when I want something sweet but don't feel like making anything (bonus points for the fact that you get to see them making it all right there, and it smells like heaven).
Dinner = some kind of protein and roasted or sauteed vegetables.  Lately, there's been a whole lot of kale and sweet potatoes going on.  Tonight was shrimp fajitas (shrimp, onions, poblano and sweet yellow peppers, sauteed with some butter and salt and pepper) with pico de gallo.
Also not pictured: my morning latte, and my afternoon coffee.. or two.
Also also not pictured: the various snacks the people at my office bring in in an attempt at derailing this lovely healthy food train I'm on.

Okay, so there you have it.  Like I said in the beginning of the post, it's not quite a weeks worth, I do end up stopping at the store here and there during the week for things I end up needing for specific recipes.  Also this does not include the things I already have in my pantry and freezer that go into my weekly meals, but it should give you a decent idea of what to buy!