the millennial who's good at nothing: weight loss

REVIEW: SKINNY ME TEATOX!

June 30, 2014

Detoxing can be the first step in a weight loss program, or can be a helpful step in maintaining. For me, I decided to try the widely popular australian detox tea as a way to cleanse my body for summer. Not for my summer bod, because we should strive for "summer" bods year round, but just to rid all my toxins so I can enjoy my summer with more energy.

I'll go through this review by discussing the process, details, and results.

1. Process!

The first step in doing the cleanse is, well ordering the tea. You order it on http://www.skinnymetea.com.au/. The 14-day cleanse is $35 USD plus the shipping. You can do shipping with or without tracking. I would recommend with, because it's coming from Australia and it takes a while. I started to get nervous after two weeks, I had to end up e-mailing the company. Alas, I got it on my doorstep from the land down under!

There are two teas. One detox tea with roobios, goji berries, and herbs that make your metabolism faster. You drink this tea every morning with breakfast. The metabolism boost decreases appetite, increases energy, and gives you a clearer head and altogether happier outlook. It's not a bad kind of appetite suppresser, it will just teach you what portions are right for you! This is a loose-leaf tea that works with a tea infuser and tastes great with agave nectar or honey.

As for the second tea, you take it every other night. It's the colon cleanse tea. This tea comes in a tea bag for easier infusing. It has an odd scent, but that's just the herbs. The purpose of this tea is to cleanse all of the junk out of your colon so that you can absorb nutrients better into your body! It's not going to have to riding the porcelain throne all morning... it just works when you have to go! You will notice a difference.

blogging

Lifestyle: A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

January 05, 2014

pictures from weheartit.com

Happy New years my lovelies! I hope you all had a great night to end the old year and ring in the new years. I hope you all surrounded yourselves with people you love and that make you happy. That’s what we all should be doing this year, maybe we can all make that a resolution to ourselves of some sorts.

Let’s talk about resolutions and why they get bad reps. Everyone always promises a new “self” for themselves in the new year. Everyone suddenly has a new lease on life. Sure, new years is a great time for renewal. It’s that way in the calendar year as well as the church. Perhaps we’re making these resolutions to ourselves for the wrong reasons, and that’s why so many people fail. Maybe that’s why you have fight for a treadmill on Jan 1, but by Jan 30 it’s a ghost town at the gym. People make these “resolutions” so that they can be as pretty as Kendall Jenner, so that they can get the guy they’ve been fawning over, so that they can like what they see in the mirror. All of those things can be achieved with a simple change of mind, except for the Kendall Jenner part, that’s basically saying you want to be as pretty as photoshop.

picture from instagram.com/jacvanek

I say we resolve these resolutions a little bit. I want to make two modifications to our New years tradition. It’s almost like “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, except no children will be harmed. First, those who promise themselves to shed some weight to look at it differently. You can lose weight by getting a haircut. You can only change the way your body looks by changing your lifestyle and mindset. You can set goals to drop pounds, however you can improve the results of how you look by focusing on certain body parts. Instead of saying, “I want to get rid of my fat legs,” say I want to have lean, long, and toned legs for days. Then, do workouts for your quads, calves, and inner thighs. Instead of saying “I want to loose my belly pooch,” say you want to strive for a strong core. Pilates is great for the core, your abs will be showing off in no time. Also, instead of complaining about your “fat ass” start squatting to lift that booty up! What I’m proposing is don’t become a cardio bunny - those people that stay on the elliptical for hours at the gym and don’t work any muscle groups. Yes, that gets your heart pumping and sweating is always great, but take days to focus on tightening those muscles so you can actually have the tone and fit body you want.

Another part to that proposal is to switch your mindset. We should make these new years resolutions for ourselves. You are the only person you need to impress. Yes, it feels great for friends, family, coworkers, and significant others to notice your success, however feeling proud of yourself and your success must be the best feeling out there. Saying “I DID IT!,” must warm your heart. Strive for that feeling. Once you feel that, the boy, the promotion, and the Kendall Jenner-ness will come soon after.

One final proposal is to change the name of this. “Resolution” is a fine word, however there is so much pressure attached to it. It sounds like there is no wiggle room, no room for cheat days. Our SOUL needs to be fed, too, that’s why there are cheat days. I say instead of resolutions we refer to them as promises to ourselves. “I promise to finally be happy with my body and feel fit, and therefore feel happy,” we should say instead of, “My resolution is to lose 50 pounds.” Promising yourself a better you (even though you are already amazing) is the first step to body and mind positivity and the first step to success. Resolving to yourself to lose a random amount of weight for someone who might not even notice is the first step to failure.

