Weight Loss Challenge Update

So, my fiance and I are doing a weight loss challenge at work. There are multiple elements to it that make it challenging. Not only do we have to eat better, but we have to eat less, and exercise more. This is a pretty significant lifestyle change for us. We aren't complete lazy bums, but we aren't fitness fanatics either.

Both of us have pretty steadily lost weight, but we've both had a week where we gained some or stayed steady and not lost any weight. Those weeks can be tough to get over, but it's something that needs to be done.

Last week was one of those weeks for me, so this week I am trying extra hard not to eat more than I need to. It's so easy to just snack, especially when bored or stressed. I am definitely a stress eater. Throughout this challenge, I am getting used to being hungry all the time, and that is one of the hardest parts!

During all this, I have had some fittings for my wedding dress, and it can get frustrating knowing that my size is affecting the fit of the dress. I just wish I could lose all the weight I want to lose and have the dress fit perfectly!

My fiance and I are also continuing to take bike rides, which is helping with the weight loss. It is definitely a commitment, and it is hard being hungry all the time, but ultimately I know it will be worth it.

To those of you who are also trying to lose weight, you can do it! We can do it together, and we will reach our goals!

V8 Fusion Energy: A Review

Disclaimer: I was not recruited to promote this product. It is simply a drink that I enjoy, and all opinions are my own.

Lately I have been feeling like I just don't have the energy to do the things I want to do. It can be very frustrating because you just see tasks piling up in front of you. Especially being at work, sometimes you need something to give you that boost to get through the day.

I present to you: V8 Energy Fusion! This is a healthy alternative to typical energy drinks.

The health benefits are amazing, and it comes in three flavors: Peach Mango, Pomegranate Blueberry, and Orange Pineapple. My personal favorite is Peach Mango. The flavor is super smooth and delicious.

As far as health benefits go, you get a whole serving of vegetables and fruit in one can! It also provides energy from green tea and is "an excellent source of B vitamins." All of this, and it's only 50 calories! How could it get better than that?

Now, this does not give me as much of a buzz as a Red Bull or coffee does, but it does give me just enough of a boost to get through the day. I usually have one of these mid-afternoon, when the day is nearing the end but isn't quite there yet!

Sometimes when you are dragging, it can help to have that pick-me-up so you at least feel like you have a chance of doing what you want to get done. What treats do you enjoy to give you a boost toward the end of the day?

Working on my Fitness

My fiance and I have been doing a weight loss challenge through work for about a week, and today was the first day that we decided to do some serious exercise to help contribute to our weight loss.

We set our alarm half an hour earlier and decided to take a bike ride around our neighborhood. It was early, and we didn't get up quite when the alarm went off, but we got out there and did our thing.

I really thought it was going to be a lot harder than it ended up being. We went to bed early last night so we'd be sure to be plenty rested for the ride today. I actually ended up waking earlier than we had to, but I just laid in bed until the alarm went off. And then I laid in bed a little more, but not as much as I expected!

Once I got up, it was easy to get dressed and get outside. I'd already laid out my outfit for this morning last night. And once I stepped outside, it was even easier to be motivated to ride because the weather was so beautiful! It was warm, but not hot, and everything had that fresh, morning feel to it.

We only ended up riding for about 10 minutes, but that's 10 more minutes than if we would have stayed in bed! It was a really mind-clearing experience, and it was nice feeling like the whole world was at our fingertips, before everyone else woke up and went out and about.

Does the morning give you that same feeling? What do you like to do in the morning before everyone else gets going? When do you like to work out?

Healthy Habits are Hard!

Let's face it: It's hard to get off your butt and get exercising! I have so many ideas about what I'd like to do, but I haven't yet taken action on any of those ideas.

One of the primary things my fiance and I want to get into is riding our bikes. Here in Florida, the weather is pretty wacky, so that is always an excuse. It's either raining, too hot, or too cold. On the perfect days (when we aren't working), we do try to get out and ride.

Our bikes are locked up in our shed, so this will have to do.

Photo Credit: http://jimsbikeblog.wordpress.com

Our ultimate goal is to start riding our bikes before work. My fiance wants to ride three times a week (!!!) but we are going to start with just one. I'm sure it won't be too hard once we get started. One of the most difficult parts for me is going to be getting up early.

What I'm going to try to do to overcome that tough part is envision the results. I do the same thing at work. Have a picture in a convenient place of what you are working toward. You know you will be so much happier and proud of yourself when you reach that goal. You don't want to let yourself down, do you?

What are the biggest obstacles for you when it comes to exercise? How do you plan to overcome them?

Winter Skin

With winter still in full force in much of the country, skincare can become an issue. It's dry and cold, and those are not ideal conditions for glowing skin.

