Category Archives: H to the E to the L to the P

Where’s that pause button again? Finding ‘center’…..

February 10, 2013 – 4:33 pm

ho·me·o·sta·sis (hm–stss)

n.The ability or tendency of an organism or cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes.

Homeostasis- I don’t delve into science much on my blog-I only have a mild interest and lack the ‘expertise’ and knowledge. *Please note for all you rocket scientists reading this blog (or biologists, or chemists, or any kind of –ist that you are), I am using the definition rather loosely and including a broad spectrum of ‘processes.’ * There. Just needed to note that.

image from womenonthefence.com

Tags balance, center, exercise, face care, facials, joyous health, lifestyle, nutrition, skin brushing, skin care, stress, topsy turvy, vitamins | Comments (4)

ballin' bust a move! Daily Grind H to the E to the L to the P I feel pretty.... News The 'G' in G-T-L

Such a pretty fat….the update and response to ‘resolutioners’

January 2, 2013 – 7:58 pm

I’ve seen a lot of resolution YouTube videos and blog posts lately….and to be honest, I have to laugh and/or shake my head. I’m not sure what it is about the beginning of the year that deceives people into believing things like:

-2 protein shakes a day is all you need to lose a ton of weight and be healthy even though you have been sitting on the couch and surfing the internet for most of your adult life.

-if you exercise and join a gym after not moving your body for 20+ years, you will look awesome and be in ‘bathing suit’ shape for summer.

Now, don’t get me wrong….being inspired to finally respect your body is admirable but what’s different about this year? What about the ‘big’ (no pun intended) picture? Are you sure you will hang tough and put in the effort?

So while everyone else is resolution-ing to do this or that, I thought I would update you all on my status since I wrote this blog post.

Briefly ( if you don’t care to read the prior post), I have struggled with my weight almost my entire life. I’ve never been one to blame a fat ‘gene’ but I do believe that my body fights me with a vengeance when I try to stay healthy and/or lose weight, get fit, etc.

check out the gut on the girl in plaid….yup, that was me.

Fat and a bad haircut? Yup, that was high school….

Finally, at the end of 2006 I decided enough was enough. So I did this…it only took me about a year and it was the longest year of my life.

So how have I been doing since that post? Well, I’ve certainly have had my ups and downs but lately I’ve been on the up and up. Check out some photos from the past several months:

Downs:

At my brother in laws wedding-looking a bit ‘full’-that dress didn’t help either.

Hiding in the back at a Beauty Blogger event….behind the girl in blue

Ups:

At a L’Oreal event after some ‘shaping up’ on my part.

Getting ready for an event…..not too shabby!

A holiday party dress-maintaining so far….

My company’s holiday party December 2012

Now…while that IS more ups than downs, I still had some rather “pudgy” moments in 2012. So what am I going to do this year to make sure I stay on the up and up?

-drinking as much water as I can throughout the day: I have found this to be super duper helpful-especially when I have an event where I’ve had a glass of wine or an appetizer or thirty. Flush it out! I also begin my day with lemon water-that really gets me going!

-moving my body EVERYDAY (besides the walking during the workday). Making a conscious effort to move with a purpose outside of my daily routine is super helpful: maintaining lean muscle, keeping myself flexible, staving off those ‘threw my back out’ type injuries. I have a bike that goes up onto a trainer, adjustable dumbbells and plenty of workout DVD’s to keep me busy!

-keep myself accountable-I achieve this with my Nike Fuel Band (love this thing) and several apps on my iPhone. I am also doing a detox program with joyous health this month AND following @SarahDussault. I may even try DietBet. Nothing like seeing it in print and putting some money behind my goals. Why talk the talk and not walk the walk?

-being conscious of what goes into my mouth: this is critical for me. I keep it interesting with a mix of protein, fat, and fibrous carbs (read: vegetables. Vegetables are carbs people…and slow burning carbs at that. The best kind, if you ask me). Nutrition is 80% of my maintenance plan and I’ve found over the years that my body is incredibly sensitive to items high in sugar, preservatives, alcohol, or any foods that contain gluten. So basically everything that tastes “good” is pretty much off limits to me. Does that mean that I will never have any sweets, breads, pastas? No, but it will have to be a pretty darn special occasion because I know that it sends me into a tailspin when I ingest that stuff.

Now, I don’t know what challenges/obstacles the year ahead brings me. But I do know that I am going to work my hardest to be healthy and happy during 2013.

To you resolutioners….I urge you to take a good, hard look at what you’re doing-ESPECIALLY if you are making your resolution public via YouTube or a blog somewhere. It takes a lot more than your resolutions-it requires effort, dedication, willpower, and determination. But you owe it to yourself to treat your one and only God-given body the absolute best that you can. After all if you can’t take care of yourself, how will you be an inspiration to others?

All the best in 2013.

Tags 2013, body, eating right, exercise, fat, fitness, health, New Year, nutrition, obese, pretty, resolutions, vegetables, weight, weight loss, working out | Comments (11)

A few of my favorite things..... H to the E to the L to the P I feel pretty.... reviews

Tool Talk- Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

October 24, 2012 – 2:14 pm

I rarely (if ever) talk too much about my brushes. The main reason for that is the majority of them aren’t all that special. I have a few “special” brushes-some that I have overpaid for (MAC 187) and some that I have waited entirely too long for (Sigma F82) only to have them disappoint in more than one manner.

