My first mud facial in more than a year! It felt so great, it’s time to get back to doing these twice a week.
A mud facial here…eyeliner there…soon I’m back to exfoliating once a week. Yeah, baby! My beauty routine is back with abandon. What does this have to do with my Keto reset? Everything!
Most people think keto or low carb reset is all about the food. It’s not. There is so much more. There is a reason people talk about making a lifestyle change. Healthy living/dieting is 95% food and 100% mental. When I start focusing on how I look each day and I’m not thinking about weight that is a good thing.
Wednesday morning was when I finally felt like I was turning the corner with this blasted cold. After brushing my teeth, instead of heading downstairs for some coffee, I looked at myself in the mirror for a few seconds. Then I just naturally reached for my make up drawer and put on my tinted moisturizer.
Next up the eye primer. Eye shadow and liner followed in short order. Next thing I know I’m brushing on bronzer and slapping on lipstick.
Without thinking about it, my old 10-minute make up routine just kicked in.
Happiness ensued…until I noticed the bed head that I was wearing. Curlers plugged in and within 15 minutes, I’m sporting a quick and easy hairstyle.
I use to call this Everyday Beauty. Just taking a few minutes each morning to doll myself up for me and no one else. I started wearing make up when I went low carb. It wasn’t vanity. It was about showing myself a little TLC after years of beating myself up.
Thankfully this reset restored that sense of pride in oneself. I didn’t have to work on it.
It just happened.
That tells me I’ve turned an important corner in this reset. I was too focused on eating the right things (always important) that I forgot about the mental side of getting healthy.
Eldridge starts with ancient Egypt and ends with the 21st Century, carefully painting her face to showcase each era while giving viewers a history lesson. It’s awesome and fun, especially learning how views of make up have evolved overtime.
I’ve done lots of before and after photos, but none really focused on how my face changed since going low carb. Wow! I never realized by head was that fat chunky.
What the photo doesn’t capture? How my skin improved after going low carb. No more breakouts or dry, flaky skin. That added bonus: I’m constantly told by family, friends and my doctor that I look much younger. Granted I take what the hubby and friends say with a grain of salt, but not my doctor!
Sure I’m late to the party on this one, but I do love the body image message in “All About That Bass.”
Catching up on reading some of my favorite blogs, I came across this post about the song All About That Bass. I’ve never heard of this song before. As my husband and good friend Elizabeth will attest about me — I’m not very pop culture savvy, especially when it comes to music.
I think I’ve given up on our current culture because it seems so vapid and narcissistic to me. It’s rare you find positive messages, especially on body image. Let’s face it, as much as we love recent ads that focus on women of all shapes, sizes and ages, they are barely a drop in the bucket compared to images of “perfect” looking people in magazines, marketing, product packaging, ads, TV news…Read More
My old, size 28 jeans use to be too tight on me. But I refused to go up a size. Now, 140 lbs. later, I’ve cut my pant size in half.
Well with the recent loss of inches around my waist it was time to see if I could slide into a pair of new skinny jeans or if I’m still stuck in between sizes. As of this morning I wore a baggy size 16.
My plans were almost derailed as Old Navy was nearly depleted of size 14 jeans. After a lot of digging around, I found a pair and headed to the fitting room.
This time around, no butterflies in the tummy. I was mildly curious…and a bit cocky. It’s not that I don’t have dressing room meltdowns on occasion. Macy’s still freaks me out. Read More
Cleaning out the closet. If it doesn’t fit me, it’s no longer in my closet. These fine threads are headed for Goodwill, where they will find a new home.
Today I’m in cleaning mode. Cleaning out the closet, refrigerator, kitty litter, car, and anything else I can get my little hands on. I must say the closet excited me the most. Other than that one pair of fat jeans, I’m no longer keeping clothes that don’t fit anymore.
Paring Down All Those Sizes
When I started my journey in 2012, my closet had three types of clothes:
Fits me now.
Almost fits.
Awesome things I used to wear 5 years ago, and if my new diet works, I can fit into again.
To get into the right mindset, I tossed (donated) all the “almost fit” clothes. I kept those awesome old clothes to inspire me to again fit into them. But as the weight came off, I realized I didn’t want those 5-year-old clothes. It was time for something more fashionable. Read More
I’ve officially said goodbye to Lane Bryant. Their clothes are too big for me. Yet, I still see myself as heavier than I really am.
The weight and inches I’ve lost have finally reached a tipping point. I can no longer shop at Lane Bryant, my go-to clothing store. Two weeks ago I picked up new underwear, size 14/16. They were a bit baggy, but I needed to replace all my size 18s. While shopping, I tried on some jeans. Each cut I tried didn’t fit – too loose.
I felt excited, then a bit of panic set in. Where would I go now for clothes?
My little freakout lasted for about 5 minutes before I remembered that, over the last few months, Old Navy has steadily replaced Lane Bryant as my “go-to” clothing store.