Many people have a plethora of skincare items, including anti-aging stuff. Personally, I think you don't need to use anti-aging anything until you're 40 or 50. Even then, embrace who you are! Wrinkles and spots add character and wisdom. All these fancy beauty products are aiming to make us all the same, and I don't know about you, but I don't want that.

However, I do use a couple products on my skin, especially in the winter, just to keep myself feeling healthy and fresh. First of all, I like to use basic lotion (after a shower especially) to moisturize. I use this mostly on my arms and legs. My favorite lotions are from Bath and Body Works. When I want to feel extra sexy, I use the Forever Red. The smell is super luxurious!

I also use a few products from The Body Shop for my face. It is a three-step process. I don't do this daily, but only when I'm feeling like I need a face refresher.

First, I use the facial cleanser in the shower to clean off makeup and any other buildup from throughout the day. The next step happens after the shower. The toner is rubbed all over my face to help clarify. After that, the last thing I do is apply some facial lotion, lightly, over my face.

These steps give me a nice, fresh glow, and I smell good too! My skincare routine is not extreme, but when necessary, I like using these products. What skincare products do you like to use for yourself particularly in the winter?

You Are What You Think About

Here I am, sitting around trying to brainstorm blog post ideas.

What about this? No, that's not unique. Or this other idea? Everyone knows about that. It's nothing new. You don't have any ideas.

Suddenly, I realized that I didn't have ideas because I was telling myself I didn't have any good ideas. I'm never going to come up with something if I keep telling myself I have no ideas!

This concept can apply to more than just blog posting. With the new year, we are all trying to accomplish something -- whether that is losing weight, cooking at home more often, or simply staying positive throughout the year.

How are you planning on accomplishing that? What is your thought process? It is easy to put yourself down. Sometimes even when you want to do something, you tell yourself you can't do it, or it's hard, or your ideas are worthless. But that's not true!

Don't let your brain trick you into an alternate reality. The reality is, you have a world of possibility. Allow your mind to wander. Allow yourself the chance to accomplish those goals without any negativity butting its way in. You deserve it!

2014 Inspiration

I am participating in a 2014 Blogger Challenge, where a topic is given at various times throughout the year, and bloggers write a post about it. The first topic is inspiration. Instead of coming up with resolutions, which I've already decided against, the idea is to share an inspirational quote or picture. Here's mine:

This image appeared on my feed a few weeks ago and I had it saved on my phone. It really spoke to me, because so often in life I tend to go along with the flow even if it's something I don't feel too crazy about.

It's easy to let other people make the decisions in life. But ultimately, if you're not making the effort to put aside some time for yourself to do something fulfilling, you're really harming yourself. This happens to me way too often. I usually don't realize I haven't been taking care of myself until it's been so long that I feel like I'm suffering.

On a similar note, the people you surround yourself with can impact your well-being too. If there is someone around you who doesn't make you feel good, get them out of your life (as much as possible). It's ok to not be friends with everyone.

What is most important is that you surround yourself with positive things and positive energy so your soul can be nourished and fulfilled. Going into the new year, I am going to focus on living in the moment and making sure I don't sacrifice too much to the point that it is harmful.

Living Day by Day

Do you ever feel like you just don't have a plan and you don't know what direction you want to take? That's how I feel about 2014.

So many of you have goals of weight loss, blog organization, doing things to make yourself happier... but what do I want? Do I need to want something specific? What does it mean about me if I don't have specific goals? What does it mean for 2014?

There are so many questions I could dwell on, but I'm not going to. Sometimes it's nice to live day by day without the pressure of reaching certain goals.

Sure, I would like to weigh a little less, I'd like to have a list of blog topic inspiration, I'd love to spend my days at home organizing the house and being a housewife (technically, fiancee). Some of these are possible, and some of them aren't.

There's nothing wrong with waiting until you feel up to tackling a task. The new year is inspirational for many people, and that is fantastic. I'm just not feeling it this year.. but I have a feeling that positive changes will come in the next few months.

Until then, I'll enjoy my days of nothing and living in the moment, and look forward to taking action later on! Are you excited about the new year? What goals do you have, or why do you choose not to have goals this year?

Five Favorites: Food

While we're all recovering from being overloaded on turkey and stuffing, let's talk about food some more, shall we? When I have a say in what I eat, I don't always make the healthiest choices, but they sure are yummy ones!

1. Brownies

This is the absolute best dessert ever in my opinion. Chocolate gooey-ness, pure indulgence. They are so many calories, but I can't resist them. Any time there is a potluck at work or anywhere, I offer to bring in brownies, hoping I will be able to take a lot home. Brownies are also really easy to make from a box. Betty Crocker is my best friend.

2. Cheetos Snack Crackers

These, oh my goodness. These are a bite of heaven. If you like Cheetos, you will love these. I discovered these when I was in college, and my local grocery store carried them. At some point, they stopped, and I was totally devastated, but I got over it (mostly) eventually. Recently, my fiance and I tried a grocery store that we always pass by near our house. They have lots of international foods and unique things. Lo and behold, they had my crackers! Now I am hooked again.

