Ashley Grant

If you’re looking for one more reason to add “eat healthier” to your New Year’s resolutions, you’ve come to the right place. Your diet has a significant effect on the health of your skin, as what you put in your body shows up on your skin. It is for this reason that more and more people are turning to health supplements. It is not just the quality of your skin that can be improved through taking supplements either. For example, some people have found success with VigRX Plus male enhancement pills as a way to maintain a healthy sex life as well, alongside their healthy diet to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Of course, no ones like to think too much about being unable to perform in the bedroom, but it is important to remember that there are a number of solutions out there that men can use to enhance their sexual health. For example, erectile dysfunction can often be remedied through the use of pharmaceutical products such as cialis. Ultimately, if you are considering using supplements or other products to improve your sex life, it is fundamental that you do your research first.

In today’s post I want to tell you about the foods you should be eating to prevent yourself from getting acne, and what you should be avoided if you have acne. Now, don’t misunderstand – what you eat is actually only one of the causes of acne, but it’s still important to factor into your skincare. A lot of people suffer from acne, so it is not uncommon. It’s just that some people suffer from it more than others. So when it comes to wanting to find a way of managing the acne, it comes as no surprise to find that someone people may decide to use alternative methods like CBD oil, that is said to help with inflammation. Additionally, with the use of a Cbdistillery coupon, for example, people can save money on CBD products that they hope to buy to treat their acne.

If your acne is especially painful or aggressive and you are watching what you eat, then perhaps it’s time to see a dermatologist like Dr. Amy Witt. But, until then, eat as many acne fighting foods as possible and stay well clear of the bad foods below!

Possible Acne Fighting Foods

– Salmon, carrots, spinach and broccoli: These foods are rich in vitamin A which helps regulate the skin cycle. Salmon and other cold-water fish also boost your body’s omega-3 fatty acids which inhibit inflammation and helps with healthy skin cell growth.

– Turkey and almonds: These are rich in zinc which makes for a non-acne friendly environment on your skin.

– Avocados, sweet potatoes, leafy greens: Foods like this are rich in vitamin E which calms the skin. Vitamin C also does a great job of calming the skin and you can find it in foods like grapefruit and oranges.

– Tuna, eggs and brown rice: These foods produce selenium which helps protect skin from damage. As a side benefit, selenium also helps prevent dandruff. This vitamin is best ingested along with vitamin E for the best defense against acne.

– Wash all that healthy food down with a big glass of water: Although there are no vitamins in water, this thirst-quenching beverage is crucial for fighting acne because it helps flush out any toxins that may cause it. You should already be consuming eight glasses of water a day for health and hydration, and this is just one more benefit of drinking it.

Food to Avoid When You Have Acne

It is true, that there is no concrete, scientific guarantee that avoiding certain foods when you have a breakout will help you get rid of it. However, with all of the evidence that studies have given us that certain foods can make your skin worse, perhaps not eating them is a good idea. With that in mind, here are some of the foods you might want to steer clear of if you find yourself faced with a breakout:

All grains and simple sugars (i.e. sodas, doughnuts, candy): Grains and simple sugars cause an influx of insulin which can increase the production of testosterone in your body. The testosterone causes a substance called sebum to be secreted in your pores which is a breeding ground for acne. Grains and simple sugars can also increase inflammation, which can potentially cause acne as well.

Dairy, specifically cow’s milk that has been treated with growth hormones: Consumption of this type of dairy can cause increased levels of androgens in the body which also leads to the production of sebum. Androgens and testosterone are both male hormones.

“Typical” junk food: Stay away from pretzels, chips, cookies and cakes as these are high glycemic foods that are just as detrimental to your body as the grains and simple sugars mentioned above. Avoid fast food too because the greases in these fried meals can cause massive inflammation leading to even more breakouts.

Sushi made with white rice: White rice is a high glycemic food that can cause increased levels of insulin. If you must have sushi while enduring a breakout, either get it with brown rice, or no rice at all.

Alcohol: Okay, so this isn’t a food, but alcohol is laden with sugar especially when mixed with additives for cocktail recipes. Again, insulin increase equals acne breeding ground. Essentially your goal should be to avoid foods that will cause dramatic increases in male hormones, insulin levels and inflammation as all three can wreak havoc on your skin.

