Tuesday 24 March 2015

First Ever Beauty Post! - Foundation Review On Clarin's Ever Matte SPF 15 Balancing Foundation

Colour: Beige

I haven't done a review before because I was waiting for something really amazing that I could truly advocate for and this is it! I have been looking for a really great foundation for quite some time and tried countless formulas and types until I finally stumbled across this one! Well rather than stumbling it was actually recommended to me by a friend, but I did not try it for a while, until I finally caved and bought it. I usually go for a dewier finish because in the winter my skin dries out so much, I also tend to like more natural finishes that are not super heavy for day-to-day wear. I was skeptical to try this because it is of course matte and I have had some bad experiences with matte foundations, but I was totally shocked at hour great this is!

So my friend who recommended this actually has dry skin and right now I do have some dry patches, so if you do have dry skin, but still want something with a matte finish this is great for you! It is also great for someone with oily/combination skin because it is matte. Personally, I think this foundation is super well rounded. The finish is very satiny smooth, and makes my skin feel awesome. The first time I tried it just on my wrist it felt so smooth and I thought for sure it wouldn't actually turn up that way on the skin, but it really did. I was also really impressed with how well it blended.

As for colour range, it is pretty small, but because the coverage is not too heavy you can get away with it not being an exact perfect match. I use the colour beige and when I first saw it I thought for sure it would not work, but when I blended it in it was more of a sheer and very build-able foundation so it worked really well!

If you are looking for something that will look really flawless, smooth and natural this is the foundation for you!


Wednesday 18 March 2015

How to Sick to Your Diet While on Vacation (Blog Series) - Day 5

Day 5:


Breakfast:


1/2 cup Egg Whites
0g Carbs
0g Fat
14g Protein
60 Calories

1 tbsp Light Butter
0g Carbs
5g Fat
0g Protein
50 Calories

English Muffin
27g Carbs
1.5g Fat
5g Protein
140 Calories

Had a really great breakfast, but if I did this over again I probably would have skipped out on all the carbs. Today was a really tricky day because we went to Disney World and I really wanted to just enjoy myself, it isn't something you get to really do all the time. But then again, I of course did not want to completely blow it (hence the counting of macros and calories).

Lunch:


French Baguette
72g Carbs
2g Fat
12g Protein
360 Calories

Carved Turkey
0.7g Carbs
4.9g Fat
34g Protein
188 Calories

French Fries
10g Carbs
17.6g Fat
0g Protein
307 Protein

Dijon Mayo
2.8g Carbs
8.2g Fat
0.4g Protein
86 Calories

Ketchup
4g Carbs
0.4g Fat
2.4g Protein
40 Calories

Mikey Mouse Ice Creme Bar (Nestle)
23g Carbs
16g Fat
1g Protein
200 Calories




Okay, so this is probably extremely off, point is I tried! I am definitely not the happiest about this, but I had a lot of fun. We ate at Belle's Castle and it was absolutely beautiful. Partly, the purpose of this blog is to show that life does get in the way sometimes, but we should always do our best and just enjoy our progress. We don't need to get all depressed when having one bad day. I am really happy with how things have been going on this trip and I am proud of myself for trying so hard, so I really enjoyed this day and at night I'll just have to compensate for this larger meal!

Dinner:


1 Slice Butter Bread
12g Carbs
0.5g Fat
3g Protein
60 Calories

3 cups Steamed Broccoli
15g Carbs
0g Fat
6g Protein
90 Calories

1 cup Egg Whites
0g Carbs
0g Fat
28g Protein
120 Calories



So this was a very plain dinner, but actually really enjoyed it and I felt good knowing I still made everything fit!

Final Macros:


167g Carbs
56g Fat
106g Protein
1703 Calories

Now this appears to be really dead on and it is probably super close, but keep in mind I pretty much just tried to get it as close as I could, but Disney does not provide any nutritional information so I really just tried my best to figure it out using knowledge on foods that seem close enough. My fat was most likely a little higher unfortunately, but tomorrow I'll have to make up for it and I probably burned a decent amount of calories from walking all day!





