My Healthy Lifestyle Diary

Garnier Light Complete Multi-action whitening cream

2012-06-23T13:22:00.001+08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately on how to deal with my acne scars due to the breakouts that I experience while using retin a. While taking a bath I remembered one product that I've used before and this is the Garnier multi-action whitening cream. I've used this consistently for almost a year so I decided to purchased it again. This morning I went to department store and bought Garnier.

For my past experience it really whitens my skin and it also lightened my acne scars though it is still visible.

It does control my oily face as it says in the package "8HR SHINE-FREE LOOK" but for me it only last for 3-5 hours

This product is good for preventing acne marks and dark spots, it has also UVA/UVB filters. It smells like a lemon.

It's very affordable and it only cost Php 112.55 for the 40ml tube and the smaller one I think it cost Php 65.00.

Just a reminder that everyone has different skin type, it might work for me but for others it might not work.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub

2012-06-22T20:59:00.000+08:00

I really wanted to share this product that I've been using for over 2 weeks now and I'm loving it, and this is the St. Ives fresh skin, apricot scrub invigorating.

It has natural extract from apricot and I like the scrub because it does not dissolve which really exfoliates and deep cleans my skin. I've been using this every other night since it was written in the direction to use it 3-4 times a week, ever since I use this I feel the difference in my skin and it feels smoother and yeah I'm really happy with the results.
I just bought the small one just to try it and this cost I think Php66.00 and I will definitely buy this when I run out and I'll be making sure to get the bigger bottle.
two thumbs up!, Yay!

Skin Update

2012-06-13T11:24:00.000+08:00

Yehey I'm back!
I'm making an update about retin a which I started using it last march. I've decided to stop it because my pimples are getting worse, other people says it lasted about 2 to 3 months after they see good result on their skin but for me it did not work. One tube lasted about 2 1/2 months.

I have the same skin problem with my sister and I noticed that her face looks amazing than the last time I saw her and so I asked her what she's applying in her face and she told me that she only use tender care which is a mild soap to wash her face and eskinol with dalacin-c for toner and that's it. I was thinking to give it a try. Now I'm using it for almost a monthe and I notice that my acne marks that was cause by retin a faded while others are still fading. Though I still have break outs during my menstrual cycle but Im happy with the result of eskinol with dalacin-c right now.

For my routine, I'm still using celeteque facial wash, after washing my face I then use eskinol and then I put moisturizer.

What I like about eskinol and dalacin-c is that it really gets the dirt that was not removed with just washing my face and I can really tell because after swiping the cotton ball in my face and neck the cotton gets dark.

There are lots of varieties of eskinol and the one I'm using is the new eskinol dermaclear- C facial cleanser, I choose this because it says in the bottle "pimple fighting".
mixture: 135ml of eskinol and 150 mg of dalacin-c then shake.

As you can see it's almost over and it lasted over a month. I bought this for, I think Php 56.00, it's really cheap yet very effective.

I'm back

2012-06-11T06:43:00.002+08:00

Hi everyone! it's been so long since I last updated my blog, but now I'm back and there are lots of things I need to tell you:

First: I abandoned my blog - during my vacation I don't have time to sit around and just update my blog or do the typing because I was asked by my mom to help her with her business specially when my mom and two other sisters went on a vacation to visit my grandparents and the place where she grew, so I was asked to substitute her.

Second: I lost track of my weight loss program. Remember my "Gaining three kilos in just two weeks" post? When I arrived at our house I lost 3 kilos but after 2 weeks of staying there I gained what I lost and it's because my family loves food, specially my dad, he really loves rice and breads. When our family is complete he will buy delicious foods and during meals he won't stop calling us unless we're already at the dining table and he wants us to eat rice and I can't say no, while eating I didn't notice that I already eat a lot because we are all chit chatting, exchanging jokes specially my brother he acts as a comedian in our family. "Oh! I'm missing them"

But now I'm back in Dumaguete because summer is already over, I can now get back into my goal and fix my lifestyle. Well my weight right now is 110 lbs and I think this is my normal weight because even If I don't go on a diet my weight stays the same. My mom always tells me that my body is normal, not too fat or too skinny, but for me it's not, because I have big arms, big thighs and calves and that's what I want to reduce but of course I know there is no such exercise that directly targets the arms or the thighs you must do it equally. Last April when I did a body fat analysis I'm so happy knowing that I'm still in a normal range but I don't know now if I'm still in a normal range because it's been a month. Anywayzz today I'm starting to make new goals and plans on what to do because my first attempt failed but now I will really make sure that I won't fail again and that I will reach my goal. So stay tuned on my blog.. thnx! God bless and more power to us!

Avocado shake

2012-04-09T08:12:00.000+08:00

Avocado is one of the most recommended fruits as well as a food for bodybuilding and medicine for cholesterol-related heart diseases.

