Quench the Thirst

I've been sick for about a week now with allergy/sinus issues and after taking antihistamines for a few days, both my skin and my hair are really dehydrated.  My skin looks dull and lifeless and desperately needs some extra moisture. One of my favorite products to use when my skin is this dehydrated is Kate Somerville's Quench mask.   This product has Hyaluronic acid, Vitamins E and B, and cucumber as some of it's ingredients.  These ingredients make this mask very moisturizing and soothing.  

When I use this, I wash my face as I normally would, but make sure my face is completely before using.  I then apply a thin layer and let it set a minute.  After it's set a minute or two, I apply second thin layer.  After both layers are applied, I wear the mask for at least 15 minutes, sometimes if I really need the extra moisture.  This is a clear mask and you can hardly tell you have it on.  It's a little shiny but it won't scare your neighbors or your children if they see you with it on your face.  

I don't use this as regularly as I use my exfoliating masks, but when I fly or when I'm taking allergy medicine, it's one of the best products I've found to put moisture back into my skin without making it greasy.  This is also does not clog my pores like heavier moisturizers tend to. 

Kate Somerville has some amazing products and this is one of my favorites.  They are more expensive, but they tend to last awhile and are some of the best skin care products I've used.  What other masks do you use to help moisturize?  I'd love to hear your favorites!

Spanish Rice

This is a quick and easy side dish I make during the week.  I usually put it with quesadillas and black beans.  One of my roommates shared this recipe with me and it's delicious.  I love rice and I could absolutely eat this straight out of the pan.

I start by coating the bottom of a pan with olive oil on medium high heat.  Add chopped onion, then cook onions until translucent.

Add one cup long grain white rice and stir until coated with olive oil.

Cook rice until it starts to get some brown bits on it.

Add one can of chopped tomatoes with green chilis.  

Add 1 teaspoon cumin and sometimes I add 1 teaspoon of oregano.  

Add two cups of chicken broth or in a pinch I use two cups of water and two chicken bouillon cubes.

Cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until rice is tender.  I sometimes have to add a little bit of water at the end if the rice is still a little bit starchy or dry.

Spanish Rice
1/2 chopped onion
olive oil- a couple of turns of the pan
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano

1. Add olive oil to bottom of stock pot or deep skillet.
2. Turn burner on medium-high heat
3. After pan heats up add chopped onion, cook until translucent
4. Add rice to pan, cook until rice browns, stirring frequently
5. After rice browns, add can of diced tomatoes, spices and water
6. Cover and cook approximately 20 minutes or until rice is tender (adding additional water if necessary)

Hope you enjoy!

High Five for Friday

It's been another busy week but I'm excited to link with Lauren Elizabeth on her High Five for Friday for the first time!  Here are five highlights from my week...

1. He still thinks he's itty bitty even though he can't fit in my lap any more

2. My husband came home with pizza Thursday night for dinner as a surprise.  He knew how exhausted I was after a long week and took care of dinner for me.  He's such a sweetie!

3. Apparently my youngest thinks this is a perfectly acceptable place to leave his toothpaste... *ahem

4. I love Yogi Teas.  My favorites are Skin Detox and Berry Detox.  I love the quotes that come on the tags and this was my favorite quote this week

5. Last weekend at the beach was so relaxing and the weather was amazing.  I can't wait until we go again!

Why I Stopped Dieting and Started Living "Naturally Thin"

I hate dieting.  It's awful.  I've tried what feels like every diet out there- South Beach, Atkins, Cabbage Soup Diet, the Military Diet, Weight Watchers and the list just keeps going.  They were all short term solutions and didn't work for me.  I know they work for some people but with my work functions and my family it was nearly impossible to maintain any of them long term.

I had one of two issues, either I felt deprived and after feeling deprived I would bing.  After binging I would feel guilty and bing again.  I would also put off eating healthy and would tell myself I'd start next Monday and continue to overindulge.  It was a vicious cycle that I couldn't seem to break.

If I wasn't feeling deprived while on one of the diets, I was obsessing about food.  The more I thought about it the more I obsessed and the hungrier I became.  Having to measure out my food or figure out how many points was too difficult on the go and I was never able to make a diet functional for my daily life.

I continued to cycle between deprivation and overindulgence.  I couldn't seem to get it under control.  If I wasn't binging, I was eating junk.  When I was able to put down an entire large pizza by myself and was still hungry, I decided it was time for a change.

