Health | Staying sane

As many of you may know already, I have struggled a lot with my weight, it is a little repetitive but here I can feel free to speak out what bothers me and what not.

Health | GM Diet Diary: Day 7

I know, a little late but better late than never.

Courtesy of http://bit.ly/2lqD3F4

Health | GM Diet Diary: Day 4

Oh boy.

Food | Infused Water

I tried a couple of weeks ago something that has been popping up in my pinterest searches a lot. Infused waters.

Healthy Eating: Quinoa Burger

Or should I say Healthy-ish? the fries kind of made it a little less healthy but just to let you know...the majority of them went to the rest of the crew who I went to lunch with. 

Yay for a New Year!

2016 will be an awesome year.

I have come up with several new ideas for this brand new year, which I am pretty excited about and can't wait to start planing and working to achieve my goals. 

Healthy Spotlight: Chia seeds

Bringing these posts back from the memory box. 

Today I will tell you about something that I have been doing extensive research during the last couple of years (Which to me feel like just a couple months ago). 

Chia seeds come from a dessert plant called Salvia Hispanica, which is grown in Mexico dating back from the Maya and Aztec cultures in which they were used as energy boosters.  

Popsugar.com

The seeds are filled with omega-3, carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, antioxidants, calcium and phosphorus. They can be processed by the body. Therefore they are considered to be a superfood. 

As they contain water soluble fiber, it expands in the stomach giving the sensation of being full, eat less and improve intestinal health. It helps reduce fat and makes it longer for the increase of sugar in the blood which gives anxiety and therefore makes you eat less snacks.

Chia seeds also represent a good source of calcium being more assimilable than milk's in 500%. Contains magnesium whcih is present in broccoli and has more than 1400% than that same vegetable. The seeds are also rich in phosphorus, iron, antioxidants, selenium and has more fiber than any other regular cereal.

I have introduced chia into my diet and it has been a great nutritional complement. I have seen some good results, I wont say I have more energy, but I do feel more active, and my skin is a little brighter, my nails stronger and my hair is a little shinnier.

The reccomendations they make are that you consume around two table spoons of chia seeds daily, because in that way you will get all the benefits presents in them.

It is important that you get to know that there are also some health repercussions and it is said that people with cardiac problems or with diabetes should stay away from them because of the different symptoms they may have to their illnesses. Also people with digestive problems should avoid its consumption because it may cause them irritations.

Here is where I put my disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist to tell you what to eat or what not to eat, the thing is that I am really into nutrition and do some research by my own and consult with some friends the different benefits they have found to get when eating different food.

I am not a picky eater, I actually would try anything (well not anything, I try to stay away from fried bugs or anything that crawls and has no backbone).

I like to have my chia sprinkled over salads, fruit salads, with oatmeal, oatbran, in homemade bread, in actually anything that I can eat and combine.

I have found several recipes of a chia pudding. But I have tried the following one from Peanut Butter and Peppers which I leave you all the link here.

Vanilla Chia Pudding from Peanut Butter and Peppers.com 

In general, Chia seeds have been a great discovery for me ever since I first heard of them. I have made more indepth analysis on the exports, imports and more International business related studies for project matters, but maybe someday I will write about it. 

Have you ever tried chia seeds? have you found them to improve any aspects of your health? Tell me all about it in the comment section :) a nice conversation could be started! 

I hope you are having a great day, It is Friday after all! 

Healthy Snacks: Pretzels

I know it's been a while since I've posted one of this healthy snack posts (sorry for the redundancy)! it been waaaay too long! 

I love Pretzels, really really love them. I have been recently obsessed. I buy them every one or twice a week when I'm a little hungry but am really not feeling like grabbing some nuts or almonds or any fruit. It is my "cheat" snack. A better option to the junk food that you buy that are full of oils, fats, salt, over fried or else. Pretzels do have salt, but is the chunky one that just give a little of taste to the whole stick. 

They are cooked in the oven. So they are "Fat Free" as in the "not fried" portion or category of the salty snacks as the potato chips you can get your hands on. And of course I had to have them while I am writing this post! (some of the inspiration came from that!) 

I really recommend to try them, of course, don't indulge too much on them, they are still carbohydrates from white flour, but it's nice to switch it up a little bit every once in a while. Plus the chunky salt will cause the retention of liquids, it absorbs them and them make you puff up. So that is a little bit of a problem. Don't worry, it will happen if you eat them 24/7. But if you just switch it up, with all the other healthy foods, every once in a while (as mentioned above) you'll be fine. 