Is it truly the most wonderful time of the year? Perhaps for young ones and teachers eagerly awaiting winter break, and children aged one to 100 that are excited about the holidays, yes. However, for our skin, it may not be the most wonderful time of the year. Dry Skin in Winter is a common complaint for many but thankfully there are things you can do to combat this. Dry and flaky skin, itchiness from all those clothes we have to pile on, the bite of that winter air – old Jack Frost can leave our skin craving those warmer months. If this sounds familiar, below are some things that may help your skin to feel better all winter long. Making sure your home is no cooler than it needs to be will be essential. Look for new heat pumps Charlottesville if yours is currently damaged.

Your Four Steps to Winter Ready Skin

1. Give Yourself a Hand (Moisturizer)

Dare I say, during those cold winter months, the hands take the brunt of the damage. Most people wear long sleeves, pants and jackets, but the hands are another story. Unless you’re frequently donning gloves or mittens, which most people don’t until it gets “really cold,” your hands are being constantly exposed to the frigid temps. This dries them out, and can lead to cracking and bleeding. It’s critical you use a good moisturizer, and many experts think it should be one that is glycerin-based. You should at least be putting it on when you get up in the morning and before bed. And, put on some more when your hands feel dry. Moisturizing gloves while you sleep my also be beneficial.

2. Remedy Your Chapped Lips

First, one thing that can actually help you a ton is drinking more water. Staying hydrated may not be at the top of your mind because you’re not as thirsty when it’s so cold, but you need to be drinking plenty of water all year long.

Second, wear a quality lip balm or chapstick that has sunscreen in it. Not only will this help moisturize and mend your chapped kisser, it will protect as well.

Third, and this is the hardest one for most people, don’t lick your lips. Believe it or not, licking your lips can make the chapped factor worse!

Finally, the winter weather wreaks havoc on the lips, but you shouldn’t exfoliate them. Instead, make sure you are using a good quality lip balm to avoid chapped lips. Learn why exfoliation is bad for your lips here.

3. Exfoliate and Moisturize All Over

Perhaps even more so than the rest of the year, you’ll have dead skin that needs to be exfoliated away. When you exfoliate, you’re replenishing your skin by removing the dead layer of skin cells. Twice a week you should be gently buffing away these cells making way to the new cells to develop without anything in their way. While bathing, use a nonabrasive exfoliant, and after you’ve dried off, moisturize from head to toe. Don’t overdo it with exfoliation, twice a week should be fine, but don’t neglect doing it either. Exfoliating helps replenish skin and improve your moisturizer’s effectiveness.

Exfoliation allows moisturizers to penetrate the skin more easily, and during the winter you really want to maintain some moisture. Moisturizers will help prevent your skin from becoming too dry in the harsh winter weather. You may also want to consider moisturizing more than once a day.

Exfoliation and moisturizing alone will make a massive difference in repairing your skin. However, there are also products you can use at home to heal some of the damaging effects from the sun you may have endured over the summer.

4. Protect The Skin You’re in

It’s easy to forget that the sun is still shining during the winter, especially when you’re so cold you’re wearing three or four layers of clothing. But, believe it or not, you can still experience sun damage that could lead to skin cancer if you’re not protecting your skin from the sun in the winter. Sunscreen is a must all year long.

Additional Things to Consider When Prepping For Winter

– You don’t need to replace all of your products, but some experts do recommend using a heavier cream or an ointment as your moisturizer.

– Although you definitely should exfoliate twice a week, it’s imperative that you use a gentle exfoliation product. It’s also important not to do it too frequently. If you’re experiencing too much redness and irritation, you may be exfoliating too often.

– Cracked heel skin is pretty common, and it only gets worse in the winter months. All the dry air can exacerbate the cracking making walking painful, and putting you at more risk of infection. One thing that can help in a big way is to moisturize your feet with something like Vaseline. Before bed, don your feet with petroleum jelly, wrap them in plastic wrap, and cover with socks. You should wake up with your heels much more moisturized, and hopefully your heels will begin to heal.

The winter months may be frigid and drying, but your skin doesn’t have to suffer. May your skin be merry and bright. And, may you be protected from winter’s cold bite!

It may be hard to believe, but even with all the advancements in skin care, people are still destroying their skin daily. Some people don’t even realize they’re doing it, and what’s worse is some people think things they are doing are helping their skin when in fact they couldn’t be more wrong. Check out the 5 common ways people are damaging their skin and see if you’re guilty of it too and how you can stop it.

You may think that you’re doing everything right when it comes to your skincare routine, when in fact, you could be causing more harm than good. But that’s nothing to be ashamed of. When it comes to your skin, everything that you do becomes a learning process, and you’ll soon establish the best cause of action and products to help you get better skin. One thing that you may have never linked with your skin, is the use of CBD oil. Did you know that it could help with conditions like Psoriasis and acne, (you can learn more at https://natureandbeyond.com)? This could help with the condition of your skin, and if you try to avoid the five common ways in which it can be damaged, then it won’t be long until you have the perfect skin.