How to Stick to Your Diet While on Vacation (Blog Series) - Day 4

Day 4:


Pre-Breakfast:


Petite Vanilla Bean Scone
21g Carbs
5g Fat
0g Protein
140 Calories

So, I stopped at Starbucks in the morning to do some school stuff, my mom bought me this without warning and I couldn't resist. Just gotta make it fit!

(Actual) Breakfast:


English Muffin
27g Carbs
1.5g Fat
5g Protein
140 Calories

3 Strips Turkey Bacon
0g Carbs
7.5g Fat
6g Protein
105 Calories

1/4 cup Egg Whites
0g Carbs
0g Fat
7g Protein
30 Calories

1/4 Avocado
4.3g Carbs
7.4g Fat
1g Protein
90 Calories


Lunch:


1/2 Chicken Salad
5.5g Carbs
1.2g Fat
9.5g Protein
70 Calories

Chipotle Siratcha Sause
1g Carbs
4.5g Fat
0g Protein
45 Calories

Went to subway for lunch, thought the sauses was the southwest sause we have in Canada, however it was not. I planned on having the full salad, but my lips, throat, mouth could not handle the heat!!


Snacks:


2 Luna Cookie Dough Protein Bars
42g Carbs
12g Fat
24g Protein
340 Calories

1 scoop Protein Powder
1g Carbs
0g Fat
30g Protein
130 Calories


Dinner:


1 cup Penne Rigate
54.7g Carbs
1.3g Fat
9.3g Protein
267 Calories

1 cup Meat Sauce
20g Carbs
2g Fat
4g Protein
120 Calories

2 Medium Meatballs
5g Carbs
5.3g Fat
16g Protein
137 Calories

Finally had a home cooked meal which was really awesome! Logged this in advance, so today was a lot easier to figure things out!

Final Macros:


53g Fat
182g Carbs
112g Protein
1656 Calories

A little under fat today and equally over carbs today and a little over protein. Today was not the greatest, wish I hit things a bit more dead on. I probably shouldn't have had that extra luna bar, maybe had some cheese instead, but I really wanted it and I gave in, oops!








Tuesday 17 March 2015

How to Stick to Your Diet While on Vacation (Blog Series) - Day 3

Day 3:


First day actually on vacation, going to try really hard to hit things perfectly today! So far the challenge has been keeping fat low and getting some carbs in me, so I'll have to keep that in mind!

Breakfast:


2 Slices of Nature's Own "Butter Bread"
24g Carbs
1g Fat
6g Protein
120 Calories

2 Tbsp Jif Peanut Butter
8g Carbs
16g Fat
7g Protein 

Normally, like I have said previously, I have protein in the morning and try to keep carbs low, but I have noticed having protein is super easy, so I decided to try to have some carbs. The bread we got is actually pretty low in everything though, so it is kind of nice because I don't eat my days worth of carbs in one meal!

Lunch:


Angus Beef Hotdog 
2g Carbs
15g Fat
6g Protein
170 Calories

Hot Dog Bun
24g Carbs
1.5g Fat
4g Protein
120 Calories

Ketchup
5g Carbs
0g Fat
0.3 Protein
20 Calories

Orange
17.6g Carbs
0.2g Fat
1.3g Protein
69 Calories

Fiber One Coconut Almond Bar
17g Carbs
7g Fat
6g Protein 
140 Calories

Kind of screwed myself for later with the hot dog because of the fat, but overall I am okay with how the day has gone. I am unsure of where we will be eating later, but hopefully I can eat something decently healthy with lots of protein! But of course I always have backups like my protein powder that I brought with me, so all in all I'll be fine! And still have to get my workout in which will also get me feeling a lot better!

