New Nails and Diet Changes

I'm changing things up! This is my new set of nails. They're shorter with less white on the tips. Next time I'm gettng an American Manicure. Heard of it? It's really pretty and natural looking but still very polished and perfect.

I will post pics once I get them done.

Basically, instead of French white tips, the entire nail is a pale shade of pink.

I'm kind of excited about it, if you couldn't tell. Haha!

Also, last weekend we got together with our dear friends. We are a group of couples who have been through everything together in the last 17 years - bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, births, funerals, epic parties and just hanging out. We're more like family than friends.

Anyway, one of the guys, Brian, lost 20 pounds a couple of years ago and managed to keep it off. We got to talking about my vegan diet and he offered some advice.

I've been feeling kind of pudgy lately and couldn't figure out why. Well, when you're not paying attention, and you quit eating meat and dairy, you can get very lazy and eat of lot of carbs. 

So, I told Brian my problem and he offered some solutions so I can stop feeling like a line backer.

He told me to start off with a cleansing juice fast. I told him I really didn't want to.

He goes, "Well, you should."

And I was like "I don't want to."

And he goes "You need to."

And I said "Yeah but I don't want to."

Well, Brian was successful in making me do a juice fast. It kind of felt like the time his brother, also a part of our little family, got me to jump off the roof of his house into the pool.

He managed to do that right after I said these words, "I would never jump off a roof into a pool," and then I added, "Too scarey."

Next thing I knew I was on the roof in my bikini jumping into the pool. Both Buxton brothers holding my hands and jumping with me.

Evidently when one of the Buxton Brothers say's jump, I say how high.

It would take a room full of shrinks to figure that one out.

Anyway, Brian said to start off with a juice cleanse.

I said "For how long?" and he said "As long as you want."

So I did 2 days and was feeling pretty good!

I did orange, carrot and beets.

A word about drinking beet juice. When you go to the bathroom, your waste material is red. Dark red.

I was like "Oh, ok, I'm bleeding internally..." and then I was like 

"No! It's the beet juice!"

Then on day 2 I did pineapple, peach and orange juice. And more carrot juice.

After that, Bri said he eats nothing all day except for organic, raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and some dark chocolate chips, just a few.

Then at home, he eats a normal but small dinner of whatever his lovely wife makes.

It's so simple. I have been doing this for a few days now and I feel really good. It takes all the guess work out of what I'm going to do for breakfast and lunch, etc.

It's easy. Today I had bananas, peaches, tomatoes, some nuts. Then for dinner I made an AMAZING burrito!!

Here's my recipe:

In a pan, sautee onions, garlic and squash finely chopped. I use avocado oil. Once that's cooked, I put 2 cans of cannelini beans and cook them.

Take a fork and smash the beans up so they look like refried beans.

I put salt, pepper and hot sauce in.

Then wrap it up in a tortilla and brown it in a drop of avocado oil.

Soooooo good!!

Please enjoy this pic of my new nails...

 

Facial and a Massage Today

On my quest for wellness, I've decided to get a facial and a massage every month.

I highly recommend it!

Today my facial went like this:

She did microdermabrasion first, then serious extractions, then a large dose of an acid peel consisting of a blend of glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids.

OUCH!! It really hurt but it was so worth it because my skin looks and feels amazing.

Right after my facial, I had a 2 hour massage.

Deep tissue. Basically I got beat up for 2 hours and again, I feel amazing!

It was perfect timing because I had a fender bender on Friday - not my fault.

A 16 year old girl backed her car into me. I didn't even have time to hit the breaks. I have a bruise on my right arm from the steering wheel and my neck was messed up.

Even though it was her fault, I felt a little bit sorry for her because I knew her mom was gonna be mad since she had the exact same accident a week ago.

She knew the whole drill, asking me for my insurance, etc. and I couldn't help myself. I said to her "Sounds like this happens to you quite a bit."

And she goes "Ya, it just happened last week."

Anyway, I am totally fine, and now that I had a deep tissue massage focusing on my neck, I feel even better.

Monthly facials and massages are fantastic and amazing. I think you should go make some appointments for yourself.

Dieting with Mrs.Romeo

Are you curious about how my 21 Day Cleanse is going?

Well, I learned something about myself.

And isn't that one of the great joys of life, self discovery?

Yes, you guessed it. The cleanse ended.

The weird thing is I have been eating and enjoying nothing but smoothies, salads and other healthy vegan food for months now, but as soon as I called it a "cleanse" something in my brain made me want to rebel!

And I did so. I really did.

Now, I am back on track, only I'm not on a "cleanse" or a "fast" or a "diet." I am just eating vegan food, which is by far my favorite way to eat. And 60% to 80% of that is raw.

