Do you know what your wearing?

It all started one day when I was pulling a black top out of the dryer  just as I was about to fold it I noticed that in the armpit area it had a metallic shine to it. I use this top A LOT for work since I have to wear black and naturally I wash it A LOT. Obviously this is the aluminum that is found in my antiperspirant. Which got me thinking that if I could see it on my shirt how much of this was being actually being absorbed into my body since I am directly applying it to my skin and have been doing so for years. This prompted a search for an aluminum free antiperspirant.  I haven’t been able to find one yet that can keep up with my level of activity. I have since switched over to Nivea for the time being but find myself reapplying after a vigorous workout at the gym.

I’ve switched a lot of my old beauty products in the last few months over to brands that are eco-friendly, natural, organic and animal friendly.  Currently my favorite line is Live Clean which has a great shampoo & conditioner, lotion and body wash. However, I want to take it one step further and do a complete makeover of my make case. A LOT of it has so much chemicals and other junk I don’t want on my skin, not to mention it’s probably been tested on animals.  So I’ve found a lot of great companies online that meet my needs as a makeup user. I’ll be buying a new haul of my makeup basics and testing it out. My goal here is to feel good about the products I use on my skin, I want to know that they are safe to use without the necessity of it being tested on animals but more importantly that it’s free of harsh chemicals that can do more harm than good to my body. Be good to your body, be aware of what your wearing.

 

I found this site really useful, lots of great info and they talk about ingredients to avoid.

organic beauty talk

 

Hello February!

Holy shiz batman!!! January came and left so fast! It's already February... Looking back on my January calendar I realized how little I worked out and how I let the winter lazies get the best of me.

A new month and a new fame of mind is here. I decided to choose a mantra for the month of February to help motivate me into getting this body moving.

"Summer bodies are earned in the Winter"

...but to take it a step further and make it more personal

"Caribana bodies are made in the winter"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter workout

These are the two pictures I have set on my lock screen and home screen on my iPad and iPhone.

 They are my motivation for the month of January. I find that with the colder months like January & February sometimes it’s harder to get out of bed in the morning because you feel so warm and cozy.

 

 

"Summer bodies are made in the winter" - (unknown) 

 

Happy New Year!!! 2010

I rang in the New Year with my parents, brother and my boyfriend at home. It was quiet and relaxed; we had dinner and ate paella, chipotle shrimp, two kinds of salad and wine. We talked a lot over dinner, rang in the New Year and ended the night with a board game. Today I had lunch with some of my gf we were going to go to the movies but it was such lazy day and I still had tons of food at my house so I had them come over for lunch. We talked lots about babies in our families, maternal clocks, weddings and working out, vitamins, cooking and many other things.

2009 was a great year; I am pleased with everything that happened… I learned so much in school this past year and had so many experiences working at the hospital. I traveled with my bf to new places and saw many, many, many awesome concerts. Met new people, found a job, joined a gym and the absolute best thing that happened is that I fell in love with an amazing guy. I am really lucky to have great friends and this summer was the first time that all the girls were together again. I’m really excited and looking forward to see what the New Year will bring for me… and I’m anticipating graduation day.

This Years Hopes- 2010 I hope to...
1. Be able to go visit my family in the motherland
2. Keep my part time job (School will be a lot more demanding this last semester)

2009 Last Year
Best Things that Happened:
1. Falling in love with B
2 . Going to Cuba and Montreal
3. Entering my final year of nursing and completing semester 3 with sweet marks

Worst thing that Happened in 2009:
1. Getting a neurotoxic infection in my leg from a coral reef while snorkeling

My 10 List for 2010...
1. Finish my last semester of Nursing, Graduation!!! (I’m ¾ done)
2. Pay off Visa
3. Pay off my student loan
4. Get back into shape
5. Get a new puppy
6. Get my license
7. Find a job in my profession
8. Start saving money for a down payment
9. Go to Mexico
10. Get a tattoo

I love my boobies and you should too...

Just last month I went in for a yearly physical with my Family Doctor as he was examining my breasts he found two lumps one in each breast he sent me to go get an ultra sound and I got an appointment for later on that week. It is so important for women to do frequent self examinations of their boobs. I think that whole week I was freaking out and thinking of all the possibilities including the worst case scenario because I’d rather prepare myself for the worse rather than to think everything is fine and dandy and receive terrible news after that I didn’t prepare myself for. I was told to go back in about 4 weeks for all the results on my blood work plus the ultrasound and if there was anything to be concerned about that I would hear back from my Dr before that time... Well later on this week I have to go in and *fingers crossed* but I’m hoping that everything will turn out fine