Dinner:


Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken w/ Potatoes & Spinach
30g Carbs
20g Fat
62g Protein
540 Calories

1/2 Garden Fresh Salad
5.5g Carbs
5 Fat
1 Protein
75 Calories

11/2 Breadstick
37.5g Carbs
3.8 Fat
6g Protein
210 Calories

We went to Olive Garden for dinner, since my lunch was full of fat, I looked up the menu in advance to make sure what I got would be lower in fat. I think I picked a really good entree and the breadsticks were surprisingly low in fat as well which was really nice!

(Sorry a bit late with this one, internet was down for a couple days)

Final Macros for the Day:


171 Carbs
69 Fat
100 Protein

Pretty much almost hit everything dead on, but a little under protein unfortunately! Still having troubles with fiber, but just have to keep working on it, bought some frozen broccoli and fruit, hopefully that'll help!









Sunday 15 March 2015

How to Stick to Your Diet on Vacation (Blog Series) - Day 2


Day 2:

 Breakfast:

 2 Scrambled Egg with 2% milk
2.3g Carbs
10g Fat
13.6g Protein
153 Calories

3 medium-sized Strawberries
2.8g Carbs
0.1 Fat
0.2 Protein
12 Calories

Lunch:


Junior Hamburger
26g Carbs
8g Fat
12g Protein
220 Calories

Plain Baked Potato
61g Carbs
0g Fat
7g Protein
270 Calories

So basically, for this I really just needed a ton of carbs with the littlest amount of fat and after looking at all my options, this one I determined was the best! It was at Wendy’s which is a place Josh and I love to go if we need fast food because there actually surprisingly very healthy options (Josh told me of this discovery) like chili, salads and baked potato. So especially for road trips or any vacation, this is a great option for staying relatively healthy!

Dinner:


Outback Special 6oz Steak
13g Fat
0g Carbs
37g Protein
254 Calories

Rice Side
7.4g Fat
41g Carbs
5.6g Protein
251 Calories

Honey Baked Bread (½ Loaf)
1.2g Fat
20.6g Carbs
2.5g Protein
100 Calories

Steamed Mixed Vegetables
7g Fat
11g Carbs
3g Protein
108 Calories

Went to the Outback for dinner and I had the privilege of sitting back and watching my whole family chow down on cheesy fries, it was so hard. But at the end of the day I am so happy because it was really worth it; I feel satisfied, but not like I over did it!  It is only the second day and I am so happy we can finally cook in our hotel room. I think limiting the amount of times I eat out will help make this a whole lot easier, but as can be seen it is totally do-able!

Final macros for the day:
 

165g Carbs
65g Fat
101g Protein
1646 Calories

So, still under my macros and calories for the day, but not as much as yesterday! Tomorrow I am definitely going to be getting a workout in, so I’ll feel a lot better about actually hitting them. I am really happy with how it is going so far, I was super worried about it, but it has turned out to be completely fine. Sodium is high and fiber is a bit too low again, but just have to keep working on it!







Saturday 14 March 2015

New Blog Series - How to Stick to Your Diet on Vacation - Day 1

Current Macros:

170g Carbs
106g Protein
66g Fat
1700 calories

I do follow the IIFYM diet, however I do not just eat anything. I try to eat healthy generally speaking, keep my sodium low and eliminate dairy whenever I can. I am not too strict with my diet, that is just a personal preference, however eating totally clean is obviously a really amazing thing to do and if I had a specific purpose like competing and such I would probably push a little harder to do so. With that being said, I just like to have a good balance, I think it is the best way to stay motivated and curb any binging or cravings. At the moment I am cutting so my caloric intake is lower than usual which makes it a lot harder to stay within these boundaries, especially on vacation when it is so easy to just completely fall off of routine and eat lots of greasy foods. This is how I am going to document my time on vacation and how I have stayed on track, I figure it will help keep me accountable and maybe help some people who have similar goals!