And now, I’ll end with my own promises and goals. It’s always important to set some goals, whether it be professionally, emotionally, creatively, socially, or spiritually as well. My promises to myself is to stop being such a living, breathing doormat and to stand up for myself more. To make myself heard and to know what I want. Basically stop teeter tottering and get my act straight. I also don’t want to plateau and keep aiming towards a fit figure.

My goals are to make deans list again for the two semesters that are in 2014 and to start making a greater profit from my blog. I want to actually see where all this blogging is taking me and if I can handle my own business someday. Let’s make things happen!

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athletic

LIFESTYLE: HIT THE GYM WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR ROOM!

March 07, 2013

When most people think about getting active, they think it requires an expensive gym membership and equipment, or going out and playing a sport. However, all you really need is 10-20 minutes a day and your own body. Medicine balls, yoga mats, and weights are a nice plus, however to quote the one true principle of pilates, your body is your most important weight! If you’re in the mood to work out but don’t feel like facing the public, don’t sweat it! (Well, you will be sweating eventually.)

My room not only functions as my sleeping chambers and homework den, but a home gym as well! All you need is a TV/Computer (preferably a laptop) and your most important piece of equipment - your body! Here’s two ways to gym it up the Boo Radley way:

1. Blogilates: Youtube is a never ending beautiful black hole of helpful DIYs and tutorials. It’s almost made it possible to not have to actually buy anything or have professional training for anything. Like the amount of stars in our universe, I don’t think we will ever realize what an immense amount of DIY is available. My favorite star in that universe is Cassie Ho of Youtube.com/blogilates. She is a ceritified pilates instructor. Her channel is regularly updated with 10-15 minutes workouts of either Pilates, “HIIT” (cardio), HIITilates (A mixture of both), or specialized lower body, abs, or even prom body workouts, and even diet tips! The most you’ll need is a yoga mat and two hand weights, but that’s workout specific. I am obsessed with her and her workouts, she makes it easy to look great without a gym subscription - just a subscription to her channel. As she always says, “I’m gonna kill you, and you’re gonna love it!”

2. XFINITY On Demand: In the same respect, the Sports & Fitness Section’s “Fitness Workouts” of XFINITY On Demand is a black hole of DIY Workouts. However, the selection is much larger. You can choose from headings such as “10 minute Workouts”, “Abs”, “Cardio”, “Total Body,” and more. The workouts range from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time you have. No matter what, there’s always time for a workout!

3. Simple workouts that you can do in your room or anywhere: Whether you’re traveling or in the mood to try something out, you can simply google easy at home workouts and many come up.

Here’s one from fitsugar.com:

That definitely sounds like I need to try it!

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise, so don’t forget about what you’re eating! Major diet changes aren’t necessary, but little changes can make a big difference. For example, switching your snacks from chips or candy to delicious greek yogurt or a pack of nuts will give you your protein for the day. Easy substitutions can be worked in to your daily diet without devastating you. Also, drinking a lot of water rids your body of toxins, keeps you hydrated and promotes overall health and weight loss.

carbs

LIFESTYLE: DOMINATING THE PLATEAU!

January 27, 2013

So you've lost a good amount of weight, anywhere from 15-30 pounds, and people are starting to notice. However, when you step on the scale, no matter how hard you try, you keep breaking even! It's a let-down almost as colossal as Sisyphus felt every time he saw his ginourmous boulder roll back down the hill, after every time he's push it back to the top. But you won't have to keep feeling let down like Sisyphus, you CAN get over your plateau! Here's four tips on how to cope with this painful milestone in dropping poundage.

1: Don't freak out!

Plateaus come at the most inconvenient part of your weight loss journey - right? Everyone is finally congratulating you on how great you look, and now you seem stuck in a sisyphus situation of no return. However, you need to realize that plateaus are totally normal and a natural part of your journey. It's actually a good thing, because it means that your body is getting used to your new healthy habits and smaller waistline. Think of it as shedding your old, unhealthy skin and cozying up with your new, probably smoother and more moisturized, skin! (figuratively, of course.) Embrace the NEW you and take on some NEW new habits!

2: Sometimes all we need is a little change.

