VEGANS DO EAT PROTEIN?! | What I Eat in a Day

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My diet has changed since starting to exercise more, namely by eating more protein. Before, I usually ate whatever healthy food I wanted. I did not focus too much on how much fat, carbs or protein I had in my diet. Now I’m working with a personal trainer. He suggested I eat more protein because it will help me build lean muscle. I’ve only had five sessions with my trainer and I’m already seeing differences in my body. I think this protein thing is helping. He wants me to track all my calories, which I’ve been doing some but not every day.

When I wasn’t worrying about my protein intake I would center a meal around either a vegetable or a starch. Now I’m focusing my meals around proteins. So this means I’m eating more tofu, faux meats, legumes, nuts, and seeds. I’ve also started putting protein powder in my morning smoothie bowls. That has lead to a search for a vegan protein powder that doesn’t taste like dirt. When I find one I will share it with everyone. I prefer either a pea or rice based protein powder because consuming too much soy can lead to health issues. Having more protein in my diet so far has been great. I’m staying full longer and therefore eating less. I’m still eating a ton of fresh veggies, but this is a more balanced diet than before. So yes, vegans can get enough protein.

Spring Makeup Essentials

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It’s getting really warm in LA and I’ve completely mixed up my makeup for Spring. I love a natural glowy look as a change from the vampy looks I did throughout winter. As always, all of the products I discuss are cruelty-free. Everything that I’ve using lately is very light and either nude or pink tones. I’ve been very into the pink trend this spring, and I like incorporating it not only in my clothes but also my makeup. I haven’t been putting anything on my eyes besides mascara and sometimes eyeliner so I’m going to focus on face products and lip products. All the face products are geared towards light skinned tones because they are all very pale nudes and pink and won’t be dark enough for darker skin tones. At some point I’ll convince Alan to wear makeup and get to play with darker shades, but at this point I only know how to do makeup for my very pale skin.

Face Products
Hourglass Powders/ Blushes

This pallet was limited edition, but you can buy other pallets from Hourglass and individual powders. I’ve gotten so much use out of this pallet because I use the top powders to set my foundation or as a subtle highlight, and the bottom left two are blushes. The bottom right powder is a bronzer. Not only do I use this on my face, but I also like using them on my eyes. I find putting a swipe of subtle highlighter across my eyes give them some life without doing an entire eyeshadow look. When I set my whole face with the powders I tend to look a bit greasy, but if I just use them where I want a glow it looks great. They are gorgeous powders.

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What I Eat in a Work Day (Vegan)

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In this video I take you through what I eat in a pretty typical workday. For lunch I had leftover Spanish rice with beans and veggies. What I want to talk more about is my adventures learning how to make Spanish rice. Now I used to just buy boxes of Spanish rice mix and always thought it was good. That was until I tried my mother-in-laws. (she isn’t technically my mother-in-law yet, but for simplicities sake I will refer to her as such) Her rice changed my life forever. It took me about three and half years of dating Alan and me constantly saying that I wanted her to teach me how to cook her recipes before she demonstrated how she makes it. Well I would love to give you a recipe for the rice, but there really isn’t one. I’ve watched her make rice many times now and she eyeballs it every single time, which means that I have not evenly remotely mastered the ‘recipe.’

Making the rice isn’t nearly has difficult as you’d think (not that I’m a master), but there are a few different steps. First you have to make the sauce from tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions. Then you have to toast the rice. I have trouble with this step. How the hell can you tell that rice is toasted? In theory, you use a little oil and toast the rice, and then somehow use the right ratio of sauce to water. I will say, I improve my rice a little every time I make it. Hopefully in 30 years my rice will be as wonderful as my mother-in-law’s. Don’t you worry. Once I figure it out I will share the recipe.