Also, did you know that avocado or an avocado extract is good for prevention or treatment of “breast cancer” as well as “prostate cancer”?

Some information states that a toxin found in avocado can kill cancer cell. However, the toxin mentioned here is not identified completely. Scientists believe that the toxin has a great effect on the myocardium (heart muscle tissue) as well as on tissues of the lactating mammary gland.

Although many farmers believe that fresh and dried leaves, bark, skin, and seeds are toxic to cattle, goats, horses, rabbits, and birds, there is no definite scientific explanation for that.

Do not worry about the fruit meat of avocado. There are no dangerous toxic elements for human consumption as well as for animals.

Creamy rich avocado is considered the world's healthiest fruit, because of its nutrient contents such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and reasonable calories in it.

Avocados contain “oleic acid”, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol.

In our studies, patients with high cholesterol levels who ate avocados showed clear health improvements. After a week of avocado diet, patients had significant decrease in cholesterol contents.

Avocado is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.

Adequate intake of potassium can help guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke.

Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. One cup of avocado has about 23% of the Daily Value for folate, a nutrient important for heart health.

Another study showed that individuals who consume folate-rich diets have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke than those who do not consume much of this vital nutrient.

Not only avocado has a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which has recently been shown to offer significant protection against breast cancer, but it is also a very concentrated dietary source of the "carotenoid lutein". It also contains measurable amounts of related carotenoids plus significant quantities of vitamin E.

This article is from http://www.pyroenergen.com/articles07/avocado-health-benefits.htm

Yummy! do you know that I really love to eat ice and I don't know why.

This morning when I was making an avocado shake my brother scold me because it's too early to make a shake and the weather is still cold.

Gaining 3 kilos in just two weeks

2012-04-06T20:38:00.001+08:00

“Oh my gosh I gained 3 kilos in just 2 weeks! Imagine 3 kilos.” my reaction when I weigh my self yesterday.

When I arrived from Dumaguete I was so happy when I weigh myself and found out that I loss 3 kilos after 2 weeks since I started my diet plan but yesterday when I weigh myself again I can't believe that I gained 3 kilos.

I ask myself what did I do for the last 2 weeks that I gained that much weight.

My lifestyle changed when I got home from my eating habits to my workout and exercise because I can’t have my free time unlike when I’m in Dumaguete I buy and cook my own food, and I can follow my diet and workout plan.

When I'm home, I eat rice three times a day because my family especially my dad who owns a rice field used to eat rice. I cannot skip meals because my dad won’t stop calling us to eat unless we’re already on the table.

I can’t follow my workout plan because there are lots of unexpected occasions and other things to do. For the first three days of staying at home, I did morning yoga for 15 minutes and cardio exercise and at night my brother taught me a little of mixed martial arts. The next day my mom took me with her to CDO so that I can be her assistant. (by the way my mom is a business women and my father is a farmer and now he’s concentrating in his sugarcane, rubber tree and coffee, he used to plant potatoes, carrots, cabbage, etc.) I’ve been here in CDO for almost two weeks but today we’re going home ( yehey! ). I can't find time to exercise because I'm busy helping my mom with her business.

By reviewing my lifestyle for the last two weeks, I knew I need to adjust my lifestyle while staying here in my hometown like improving my self-discipline and finding new motivation to achieve my desired weight.

Yoga: Relieving stress

2012-03-16T20:20:00.000+08:00

I just started yoga a week ago and I totally fell in love with it. I added yoga in my morning exercise and every time I perform different poses like the inverted triangle its like tearing my skin specially in my legs and my sides because we are not flexible when our body was rest for a long hours or period.

Aside from flexibility, there is also yoga for weight loss and yoga that helps relieves stress and this is the reason why I fell in love with yoga.

It was a busy day for a student like me because it was our finals week and I need to finish all the requirements, that time I was copying three articles with three pages long (without summarizing) for my physics subject and I don't know what our professor was thinking letting us copy paste an article hand to hand. Anyway, I was having a break from copy paste hand to hand combat and read some fitness magazine when I came across an article about yoga for relieving stress and I was thinking "why don't u try it?" so I downloaded yoga videos and did it for 15 minutes while doing the last pose which is corpse or death pose I feel so calm, relax and stress free.

It was my first time doing yoga and it's not hard because I already have a flexible body but not flexible as a gymnast and hopefully through yoga I will enhance my flexibility.

To read more about yoga visit http://www.yogajournal.com and http://www.wholeliving.com/134761/stress-rescue

Day 12: Retin A

2012-03-12T14:03:00.000+08:00

I still experience breakouts on my cheeks and near my jawline but when I wake up the next morning the pimple is completely dry and starts to peel. After one or two days the pimple heals leaving discoloration on my skin.

