Hey loves!!

Before I sit my butt down for an 11 hour flight tomorrow to L.A. (ughhhhh I detest long flights!) I thought I’d give a little personal update on my life, it’s been a while!

The City of Angels in The Sunshine State

Can you tell I am excited to visit California for the very first time? I’ve been having wet dreams about this day since I was about 10 years old. Not L.A. necessarily but hey it’s a start! (San Fran, you’re next!). I am visiting L.A for a week because the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I am currently enrolled to become a Holistic Health Coach, is hosting a free, two day mega conference with some epic guest speakers (previous conferences were held in Miami, NYC & Costa Rica)! I decided to make it a mini vacay to run along the beach shore (it’s gonna be 24C and I’m right at the beach suckaaaas), meet up with fellow european IIN students at Cafe Gratitude (be still my heart), and rendez-vous with Evolyfe.com editor-in-chief James W. I fully intend to blog about some of the interesting topics that come up during the conference so stay tuned!

Some-Like-It-Raw.Com Update

I have decided to start blogging a little less. Lately my head is overflowing with inspiration for new blogs/articles, which is sweet, but I want to spend most of my time and energy on eBook writing, studying and coaching. Then there’s business building, my part-time job and writing an article here and there for other websites (keep your eyes peeled!). Simply put, I want my website to be a part of my daily shenanigans (‘job’ just sounds wrong) and not the main show.

With that said, if you want more tips, tidbits, photos, updates, inspiration, quotes and stay in the loop of new stuff going down, make sure to follow me on facebook!

I am a social media whore and facebook is my corner, just sayin’.

Personal Updates

Skin

Ahhhh the moment you’ve all been waiting for (right?)! Well here’s the down and the low, as Sheldon would say. My skin is doing much, much better. Note: not great. It’s up and down really, but I am getting some more clarity (pun always intended) as to why my skin breaks out from time to time. Stress, refined sugars and, ahem, hormonal disruptions (that’s my polite way of saying Auntie Flow).

What my skin looks like most days:
(naturally, without make-up or photoshop. Couldn’t even if I wanted to :p) 

I’m so cute I want to punch myself…

What my skin looks like a day, or two, after eating processed crap:

My biggest problem is also skin-picking (obsessive type-A personality anyone?). Even when I haven’t had a zit in days there’s red spots because I picked. Luckily those red spots are easily and very effectively covered up with a tiny smidge of loose powder (yes, gasp, make-up). I stil prefer to go out without make-up and most of the time I do, but when I have some red spots (not zits or anything open) I apply a little bit of loose powder and my face looks peachy clear again, which I need sometimes.

Seriously, because of being on the pill I never noticed before how much my cycle affects my skin. And because my diet was already relatively clean/healthy before I got into raw, juicing, fasting, etc etc, I didn’t notice a huge difference in my face. But alas, the last two months my diet has been quite bad from time to time and I noticed a direct correlation between refined sugar (and perhaps the dairy) in comercial chocolate and my skin. Since I hardly eat anything like that anymore the outbreak I would experience the morning after eating that was shocking to say the least. I should’ve know better aye? I am now working on completely eliminating refined sugars from my diet again (what can I say, those suckers are addictive indeed and I’m not perfect!). Doing ‘all raw’ at the moment to make it easier. PS funny factoid: when I was eating massive amounts of fruit last summer my skin was peachy perfect. Conclusion? Not all sugars are created equal. Booyah!

Growth, Baby.

Ok so I know I haven’t been blogging much/at all about this but December and January were like hell for me. Without going too much into it, I was dealing with a lot of shit. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so low and so sad, especially since the last year I had been feeling better and better and happier and more like myself every day. You wouldn’t say but I am not a person who talks easily about her stuff. Yes I am talkative and annoyingly blunt but when I am really dealing with some personal issues, I tend to bottle things up, not wanting to bother others and thinking I have to deal with it myself anyway. Which is somewhat true I guess but then I do let some things out, people tend to be really surprised.