Day 1:


Today will probably be a huge challenge just because myfitnesspal requires Wi-Fi and I’ll be driving to Florida, so I won’t have access. I have already pre-logged two meals because I knew in advance where we would be stopping for lunch and obviously I had breakfast at home. The hardest part today will be figuring out how to make dinner fit my macros as closely as possible, while also trying to hit that 28g of fiber.

Breakfast:


¾ cup Egg Whites
0g Carbs
0g Fat
21g Protein
90 calories

1 cup Almond Milk
3.5g Fat
2g Carbs
1g Protein

1 scoop Iso Sensation 93 Protein Powder (Cookies n Crème)
0g Fat
1g Carbs
30g Protein
130 calories

So Basically for breakfast I had a ton of protein just so I made sure I got enough for the day since I was not really completely sure where we would be stopping along the way. I typically have protein in the morning regularly as well, I think it is a good tip for anyone who is not completely planning what they will be eating throughout the day, it generally makes things a lot easier.

Snack:


Special K Strawberry Protein Bar:
23g Carbs
5g Fat
10g Protein
170 calories

Sometimes I cheat a little and have diet drinks! Shhhh :$ 


Lunch:


Single Cheese Burger
31g Carbs
16g Fat
15g Protein
280 calories


Small Fries
33 Carbs
11 Fat
2g Protein

Ketchup (300g)
6 Carbs
0.6 Fat
3.6 Protein
60 calories


So, for lunch we went to Steak n Shake which was a lot of fun. I pre-logged this in advance to make sure I could work my day around it. It wasn’t actually too bad, the sodium was just out of this world. I’m not too concerned about sodium, I have kind of accepted it will be high while I’m on vacation which for some people wouldn’t be ideal. For my regular diet I would not be too happy with this, however for my vacation, especially while on the road I am okay as long as my macros are good!

Dinner:


Quiznos Ham Sub  on Whole Wheat with Veggies & Cheese
58.8 Carbs
5 Fat
18.8 Protein
350 calories

Ranch Sauce
1.5 Carbs
8.5 Fat
0.5 Protein
80 calories

This was my last meal of the day. It was not planned and I had no choice over where we went. The place we stopped had a starbucks, burger king, sbarro and quiznos. The flaw with my fitness pal is that in order to look foods up you need internet or data and in the States I don’t have access to data. In order to log this I already had a sub on my frequently eaten foods because Josh and I like to go to subway a lot. So since quiznos is 8 inchs I logged it as 1 ¼ ham sub on whole wheat with veggies and cheese. So this may not be 100% accurate, but its pretty close and for on the road & my first day I think I did pretty well!

So here are my final macros for the day:


156 Carbs
50 Fat
102 Protein
1440 Calories


So I was about 15 under fat and carbs, 5 under protein and 260 under my calories. I was sitting in the car all day, so I decided to go under a bit, but I’m really happy with it because I still almost hit my protein! Overall, for the first day I think I did really well, only thing is I wish I was able to hit my fiber, but that’s the goal for tomorrow!

Monday 9 March 2015

My Three Favourite Ab Exercises:

Just starting my first ever cut and I am super excited to see some ab progression! So, I decided to share some of my favourite ab workouts that can be done at home & require no equipment. I typically will do about 4 sets of 25 reps for each exercise (on each side for specific ones).


Here they are!





1. Double-Leg Extensions - This one is probably my favourite, there are multiple ways to do it, some people do it with one leg at a time etc. If this is your first time doing this to make it a tad bit easier place your hands beneath your bum. If holding your hands behind your neck like I did is uncomfortable you can place your arms crossed at your chest or straight to the sides. 

2. Waist Whittlers - These are basically some fancy planks where you twist and squeeze your torso. This will target your obliques and when done for long enough will seriously buuuurn! 

3. Bicycles - Lastly, these are a classic, but had to include them because they have always been a favourite of mine. Sometimes simple works, it is common because it is effective.

xoxo @bronzerandbarbells