Fitbit Charge 2 Review

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I bought my Fitbit Charge 2 about a month ago. My workout plan involved tracking my fitness and thought this would help motivate me to walk more. I purchase it on Amazon for $148.75, opting to buy the Charge 2 instead of any other Fitbit watch because of all the features. Also, I thought the Fitbit Alta (which is thinner) would look silly on my large wrists. I’m glad that I got the Fitbit Charge 2 because it tracks how many floors you’ve walked up and your heart rate, which the Fitbit Alta does not track. They just came out with a new Fitbit Alta HR which does tracks heart rate, but it wasn’t out when I bought mine. I bought mine with the plum band in a large and then bought a nicer band to wear when I’m not exercising. It was hard to tell what size to go with so I opted for the large size which fits fine. I definitely could have bought the small and been fine. 

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So Tired | Vlog

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I thought I would write an actual review of 13 Reasons Why instead of just a ramble at the end of this vlog. I decided to watch 13 Reasons Why because I saw so many ads everywhere and thought maybe it would be good. I wouldn’t really call the show good, but I also enjoyed watching it. It is very much geared towards young adults and I’ve reached a point in life that stories around teens aren’t that interesting to me. The premise of the show is that a girl (Hannah) committed suicided, but left 13 tapes behind explaining why she killed herself and each tape is for a specific person because they contributed to her death. The show deals with both self harm and sexual assault so be warned if that will be triggering. They warn you when episode dealing with self harm and sexual assault. I don’t think they deal with either issue well, but at least they warn you when they will be shown and discussed.

First lets look at the good things about 13 Reasons Why. I thought the acting was pretty good, but nothing special. I was intrigued enough with the story to continue watching the whole 13 episodes so it is definitely gripping. Okay on to the not so great stuff. The structure of the show was just a mess. They did flashbacks to Hannah’s life while then showing characters after she had died. I know what they were going for, but it seemed to glorify her life even though her life was miserable. Anytime they showed her alive everything was colorful and then it would get blue toned when it switched to present time. This also ties into the strange symbolism that seemed to glorify her suicide. There was a strange mix of all the people that the tapes being treated like they all equally contributed to her suicide and having certain acts weigh more on her. Obviously someone publishing a private poem and being raped are not equally harmful, but the show treated them as if they were equal. All in all the show was a complete mess, but I found the story intriguing.

March Beauty Favorites

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Somehow March is already over and it’s time for me to do a run down of all the things that I’ve been loving in the past month. I haven’t tried that many new things, but I found a couple items and I absolutely love them. All these products are favorites, but the brands that I talk about are all wonderful and have so many awesome products. I love finding new cruelty free and vegan products that are amazing. Okay I’ll stop rambling and got on with this.

John Masters Organics Spearmint & Meadowsweet scalp stimulating shampoo

I hauled this a few weeks ago and I have been loving it. The main reason I bought this shampoo was for Alan because he has scalp issues and this has helped him so much. I figured since I got it I would try the shampoo too and it is so great. It smells like mint which is so nice and refreshing and tingly on your scalp. It is also a clarifying shampoo that isn’t too stripping so your hair feels really nice and clean after you wash it. The shampoo conditions on top of clarifying, so your hair feels luxurious after a wash. I can’t even explain how much I love this shampoo. It is completely cruelty free, vegan, organic, Non-GMO, paraben free, sulfate free, and also free of a bunch of other nasty stuff. You can find this product at Whole Foods or order it from their website.

John Masters Organics lavender & avocado intensive conditioner

Now I just raved about John Masters Organics shampoo, but the real haircare star I’ve found is their lavender & avocado intensive conditioner. OH MY GOD is this conditioner good! Seriously it makes your hair feel like you just did an intensive hair mask, but you only need to leave it on your hair for 1-5 minutes. I always let my conditioner sit on my hair while I wash my body in the shower, so having it on my hair for a few minute is no big deal. My hair is very damaged from being bleached over the last year so I need some deep conditioning and this is by far the best conditioner I’ve ever used. Just like all of John Masters Organics other products it doesn’t have anything nasty in it, but this product isn’t completely vegan (it contains honey).

Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses CC cream in “Sheer Nude”

I’ve been on the search of a sunscreen that is natural and doesn’t make me break out. I have ever sensitive skin so tons of things cause me to have horrible break outs. Andalou Naturals CC cream is the only sunscreen that I’ve tried that hasn’t irritated my skin. Also, I’m so happy that I’ve finally found a sunscreen that doesn’t break me out. You can’t get very much coverage from this CC cream, but it works great under foundation. I haven’t had any issue putting other cream or powder products over this CC cream. One of my favorite things about this product is the beautiful rose scent. It smells amazing and the scent lingers so you’ll smell like roses for a little while after you apply the product.

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer in “faire beige”

I definitely ended up buying Tarte Shape Tape because of beauty gurus I watch on youtube. I’m so glad youtube made me buy it because it is a great concealer. First of all, this is twice the size of any other concealers I own so it’s good size for the money. It also doesn’t crease under my eyes and has great coverage. I haven’t tried using it on any spots because I got a shade slightly lighter than my skin to highlight, but I think it would work great to cover any spots as well as concealing your under eyes. I haven’t used any other concealer since getting it so I strongly recommend it.

Bite Beauty Matte Crème Lip Crayon in “leche”

I got this lip shade for Christmas and haven’t used it much until this month. I felt like it was too light for me because my lips are so pigmented, but I love how it creates a natural makeup look. For a really natural look, it’s is absolute perfection. If I have anything too heavy on though, I feel like it is too light. I love the formulation of Bite Beauty lipsticks because they are so nourishing. Most of the time I can’t wear a lipstick all day without my lips drying out, but the Bite Beauty lipsticks doesn’t dry my lips out so I can wear them comfortably. All in all, it is a great lipstick and even if you aren’t attracted to this shade I would recommend any of their lipsticks.

Neighbors Broke My Sink | Vlog

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I’m always on the hunt for new cruelty free and vegan beauty products and I’ve been liking using more natural products lately. So I decided to wonder around the beauty department of Whole Foods in search of some nice new finds. I discovered that Whole Foods sells John Masters Organics which is very exciting because I love their products and now I can buy them easily. That wasn’t the most exciting thing though. Whole Foods sells single use face masks by Andalou Naturals which is a cruelty free and vegan brand.

In this video I tried their Instant Smoothing mask and absolutely loved it. First of all it smells like the most beautiful roses you’ve ever smelled and it also made my skin so happy. I didn’t show amazing results right after trying it, but the next morning I woke up to my skin looking clearer and being super soft. Since trying that mask and a sheet mask for the brand I decided to buy some other from the brand and I’ve loved everything that I’ve tried. I’ll do a more in depth review once I’ve tried everything for longer.

Relax and Take a Breath

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Sometimes that best thing to do is just take a break from our fast paced lives and relax. My favorite way of doing this is spending time in nature. It brings me joy and calms me down. I’ve had a very stressful few weeks and I need to take some time and not write a long blog post. I thought I’d write a little something as a friendly reminder to take time for yourself.

Hiking in the Hollywood Hills | Vlog

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I absolutely loving hiking and I always have. I mean my mom might argue that when I was little I hated it, but from what I remember I’ve always enjoyed it. I love getting into nature and just walking. It helps me clear my mind and have time to just relax. I would say it’s nice to get some fresh air, but I live in LA and the air definitely isn’t fresh. Like many things in my life I’ve let this love slide over the years and haven’t been consistent with hiking, but I decided 2017 was going to be different.

My first hike this year was on January 1st and I made a pact with Alan, Gavrielle, and Brad that we will hike once a week for the rest of the year or until it gets to be 100 degrees at 9am and we can’t do it anymore. I haven’t been every single week because life has gotten in the way. For instance this weekend is my birthday weekend and I have plans everyday so I won’t be able to spend the two hours in the morning hiking. But I have hiked more in the past three months then I have in years and I’m very happy about that. It is such an enjoyable form of exercise and I highly recommend everyone to go out and hike.