Beauty

[Squirrel Lover]

Well, I am proud of myself. I did not but anything from Isaac on fashion weekend. 

I just went through my fall/winter clothes to get ready for spring next month. I chose 10 items that I do not want anymore. I washed and ironed them to donate. 

I still have a ton of stuff, of course. I need to count all of my clothes again. I don't count PJs, underwear and exercise gear, scarves and stuff, just tops, sweaters, pants, skirts, coats, and jackets.

[aprilskies]

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@rnmom wrote:

@aprilskies -I was like you at the end of the year last year, before I started with HEP. 

We had all sorts of junk food and treats in the house that I wanted to try to eat up before I started cutting back and trying to lose weight. I didn't want to waste it, so I ate way more than I should have and probaby gained an extra 5 lbs that I had to lose when the time finaly came. We still had junk in the house when it was time for me to "diet". I just had to decide not to eat it. It wasn't easy, but I just had to do it or else I knew that I would never start.

Even now, we still have candy, cookies, chips in the house. I just have to choose not to eat it. It's hard sometimes, and sometimes I will have a small treat. If you're like me, and you hate wasting food, maybe you can just set some of your treats aside if they won't go bad within the next few weeks and plan on eating them later, rather than trying to get thru them and then cutting back.

Because for me, it seems like as soon as the ones in the house are gone, new ones reappear to take its place. I know that I have a hubby and kids which makes it harder, I wouldn't buy nearly as much as I do if it wasn't for them. But they are here, (the food and the boys) and I need to learn to live with it and just make smarter choices for myself if I can. Not perfect, just smarter overall. Good luck this month, I know you can do it!

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@rnmom., The struggle is real, for sure. Yes, me too,this is exactly what I go through. It is a vicious cycle. There are plenty of times I reach a point and give most of it away or throw some away only to load up again so I am not going to do that this time even though I have everything from A-Z. I want that to be my reminder not to buy anything when I am at the store.  Yes, I am putting it all on hold and no snacking on any junk food in the evenings this week.  That is my plan and I am pretty irritated with myself so I think I will do it.

Yesterday I did load up on fruits and things so I have to remember to reach for that when I am jonesing for something.

And I want to make walking a must every day or almost every day.  I shouldnt have any excuses as to why I cant do it. I am aiming to do it first thing after work when I get home.

You are doing great.  Keep on going and thanks for the encouragement.  It is great when others know how you feel and you dont feel alone.

I am now on a mission to catch up to you.  Look out, that will be me on the left. 

[aprilskies]

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

Brand new month - brand new beginning. Yes, I know it doesnt have to work Iike that, but it feels fresh or something. Something I havent scr$wed up yet. 

HEP Fantasy Self Declutter - the part of myself that thinks I can control portion sizes.

When I was topically counting calories I was getting somewhere, I will go back to that starting today.  My consumption has been off the charts. 

I have lot to get through but I am going to try my hardest not to bring anymore home.  If it is here, it is fair game. One of my favorite ice cream is on sale again this week. I will resist. I must resist. 

March will be another HEP focus for me. Moderate March. I have to paste that everywhere as a reminder. 

I have a little catching up to do on this thread.

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@aprilskies 

Ice cream is hard.  I know if BH brings Talenti gelato into the house that I will eat it.  But gelato is something that makes life better.  Still, I don't need gelato.

We rented an On Demand movie last night and I ate a small bowl of microwave popcorn.  It was just enough.  But I'd already had a snack when we got home with the dog: Sardines on crackers.

And I have to say sardines are more satisfying than gelato.  There is much less guilt.  And sugar.

I've been looking at portion sizes, too.  Once you're consistent with portion sizes, I think your brain adjusts.  I like the smaller meals.  They're starting to feel normal.

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@just bee, Talenti and Haagen Daz are on sale this week. ugh.  Two of  my favorites. But I must resist.  I must resist. I must resist.

Haazen Daz was just on sale within the last two weeks. I bought six containers, yes six, dont ask me how long they lasted. Yup, no self control.

[aprilskies]

Yup, my Costco’s was out of tp and barely had any bottled water.  Plenty of paper towels but they emptied the shelves and had them all on the floor.  Geez.  Are we headed towards an apocalypse?

[just bee]

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@FindingMyJoy wrote:

Hello Everyone!! Here's to all of us having a great March!

February was a positive month for me due to I avoided all purchases of any type of body care! This was big since there were some really good sales from the companies I like. I made a good dent using up products by making sure each day I applied body creams. It was a good month of practicing consistency using products this includes skincare. Call me crazy or in need of an eye exam, but my skin looks better than it did a couple months ago? Interesting what consistent use of products can do vs just stock piling items.

This month, I want another no-buy month of body care and skincare. New goal for this month = dust off the nail polish and use it!! This winter I've been super lazy and haven't painted my finger or toe nails in a long time. I know I have some fun cheery colors so I should use them to perk me up during this dreary winter month. 