The reason I am telling this now is because this dark period was a catalyst for a lot of good stuff, personal growth and shit, but during this time I was not happy. I was not healthy. I was using/abusing food to cope and because I didn’t feel like taking care of myself. I couldn’t be bothered making healthy meals, my daily juice, have my daily bout of exercise. I didn’t care about myself, my body, my health, this life actually. All I could (barely) deal with at that time were my emotions and all the external shit going down.

But I do strongly believe all things happen for a reason (if I hadn’t had that faith I don’t think I’d be here now, on top of my shit again, pretty much. I’d still be wallowing in my self-pity). I feel that in these last two months I have grown and learned more than in the 10 years prior. And in the middle of it all I kept getting signs that I was also going through this pain and suffering to be able to help others, eventually. Basically the Universe told me, if you want to be a good health coach, you need to know what it feels like. What it’s like to be at rock bottom, and what tools one needs to get back on top, stronger than ever before.

“Without pain and challenges, there is no spiritual growth”

And that’s what kept me going. That’s what let me allow the pain to be there. Instead of fighting it, I let it be. Some days it took me over (not so good), other days I saw very clearly what I could do to make the pain and sadness smaller. Eventually I was able to have more and more of those latter days, until now where I’ve reached a point where I am eating raw and healthy again, exercising daily again, being productive and outgoing again, and basically feel reborn. And I have gained so much respect and understanding for others going through pain and suffering -whatever pain or suffering that may be- through the process. I have learned a lot about accepting, letting go and shaping your own reality and consciousness. I have learned how to love others and accept others even when dealing with pain myself, not making my problems out to be bigger than someone else’s. I have remembered what it is like to use food as a coping mechanism- either with bingeing or starving.

I fully intend on using this experience in my coaching. I think the power of the mind and creating our own consciousness are the number one tools in creating optimal health. Start with optimism and unconditional love and healthy diet and exercise will follow naturally. There is no use in trying to make someone eat a healthy diet when they are not feeling good about themselves and feeling stuck and betrayed by the world, I now see.

So thank you, Universe, for this lesson.

The last few weeks I have been feeling increasingly better and it’s a positive spiral. I feel better, I eat better. I eat better, I exercise more. I eat better and exercise more, I feel better. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

What I’m Loving At The Moment <3

Just some random shoutouts to things I am loving at the moment;

Apps

* Evernote

My absolute favorite app at the moment is Evernote! I have it installed on my iPad and mac and the webclippers allow me to ‘clip’ everything I want (which is a lot) to my notebooks, tags and all; whole pages, urls, page sections. I’m a freak for this app!

* Concentrate

Very cool app that optimizes your work time on your mac. Create designated tasks (like: eBook writing, studying, being awesome), determine the length, websites that need to be blocked (bye bye social media distractions), apps that need to be blocked, programs and documents that need to be opened, sounds that need to be played, etc. Works like a charm!

* Mint

Everything becomes better when it involves a snazzy app, even budgetting. I don’t like to budget and keep track of my finances but if it involves colorful graphs and charts, even I might be persuaded…

Vids

* 70 Year Old Woman Finds The Fountain Of Youth (For Real…)

Click to see the video on facebook (you’ll want to see this..)

I don’t need to tell you the ‘secret’ of course is a raw vegan diet. This lady is not the first senior to look like a young vibrant woman on a raw plant-based diet but she is definitely one of the best and youngest looking. Probably because she has been eating raw for a looong time: 27 years and counting.

If this isn’t enough reason to GO RAW I don’t know what is

* Bill Maher’s Pharma Rant

Anyone who knows me knows how I loathe the pharmaceutical world. Hospitals, doctors, pillz, the whole shebang. This video made Maher me my new favorite bad boy (his profanities didn’t hurt, either).

“The government isn’t your nanny. They’re your dealer”

* Cuteness overload

I warned you!

* Sickest Buddhist

Remember Yoga Girl? I have been induldging in a lot of lame funny videos like that lately. I think living a spiritual life is very important, but so is making fun of yourself from time to time. Don’t take life so serious yo!

“You don’t think I’m peaceful? Step up in my face and say that, bitch!”

That’s it for today folks!

Next time live from the city of angels!