♡ 10 Health & Fitness Tips for Beginnners ♡

Here are some health and fitness tips for beginners.  You have to start somewhere, and if you're reading this, you already took a huge step - starting!

I hope you find these helpful.

1. Start slow. You don't have to trash your treats and go out and replace it all at once. Try to start out with replacing one or two things a day with a healthier choice. For example, say you're used to eating a waffle and chocolate milk for breakfast. Maybe try an egg bowl  (fried, boiled, or scrambled eggs with some raw or cooked veggies) and a smoothie.
Some of my favorite smoothies-
Berry Smoothie + healthy lunch
Green Apple Smoothie
Easy Morning Smoothie
Oatmeal Cooke Dough Smoothie
Tropical smoothie- pineapple, coconut milk, banana or mango, orange juice.

2. Don't look at the calories. I know it might sound crazy if you're trying to lose weight, but try not to count your calories - you NEED calories, as long as you are getting them from a healthy source; for example, avocados are high in calories but they are a GOOD fat and are great for you.

3. "Fat free" doesn't always mean it's healthy. Just because something is "fat free" doesn't mean it's good for your body. There is a lot to be said about good and bad fats, so click HERE for more information.

4. Limit packaged foods. Even though I'm gluten-free, if a gluten-free item is in a box or bag, it's still not the healthiest choice. Processed foods aren't real foods. Try to limit your intake of packaged foods; your body will thank you.

5. Fresh is best. Very similar to number 4, fresh foods are always the best choice for your health. If you get anything from this post I hope it's this - when in doubt about how to eat healthy, it all boils down to eating real food. Fruit, veggies, healthy meats (such as hormone-free lean meats). I post a lot of paleo recipes because the focus is real food. 

6. Be careful about dairy. There is a lot of controversy about dairy, but when you think about it, you wouldn't drink human milk, would you? Dairy has lots of fat and hormones. I don't know the most about dairy, but here is some more information on it. I love rice milk, coconut milk, and almond milk as alternatives. There's also soy milk, though I don't recommend it because soy can mess with your hormones, which is why it always seems to cause my skin to break out.

7. Be gentle with yourself. If your body isn't used to healthy food it will go through a stage of detoxification, which can be a little uncomfortable for a bit, but as someone who has gone through detox I can honestly tell you that you will feel MUCH better after it's all over. Here's a video on how to handle detox. (This is for a raw foods diet, but these are good tips for any healthy eating lifestyle.)

With fitness, just like healthy eating, your body may not be used to it, so don't start out doing anything crazy. Maybe start walking, doing a little cardio, or even yoga. Yoga is great for balance and strength training; it still tones just as well as anything else for me. Here are tips on how to add more fitness activities into your life with ease.

And here are some of my favorite fitness videos-
Bikini Workout
Stretching Routine
Outdoor Workout 
Workout Ball Routine 
At Home Workout Routine (my favorite)

8. Make time for yourself and your health. Yes, becoming healthier takes time, but YOU are worth it. If you don't have much time to cook, set aside a free day to stock pile meals that you can store in the freezer to pull out as needed. (If you need ideas, Google and Pinterest are your best friends.) Or, if you need to be at work early, wake up a little earlier to make yourself a healthy breakfast and pack a nice lunch. Remember, you're worth it.

9. Skin deep. Your skin absorbs about 60% of what you put on it, so you might want to look at the chemicals in your skincare. If you're looking for good brands, I love Rainwater Botanicals, Andalou Naturals, Deep Steep, and some products from Devita. It's important to try to read labels....which leads me to number 10

10. If you can't read it... I know it's hard, but if you can't read an ingredient or don't know what something is, it probably shouldn't be in or on your body. You can easily research what a specific ingredient is. Just make sure you read those labels, with both skincare and  food.

An of course drink as much pure water as you can.

I'll be having more health and fitness posts to come very soon!! 

Stay Healthy,
Taylor 

Green Apple Smoothie

I love having a smoothie first thing in the morning, it gets my day going on a healthy note (instead of reaching for a yummy cupcake). This is a very nutrient packed green smoothie.

All of these measurements can be altered to how you like it, sometimes I add more of something or less than I have on here. I never measure, this is just to give you an idea of how much I use.

Half a green apple
3/4 cup frozen fruit (I like peaches)
1/2 cup fresh pineapple
small handful of spinach (about 3/4 cup)
5 ice cupes
1 teaspoon flaxseed meal
2 probiotic capsules
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
a splash of canned coconut milk
1 cup orange juice (can be fresh or just with no added sugars)
1/2 cup almond milk (the almond milk makes it more filling)

The flax and probiotics are totally optional, I just like adding as much nutrition as I can. Any of these ingredients can be swapped out for whatever you like really, if you don't like pineapple, swap it out for a different fruit you enjoy. :)

I used a vitamix for this. If you don't have one, just make sure you have a nice high power blender that will chop up those apples well.

Paleo Flatbread (Plus my sandwich)

I found a recipe today for this paleo flatbread and wanted to try it for my sandwich today!

 After my flatbreads were ton I just added some sharp cheddar cheese, and leftover chicken and it made a wonderful sandwich! Then I dipped it in my moms homemade bbq sauce..one of the better lunches I've had in a while!

What's your favorite sandwich?