Now that your body is used to your new habits, introduce it to even newer ones! Think of it, that's how you did it in the first place. The easiest thing to do is change up your work out routine. Do you skimp out on abs? Focus on your abs more instead of lifting as much. Do you stick to the treadmill? Try the bike, or even run and bike outside! OR try a cardio kick box, Zumba, or hot yoga class. As you can see, the possibilities are endless. If you need to switch up your eating habits, try proportioning your meals differently. For example, eat smaller meals, but snacks in between. Once your body doesn't get food for four hours, it goes into "famine mode" and everything eaten after is transferred straight to sugars. So, eating healthy, raw snacks between meals is better for you than fasting, then overindulging.

3: Cutting carbs out?

It's a proven fact, with my experience as well, that people that eat less calories naturally crave carbohydrates more. It makes sense. However, if you want to descend off of this plateau and hit the ground running again, turn those carb cravings aside. Of course I don't mean totally cut carbs out, that would be torturous. There are many ways to cut carbs out and incorporate fresh veggies or fruits into your food. If you want noodles or rice, give yourself half the service of the pasta/rice/noodles and double up on the meat or vegetables you're putting in it. If you're going out to froyo, skip the cap'n crunch as a topping and top it with fresh pineapples, kiwis, mangos, strawberries, etc. Doesn't that sounds mouthwatering? You're already treating yourself to froyo, anyway! If you're good with these rules for 5-6 days a week, you can have one week where you go carb-o-load if you want, you earned it!

4: Track your meals like a GPS.

The best thing to do when you're watching what you eat is literally watch what you eat. There are several calorie-counting app such as "Lose It!" or "Myfitnesspal" that calculate the precise amount of calories you should eat a day considering how much weight you want to lose and in what amount of time. Just put in the food you eat, and what exercise you do. There are many encouragements such as badges for exercising consistently and hitting weight loss goals. If B.F. Skinner's idea of positive reinforcement works on you, this is a path for you! Another great app I was recommended by YouTube beauty guru clothesenounters (http://www.youtube.com/clothesencounters) is The Eatery. You literally just upload a picture of your meal, and people can rate how healthy it is. However, you can look back at your gallery any time and see how good or bad you're doing. If the last time you had a cupcake was two weeks ago, you can have another one!

I hope you take these tips into consideration when you think you've hit a dead end and see a Sisyphus future for yourself. Don't worry - it's all natural. Good luck, and work it girl!

Listen:

Love Robot/Paris "Rain" (Two AMAZING Local Bands)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_8oyrqrnOI

Sleeping With Sirens - Stomache Tied In Knots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF19aKuF2qQ

health

LIFESTYLE: Food For Thought for Your New Years Resolutions!

December 30, 2012

It's that time of year where everyone is nervously contemplating their New Years resolution. Whether it's a new mindset or a weight loss goal - there's a negative stigma that comes up with a goal for self-improvement. Is it the fear of failure? Why is it that New Years resolutions are fun to make but so hard to keep?

I thought I'd write this little blurb up to provide some inspiration in making your Resolutions. Since this is a half lifestyle blog - it'll mostly be geared to weight loss however you can apply these rules to any goal you wish to achieve.

1. Make your goal realistic. Know what you're capable of. I'm not suggesting to aim low, obviously, but don't say you're going to lose a crazy mount of weight unless you know you physically can. Weight loss is NOT firstly about looking good, it's about FEELING good - being healthy.
2. Have your endgame in mind, however make your initial goal a benchmark. For example, if you want to lose 40 pounds, don't be obsessed with that number. Think, "I'd love to lose 5 pounds in the next two weeks." So, while you're working hard in the gym, think of that closer, more realistic goal and you'll feel so much better when you accomplish it. Even better, it will feel great when you achieve your final goal; you'll be thinking of all the hard work it took to get there. Every lap in a mile is its own battle. To sound cliche, Rome wasn't built in a day!
3. Keep this in mind: It takes two weeks of hard work to notice a change in your own body, 4-6weeks for friends and people close to you to notice, and 8 weeks for strangers to notice! All that hard work WILL pay off!
4. To be honest, when I dropped 30 or so pounds this year that was NOT my resolution. I don't know where my inspiration came from, I just wanted a change I could be proud of. Resolutions are nice guidelines, but they don't have to be the end all be all.

That's why my resolution is so vague. I keep my goals close to my heart, and my visions on my sleeve. My resolution is in the versgram (follow my instagram, n_vergak), above. It's "Don't let anyone get in the way of your happiness. Strive for more, achieve more." I feel like 2012 was one of the best years because I stopped living for other people's happiness and cultivated my own. With any goal you want to achieve this year, keep in mind that you're doing it for YOUR own happiness. If you're not, stop and work on your own happiness! Here's some inspirational images I pulled off of tumblr for your own inspiration. HAPPY NEW YEAR!