Which makes me feel happy!

I guess I am over the whole dieting thing because...well...we're going to have to go back to the 5th grade.

My teacher was Mrs. Romeo. She was young, beautiful, intelligent and fashionable. I wanted to be just like her.

So, instead of eating lunch with the other kids, I often would stay in the classroom and eat lunch with Mrs. Romeo.

She didn't mind. I don't think she knew I was "studying" her. I wanted to know everything she did so I could be like her.

One thing I noticed was her choice of lunch food.

A Slender Bar and a Diet Pepsi. Noted. I took a mental picture of the box of Slender Bars and promptly walked to Walgreens after school to get some so I could be on a diet like Mrs. Romeo.

My Walgreens trips were usually reserved for getting myself a Coke and a bottle of nail polish. I'd pick out the prettiest pink I could find, get my can of Coke, place the items on the counter and then dump out all my nickles, dimes and quarters to pay for them.

"My nails are gonna look so good!" I'd say to myself walking home, drinking my Coke.

So, when I'd get home. I'd sit at the kitchen table and carefully and slowly polish each nail.

Then I'd painstakingly sit for several minutes until I thought they were good and dry. It felt like an eternity for that polish to dry, but you know the Tiny Primp Queen in the making was going to do whatever needed done!

I ended up smudging them every single time. It infuriated me. I'd end up cursing very loudly, usually in Italian.

That's it! I thought. I have had it with this nail polish.

"Dear Revlon,"

My letter started...

"I purchase your nail polishes and every time I let them dry for several minutes, my nails always get smudged and I have to re-do them. I am 10 years old. Do you know how hard it is for someone my age to sit still?

I would appreciate it if you could make your nail polishes faster drying. If possible.

If not, I am thinking of switching over to Lee Press On Nails, because my Mom won't let me get sculptured nails at the salon.

Thank you."

I sent that letter but never got a response.

HOWEVER! Did you notice Revlon started making quick-dry polishes not long after.

You're welcome, everyone!

I did try the Lee Press On Nails, which made me even angrier. Try being 10 years old, and watching your nails pop off when you go to open your Coke.

Anyway, I went to Walgreens and there they were, Slender Bars. Eight in a box.

I was very excited because the next day when I ate lunch with Mrs. Romeo, we could both have our slender bars together and be like, ladies who lunch.

Taking tiny princess bites of our diet candy bars.

Walking home made me very hungry, however, so I ate one of them. They were delicious! They tasted like a chocolate Rice Krispie Treat with this waxy coating. Mmmmm.

After dinner that night, I had another Slender Bar.

Ok, I only have 6 Slender Bars left. I better save them, I thought. For my diet.

Dieting is so easy and fun! I could LIVE on Slender Bars. That's what I was thinking.

By the end of the next day I was so hungry from dieting with Mrs. Romeo, I was ready to eat my arm!

But that started me on a long road of trying crazy diets and I think that's why I have pretty much had it with the 21 Day Cleanse.

I'm really just not into it. I think those cleanses are for someone who really needs to make some drastic changes and has lot's of cleansing to do.

This is about as anti-climactic as my colonic. Should we go there?

I blogged about this in May. I went to get a colonic and nothing but clear water came out of me.

So for those of you who thought nothing but fairies and rainbows and butterflies came our of my butt, you were right!

No but seriously, I went back for another colonic and the same thing happened. I believe I was already all cleaned out.

So, for now, I am going to continue my enjoyable vegan lifestyle and NOT call it a diet!

Alright kids, story time is over. Have a fantastic day and remember that you're wonderful and beautiful.

OH! This is hilarious...check it out. An ad from a newspaper from 1980 with SLENDER BARS on sale!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19800702&id=9E1NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vTQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3575,269001

Crazy Sexy Diet 21 Day Cleanse

I am on day 2 of Kris Carr’s 21 Day Cleanse from her book “Crazy Sexy Diet.”

Notice I waited until I got through at least a full day before telling you about it. haha!

This is not your ordinary “cleanse.”  When I hear that word I think of suffering and starving. Which I have done. Like a trooper!

I’ve done juice fasts, fruit fasts, water fasts, all kinds of cleanses in the name of getting healthy and I am not sure they did much for me. I also hate drinking every meal. 

Haha! Who likes that?

So, this is actually really easy and enjoyable.

I will post pics tomorrow of my food, but I wanted to tell you about what I’ve been having and why I like this cleanse.

I get to eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Also, it’s all really good food that I love to eat anyway, so it’s not a big shocker to my system.

And you don’t have to count or measure food or suffer in any way.

The best part is how I feel, very calm, clear headed and happy!