1. Despite your best efforts you are killing your skin with UV rays. Just because you put on sunscreen in the morning, does NOT mean you’re protected all day. Just 15 minutes can cause a burn that leads to premature wrinkles.

A re-application of sunscreen midday might be a good idea even if you’re just going to be in the sun from your office to your home during your commute.

Oh and by the way, don’t think for a moment that there is anything such as a safer ray. Many folks make the mistake of believe that the rays of a tanning salon are better for you.

2. You’re exfoliating too much/ too often

Yes, exfoliating is great for your skin, but you can do too much. For most people exfoliation shouldn’t be done more than 2-3 times per week and for others it should be done even less! Over-exfoliation can cut, break, tear and wear down your skin leading to rashes, breakouts and more

3. You use soap to wash your face, and worse you do it with a wash cloth.

The soap you use on your body is not okay for your face. Why? Because not matter how gentle you think it is, it’s likely too abrasive for your more sensitive skin on your face.

As for the wash cloths, use those on your body, not your face. A washcloth can be too rough and breakdown your skin and could have more bacteria than you realize on it.

4. You don’t take off your makeup before bed.

Sleeping is one of those wonderful times that your skin’s cells can renew and heal, but if your face is covered in makeup at bed time you’re blocking the pores and asking for breakouts.

5. You don’t get enough facials.

Not only does it feel much better to have someone else care for your skin, having a professional give you a facial can give you additional insight as to what your skin is missing and help you learn the proper way to do facials to yourself at home. Plus, who wouldn’t want to visit day spas austin (if you live in and around this area of Texas) to help get your skincare game on top form? You may also learn a thing or two while you’re there.

Now, we want to hear from you. Are you guilty of any of the above bad skin acts? If so, now is the time to change! Stay tuned to our blog for more great ideas to help take better care of your skin.

UPDATE: I’ve heard that Divining Rod has gone out of business since this post was created. Because of this I recommend using a pinot noir or your favorite red wine blend in place of the Divining Rod Divine Red

I was given some bottles of Divining Rod wine to play with for#Halloween, and these are the Zombie Virus shooters I created!

Ingredients:
– 1 cup of Divining Rod Divine Red wine Pinot Noir or your favorite blend of red wine
– 2 oz rum
– Pinch of nutmeg
– Pinch of cloves
– Pinch of ground cinnamon
– Lemon-lime soda

To Prepare:
1. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
2. Shake and strain into a measuring cup with a spout (for ease of pouring)
3. Carefully pour into test tube shot glasses almost all the way to the top
4. Carefully finish off each test tube with lemon-lime soda
5. Shoot and enjoy this tricky treat!

Makes approximately 6 shots

Today, for the first time, I took an aqua fit class. I joined a gym this week with the full intention of getting healthier and taking better care of my body. After three attempts at Zumba in one week, however, it hit me that I might have been trying to over do things. So, I decided to try what I was told would be an intense workout that wouldn’t hurt my joints as much – Aqua Fit.

The idea of the class seemed simple enough. Get into a pool, workout for 50 minutes, have less impact, but get a full body workout and never be able to feel whether or not I was sweating.

I arrived about 15 minutes early and there were already people in the pool. One of the gals in the pool, Diane, is an avid fan of Aqua Fit, but she was there early to complete her workout before the class would begin because she had to be somewhere. Still, Diane took a few minutes to school me in what to expect from the class. She ran me through the exercises that the instructor would be calling out. Thank goodness she did because it helped me know how to do each of the moves in advance without looking so much like a bumbling newbie. Don’t get me wrong, it was still VERY clear I was a newbie, but it wasn’t “as clear” as it would have been.

The class began just a few minutes after 9 a.m. The instructor got everyone’s attention and we began. Simple movements at first for about 20 minutes. We ran through jumping jacks, scissor kicks, frog leaps, etc… Then, the part that got my attention – water weights. Now, out of water these things barely weigh a pound together, but under water they felt like 5-10 pound dumbbells, and the faster we moved them, the heavier they felt. Nonetheless, I was bound and determined to get through the entire 50 minute class.

The thing that shocked me the most is how warm I was getting in the frigid water. I was moving my body more than I anticipated and doing my best to keep up with these Aqua Fit Class regulars. Ultimately, I made it the entire 50 minutes, but when as I stepped out of the water I was shocked out how heavy I felt. I’ve been in pools before, but somehow working out in one made me feel more weightless than just swimming and splashing around. Stepping out made me fully aware of my body’s mass.

