St. Ives: Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub

St. Ives Naturally clear Green Tea Scrub, is one of the best  I ever came across. My skin type is oily and this scrub best suit with my skin and I love the after use soothing feeling.The best part about St. Ives products are the 100% naturally derived ingredients, encouraging a healthier skin. The key ingredients of this scrub are green tea, olive oil and olive leaf extract.  

I came across this product when searching for skin cleansing products consisting of natural ingredients. As the key ingredient was ‘green tea,’ I tried it and never switched to any other brand.

If your skin is oily and you are looking for face cleansing stuff, I’ll recommend to opt for St. Ives and especially this Green Tea scrub. The results are amazing; fresh, smooth and healthy skin. I am looking forward for Blackhead Clearing Green tea Scrub and will come out with its review soon.

Stay Tuned.

Food portions to eat when losing and maintaining weight

I found this video helpful in calculating the portions I should eat in a day. To lose or maintain weight, the most important part is how much to eat and fulfill the body requirements.
Watch the video for details on the portions and serving sizes of food needed daily.

This Video is by Jonnah Soh, qualified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise (ACE), Certified in Resisted Movement Training and also Certified as a Nutrition Coach with Venice Nutrition (VN).

Weight Loss Tricks

When it comes to losing weight, first thought of the majority of people is dieting. Taking hands off the food, drinking juices only, eating too few calories and skipping meals are some unacceptable, yet so common things done for losing weight. I suppose this is the worst possible solution and will lead to health loss instead of weight loss.Proper portions of carbs, fats and proteins are your body requirements and insufficient intake of these essentials will result in weakness, which further affects the level of activity; making you lazy, stressed and depressed.

Here are a few tricks for effective weight loss which have helped me a great deal:

• First and the most important one is, don’t leave everything right away. Give yourself time and limit your food slowly and gradually. Your body needs time to adopt your new lifestyle. Weight loss is a whole long process, so be patient.

• Never starve; starvation leads to craving for more which will result in weight gain.

• Eat when you feel you should.

• Don’t skip meals. Instead of 3 big meals, take 5 to 6 small meals to boost up metabolism.

• Remove white carbs: white bread, rice and sugar, from your diet. Instead consume whole wheat bread, brown rice and brown sugar. This never means, not to take them at all but to minimize the intake amount.

• Track your calorie intake and see you take enough of carbs, fats, and proteins in your diet.

• Counting your calories will not make you lose weight, but counting on the right ingredients will. Having a white bread chicken sandwich with full fat mayo and having whole wheat chicken sandwich with low fat mayo along with some vegetables, are two different thing. Both contains different amount of nutrients.

• Taking in a burger and chocolate mousse or cake the same day because eating them won’t exceed your calorie intake goal, will never result in losing weight.

• Eat fruits and vegetables. Have a portion of green vegetables with your meals this will make you full early and will not let you overeat.

• Drink alot of water.

• Have one or two glasses of water 15 minutes before your meal. This will again prevent you from overeating.

• Don’t consume a heavy meal as dinner; instead if you want to have a big meal take it as your lunch.

• Last but not least, exercise 4 to 5 times a week. Do cardio, as it involves your whole body and helps burning fat fast. Take one or 2 days rest, as your body requires rest too.

Track your calories through MyFitnessPal

The most difficult task is watching out calorie intake. Who can really read every label before having a meal and then calculate the total calories and nutrients? Such a big trial. MyFitnessPal, an application on iPhone/iPad makes this work easy. Just log your food and it will keep a record of your daily food consumption, sets your intake goal dividing it beyond carbs, proteins and fats.

This app is rewarding, particularly for those trying to lose weight, keeping track of the food being consumed and calories burned during exercise. The best way is to record your food, especially when you grab a chocolate bar. We generally take chocolates and never count them and this leads to weight gain as they are high in calories and contain excessive fats and carbohydrates . On the contrary, some might also take fewer calories than the actual requirement which results in weakness.