I hope you like them as much as I do, plus how the pretzel was born is a very interesting story, and a yummy one too! you can check it out here if you want to. 

xo, 

S.A 

cafeteria inspiration

I'm siting at the cafeteria at University, enjoying of an apple and an Arizona Blueberry White tea. It is good, and I feel entertained. People all around me have some pretty interesting food/snack options, I see a couple eating a big greasy burger, some have Dorito's all over their tables, some others are having some coffee (I would be one of them if I wasn't drinking tea this time) and almost everyone is having for drink....surprise, suprise...water (which is great) 

This has inspired me to take into consideration that most of the food offered in a Cafeteria, is greasy, non healthy and saturated. I was trying to find some healthy options, and found that they have to offer fruit salads, some salads for lunch and that is it. what else could be healthy you may ask? Well that is a question I am asking myself too. Once a week I have this idea on making a series about what healthy meals to bring to school, university or college. and also some friendly snacks for short classes so that you keep your metabolism going! 

Do you like the idea? let me know in the comments or via my contact information :) 

have a great day! 

xo, 

S.A 

picture from here. 

Picnic Breeze

Hey Everyone!

You all know how crazy I am about having my nails nicely painted and well manicured. Pretty much I love to pamper myself with pretty nail polish and by having pretty hands I can conquer the world and feel pretty hot.

A while back I purchased a trio of Revlon mini polishes in Sparkle, Garden and Waterfall. They are pretty summery colours.

From left to right:
Garden, Sparkle and Waterfall

Personally, I love Revlon nail polishes, they have a very long lasting wear and they don't chip that easily. 

I liked to wear this colours for the pool or the beach with a black bikini I have and they just give a pop of colour to your ensemble. Another thing is, that with your tan in the summer months, they make it more noticeable, specially Waterfall. Being as pastel as it is, it makes everything more stand out. 

Sparkle, on the other hand, being a glitter nail polish, is harder to take off with nail polish remover. For that reason I wear it on my ring finger to make my manicure stand out with more neutral colours. Specially in winter when I want to shine a little more (lack of sunshine, overload of glitter!) 

this is the small things that make my day. Which are the ones that makes yours? 

xo, 

S.A 

Disclaimer: Everything was purchased by myself. I am not being sponsored by the company in mention to talk about the products. All opinions are my own. The picture was taken by me. 

Smiles

Hey Everyone!

It's a nice day. Have you wondered why kids are always smiling? because they see the days pass by and they always think they are nice.

be positive and just give your best big kid's smile!

xo,

S.A

picture from here.

Cravings...

Hey Everyone! 

I have been craving lately so much sweet! I just don't know what is going on. And certainly, I've indulged too much on it. Yesterday I hit rock bottom with it. And how did I noticed that? Well, I ate a full bag of gummy bears, then had a chocolate and then some jelly. I have been the worst lately. 

I started feeling tired and, just not my normal self. I went through various mood swings and just couldn't manage it!

So from today onwards, I have made myself a promise. To cut out sweets. All sort of candy. The bad stuff. I am going for using sweeteners only if necessary, ie: if I drink a coffee. I will not say that I wont eat once every 2 weeks those desserts, just try to make it a healthier option for me to cut it out on week days. 

Saying this, I leave my statement here, the beginning of my no sweet regime. I hope I can pull this off and not succumb to the temptations. I have a really big sweet tooth. Oh dear, Will power. 

xo, 

S.A 

picture from here. 

Workout Playlist 2

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday! I hope this gives you a great start of the week. Music is always the best fuel for your mood and exercising is a great complement for it. Here I leave you with some more songs that I go to while working out. 

1) Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol

2) California Girls- Katy Perry

3) Dancing with Myself- Glee Cast

4) Sexy and I know it- LMFAO (for a little inspiration hahaha) 

5) Magic- B.o.B ft Rivers Cuomo 

The last song is great for aerobics. Hit play and enjoy!

xo,

S.A

picture from here. 

Something Awesome: The Laine Blogger Award!

Hey Everyone!

I am super excited right now, I received a comment in my latest post (which you can see here) by the lovely Becca from Looks and Books with Becca, saying something awesome! She nominated me for the Laine Blogger Award. Becca has a pretty cool blog and I am obsessed! you should check her out and follow her for great posts!

Here are the rules:

1. Tag the Blogger who awarded you
2. Award 5 more bloggers
3. And Jasmine added a few questions :)

  - What is your current beauty obsession?
  - What is one beauty item you wished you owned?
  - What kind of posts are your favourite to write and read?
  - What inspired you to become a blogger?
  - What colour polish are you wearing right now?

a. What is your current beauty obsession?

