Stay Hydrated

'Tis the Season

This is the last time I went to the gym... It wasn't even this year. I need to workout more and harder.

That was supposed to be my resolution for 2017. I guess I'm just getting a late start. But it is always better late than never. 

Here's some challenges I'm going to try and document my progress .

Cream Contour Kit

Have you noticed how everyone is tarting to have impeccable jaw bones? Well, I have and I figured out how to have one too! It's all in the art of applying make up and contouring your face, apparently. Some days, it looks really good, and other days not so much.

Here's how I highlight... 

It looks terrible! Who does this to themselves. It gets better though. Maybe.

Excuse the fact that I look like a baby chimpanzee, at least I have a jaw now.

No Contour

Contour.. I am a vampire.

Okay, so here's what I use to make my face look like everyone else's face (or at least try to): Click photos for the links to products!

Cover FX cream contour kit

Smashbox cream contour pencil kit

Nars bronzer

Nars Blush

Nars translucent powder

Nars The Multiple for highlighting

Sweet, Sweet Sweat

I never ever sweat... Or so I thought that I never did. I would run and run, no sweat. I would lift weights and workout as hard as possible, still no sweat. I thought that my body's natural cooling system was broken. I thought it was impossible for my body to produce sweat. That was until I tried hot yoga for the first time. 

I wore a sweat shirt and yoga pants the first time because I thought it'd help me produce sweat. Well, I definitely didn't need any help producing sweat in a room heated about 100 degrees fahrenheit. I sweat more than I thought I'd ever be able to. I probably sweat off 5 pounds of water weight during my first 90 minute session (Not to mention, I didn't even complete the 26 pose series. I sat down for the last 5 poses). It was disgusting, but relieving to know that my body could actually produce sweat. 

For the next class, I wore just a sports bra and yoga pants. I was much more relaxed and actually completed the 26 poses. I was proud of myself, although I'm not nearly as flexible as I had thought, still proud that I completed the poses on my second attempt.

For my third class, I wasn't feeling well. I didn't drink any water prior and I felt miserable. Not even ten minutes into the class, my head was pounding, the room felt way too hot to bare. I walked out of class and never returned. I regret that. I was dehydrated and tired, not beaten and battered from the yoga. I shouldn't have given up, but I didn't want to feel that way again.

So here are a few tips for anyone looking into hot yoga:

1.) HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE

Do not chug water during the class! Hydration is a process and a constant state inside of your body's system. You cannot drink a gallon of water all at once and be hydrated right then and there. Hydration needs to be done in small bits all day, every day. Do not think you can go to hot yoga dehydrated and think you'll make it through an entire class. You won't last 20 minutes. You won't even last 10 minutes comfortably. Stay hydrated. Always.

2.) STRETCH STRETCH STRETCH

Flexibility is not genetic. It can be practiced. Yoga is full of poses that require different degrees of flexibility. Class will be much more enjoyable if you can at least touch your toes. So, yes stretch before class, during class, and after. You don't want to pull any muscles. Or maybe you do, I guess of that's what you're into.

3.) ENJOY YOURSELF

Wear comfortable, stretchy clothes, and don't compare yourself to anyone in the class. You are here to improve your health and well-being, not to be better than the person in front of you.  Remember, everyone started where you are on their first day of yoga too. 

Enjoy your hot yoga sessions and check out Bikram Yoga Baltimore, if you're ever in the area.

www.bikramyogabaltimore.com

After hot yoga, I did start to sweat doing other activities, like running and lifting weights. My sweat glands just needed to be shocked by intense heat.

Rocky Rocky

He's already more than doubled his size! He wasn't even three pounds when we got him, and now he's over 5 pounds. I've read that Yorkshire Terriers can weigh up to 14 pounds. I feel like he will get to be this big.

Under neath all of the fur, he's so tiny. I mean he's tiny normally, but even more so when he's wet.

New Addition to the Family

I am officially a puppy mom! And it has been... fun... so far.

Rocky is 4 months old and all over the place. He chews, bites, pees, barks and goes crazy. He's cuddly when he wants to be, and that is not often.

Here he is warming himself on the internet box. He is a very smart little guy. In just four months, he has learned to sit, give paw, lay down and roll over. 

Puppies are smart, playful and loving, but do not, I repeat, do NOT get a puppy unless you are ready to commit to being a puppy parent. Puppies are relentless and need constant attention and supervision. You never know what these little guys will get into next. 

They also take six months to a year to be fully potty trained, so if your floors are carpeted, be prepared for countless cleaning sessions.

Don't ever get discouraged, puppies are smart and want to learn. They're just babies right now.

 More to come soon.