I walked into the locker room, changed into my clothes for the day and headed home with the full intention of getting some serious writing work done. My adrenaline was pumping. I felt high energy. I grabbed breakfast for my husband and me and then drove the 10 minutes home to eat and start my day. Suddenly after eating though, the exhaustion came over me. This was another result I hadn’t expected. How hard I had worked without even realizing it in the pool hit me hard. Before I knew it I could feel it was nap time. I barely made it to the bed and promptly passed the hell out.

Planning to only sleep two hours and then get to work proved troublesome. Amazingly, when my alarm went off I simply did NOT want to move. Yep, my whole body could feel all the work I had put it through. I managed to get out of bed and fix lunch and now I’m sitting at my computer writing this. My arms and legs are sore. I’m still pretty tired. But, I feel good. I am happy knowing that I made it through the 50 minutes and honestly can’t wait to try this workout again.

Perhaps after a few more of these classes I can start doing Zumba again. But, for now I can at least rest assured that in the water, though I’m not hurting my joints that have been in pain, I’m getting a thorough and intense workout.

Save

Save

I’m having one of those days where I want to sell and give away almost everything of mine that isn’t nailed down. Do you ever look around your living space and feel like that? I want to keep my cameras and my laptop but I am seriously just looking at everything else in my apartment wishing I could just put it all up for sale on Craigslist or something like that and start over with my clothes, my dishes, furniture, etc…

I know that everything I have wouldn’t get much money but for some reason this morning instead of wanting to clean anything, I just want to get rid of it all. Tell me I’m not alone in this feeling.

I’ve talked about this before, but I have a desire to live more of a minimalistic lifestyle. I have watched the movie Jack Reacher a few times and one of my favorite things about the character Jack Reacher is he has no belongings. There is a scene in the beginning of the film where he walks into a thrift store, buys clothes to change into and then donates the ones he was wearing when he walked in on his way out of the store.

Now, I would never put on clothes from a thrift store before washing them, but the idea of having no possessions and being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want excites me.

I think this feeling is one of the reasons I’ve recently become addicted to reading about Natalie Sisson a.k.a. The Suitcase Entrepreneur. When she built her business she made it so that she could work from anywhere in the world that had an internet connection. She lived and worked out of her suitcase! Talk about freedom!!! Her clients never know if they are getting an email from her while she is sitting on a beach or doing a webinar minutes from the Eiffel Tower! How cool is that?

More and more lately I’ve just wanted to sell and give away my possessions and just hit the road with my husband making money by writing and taking pictures.

I’ve started to wonder what is holding me back. I’ve got debt but so what? Who says I can’t make enough money to pay my bills from the road?!? I’m not getting any younger and I fear that if I don’t just take off and hit the road soon I may never do it.

So, this post began as one about me not really wanting to clean my apartment, but I guess the real heart of the matter is I want to run away from home. LOL!

This morning was a serious wake up call. I woke up feeling so sick that I couldn’t go into my day job. I have seriously got to make some adjustments to the way I organize my time, my
business, my life. If I keep burning the candle at both ends there won’t be any light left for me or anyone else to enjoy. 

Folks chasing your dreams while trying to pay the bills- how do you organize your time to have it all?

I posted this originally on facebook this morning and Domestic Goddess Kristen behind the amazing blog The Road to Domestication had the best answer for me. Check out what she wrote:


I literally SCHEDULE IN down time. Sounded so dumb to me at first…but everything else in life takes up time, so why not schedule in some time to rest, too?!

I have also had to remind myself that I CANNOT DO IT ALL, and I can’t HAVE it all…and that is
okay. I prioritize the day – the things I HAVE to do, like go to my full-time job, because if I don’t do that, then I’m in trouble as far as budgetary needs, ha!

I make sure there is time to do something for MYSELF. As selfish as I thought that was at first, I realized that, if I crash and burn, I can’t do anything for anyone! And if I am rested, and happy, and not feeling stressed, I really can do everything else BETTER. Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m out getting a pedicure every week or anything. Sometimes doing something for myself is just going for a walk in peace and quiet…or going to bed early! LOL

New for me in 2014 is blocking. I have literally blocked out several months of the year so I don’t have anything else happening except photography, Or except insurance. Or except family time. Or anything else. Not only can you get more accomplished when you’re focused, but you don’t feel so scattered from having to fight 10 fires at once.

I don’t even know if any of that book I just wrote makes sense…but YOU asked! LOL….

We are the ones who have a hard time listening to our bodies But we only have one! Hard to remember, but true!