Lipsticks! I am crazy for them, any kind will do.

b. What is one beauty item you wished you owned?

I wish I owned a Chanel make-up remover for gentle skin! I got this as a sample many years ago at the airport, but have never really focused on saving to splurge on it.

c. What kind of posts are your favourite to write and read?

love to write polish reviews and fun update posts. I love to read/see outfit of the day posts and fashion look books.

d. What inspired you to become a blogger?

I think it was the YouTube beauty community, but I am a shy girl (yes I am) to stand in front of a camera and start talking to it! Maybe in the future I will suck it up and start posting videos too.

e. What colour polish are you wearing right now?

Right now I'm wearing Revlon's Classy and on my ring finger Revlon's mini Sparkle.

Here are the bloggers who I nominate:

Dictator of Taste
Soup for the Girly Soul
My Obsession 
Beauty Glitz
MAD4FASHION

Hope you have a great day! I sure will be jumping up and down of excitement all day :)

xo,

S.A

Fitness Kick!

Hey Everyone! 

Today I was thinking on how I was being so lazy and doing no exercise at all. On the morning I decided to do something about it and do it NOW. So I have made myself of a little at home routine which is super easy and effective for me. 

Normally I would have done an hour long of my stationary bicycle and them do some crunches and legs and many more localized exercises. This was like 3 or 4 years ago while I was still at high-school. I have now figured out that since I am in college I left over this routine because of lack of time and it was just not in my priority list. 

Today I planned this quick, not really time consuming "fitness space" for me to do. It consists of 20 mins on my bicycle separated in 2 times a day. That makes 10 mins in the AM and 10 mins in the PM. I know it seems such a small time and that it will not do a thing for me, but as you know to go from nothing to go to something is really going to help kick start your metabolism again after a long period of time of doing nothing at all. 

Here is how it will work for me. I will try to increase the time after a couple of weeks doing this first part of 10-10, 5 more mins in each daily session. That will leave me with 30 mins of cardio daily which is nice and I will not feel it that much. It is just not that time consuming for my busy schedule and I will still have my fitness regime with my new (rediscovered) healthy eating habits. 

That is all for this post, I just wanted to let you guys know my little new routine and hope it helps you get into the fitness kick I had today specially if you are a busy person and are just lacking movement in your life! 

I hope you are having a great weekend! (just one more day to Easter!Who's excited?)

xo, 

S.A

picture is from here. 

Healthy Snacks: Plain Yoghurt with Strawberries.

Hey Everyone! 

You know that feeling when you just ate something delicious and are just happy and so motivated? Well that is how I feel when I am done eating this snack. Plain Yoghurt and strawberries is so good! I eat this sometimes as my breakfast in a relatively large bowl, but also if you are hungry at some point of the day, you can grab one small dessert dish have half a cup of the natural yoghurt and half a cup of chopped up strawberries and you will feel that you got your sweet dose of food and indulged a little with less than half the calories of a regular dessert or other sweet treats. 

Sometimes I also like to grab a small coffee spoon with honey and spread it on top of the two. It is all so delicious that I am craving that right now! I think finishing this post I'll go to the kitchen and treat myself with this.

YUM! ok I'm gonna end this now to go to the kitchen! 

I hope you guys are having a pretty nice day and enjoy your weekend to come! It's Easter, enjoy it! 

xo, 

S.A

picture from here.  

Happy Monday! Yummy Foods, pretty flowers and cute puppies

Hey everyone! 

I hope your Day has been amazing and just really jump-started your week with a lot of energy and nice thoughts. Yesterday I had to study for my first Finance class test and I think I did pretty good on it. I have a 10 min. bridge right now before I head on to class. 

Lets get this post started. (well I think I already did, but lets get to the important part)

Today I ate a really good and home-made spring spaghetti with Parmesan  cheese and for dessert I had a cheese cake sort-of cake with orange jelly on top. It was so good and healthy which is the best part. Well the dessert might have been the unhealthy part of it, but it's ok to have a small piece and not deprive yourself. 

Earlier in the morning, I was walking to class and found some pretty flowers on the side of the street and loved them, unfortunately I didn't had my camera with me but I will insert a picture sometime this week. 

And as my day is coming to an end, sleepy puppies are the best thing to smile at and make you feel a lot less stressed. 

Aren't they so so cute? little cupcakes of love <3 (Queenie & Cinderella) 

I hope you have a great week! 

xo, 

S.A