Breast Cancer kills more women than it should because women aren't turning their breasts into pancakes for 10 seconds. And if you think that hurts, what do you think chemo and a mastectomy would feel like? Ladies, get your mammograms and don’t stop feeling your boobies. However it is important to mention that BECAUSE more women are doing regular self Breast exams and getting their boobies check out by their Doctors that there are MORE women who are saving their own lives by early detection. I gathered some Candian Stats from the "Candian Cancer Society"

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). In 2009:

• 
  An estimated 22,700 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,400 will die of it.
• An estimated 180 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 50 will die of it.
• On average, 437 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week.
• On average, 104 Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week.
• Probability of developing or dying from breast cancer One in 9 women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime and one in 28 will die of it.
• Trends in breast cancer Breast cancer death rates have declined in every age group since at least the mid 1990s.
• In women aged 20-39, breast cancer incidence and death rates have declined since 1969

Breast Cancer Stats Males Females
Cases .......................180 ..... 22,700
Incident rate ............. -- ......... 102
Deaths .................50 .........5,400
5Year Survival ..........84% ........87%

*age-standardized to the 1991 Canadian Standard Population (per 100,000)

............I love my boobies and I don’t ever wanna loose them... Ladies LOVE your boobies, let’s Change the numbers of these Breast cancer stats and let’s screen our boobies more often, screening is your “Breast” defense!

Its sooo Juicy !

So my family has a Jack La Lanne Power Juicer, but my mom hasn't used it in a while. I've been asking her to juice stuff for me cus well even though its not rocket science to juice I had no clue on how to take it apart for clean up. Anyways its Sunday morning and I figure now was more than an appropriate time to get familiar with the ins and outs of the juicer because of my new fitness regimen.

Once I got familiar with taking it apart I started Juicing and to my surprise it was realllly juicy. I had never seen this juicer in action but it really does work :)

So I made Carrot, apple strawberry juice. It was sooo delish :P mmmm!

I do have to say Warning, careful with carrtos cus they stain... I never would have thought but they do.

This is the part where I wasnt to fond of the juicer, the CLEAN UP :( Boooo I hate to wash dishes as it is but cleaning the juicer was not fast at all took me longer to clean it up and wash than it did for me to juice.

Anyways b/c it was easy to make, puting together and taking apart but sucked in clean up I think I might have to rate this Power Juicer 4 out 5 too bad clean up took so long.

Treadmill

So its been a week since I got my treadmill, so far I've been pretty consistant with my running. I found a preset program on there that I really enjoy using. It 20 mins long and its interval training it starts off with a walk then increases to a speed walk reaching a running point decreases to a speed walk and then a walk. It repeats this cycle 4 times which in the end I finish off with a good sweat. Ive been combining this with weights and ball exercises.

Ive been finding that my old back injury is slightly irritated from working out but I hope that my back can start to adjust and eventually I make my workouts longer and more intense.

ugh... still sick... Ick!

Ugh ... So I wake up a little early to do some lastminute reviewing for my exam today. I feel like crap :S ... Why must I have gotten sick for my first exam ?
Hopefully I'll be better by next week when I have my hardest exams... *fingers crossed*











So current symptoms include...

Sneezing
watery /burning eyes
1 nostril congested, other runny
sore throat
dry cough, no phelgm
achy body
sweats
fatigue
sick blues :(

World Aids Day

Just thought I'd share some stats about Hiv & Aids with everyone...

Remember Respect & Protect.



International Stats:



People living with HIV:
* 33 million people living with HIV worldwide

* 30.8 million adults * 15.5 million women

* 2.0 million children under 15



New HIV cases in 2007:

* 2.7 million total new cases

* 2.3 million adults

* 370,000 children under 15



HIV-related deaths in 2007:

* 2.0 million total deaths








....All figures from UNAIDS.

Ohh noooo

So it saturday night and I stay home to study for my up coming exam. Im talking to my mom about how Im gonna start taking echinachea to prevent getting sick. Only cus my teachers keep making the point that student tend to get sick more often during finals because of the stress and lack of sleep. Therefore it made sence for me to start from now to end of exams to take some sort of preventative meassure and avoid the germs from making me feel like crap!

So today is sunday morning and I wake up with a terrible sore throat and that icky feeling in my nasal passages. Which could only mean one thing... I'm getting sick! ... Oh noooo, what is going on? I thought I was preventing this exact situation from happening and now I feel that somehow instead of giving my immune system that little boost of fighting power, I have somehow made the enemy germs presence become aware to the army of cootie combating cells in my body.


So now I find myself feeling the cold slowly creeping on... I need to get some meds fast 'cus I don't need this not right now, all I have right now is nasal spray which is my saviour cus I can still breath minus the whisteling sounds from my nostril ....
I find my self at the pharmacy and my final purchase includes:
* Cold + sore throat pill ( night and day)
* Cod liver oil capsules [boosts immune system and ladies its great for hair, nails, & skin] * Cough lozenges
* mini packs of facial tissue


... I hope this is enough to help me out battle the war of germs, booo :(