Use the app to track your calorie intake and stay fit and healthy.

Eat healthy: Replace 3 white foods with brown

A healthy body requires healthy eating habit. Whether you are maintaining weight or losing it, omit bad carbs from your life to keep a healthy body, both internally and externally. Workout won’t just help, it works together with the nutrition you are providing the body. Replace these three white foods with brown and cut those extra fat and carbohydrates your body is not letting go, together with improving your digestive system:

• White bread with brown bread (whole wheat)
• White sugar with brown sugar
• White rice with brown rice

   

Calories in a white bread and whole wheat bread are almost same, but what differ is the amount of carbohydrates, fats and fibers. Whole wheat contains more fibers and less carbs than the white bread and the same goes for the white and brown rice. For a healthy diet, minimum of 5 gram fiber intake is important in your breakfast. Consuming whole grains and whole wheat keeps a lower body mass and less belly fat.

Just replace these three white foods with brown and see the difference.

 

Add Natural Flavors to your Milk

Milk is one of the essentials for keeping a good health. It provides the body with necessary nutrients which keeps good health and also prevent from many diseases. I always find it hard to consume the normal milk because of its taste, so I add natural flavors to it. Here is a small list:

1. Having milk with corn flakes or oatmeal and adding little honey makes a great breakfast, keeping you full for a long time.
2. Fruits: Add 4 medium strawberries in 1 cup milk or just transform milk into any sort of healthy shake (in reference to my previous blog ‘Fruit Fusion’).
3. Dates: Soak 3-4 dates in water for more than 5 hours, peel off its outer skin, remove the seeds and blend with 1 cup milk. This is one of my favorite; creamy texture and sweet flavor of dates, a whole healthy and palatable drink.
4. Almonds: Like dates, soak 6 to 7 almonds in water for around 7 to 8 hours, remove its outer skin, chop them and blend them with 1 cup of milk.
5. Coca powder: Boil the milk, add 1 teaspoon full of cocoa powder and sugar as per your taste, keep it on medium heat for about a minute or two, let them dissolve in milk properly. Pour out in a glass or cup and serve yourself with a cup of hot chocolate flavored milk.

In case of dates and almonds, I usually soak them in morning while preparing breakfast and use them in evening.

Milk is an essential need at all stages of life, have a glass of it daily. Add some natural flavors and enjoy the milk with extra nutritiousness

 

Stay Healthy!!!

Fruit Fusion

When you desire to have something that satisfies your taste buds as well as categorized as healthy, opt for fresh fruit shake or smoothie. Keep fruits in your refrigerator so you can prepare one for yourself anytime.

I love strawberries, blueberries and banana (the most energy containing fruit). Here is what I generally do with these:

4 -5 medium strawberries or/and 8-10 blueberries

Half banana

Around 1/2 cup milk

1.5-2 tablespoon fat free yogurt

Blend these four ingredients together in a blender and serve yourself a glass of fresh and healthy shake. Grab a glass of it whenever you want to; morning, evening or after workout. It’s equal to a healthy meal and leaves you full for a long time. I use half banana as utilizing it whole leaves the shake quite thick to be called as drinkable. If consuming a full banana then you can omit yogurt from the ingredient list.

Don’t want to add milk? You can use orange juice instead of milk and yogurt transforming it into a delicious smoothie.

When we have such natural blessings, try to quit or atleast minimize those paltry drinks detrimental for health.

 

Stay Fresh and Healthy!!!

Water Therapy

We all know the extent to which water is essential for our body, so I won’t be dragging this topic here. Instead I’ll just mention the ideal time of having water. The three best times to have water are;

• Early in the morning; before your breakfast: Taking in 2 glasses of water daily (single glass will work too, but it’s more effective to have 2 glasses), after you wake up helps clean the toxins from body, active your internal organs and increase metabolism rate.
  I can’t take 2 glasses of water at once, so I usually take one glass as soon as I wake up and the next when I am preparing my breakfast.
• Before meals: Taking water  (15 minutes) before meals  helps improve the digestive system. Bring it in your routine for a healthy You.
  Make sure not to consume water soon after your food, it’s harmful for the body; destroys the digestive system. You can have a sip or two in-between the meal, but don’t take it after your last spoon.
• Before bath: One glass of water before bath helps in reducing the blood pressure.

