Do you remember her from my Motivation & Habits post? If not feel free to check it out!
NOTE: I asked the woman above for permission to post this screenshot.
Well I did exactly what I intended to do but with a twist. After checking out http://www.ryschyragz.com I decided to purchase motivation items. These are items I intentionally bought in a smaller size to inspire and remind myself to stick to my healthy lifestyle. This is also a form of financial motivation for me as I do not like to waste money.
I bought 2 shirts and pants.
I’m an XL or XXL depending on the shirt and pants size 16/18. The shirts are both medium which I didn’t plan but they were too cute to pass up. I originally bought a different pair of pants but they were out of stock. She explained what happened, apologized for it and sent me the pants below in 2 different sizes (L & XL). Not only was I pleasantly surprised by the customer service but she included a nice note saying thank you and acknowledging what happened. Now I don’t know about you but good customer service is getting harder and harder to find so when I get it I become a regular customer.
The surprises kept coming as I tried the clothes on. I tried it on to see how much I needed to lose before any of it fit. I mean they don’t fit correctly but at least I got them on! I’m wearing the XL pants in both pictures as I was under no delusion that the Large was going to go up far enough for me to take an appropriate picture.
The shirts are both soft to the touch and feel good on. The pants have great stretch so even if they don’t look like the correct size* trust me and try them on. I’ll have an update as I lose weight and can fit them correctly. But for now I will definitely be a returning customer so I can get something that fits now 🙂
*For my exact measurements please see my April 2018 Weigh In post.
I’ve often wondered how reviewer/ product testers get in contact with their favorite brands in order to get sponsored. I’ve looked into a few things on my own but not many end up being real. I am here to ask for advice from people capable of pointing me in the right direction. I know all information comes with BUTs because no one can guarantee a company will have any use for what I can provide; detailed reviews and suggestions for improvements but any useful advice would be very much appreciated.
Drum Roll please:
Target Corporation – This has been a favorite of mine for years and I frequently refer to it as my happy place. 2 of the 3 other companies mentioned were discovered at Target. The Starbucks inside are an added bonus.
Just started using big pack of wipes; I normally use the paper masks
Yes To, Inc. – Specifically Tomatoes. I love their sheet masks but I can’t use them as often as I like so I am not positive they work so much as I enjoy using them during my Spa Day.
Out of wipes so this is just an empty package 🙂
SheaMoisture – Favorite products African Black Soap: Clarifying Mud Mask, Body Wash & Clarifying Facial Wipes; Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby Head-to-Toe and last but not least Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Restore Leave-In Conditioner. They also have makeup I would love to try.
Need to restock my oils because this is all I have left
NOW Foods – ALL THE OILS!!! I’m kidding I haven’t tried them all (though I’m working on it) but I am obsessed with a lot of them. I’ll name my top 3 there are a lot: Sweet Almond, Jojoba and Grapeseed/ Avocado (these I use interchangeably).
There you have it. It is now in the universe and even though I will not give up in pursuing these brands I’m hoping someone with the knowledge I need finds my space and points me in the right direction. Also this is not me saying I wouldn’t be open to other brands especially ones with natural ingredients, fair trade practices or local businesses. I’m simply saying this is a list of companies I currently use/ go to.
PS – I’m counting this as a digital Vision Board because lets face it it would be a dream come true to have my favorite brands find my corner of the internet.
If you’ve been reading my blogs you know I’ve struggled with motivation. I get inspired, do okay, get distracted, fall off, repeat. My wake up call came in the form of family pictures; see below.
Yup, all the hard work I was doing went completely sideways when I got sick. Instead of preparing something healthy and easy, I turned to junk food. Not only did we spend a lot of money but I’m pretty sure we shaved at least 2 weeks off of our lives. The final guilt was seeing how the family pictures turned out. I looked and felt bloated, my face was still healing from the infection and the antibiotics made my normally oily skin very dry to the point of peeling so I piled on makeup that didn’t turn out right. I spent the next morning sad and depressed. Then my support system kicked in.
My husband gave me an amazing pep talk and because he’s awesome and super supportive we went to Target at 10pm so I could buy containers to help me meal prep. We ate one more garbage meal then I got to work. I meal prep’d that night. Monday I turned to the internet to keep me motivated since hubby would be at work and I had an appointment near one of my favorite restaurants.
After an emotional appointment (nothing bad just needed to plan better). I didn’t eat perfectly but I didn’t go to the restaurant either. Tuesday was tricky because I was running errands which meant I had to have breakfast, lunch and snacks with me. Thankfully my mom was able to come and helped with my son. Afterwards we were both very hungry but instead of going to fast food we went to the grocery store. I surprised myself by buying lots of veggies and some veggie based dips (guacamole and hummus) in order to make sure all of our dinners included veggies.