I'm concentrating on working out more this month. The goal is 5 times a week including at least 3 of them have strength training. I do believe there are muscles under this layer of fluff. Since I can't do portion control when it comes to chips or chocolate - I'm enforcing a no-buy challenge for myself to avoid buying bags of either. I will find better alternatives. A friend mentioned that when she's at home and feels the temptation to munch, she will make a cup of tea to sip. She said the activity of making it and then sipping something keeps her mouth and mind occupied. That will be my goal in the evenings to cut back on mindless munching after I've had dinner. No point in eating calories in the evening. 

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@FindingMyJoy 

All good points.  We complain that products don't work, but I suspect we aren't patient or consistent enough to let them work.  See what happens when you actually use what you buy?  We don't have to buy more, we just have to use what we buy.

Or we don't buy at all.  A no-buy is a good way to control ourselves, whether it's food, clothes or beauty products.  I think March will be a no-buy for any personal products because I just don't need more to move.  Just bought appliances yesterday so it's not like we're saving money.

The ritual of tea is a good thing.  And there are just so many varieties out there.  A lot of dessert teas if you're craving something sweet.

Now that the weather is getting warm I can get back into the habit of walking the dog when I get home from work.  That morning walk made a difference.  Need to keep moving...

[just bee]

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@Squirrel Lover wrote:

Well, I am proud of myself. I did not but anything from Isaac on fashion weekend. 

I just went through my fall/winter clothes to get ready for spring next month. I chose 10 items that I do not want anymore. I washed and ironed them to donate. 

I still have a ton of stuff, of course. I need to count all of my clothes again. I don't count PJs, underwear and exercise gear, scarves and stuff, just tops, sweaters, pants, skirts, coats, and jackets.

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@Squirrel Lover 

I had every closet in the house stuffed and had boxes of clothes stored.  I left so much behind after the fire.  But here we are in this tiny rental and I have three closets full of clothes.  Two closets are full of the clothes that were cleaned by the restoration company after the fire.  Everything's still wrapped in plastic.

Obviously, most of the restored clothes and even the casual clothes like tees and sweatshirts that I took to the cleaners myself haven't been worn since the fire.

They weren't worn before the fire, either.  So why do I still keep them?

[just bee]

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@aprilskies wrote:

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Yesterday I did load up on fruits and things so I have to remember to reach for that when I am jonesing for something.

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@aprilskies 

I haven't been to Costco, but Sprouts was fully stocked yesterday.  Bought two varieties of apples: Pink Lady and Opal.  Picked up a bag of mini peppers.  Then came citrus.  So many choices!  I really wanted Cara Cara or the raspberry blood oranges, but a couple of them felt mushy.  Ended up with a bag of Cuties.

So I'm set for work: Apples, peppers, Cuties.

What did you buy? 

[just bee]

Anyone see those commercials for Function of Beauty?  Personalized hair care.  You go to their site, take a hair quiz, choose the color and fragrance of the formula and you have the right product for your type of hair.

I probably would have done this a few years ago.  Now I'm just reading the articles on the site.

But the site saved me thirty bucks.  Yesterday I was looking at a paddle brush, thinking that it's odd that I don't brush my hair.  Do I need to buy a brush?  One of the articles on the site made me think I don't so I won't.

I'm not going to do much with this mop because I'm still waiting for the color to change.  At that point, when the roots are a different color, I'll start thinking about going short again.  Until then, just trims to keep it from getting too long.

ETA:

Yikes.  Just read some reviews.  Harsh.

[Squirrel Lover]

@just bee Wow. That is so interesting to me. I think that if I had a fire I would abandon any clothing that I could not reclaim myself and start from scratch with a small wardrobe. 

Living in a smaller space would help me from overbuying. When we retire in a few years, I want to sell my 2,500 sq. ft. house and move into one under 1800 sq. ft. I will be forced to get rid of a lot of clothes. What I need to do now is start living like we were retired so that I will not have to stress about my wardrobe later.

I am on a no-buy, as I said a few posts earlier, which is forcing me to work with what I have. All of my clothes work with each other so that tells me that I have a good wardrobe. I think that I will only add something to my wardrobe for spring/summer if it will make items I already own work better together. 

I have been binging on blogs about how to wear what you already own and it is an eyeopener I am learning so much. I   finally understand that I have too many Pima cotton tee shirts that are similar and serve the same function so unless one of Isaac's Pima cotton tees will "connect" with what I already have in my closet and makes an item work better, I need to just abstain from buying them just because the Q has them on "sale" for $3-5 off.

[just bee]

The plan for dinner last night was pasta and shrimp in an Alfredo sauce.  At the last minute I decided I didn't want the sauce.  Just shrimp sauteed in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes on linguine.  Had steamed asparagus on the side.

I did not miss the sauce.

And that's the problem I see with commercially prepared food.  Sushi restaurants are serving what should be simple pieces of fish with a variety of sauces and layers of decoration.  Yogurt, which should just be milk gone bad, has too many flavorings and cr_p in it.

Have you seen the Chobani Flip?

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough yogurt has cookie dough pieces, cookie rice crisps and milk chocolate chips.  Tons of flavors like Cinnamon Bun Fun, Rocky Road, S'Mores S'Mores, Peanut Butter Cup, Coffee Brownie Bliss.  All full of sugar and honey.  Gak!

Is there something you're eating that could do without an ingredient or two?