Simply just having a glass of water can do so much for you. With health, sufficient amount of water also enhance your beauty by keeping skin fresh, firm and glowing. Everyday intake of water can effectively reduce acne and prevent breakouts. Furthermore, it strengthens hair and allows growth. So in your busy routine, make sure to grab a glass of water now and then.

But how much to take? I believe trust your thirst; whenever you’re thirsty, go get some water for yourself. But make sure not to over consume, as it can also be detrimental for your health.

Stay Hydrated, Stay healthy.

Miracles of Olive Oil

Olive oil is the richest source of unsaturated fats and antioxidants and assist in fighting against cholesterol preventing from cardiovascular diseases. There are plenty other such health significance of consuming olive oil but there are some benefits which olive oil yields when used externally. Here are few of them, which helped me; 

Dark Circles

Dark circles usually occur due to stress and lack of sleep but with use of olive oil it’s not difficult to get rid of them. A month back, I tried using olive oil on my dark circles as per my mother’s guidance and it actually turned out to be effective.

To apply, dip your ring finger’s tip in olive oil and massage under your eye for about a minute. Ring finger is generally used to massage under the eye area as it is a sensitive part and ring finger does not apply a greater force on it.

The way this worked out for me and for my sister too, I hope it will work for you as well.

Dandruff and hair fall

I either use mustard oil or olive oil for my hair care. Using one of these keeps hair healthy adding flair in them. But one substantial role that olive oil play is; it fights against the dandruff and moisturizes the dry scalp. If you face dandruff or hair loss problem, apply olive oil twice a week, it will help you get rid of it.

Works for Lips too

Olive oil is my winter’s best lip balm. With finger tip, apply a little amount of oil on lips daily, to prevent them from drying up in winters and keeping them soft.

Excellent Make-up Remover

Yes, so far olive oil is proved as an excellent makeup remover for me. It cleans all the makeup and the most optimal part; it will never clog the pores and cause pimples. So try it as a makeup remover and you will never buy any other.

Try to keep your skin away from harsh chemicals and use the natural products where you can to maintain a healthy looking skin.

Hope you find it helpful.

Honey & Yogurt face mask

When selecting face masks, I mostly opt for the homemade ones. Keeping skin away from those harsh chemicals is the best way to keep it healthy. Yogurt really helps in fulfilling this purpose.

Consuming yogurt in your diet have many health benefits such as: It prevents from having osteoporosis, reduce the risk of high blood pressure, helps with certain gastrointestinal conditions, weight loss and a lot more.

Yogurt, whether you consume as food or apply on the skin, always benefit it, resulting in healthy looking skin. When applied on the face,It helps to diminish the dark spots on the skin, fights against acne and helps you to get rid of the dead and uneven skin, making it smooth and flawless.

My skin gets really dry in winters so the face mask I usually apply in winters is yogurt and honey mask, here honey works as moisturizer for skin.  It’s simple to make and endow with effective result.

Take around one tablespoon of yogurt, add in it little quantity of honey (I never measured it but it’s less than half teaspoon) and half flat teaspoon flour to prevent the mixture from dripping off the face. After using your scrub, apply this mask on your face and/or neck and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, wash it with normal tap water and pat dry.

   

It had always provided me with splendid results, leaving my skin soft, smooth and refreshed. 

In the same mixture you can also add lemon. Like yogurt, lemon also works great for brightening the skin and together with honey and yogurt it gives more effective result, giving brighter, soft and alluring skin.

Make sure not to apply lemon when your skin is really dry in winters as it might result in irritation.
Applying lemon before going out in the sun might result in skin darkening, so manage it accordingly.

Hope this helps.