Monday, January 27, 2014

Back to the diet ...


So, we're back from our vacation, where there were a lot of meals out.

The good news ... neither my beloved nor I put back on any of the weight we loss previously.

The bad news ... we didn't lose any weight either.

While on vacation, our eating habits were mostly moderate, although there were a few blow out meals as I mentioned in my previous post


For most of the vacation, we would have a late breakfast / brunch of scrambled eggs (most days) and sauteed mushrooms (one day), which was mostly protein. Occasionally, we would have a slice of toast to go with it, but most of the time it was without toast.

For lunch, because we had a late breakfast, we would often skip in and then in the late afternoon have a snack of some deli meats, a little cheese and some crackers with a glass of wine. I would skip the crackers and just have the cheese on its own. I know there are a lot of calories in cheese, but I did indulge because I love cheese and I have been missing it. My normal everyday life does not include cheese.

We did have one very nice lunch out with some friends as we were out celebrating their Australian citizenship ceremony which you can watch here.


There were quite a few dinners out as I have mentioned in the previous post but I tried to be moderate in my eating and often I was quite full after a few courses and not eating the entire course, so I left some food.

Two of the dinners were degustation dinners, so the serves were quite small, and I skipped the red meat course, since I do not eat red meat and the meat course tended to be the largest of the lot.


One night, we decided to try out a new restaurant that was raved about by a lot of our friends and then I ordered 2 entree sized meals, for my starter and main, rather than an entree size and a main size meal. The main size would have been too much, since I struggled with my second entree sized meal. The stomach has definitely shrunk from previous dieting.



I think my biggest naughty meal was the night of the Australian citizenship ceremony, where our friends had a BBQ and I got stuck into the cheesy Doritos (my favorite!!) with homemade hummus. Then they also served party pies which is a very Australian thing and I LOVE those things, so I ate 4 of them!!! That was naughty, but then when dinner was served, I only had half a sausage (because you must have sausage for a BBQ) and a few BBQ'ed prawns, since my friends know of my aversion to red meat.



All in all, I must say that I am pleased with what happened over the vacation. I didn't go forward, but then I didn't go backwards either, and that was a total plus.


Now, we're both back to watching what we eat and I'm back to my Optifast bars for breakfast and lunch. The Optifast bars are great because they fill you up, but seriously, they taste rather boring and they are the consistency of dried cardboard. I'm so over them!!

Pressing on ...


Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/langshipley
Makeup and beauty blog: http://langshipley-deannasworld.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/langshipley (this is the best way to reach me, I will always respond to this the fastest).
Twitter: @langshipley https://twitter.com/langshipley
Instagram: @langshipley http://instagram.com/langshipley
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/langshipley/
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Makeup no buy / low buy 2014 ... reigning in my makeup addiction


So I might have a slight ... hmmm ... okay, perhaps more than a slight makeup addiction and I just *LOVE* makeup.

I love using makeup.

I love shopping for makeup.

I love collecting makeup.

In the last couple of years, my makeup collection has grown massive and I have more makeup than I would use up in a very long time.

This year, my best friend Tessa and I have decided that we will both go on a makeup no buy / low buy, where we only buy what we use up, with a few exceptions.

Tessa is way more strict with her no buy than I am, as her exceptions are only 10 makeup items for the whole year. I am allowing myself $50 per quarter of makeup items, which I will spend at Sephora, which probably doesn't end up more than 10 or so items anyway, just because things at Sephora tend to be a bit more high end, unless I time it with a sale. I'm going to save my exceptions for the special gift sets and any snazzy new palettes that come out during the year ... or something. I really don't know what I will do right now.

Straight off the bat, I'm going to say that this is going to be tough and challenging. Already, I'm seeing things on Youtube videos and thinking "Oh, that's interesting, I'd like to try that" or "I'd like to own that". A lot of the time, it's not even about using it, it's about collecting it. I have some things in my collection that I haven't even used yet, and I really need to change that.

Both Tessa and I have made a video about our rules for the no buy / low buy and I will link our videos below.

For those of you who prefer to read the rules, here's what I've said for me:

  1. General - only replace if there is none left in the stash wherever possible
  2. Foundation - no new foundations or BB creams until I've used up at least 5 of each, buy only 1 new one
  3. Powder - no new powders until I've used up at least 3 of each, buy only 1 new one
  4. Eyeshadows - no new eyeshadows at all (this one is going to be hard)
  5. Eyeliners - only get new eyeliners if the color I need runs out, eg, like if I'm all out of black liners
  6. Mascara - only replace when run out, using no more than 3 mascaras open at a time
  7. Lippies - only get new lippie if the color I am using runs out and there are no other close alternatives in what I own, ie, like if I've used up all my reds
  8. Blushes - no new blushes at all (this will be hard too)
  9. Bronzers and highlights - only replace when I run out and there are no alternatives left in the stash (which would be highly unlikely!)
  10. Nail polish - 5 new colors every 3 months, plus replacement of base and top coat when they run out
  11. Hair care - replace as used up
  12. Body care - replace as used up
  13. Skincare - replace as used up, including makeup remover wipes, cleansers, etc.
  14. Perfumes - use up samples and what I have. No new ones until I use up at least 3 oils and 1 bottle of perfume

And most importantly, of course, I will need to SHOP MY STASH!!

If you plan on doing something like this, I would love to hear from you. Like my facebook page and we can chat about it and encourage each other. I will plan regular video and blog updates on the subject.

Wish me luck!!!


Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA:
Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/langshipley
Makeup and beauty blog: http://langshipley-deannasworld.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/langshipley (this is the best way to reach me, I will always respond to this the fastest).
Twitter: @langshipley https://twitter.com/langshipley
Instagram: @langshipley http://instagram.com/langshipley
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/langshipley/
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/