Tuesday night I still felt bloated and knew I needed to start incorporating exercise to encourage movement if you know what I mean 😉 Plus I wanted those endorphins! So again I turned to the internet. It was another late night but boy am I happy I started surfing. I found the post below and it fired me up.
ryschyragzfitness In honor of today’s workout I had to wear this shirt 😆. I had to do what I Needed to do and not what I Wanted to do. I had to keep going when I wanted to 🛑 more than a few times. Whew 💨💨💨. I could have made excuses for why it was ok for me to stop. But I didn’t, I found my Beast Mode and #sheaintcute and kept going. So Today let’s do what we need to do and not what we want to do. Plain and simple. Your needs are the most important, not your wants. Cater to your Needs… 1. You need to eat healthy, but you want to have a donut 🍩 2. You need to move and be active, but you want to lie down instead. 3. You need to be positive, but you want to feed yourself negative talk. Get where I’m going? Master taking care of Your Needs and everything else will fit into place. I guarantee it. #aintnoexcuse#selflove#marathon#thankmelater#thankyourselfnow#fitnesslifestyle#Fitmom#needsversuswants#doit#dontquit#beautyandabeast
NOTE: I asked the woman above for permission to post this screenshot and whenever possible I contact people BEFORE posting. If I do not get permission for a post or don’t receive a reply I will only reference what I saw or post the person’s handle so it can be looked up. The exception would be quotes from Pinterest but I NEVER remove any logo/ trademarks/ watermarks because I believe the originator deserves the credit for their creative work.
I found her post so motivating that I checked out her website (www.ryschyragz.com) and planned a workout for the morning. Wednesday I not only smashed a pilates workout but I cooked dinner for the rest of the week! I wanted to keep the momentum going so I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I was hit with something to the effect of you didn’t fail if you only did 7 days of a 10 day cleanse; You succeeded for 7 days!! This hit me hard because negative talk is how I would fall off. I now look at each day as a day I succeeded. On days I’m not perfect I look at each accomplishment individually: meals, workouts, personal time, etc.
I was going to include all the individuals that inspired me but this post is long enough. Rather than give up on shining a light on those who’ve motivated me I am going to blog about them and I will include specifics if I can get permission to do so.
If you’ve gotten this far because you need motivation, I hope this helps and I hope you come back in the future when I post more of what motivates me. If you made it this far simply to read what I had to say then THANK YOU 🙂
I’ve been feeling lousy lately. Between allergies, fickle weather, yard work, cleaning and taking care of a very active child I’ve ignored myself to the point of getting sick. I’m typing this with a stack of fast food napkins (ran out of facial tissue…), hand sanitizer and cold coffee in front of me while my son sleeps off his late night party session. My face is swollen, pain behind my eyes and my body still hurts from the yard work I did on Sunday because I am horribly out of shape which I’m proud to say I will have a decent weight post coming soon. I write all of this to set the stage for my snap. Yes, I said snap.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t help anyone else because all I wanted to do was cry, drink wine and go to sleep. However my new healthy lifestyle dictates that I find alternative ways of healing and relaxing other than my good friend Merlot or my BFF food. Now I would like to make it clear I still had wine but only one glass (6oz) well technically mug but that was because it didn’t feel safe to take a wine glass in the tub with me as I was already tired and didn’t want to add ‘cut by glass’ to my list of annoying things.
In walks my hubby 🙂 I simply said I need to take a bath and I don’t want either of you coming in or calling me; this was my snap . He made it happen!!
I grabbed the products above and prepared to have the most relaxing bath ever.
I lite my candles then turned off the light and started my Pandora Relaxation station.
I slowly poured each item in the tub so as to fully enjoy the aromas. First the epsom salt and bath balls which turned the water lavendar like the fragrance. I sat for a second to admire the beauty created by the bath balls. Then the bubble bath which further enhanced the mood. You couldn’t have convinced me I wasn’t in a world class spa. Sure my candles rested on my toilet and my bath tub isn’t perfect but that night I chose to see what I wanted which was a very affordable spa experience.
I truly appreciated the time I spent alone. And though it was very hard for me, I wasn’t thinking about what happened up until that point I was simply soaking up the time I had. While I was focusing on listening to the music and breathing in the allergy friendly level of lavendar that filled the air, I realized I should do this more often. I deserved this time alone to decompress and focus on me. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to do this but my goal is going to be weekly. Once a week I will schedule time to do nothing. Sometimes it will be a bath, others a mani/pedi and when funds allow maybe even a day at the spa. For now I will focus on the time alone rather than the activity so I can be the best version of myself.
aprilsuniverse.com 