I know I keep telling you that but let me just say I had some sugary treats over the holiday weekend and it really affected me.

I yelled at a lady in Walgreens for leaving her two dogs in the car, with no air conditioner, not even cracked window. I hunted her down in the store with my hands on my hips demanded that she go turn the car air on immediately.

For you animal lovers out there, I KNOW!! It was 112 degrees outside.

Anyway, I think the reason I went ballistic is partly because of the sugar poisoning my system. But mostly because of the ignorant woman who abused her dogs in front of me.

Ok, so on this cleanse J

Breakfast is a fruit and vegetable smoothie.

Lunch is a salad with tons of raw vegetables and chick peas, sautéed vegetables, and gluten free grains. (I like sweet potatoes or quinoa pasta)

Snack is another smoothie and some gluten free seed crackers with home made hummus.

Dinner is the same as lunch.

But you can get creative, so it’s kind of fun!

Tonight I made rice with sautéed zucchini and squash cooked in avocado oil with garlic and red pepper flakes.

It was sooooooo good.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Cheers!

New York City Ballet Workout

Do you love workout dvd's like I do?

This is my favorite.

The New York City Ballet Workout.

You can get it from Amazon.com for under $20.

Here's why I love it:

You can do it in the privacy of your own home. You don't need any equipment. You get to lay down for many of the exercises :)

It's super easy yet effective. Great for your posture and core strength. Really good for toning legs and butt.

The movements are small, and while you're doing them, you'll be thinking, is this really doing anything?

Then, the next day you'll feel it!

Also, the exercises are broken up into segments, so if you want to just do stretching exercises, go for it.

Or if you want to focus on strenghthening, you can do that.

They encourage you to start out slowly and listen to your body.

It goes along with my philosophy that exercise should be fun and doesn't have to hurt. You don't have to kill yourself and risk injury.

Which goes hand in hand with my take on food. It should be healthy AND taste really good.

I also love that I memorized a few of the exercises and can do them in my hotel room when I have to travel for work. I stay at hotels that have a workout room and use the treadmill to run.

Then I like to go back to my room and do as many ballet exercises as I want.

If you get this dvd, make sure you get yourself a really great ballet outfit. You knew I was gonna say that. :)

Go to Dee's Dancewear, they have really cute, elegant and beautiful clothing that's not too expensive.

OH! And the introduction on the dvd is done by none other than the fabulous Sarah Jessica Parker. For you Sex and the City Fans. :)

Big Sexy Hair

Everyone who knows me or knows someone who knows me knows that mommy likes her big hair!

I am a child of the 80's afterall. :)

There are a couple of tips for big Texas hair...One question I get often is "How do you get your hair to do that?"

First of all, I have an amazing stylist named Brenda. She trims the ends, leaving the length, but the key is texturizing at the crown. She has those special shears with the teeth and she is careful not to over-do it, because that's when you see the fly-aways.

Not flattering at all.

I asked Brenda to use those texturizing shears to thin my hair out all over and she goes like this to me:

"No."

I trust her. She said that's why the ends start to look all straggly and thin.

For years I would have my whole head of hair thinned out and now that I have Brenda who has the wherewithall to look me in the face and say, "I know what I'm doing, trust me." And my favorite quote of her's is "I got you baby, I got you."

Finally!

So there's the texturizing and then, she whipped out the Big Sexy Root Pump.

You spray a little bit in the roots at the crown, let it dry and then take your comb and tease it a little bit. Instant lift and it stays all day.

I love Big Sexy products for a few reasons. First of all, the name is awsome. But mostly, the products work and do whatever you want your hair to do.

I use Root Pump and Spray and Play. And yes, that's Ballerina Hello Kitty who's wearing my sleep mask when I am awake.

Do you wear a sleep mask? I like to sleep in pitch darkness and this really helps.

Anyway, here's Big Sexy.

Now, if you want serious hold that won't budge you will want to get Spray and Stay.

Spray and Play is if you want hold but it still moves a little.

Here are before and after pics. The first one is with another hair spray brand and pre-lip injections. Notice the swelling is way down at this point.

The nurse who did the Juvederm goes "Now, this will last you a whole year."

And I said "Oh, girl friend, I'll be seeing you in six months, easy."

The second pic is Big Sexy Hair Root Pump and Spray and Play and Juvederm in lips.

I believe I am ready for a Bon Jovi concert at this point! Haha!

Banana Moon Pie Smoothie

Remember Moon Pies? This smoothie tastes like one of those treats. I made this with rice milk, bananas, almond butter, mangos and pineapple. So good! I use ice cold rice milk so it's nice and refreshing. Enjoy!!