Clean Living // Sugar Scrub

Have you ever gone to an organic store for natural and healthy things for your body and realized that the stuff is ridiculous expensive for the small amount that you're getting. So, I decided that I wanted to try clean living on a budget. Everything in this you either have on hand or can get easily from the store.

• Sugar
• Olive Oil (you can use almond oil, sunflower oil, or coconut oil)
• Lemon Juice (I squeezed it fresh out of the lemons so it isn't processed)
• Essential Oil of your choice (completely optional, I didn't use it)

In a bowl I put about two cups of sugar, half a cup of oil and a whole lemon squeezed and mixed it. Adjust the ingredients to how you want your scrub to be.

I use this about every two or three days and it makes my skin feel amazing. Exfoliating your skin helps repair damaged areas, like stretch marks; and I must say after two weeks of everyday use my stretch marks are a lot lighter. With that, I also moisturize at least 4 times a day and keep them out of the sun.

This also makes great gifts, you could decorate the jar however you want and even include a small spoon for scooping it out. I think I might go thrifting for some small old tea spoons and include them in the gifting of this. 

What kind of essential oils do you like?

Fitness Goals // Starting

Firstly, I don't really like it when people say that they have weight loss goals. No, obviously I wont judge you, but in my opinion, I believe saying that you are trying to be fit or that you have a fitness goal will help keep you motivated. I know that I always feel discouraged when I say I have a weight loss goal and I'm not losing weight for a few weeks, but Im still kicking butt. It's just a way for me to not lose hope, but don't worry, knowing I'm shedding pounds is always encouraging. 

(Side note: I couldn't get this photo to work out for me and to rotate. Sigh)

So, today was my first "official" day of getting myself fit. Xander and I walked up to the gym in our apartment complex and I eased myself into my first workout. The hardest thing is to get started and to stay motivated. So, the fact that I made it up there this morning and stayed for 45 minutes made me proud of myself. I have to go while Xander is taking a nap, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to get a few minutes on the elliptical, at this point. 
I started with 10 minutes on medium to high intensity on the elliptical and then I did some arm workouts and abdominal exercises. I didn't want to push myself to hard, especially since it was my first real workout after having Alexander and a c-section, no less. But, I have decided that everyday during the week, I am definitely going to make the effort to go to the gym.

With the lovely amount of exercise, I've also changed my eating regimen. I start with a light breakfast and my vitamins and then go to the gym. For lunch, I normally have a shake and then for dinner I make something healthy. That's been my biggest task, keeping dinner healthy without cooking the same thing all the time. I don't have a problem eating whatever, but Cody tends to be a bit pickier when it comes to certain things. So, the goal is to make healthy meals and start to introduce them to Cody as well. 

Have you ever noticed that when the whole house is eating healthy and working out, it is a lot easier to do so? Maybe it is just me, i don't know.

I'm very excited for this much needed journey. Obviously I'll be sharing more about my journey on here, about what I eat, what workouts are my favorite, what app I use to track what I eat and so on and so forth.

Here is to the first day of my fitness journey! Have you started a fitness journey recently, or are you wanting to? Tell me about it!

7.52

6.52

6 weeks of pure bliss, well almost. I've had my ups and downs emotionally and having to deal with the abrupt change in motherhood has definitely kept me on my sleepy toes. I love it so much. I love him so much. Our little family.