Then I read this book.

Paperback  Kindle

This book completely changed my outlook on food.  Reading through it, I honestly couldn't put it down.  It was an epiphany.  Bethenny Frankel really put a common sense spin on how to live "Naturally Thin" without depriving yourself and without obsessing about food.

There are ten rules that really help change how you look at food and feel about food.  They have all helped me change my attitude about food but a few have made the most impact.

1. Your Diet is Your Bank Account.  It's important to have a balanced diet.  I tend to eat a lot of carbs and this rule helps me remember that I should balance those carbs out with lean proteins and vegetables.   If I do have to many sweets or too many carbs, I balance that out by having meals with more protein and less carbs to maintain the balance.
3. Taste Everything, Eat Nothing- I think this is my favorite rule.  I love food.  I love just about every kind of food.  I love to eat lots of different things and I love to taste.  This rule helps you understand that you can taste everything.  If you have a lot of different options and can't decide on just one, instead of feeling deprived, just taste your way through the options and by the time you finish, you will have had an entire meal.

This picture is a great example of this rule.  I couldn't make up my mind on which cookie I wanted the last time I was at Whole Foods.  I had a bite of each one instead of eating all of them.  I was able to taste a variety and was satisfied after just a taste of each.   They were all delicious btw but the lemon glazed was my favorite. I also have a husband who is not put off by sharing and will happily taste the other half.

This isn't a rule, but one of the other things I really enjoyed about the book is sharing food.  I love sharing meals, this is not only a great way to avoid over eating, especially when you eat out, but everyone gets to taste different things.  I especially love doing this with my children.  I want them to taste new things and learn to enjoy a variety of foods as well.  I don't beg for other people's food off their plates, but offer mine to others.  Sometimes people don't want to share and I have no problem with that, but most of the time the people I'm dining with want to taste and try too.

After adopting the rules I finally lost the extra 5 pounds I seemed to always carry around and have been maintaining a healthy weight for over 2 years.   I eat what I want while following these general guidelines and never feel deprived.  I don't stay exactly the same weight every day, but stay within a 5 pound range. I may not be a size 0, but that isn't my natural size.  I'm a healthy and comfortable size for me.

This book is filled with lots of good ideas and helpful suggestions to starting a healthy lifestyle and finding your healthy weight.  I think the whole point of the book and guidelines is to really take it and make them your own.  I think one of the hardest things to do is be flexible with a diet and fitting it in your lifestyle.  When I was on South Beach, it seemed like there was always a pot luck or birthday at work and I felt like I was constantly cheating or not participating.  These rules have allowed me to never miss out on anything and continue to enjoy the foods I love.

Cleansers

As I get older my skin continues to change.  It needs more attention and it needs active ingredients that focus on anti-aging.  When I was younger, I was notorious for going to bed without cleansing my skin.   I didn't use eye cream and very rarely used sunscreen.  I looked in the mirror one day and I realized my skin was dismal.  It was dull, splotchy and oily.  It was completely out of control.  I realized my face looked awful because I was doing an awful job taking care of it. (Duh!)  I needed to take better care of my skin.

When I started researching, I was amazed how much information is available for how to care for your skin, specifically your face.  I was so overwhelmed, wasn't sure where to start.  I quickly realized what worked for someone else wouldn't necessarily work for me.  I tried product after product of "recommended" products that were not a good fit for me.  I became frustrated because I felt like every time I went to a department store counter they were more concerned with selling me their line of products than really finding the product that I needed.  I even tried skin consultations with aestheticians but again felt like they just wanted me to buy their products, and weren't necessarily trying to find what worked best for me.

One day, I found Lisa Eldridge of lisaeldridge.com.  It was a revelation.  She has amazing videos and recommends some amazing products.  She has loads of videos about makeup which are amazing, but her skincare videos were such a huge help.

One of the really important things I learned was that I was using too harsh a cleanser.   I had always thought I had really oily skin, so I used stronger cleaners to reduce oil.  I was actually stripping my skin of essential oils and my skin was producing more oil to compensate.  After I switched to a gentle cleanser my skin has produced significantly less oil.  Before I was blotting my skin two or three times a day, now I might blot once.  It's amazing the difference.  My makeup doesn't melt off my skin like it did before.