Despite posting my most recent “Before & After” photo, I still look for the largest clothing sizes first whenever I go shopping.
Still Seeing The Fat Girl
It’s funny. I know that I can buy clothes at Macy’s, Nordstrom and other department stores. But when it comes to clothes, I still think of myself as the fat girl who can’t fit into any of “those” outfits.
Earlier this week I went shopping with my mother at Macy’s. I saw a dress I really liked and immediately looked for the largest size (Grrrrr!!!). While finding a size to try on, I lost my nerve. I listened to that little voice in my head — “Why bother. It won’t fit” — and promptly put the dress back on the rack. Sigh…
Battling Body-Image Blues
I never saw myself as having a body-image issue. But after 3 years on this journey, it’s all too easy to forget about my success while staring in the mirror at that belly fat, chunky thighs or underarm bat wings.
It took awhile before I finally accepted I no longer weighed 325 pounds. Even when I wore a size 22, I’d always look at the largest sizes first.
Breaking with old habits requires a change in perception. To that end, I use to start the day looking at my “before and after” photos. After all, photos don’t lie. When I dwelt too much on my flaws, I’d pull out the heavy artillery — my fat jeans (size 28). Nothing kicked the body-image blues to the curb faster than stepping back into those huge jeans.
Once I hit 250 I felt I finally had my head in the right spot. I didn’t see my flaws or or think about weight I still had to loose. When I looked in the mirror I saw someone happy, healthy and looking pretty damn good!
Unfortunately, I thought I won my little self-image war. My fat jeans went back into the bottom of a drawer and my “after” photos stopped appearing on my fridge and bulletin boards. My ego told me, “I got this.”
Turns out I didn’t win the war, only the first salvo in a long, drawn out struggle.
I now realize by not trying on that dress, I lost the next battle in my body-image fight. Even though the scale says I’m 187 lbs., I think of myself as weighing 250. It’s time for me to join the fight once again.
I can now officially shop at Victoria’s Secret. That means I’ve crossed another item off my Healthy Bucket List.
Hello Victoria’s Secret
Yesterday I hit the mall with my niece. We ended up at Victoria’s Secret. I noticed that my bra cups push away from my body (a sure sign they are too big) and I was fastening my bras on the last hooks. I decided to get re-measured. But again, that little voice still messed with me. I expected the girl wrapping the measuring tape around me to state my new size and then apologize that they didn’t carry it.
Turns out, I’m no longer a 38DD. Not only am I between a 36D and 34D, but the sales lady started bringing me both sizes to try on. Woohoo!!
Well that’s another item to scratch off my Healthy Bucket List (#13 on my list).
After picking out two new bras (36Ds…34s are a little too tight for now), my niece noticed the underwear was on sale and suggested I pick some up.
No way, I thought. No way I can get those on my big butt.
Yep, I’m playing with Julie Page Makeup’s lipsticks! Going clockwise, starting in the upper left: Naked Grape (my fav!), Valentina, Vivid Crush and Velvet Plum.
When I’m rushing around in the morning, I find it difficult to carve out the 10-15 minutes I need to put on my makeup. It turns out I can cut that 10 minutes down to under 2 minutes. Que!?!
Julie Page Makeup Line
Curious about the products Julie used in the video? You can check them out on her blog. I’m using some of Julie’s products now and I love them!
Hmmmm…Me thinks I’m overdue for a trip to her shop!
Dot’s Makeover
If you missed it, you can read about my adventures with Julie and Claire (my Glam Squad) during my first Weight Loss Makeover, when I lost 80 pounds. Almost time for my next makeover…woo hoo!
With 2014 coming to a close, it’s time to take a look back and see how successful I was in hitting my Everyday Beauty goals. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles and Freedigitalphoto.net.
Yesterday I graded myself on my weight loss, fitness and wellness goals for 2014. This morning I turn my red pen to my 2014 Everyday Beauty Goals. As with everything in life, I can do better. Some goals I achieved while others need more work or outright effort.
2014 EVERYDAY BEAUTY GOALS
Everyday Beauty Goal 1: Wear lipstick when I leave the house
Grade: A
Success! I do this everyday…even when going to the gym. I recently diversified my colors by adding plums and some lovely reds to my pinks and brown hues. Read More
My new JuliePage lipsticks: Velvet Plum, Valentina and Naked Grape. I love them all but now Naked Grape is my go-to color.
Picked up some great make-up last Saturday. One of my weight loss makeover gurus rolled out her very own cosmetics line. It was time for some new lipsticks and eye shadow. My goals? 1. Find something for winter 2. Any color but brown!
Ugh! I’ve bought browns at a rapid clip. It was time to add some other color to my face.
Julie didn’t disappoint. She recommended a bunch of great fall/winter colors for my lips – purples and reds! As I’ve written before, I have issues picking the right red lipstick for me. I fall in love with a color at the store but when I put it on it just seems like overkill. Not to mention the typical, “Are you sure about that color…it’s really red” smart ass comment from the husband. Read More