So far I did not experience irritation, redness or skin burning and I noticed that my scars are a lot better. Twenty minutes after washing my face with celeteque I apply this product to the areas that has skin problem with a very, very small amount and avoiding the sides of my nose, eye area, and the sides of my lips. 15 to 20 minutes after, I apply celeteque moisturizer to keep my skin hydrated.

...some are just discoloration due to previous pimples and some are new ones.

Craving Dictionary (from candy magazine)

2012-03-06T12:52:00.000+08:00

When you feel like you'd do anything to get your hands on a plate of hot , crispy french fries, it's easy to chalk it up to PMS or emotional eating.

There are lots of factors that can contribute to your cravings aside from just wanting to pig out.

You're hungry for: Chocolate

Your body needs: Magnesium

You're experiencing: Insomnia, depression, fatigue, PMS, anxiety

Eat: Nuts, seeds, or dark chocolate. Chocolate sends off happiness signals in the brain, but remember, the lain milk variety doesn't count. You're better of munching on a handful of almonds instead!

You're hungry for: French fries, fried chicken or anything oily and fatty

Your body needs: Calcium

You're experiencing: Insomnia, weak bones, PMS, high blood pressure

Eat: Cheese, sesame, broccoli

You're hungry for: Potato chips, or hamburgers

Your body needs: salt

You're experiencing: Fatigue, either from too much exercising or undergoing stress

Eat: Sushi, sashimi, or sardines. Beware: people who eat food containing too much salt can get so used to it that they crave it all the time.

You're hungry for: Sweets

Your body needs: Sugar

You're experiencing: Bad moods and crankiness because of a blood-sugar imbalance

Eat: Fresh fruit, raisins, or sweet potatoes.

You're hungry for: Bread

Your body needs: Protein

You're experiencing: Muscle aches and pain (especially if you've been exercising a lot!)

Eat: Grilled chicken, eggs, avocados, or peanut butter. These healthier choices will take longer to digest than carbohydrates!

Day 5: Retin A

2012-03-05T18:53:00.000+08:00

              It's almost been a week since I started using retin A.
In my third day, acne started surfacing in my cheeks and jawline but it's not that worst and I did not feel any irritation or redness on my face. Since this medication makes my skin dry I just apply moisturizer and
I'm using celeteque with spf 15 morning and night. One thing I like about celeteque is that it is a water based and non comodogenic.

               I wanted to stop using retin A because it might worsen my acne but they say that it is also a part of medication because it is cleaning the skin. So maybe I should just wait for the result and I do not want my money to put into waste for buying retin A tretinoin.

I hope that after this purging stage my skin will become clearer.

Retin-A Tretinoin

2012-02-29T20:53:00.000+08:00

I just bought retin-A this afternoon because I've read a lot of good reviews and feedback about this product that made their skin clear so I was tempted to try
because I wanted to get rid of my acne scars and stop breakouts. It says here that acne and photoaging treatment, but some reviews that I’ve read this also helps treat big pores and acne scarring. I am so excited to use this product tonight and at the same time I'm scared because based on their experience there is a purging stage in which acne will surface because it cleans the inner part of the skin first. This purging stage will last for about 2 to 4 weeks and based on the leaflet, six months of therapy may be required before definite beneficial effects are seen.

Formulation: Each gram contains 500 mcg tretinoin, stearic acid, isopropyl myristate, polyxyl 40 stearate, stearyl alcohol, xanthan gum, sorbic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene.

It is suggested to apply moisturizer and sunscreen during the day because this product makes the skin sensitive and dry. Side effects includes redness, peeling, burns and sensitivity. It was also suggested to use a mild or water base facial wash and moisturizer.

Tonight will be my first try and the one I bought is 500mcg/g cream because they don't have the smaller dose and this cost Php 208, this is available at any drugstore like mercury drugs.

I hope that the purging stage will not take too long and this product will help me with my skin problem. Good luck to me!

Weight loss: Day 5

2012-02-28T19:50:00.000+08:00

Today is my fifth day of my weight loss program. I wasn't able to record my first four day because I was busy with school activities.

When I woke up this morning, I drink one glass of water because there was an article that I've read that drinking water first thing in the morning will help your metabolism to be more active throughout the day. Then I did fifteen minutes of exercise like jumping jacks, lunges, burpee and hula hoop. It really feels great to exercise in the morning and it helps me adjust my mood.

I learn from Cassey Ho a pilates instructor and one of my favorite youtube fitness guru, that our metabolism burns as twice for 15 to 45 minutes after exercise, so this is a great opportunity to eat a lot because calories will be burn easily.

For extra workout, what I did is that instead of riding a pedicab to my destination, I just walk my way and instead of riding elevator, I just used the stairs. It's really tiring because I'm not used to it but I'm just thinking that if I do this I will burn more calories.