To me every single part of what Kristen wrote makes perfect sense. I think it’s exactly what I needed to read right now. I realize I can’t keep giving myself to everyone because that’s what caused me to wake up this morning and literally have nothing left. I could barely form a sentence when I called in sick. I had the most massive migraine and just took some Advil and went back to bed.

I normally get up at 6:30/7 at the latest and I slept in til 11 a.m. and felt so unaccomplished because of it. I just have been trying so hard to do so many things that my body slapped me silly this morning and then threw me back in bed.

Now I want YOU to chime in. How do YOU find a balance when trying to chase your dreams and maintain a day job?


Source for image above

So, I thought I’d give ya’ll a quick Memorial Weekend 2014 Camping Glamping Recap in the form of 10 lessons I learned:

1. Thou shalt not forget to bring the air mattress pump. Omg! We forgot the pump and therefore slept on the floor for three nights. Not awesome.
2. Thou shall bring a ceiling fan when glamping. Dude, if it had not been for the ceiling fan we brought for our tent, I’m not sure we would have made it through the weekend.
3. Thou shall re-apply sunscreen every 80 minutes. The directions on the sunscreen are serious bro! We were awesomely lucky to make it three days in the sun with no sunburn. Alas, I’m out of all of the four bottles of sunscreen I brought with.
4. Thou shalt not step on a root barefoot. I have been having massive amounts of trouble with my right heel lately. I’ve been walking a lot in hopes of losing some weight to ease the pressure and pain on my heel. Then, I stepped on a tree root while barefoot and lost all hope of doing much walking for the weekend. The pain got so bad I had to be pushed around in a wheelchair much of one evening.
5. Thou shalt not go to Wet N’ Wild Memorial Day weekend. Okay, I am a fan of water parks but prefer them when they aren’t as busy. We were camping near Wet N’ Wild so the collective group decided we should spend a day there. Unfortunately this particular weekend drew such a crowd that every single ride had an hour long wait or longer. The wave pool was overflowing and there was NOTHING lazy about the lazy river. Note to self- on Memorial weekend just go to the free campground pool because we barely spent any time that day in the water…
6. Thou shall bring extra towels and wash cloths- Yep- we didn’t have enough towels and wash cloths and had to re-use some towels thereby defeating the purpose of showering imho…
7. Thou shall bring a bigger cooler. Our cooler wasn’t big enough to hold enough drinks between ice stops…
8. Thou shalt not wear water shoes too long- big ugly blisters- that is all!
9. Thou shalt not go to bed until re-applying bug spray- I got some wicked bites while sleeping.
10. Thou shalt not call it glamping unless in an RV or cabin- The weekend made me long for one of the two.

 

@ChickfilA #AsianSalad #ChickfilA #ProductReview #BloggerReview

I have a new obsession- the Chick-Fil-A Asian Salad. In the span of about 9 days I had three. Add to the fact that I literally had to walk a mile each day that I wanted one- you know this obsession is serious. I probably would get more if they weren’t close to $8!

Basically, at the beginning of 2014 I had three of the calendar cards and for the month of May I could get a salad with the card. My husband only like Caesar salads and I work very close to a Chick-Fil-A so it only made sense to cash in these salads for myself. The first day I went into get one I had not yet learned of the fact that they are no longer serving the spicy chicken salad. I almost cried when it wasn’t on the menu. After mulling it over I opted for the Asian salad figuring, eh- why not? If I don’t like it no big deal because I’ve “made my money back” on the cards already. I chose grilled chicken and was delighted when it came with a honey sesame dressing, wontons and dried bell peppers.

I ate that salad faster than any salad I think I have ever consumed. I don’t know if I was just starving from the fact I had to walk half a mile there and a half a mile back to work before I could eat it OR if it was just that good. So, two days later I felt it was only reasonable to try it again. I made the walk there and back only this time I was given honey sesame dressing, wontons and sliced almonds in place of the dried bell peppers. It was just as good the second time if not better!

I had other lunch plans for a few days but I am not kidding when I tell you that third free salad was burning a whole in my purse. First chance I got I made one more walk and got one more salad again with the almonds instead of the peppers.

I’m in love with the Chick-Fil-A Asian salad! I’m going to have to come up with a way to replicate it on my own at home!

This salad features freshly prepared with hot chicken, two cups of hand-chopped veggies and mandarin oranges and is served with honey sesame dressing. The optional toppings are wontons, dried bell peppers and sliced almonds. I’m sure I can get all these ingredients at my grocery store but I wonder if it will taste the same? hmmmmmmmm….


Photo source