Introducing the Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

I was reading Alicia’s blog and she mentioned the UD Good Karma brush. Here’s what she said about it AND I QUOTE (ahem)

“This medium sized, synthetic brush is the perfect brush for blending foundation into the skin. Using small circular motions, the brush’s dense head “flawlessly applies, buffs and blurs” your foundation, leaving no streak marks or lines of ‘de-markation’. While the Optical Blurring Brush is lauded as a foundation brush, I have also been using it to apply my bronzer and blush, and find that it works well with both liquid and powder products. Like all of Urban Decay’s products, this brush is vegan and completely cruelty-free.”

And from Sephora.ca:

“Developed for use with Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Foundation, this brush picks up and distributes all formulations from liquid to cream to powder makeup better than a sponge. The “optical blurring” comes in when you buff out your makeup: instead of a streaky finish from fingers or a sponge, buffing disperses the light-diffusing particles in Naked Skin and seemingly fine lines disappear. It’s blending ability makes it ideal for mature skin, as it creates a smooth, youthful-looking appearance. The medium-large brush with densely packed hairs has a domed top that maneuvers nicely around the face, making it suitable for under the eye, around the nose, and around the brow area.”

I picked up this brush 2 days before I went on vacation and took it with me.

I’m sure glad I did! I am loving this brush and have no complaints!

It’s wonderful for my liquid foundation and it has the perfect amount of flexibility for me-it’s not completely flexible but not incredibly stiff or inflexible. The price point doesn’t make my wallet burst into flames either! I’ve used it with my bronzers like Alicia suggested but I prefer it for my liquid foundation at the mo’ Perhaps in the near future, I will purchase another with the intent of that brush being exclusively for powders-hey at $26.00 CAD, I can get another.

Another “positive”-great reviews on sephora.com

So like I said, I don’t tool talk often, but I had to tell you about this brush. It’s the right price and gives fabulous face! BUY IT!

Oh, one more thing-check Alicia’s review here-it made her September favorites.

Tags bronzer, face powder, foundation, foundation brush, Good Karma, liquid, Optical blurring brush, urban decay | Comments (4)

bust a move! Daily Grind Destinations..... H to the E to the L to the P News

Such a pretty fat*……

December 4, 2011 – 12:47 pm

*This post is the beginning of (what I hope) several posts about my struggle to maintain good health-especially a healthy weight. It’s been a long journey for me already and I wanted to give some “background” about my own story.*

I was recently chatting with another (popular and in the public eye) blogger about one of her blog posts. She had posted about joining Jenny Craig. I had mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, I thought it was kind of a sell out tactic-the celebrities do this and it’s tiny portions of microwaved garbage and if you stop eating it, you gain the weight back-for what? But then I thought-damn, this woman is brave and putting herself out there. Am I not alone in this fight? This spiraled into a whirlwind of emotions and feelings that I had hoped would be gone forever or that I had shoved down so deep within my mind and being that I would never ever be able to find them again.

Tags cardio, dieting, fitness, gym, health, Jenny Craig, losing weight, nutrition, running, training, weight, weights, yo-yo dieting | Comments (8)

A few of my favorite things..... Daily Grind Destinations..... H to the E to the L to the P I feel pretty.... mon ami

traveling-what’s in your……..beauty bag?

April 9, 2011 – 1:53 pm

Before I completely lose my sanity (due to some strange/disturbing occurrences at work), I am taking some time off and going home. For those of you who DON’T know, I am American and more importantly, I am from New York. My parents live in a quiet suburb about 45 minutes north of NYC so for a week, I will literally be doing next to nothing there. Or so I think…..something is ALWAYS going on!

huh? what? I don't know what to put in my beauty bag-waaaah.

Tags beauty bag, biore, burts bees, chanel coco rouge shine, coverfx, dr. hauschka, MAC, makeup, marcelle, Naked Palette, nars, sigma, Smashbox, stress, travel, urban decay, work | Comments (13)

A few of my favorite things..... bust a move! Daily Grind Destinations..... divine intervention H to the E to the L to the P yuck

Recap!

February 20, 2011 – 2:46 pm

I have been quite busy preparing for my trip so I missed posting (which is something that I had full intentions of doing-especially after my 2nd fear-of-flying clinic appointment).

Here’s a quick recap of the week-this post is going to be speedy as well-I have my final pre-flight fear-of-flying appointment at 4pm:

Tags airplane, delays, fear of flying, fighting, fires, gum, jet engines, nail appointment, passport, subway, traveling, used bookstore | Comments (2)

blech bust a move! Destinations..... H to the E to the L to the P

Meredith does FOFC…

February 13, 2011 – 5:27 pm

Very few people know about my phobias…..probably because I know that most would find them silly or unfounded. I have been able to overcome one of them-my fear of squirrels. I know that will have several people scratching their heads wondering-so if anyone NEEDS to know how that fear came about and how I conquered it, I will email you directly!