3. Green Beans

This is the one healthy thing on this list. If I had to pick a favorite vegetable, green beans would be it. Real green beans though, not fake ones. I consider fake green beans to be the kind from cans, or frozen. Real green beans are fresh. Fresh and delicious. I love the just-picked nature flavor, with just a little bit of butter. Nothing compares to the rich flavor of green beans. Corn, lima beans, carrots -- nope. It has to be green beans.

4. Smoothies

Smoothies are fantastic for being on the go, sitting at home relaxing, or anytime really. I love that they can be a junk food if you are in a junk food mood, or they can be really healthy with fruits, veggies, and certain additives. Either way, they are always delicious. When you don't feel like a meal, but you know you need something in your stomach, smoothies are a great solution.

5. Pizza

The food of all foods. It is the ultimate in deliciousness. Cheese, bread, tomato sauce, pepperoni, just give it all to me. I love pizza. I could eat pizza 5 days a week and not get sick of it. In fact, I nearly did that when I lived around the corner from a place with $1 slices. It was the perfect lunch before my afternoon job. How can you resist $1 slices? My favorite places now are Mellow Mushroom and Hungry Howie's. Hungry Howie's really has some great pizza, with free flavored crust, for very reasonable prices.

What are some of your favorite foods?

My First Lush Experience

Wow, you guys, Lush is definitely luxe! My city recently got a Lush store in one of the malls, and I had heard good things so I decided to check it out. Lush is an eco-friendly cosmetic store with vegan products and recyclable containers and materials. Their products are also all hand-made, which provides a unique upscale shopping experience.

In addition, Lush supports many ethical campaigns including animal rights, protecting the environment, and humanitarian causes. With all that said, their prices are a little steeper than you might tend to spend on items such as soap, shampoo, lotion, and various hair and body treatments, but I personally think it is worth the occasional splurge. Of course I splurged on my recent trip!

I picked up three different things (but only paid for two!). My hair can tend to be a little unruly with split ends, fluffiness and frizziness. After researching various treatments on the Lush website, I decided on the Jasmine and Henna Fluff-Eaze.

The sales girl suggested that for my long and thick hair, I'd get four uses out of this container! Only four! I always try to make stuff last longer than "recommended" because sometimes those recommendations are adjusted a little so that you'll use more and need more sooner and spend more money. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Either way, I used less than 1/4 of the container.

After following the instructions, I rinsed the treatment off, and after my hair dried after my shower (no blow drying, just natural air drying), I did notice a difference! It wasn't as dramatic as I was hoping, but it was definitely noticeable. It has been about three days since I tried it, and my hair is still relatively smooth. Next time I might try actually using the recommended amount and see if I get better results.

The scent of the Fluff-Eaze is not very jasmine-y to me. I love the scent of jasmine, so that is part of the reason I picked this particular treatment. It smells clean, and has some floral notes, but I would not describe it as jasmine. The other product I bought, however...

I also bought the Lust jasmine-scented stick perfume. I now have a new favorite go-to scent. It is so delicious smelling! This definitely smells more like jasmine than the hair treatment. This was somewhat decently priced at $10, and the sales girl told me those stick perfumes last forever. So far I have used it every day, and I'm not sick of it yet!

There is a third product in the picture above. After picking out my two items, I was asked if I wanted to buy some soap in the Lust scent. I decided to pass, but apparently the store offers free soap samples, so I said OK! I haven't used it yet, but it also smells incredible, like the perfume. Overall, I am loving these jasmine Lush purchases!

Do you have a Lush where you live? What is your favorite or go-to cosmetics store when you want to pamper yourself a bit?

Welcome, Readers

Hello, internet!

Yet another blog has joined the world of the web (like it really needed one more). This blog is mostly a creative outlook and log of interesting things in my life, but hopefully it will also benefit some of you! I plan to post about the following:

• Photography
• Kitties
• Homeownership
• Couponing & Budget
• Wedding Planning & Married Life
• Healthy Habits
• Eating
• Emotional
• Physical
• Nail Polish & Manicures
• Automotive Racing
• Random Musings

Hopefully some of these topics appeal to you and we can share ideas with each other. Also, I suppose I should introduce myself...

My name is Rachel, and I'm a 26-year-old wife-to-be. I bought a house and moved in with my wonderful man, Mike, in February 2013, and we got engaged about six months later in August. Home life is a big change from living by myself in an apartment, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Each new challenge adventure teaches me something new, and I love learning new things. Making the best of life and looking on the bright side is what I try to do, and I hope my blog, Light and Love, reflects that. Thank you for reading! I look forward to getting involved in the blogging community and becoming friends :)