Drinks, Food, My Life

Hey there everyone! I thought I'd start doing vlog posts... Just like a vlog- my life- but in a blog post... Let me know what you think.

 Last week we went to the park, the top picture was my snack and the way home.
One night we had a veggie night that I cooked, I love having all veggies and fruit (accept for the rice ;)) for dinner. I feel pretty healthy :)

 One morning I made a breakfast bowl with rice (I really don't eat rice as often as it seems haha), eggs, tomato and lettuce. 

Lately (past month or more, pretty much since getting better from having mono) I've been doing a lot more exercise, nothing crazy. a lot of yoga, walking, a little jogging, some dancing, stuff like that... Anyway, it's made my metabolism crazy! I eat so much more right now and I feel like a pig! But I'm working most everything off...even though I haven't made all the best choices for food :P

 ...Such as these cupcakes hahaha... These were SUCH a fail! Everything about them has lemon in it but the cakes themself didn't cook right, the bottom half cooked like a crust while the top half stayed more like a custard. My buttercream icing turned out a little gritty looking, and my "lemon curd" was a drizzle haha... the taste was nice for the first day but them the crust dried out too much. Overall a cupcake FAIL! 

 I ALWAYS seem to have a drink or two in my hand, and I love using my Starbucks cup because it's huge haha.. Here I made some Twinings raspberry pomegranate herbal tea with some frozen raspberries in my ice cubes. This is one of my favorite teas right now....or ever ;)

 I wanted to find a good DIY iced latte I could make myself to save some money and I found this one on Pinterest and it's AMAZING!! I added twice the sweetener it calls for haha..Plus I added cool ship on top.

 And just yesterday morning I made a pineapple smoothie and banana chocolate chip muffins which were great! (I used peanut butter in place of almond butter)  Another Pinterest find, that's gotta be one of the best websites ever!

I've been working a lot this week and actually going to the gym some, the shopping center I work in is having a fitness challenge so we get 3 weeks of free membership! I took a Zumba class on monday! That was really fun, even though me feet can't keep up with the latin moves it was a great workout. And a couple of days ago I did 2 yoga classes....which I didn't enjoy as much as the Zumba. It's funny because I do yoga almost every day at home... But mine isn't as...slow I guess. I'm most fast with it.. but I felt like in the yoga class I wasn't getting as much done.. I like to add a little cardio and strength workouts to my yoga while listening to Kingsfoil so maybe that was it haha. 

I'm gonna try to stock up on posts and vlogs since I always seem to be so busy.. I've been vlogging I just haven't had time to edit :P Let me know how you like these posts!

Stay Natural,
Taylor

Buchi! ♡

I have recently found Buchi Kombucha at my Whole Foods and honestly...It's the best Kombucha I've tried. It actually taste GOOD! The after taste isn't too strong either. They don't use any added sugars, but they are very sweet from fruit juices. If you're into super health drinks like I am you should try these out. I now get cravings for some Buchi haha.

Buchi Website- http://drinkbuchi.com/ 

 

Trip To Micah's (Spring)

Hey there everyone! Last week I went up to the mountains to stay with my boyfriend Micah and his family for the week. Here are some pictures!

Chicken Salad! :)

 Cupcake making with Micah's sister Leah!

 Mine

 Leah's.

 Mine

 Mine

 Micah

 This is my starbucks cupcake ;)

♡ GRWM- Natural Look + Beauty & Body Image ♡

These pictures are actually from a different day but essentially the same look as in the video.

TANF Eye Primer,
TANF Dark Brown Diva Stick for liner,
OhSudz Light Warm concealer under my eyes.

In the video I used the Alba Tangerine lip balm. But in the pictures I used my Burts Bees Pink Blossom tinted balm, both with Brija Painting Roses lip gloss.

In the video I talk a little bit about my opinion on what beauty really is and body image...
Beauty isn't makeup, or the clothes you wear. To me beauty is how you take care of yourself and your personality shining through and impacting others. It's being a kind and loving person. It's being a genuine and beautiful person in your heart.
I heard that it's either 40% or 60% of guys find women most attractive with less makeup....why? Because we don't need it. I love that Micah tells me I'm beautiful even when I have no makeup on, my hair isn't done, and I'm bumming in my pj's, But he still sees true beauty in me. <3
Makeup isn't beauty, sure we can use it to make the best of our beauty, but not to cover it up. 
I feel my best when I'm doing yoga or some kind of exercise or just eating healthy foods, because I know I'm taking care of myself. 
I know there's always something we can find to dislike about our bodies...for me it's my stomach.. It's not flat, and may never be flat, it may just be my body type. But even if I never have a flat stomach doesn't mean I'm not beautiful. And sometimes even if we do improve a part of our bodies, we still don't think it looks good enough, either we find something else to dislike or we obsess over one part not looking how we want and even if we do improve it we can't see past our insecurities to notice.... I know, I've been there.
I want you to watch this video.. I love what one of the girls say about looking yourself in the mirror and finding something that is beautiful everyday, I've done that and it first if you're really insecure it feels like you're fooling yourself...but then you'll start to believe it, you'll start to see your true beauty. Even if you don't think so...You have a beautiful body... and even if I don't think so sometimes... I have a beautiful body.

(Yes this is a post for a GRWM but note it's a very natural look, I'm not trying to change myself. And I could (and do) easily go without makeup often)