I'm tired! I just finish my 30 minutes workout, what I did is that I downloaded some of Billy Blanks taebo exercise and did it 45 minutes after I ate my early dinner, after taebo exercise I did five minutes of ab exercise to slowly build up my abs. After exercising I drink C2 which is an apple flavoured green tea to keep me hydrated and rest for 30 minutes then go shower.

So this is basically my workout for today.

My last P.E

2012-02-28T12:51:00.000+08:00

Last sunday we had our PE intersection assessment in futsal. This is my last P.E and I will miss this. I had so much fun playing with my teams and the others. I will miss my team and the bond that we made while were practicing aiming to win
but in the end we didn't win but the most important is "we enjoy being a team and working as a team."

This is my team and I love them and I'm gonna miss them.

This picture was taken at the end of the program, this is my classmates but half of my classmates went home because it's already late in the evening.

No matter what obstacles we've been through, no matter how tired we are, no matter how haggard we look . "d jud mawala ang picutre2x".
God bless!!

Nail art: Philippine flag design

2012-02-24T10:56:00.000+08:00

Things you’ll need:

Nail polish white, yellow, red, blue, base coat

Toothpick

optional: Quick dry, nail art brush blue and red

Step 1: apply base coat to protect your original nails.

Step 2: apply two coats of white onto your nails.

Step 3: using a toothpick, dip the tip on the red nail polish and slowly make a line starting from the middle to the end, and from the start of the line diagonally. If you have a nail art stiper you can also use it too make it more easier

Step 4: fill in with red using the regular brush of the nail polish.

Step 5: repeat step 3 and 4 using color blue

Step 6: make a small dot on the center using a toothpick dip in yellow to mark a sun, and small x on the edges to make a three star

Step 7: apply a clear coat to protect you design, and using the quick dry drop a little bit on the design.

*You may also design all of your nails or choose one nail and paint the other either blue, red or white, just like mine

Hope this help!!!

Weight loss: My preparation

2012-02-23T13:57:00.002+08:00

These are my preparation for a healthy lifestyle and for my weight loss journey.

Height: 60 inches

Weight: 110.23 pounds

GOAL: 90 pounds DATE: July 21, 2012

Age: 18 y/o

BMI= weigh/(height)² x 703 Calculate your BMI

my bmi =21.53 according to my age I’m still normal

BMR= 655 + (4.35 x weight in pound) + (4.7 x height) – (4.7 x age) Calculate your BMR

BMR (basal metabolic rate)- represents the number of calories I need to survive without doing nothing or sleeping in my bed for the whole day.

my bmr = 1331.9

AMR= (BMR x 1.375) (lightly active) Calculate your AMR

AMR (active metabolic rate) - represents the number of calories needed to do exercise or playing sports or something.

my amr = 1831.37

*to lose weight, increase level of physical activity or decrease caloric intake.

If you reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories every day you will lose about one pound a week (3500 is equal to one pound).

After I reach my goal I will still continue my exercises to maintain my weight.

<---------- this is me and I know I have a very big thighs and calves and also my arms. :)

NOTE: Don’t go below 1200 calories each day

Burn calories than you consume!!

Have FUN!

Weight loss: First things first!!

2012-02-22T22:18:00.002+08:00

    Since I just started my healthy living today and my weight loss diary. There are lots of factors to consider to have an effective diet or to lose weight.

1.   BMI (Body Mass Index) is to know whether you are normal, obese, malnourished. Calculate BMI

    2.   Know your BMR- this represents the amount of calories you need to do nothing. Calculate BMR
          Know your AMR- this represents the number of calories you need to do exercises or sports you love. Calculate AMR

    3.   Set your Goals - record your current weight and record your goal weight so that you know how much weight you need to loss. Once you’ve set your weight goal it's time to set the date. Don't set a goal to lose 20 pounds in just one week because it is not healthy for a body

    4.   Exercise- even if you track your calorie intake and eat less calories a day to lose weight it won't work unless you exercise.

5. And last, keep motivated.

What's this all about?

2012-02-22T21:14:00.001+08:00

I am a type of person that does not mingle with others so much because I have an oily face, acne prone skin, dull and dry hair and I’m afraid that they might reject me and I admit that I’m afraid of rejections, also I'm afraid of what they will say about me.

I realized that the more I look down on myself the more I become "KJ" or killjoy as what they say and I noticed that I don't gain more friends because at school whenever I have a free time I don't have anyone to be with and it makes me miss my best friend. So I've decided to start a healthy lifestyle and I've researched a lot about proper diet, skin care and everything about healthy lifestyle, and decided to have a blog as my diary. I will try to overcome my fears and will start to mingle with others to gain more friends.

Lesson learned: start to appreciate yourself TODAY

and to live a HEALTHY lifestyle.......

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139.14).