Tired?

Q from spunkysparky33 from YouTube:
I don't eat meat hardly EVER, and since the beginning of this year no matter how much I sleep I feel EXHAUSTED! Could it be the fact that I don't eat meat (and I'm not getting those vitamins or proteins)?

Dear spunkysparky33,
Yes, I think that if you recently haven't been eating meat it is probably the reason for your fatigue. When you don't have enough nutrients, your body can't function properly and that causes tiredness.
Remember to take your vitamins every day! I take a pill form and I also have that powder stuff called Emergen-C (you can get it at health stores where they sell tons of pills and Vegan products) that you put in water and it tastes really good :)
Research to find what you could eat to substitute the protein, iron and minerals you need from meat. To substitute the protein you could have: tofu, chia seeds, dark leafy greens, fish/seafood, beans and Vegan powder mix (which has absolutely everything you need and is filling but it's expensive).
Also make sure you're getting enough fibre! There's plenty in most cereals. Especially Kashi!
xo Claudia

New diet...

NO CANDY UNTIL HALLOWEEN!
sounds easy enough...
I'll let you all know how it goes :)

Sometimes I feel really down...

Hey guys!

This blog entry is especially directed for PookieTheBird on YouTube (who doesn't make videos). Here is the message I got from them:

"Hi Claudia! I just wanted to ask you something. Could you please make a video about how to manage these days that things are really not working? I mean, when you're having a bad day, you're not having luck, you're a little down, or you fail in doing something and you feel bad. What do you do to "change the mood" and stop that "sadness" and just get happy again. Do you have this kind of days? I have them from time to time and I always end feeling better and thinking "I will never be unhappy again because of this", but if that thing happens again, I fell down again :( And I hate it! And also I want to know how do you manage major problems like having someone around who is a really bad person that want to hurt you! Or when you have problems with your family or other people. And when you have people around that is SO negative, how do you do to not be affected by this? I mean, I have relatives SO close-minded that I feel it's ruining my life :( But I try to be free and live how I really want to live, but it's hard, you know.
Wow, I hope you can understand all this! I'm Spanish and I don't speak english really well so it's hard to write! But I tried :)
Your videos are really helpful, I love the way you are, you are inspiring and you always make me feel good when I watch your videos :) I like your style and I also design and sew :)"

So hey PookieTheBird, this is for you :)
I've been pretty depressed a couple times. Not seriously, but I just felt really bad about myself. Both of my parents can be negative, sometimes they say "You'll never be a fashion designer" and they don't always respect me, my beliefs and dreams. My friends can be really disapproving about things too. But I know they only do this because they care about me, still, it brings me down. I've also felt like nothing was going right in my life, like everyone else had it made and I was just stuck in the ground. I've even felt fat and dumb. Here are the things that get me through these feelings and stages:
- screaming
- then quiet and being alone
- reading
- drawing
- music
- watching YouTube videos (I find makeup tutorials really relaxing)
- watching my fav tv shows on surfthechannel.com
- manis & pedis
- tea or apple cider
- making art/collages
- go for a walk
- set goals
I think about how tomorrow is another day and another chance. Setting goals is a big thing, it really helps you to achieve the things you want and that makes you feel proud of yourself and sometimes other people feel proud of you too which usually leads to hapiness :)
I try not to scream or talk back to the person I'm mad at or think about life and death. I also don't go to online stores and stuff cause that makes me upset cause I can't buy anything since I'm broke. When you feel so bad, doing things that make you happy - everyone has their own hobbies - really help. For me it's drawing, YouTube and sewing and stuff.
My parents are really protective. They don't let me take public transportation and won't let me go certain places and I can't see my friends often cause they don't live near me. I feel like I don't have freedom which makes me really mad and it's hard. But I tell myself that I'm still young and my freedom will come. I'll be able to drive by myself in a year and a little and hopefully my parents will let me take the bus this year!

Well that's all I've got, I hope it helped!
xoxo Claudia

I've been bad.

Sorry I haven't been updating this blog guys! I almost forgot about it D:

Anyway, about the weight thing. I weigh about 101 - 104 lbs. It keeps changing but I guess it's water weight. I've been drinking a looot of water every day to keep my body hydrated "from the inside out" and to help clear my acne which I'll blog more about later. I've been good about not eating a lot of junk, not that I really lost anything, but whatever. I'm happy with my weight. This summer I've gotten lazy and been on surfthechannel.com, twitter, facebook and YouTube for the most of almost every day :P But now that school has started I go to bed on time and try to get exercise every day. My parents are unable to pay for a second dance class this year so I'll just be doing musical theater and I won't be able to go to exercise class with my friends :( Oh well. Money problems, ew, I hate money.

So from now on, I PROMISE I'll update this blog more and make it better :D Content wise, lol. I have a lot of ideas! I also might do a contest on just this blog sometime too.

TTYL, take care (:
xo

Mmmm

THE BEST NOODLES EVER!Me and my friend made this when she was over, but sorry I can't tell you the recipe. We kinda winged it. But here's what's in it:
- fryed mini potatoes
- sliced and salted tomatoes
- fryed tiger shrimp
- seasoned noodles boiled with carrots and cucumber

My grandma made this... it's (half) an egg pancake with salted tomatoes which is my fav side dish now!!

I made a salad today.

Simple, healthy recipe (:


Ingredients:
- baby romane lettuce (from garden)
- 1 swedish chard lettuce leaf (from garden)
- 3 crimini button mushrooms
- 2 tomatoes
- some mixed beans and spouts
- an egg

How I did it:
- washed and chopped the lettuce
- put egg to hard boil, sliced it
- washed, sliced and fried mushrooms in butter
- washed and sliced tomatoe
- washed and added beans and spouts

New Goal

Today I weigh 102 lbs.

I gained 2 pounds recently :S Probably all the freezies and ice cream this summer. And whenever I go camping, my mom buys SOOOO many chips and cookies, it's gross, lol. And we eat it all. Gross-er.

So I kinda automatically started this "diet". I told myself in the mirror that I will not eat junk. Maybe one little thing a day. For example, today I ate an oreo :P But for the past few days I really have stopped snacking and I've been eating healthy meals! I don't know how, but I can seriously just resist it. I think it's because I made my mind think that certain food is like toxic. When I was shopping with my mom at the mall yesterday, she asked, "Should we have McDonalds?" and my hand immediatly flew to my chest and I freaked out, "ew, nooo!" Lol, so we went to Fresh Garden. Like a healthy food bar.

I'm also going to make sure that I do some exercise every day. Wheather it's pilates, weighlifting or biking.

Where I want to loose weight is my thigh area cause I gained there this past year and this summer I gained some belly fat :(

So if you want to eat healthier, maybe try what I did. Order yourself not to touch junk. Maybe in the mirror like I did, lol. But be serious. That helps.

xo, Claudia.

I've Given Up :(

I gave up the 6 meals a day diet. It's more time consuming than I thought it would be. It was fun and it worked for the first 3 days or so but I focused a lot on what to eat and when to eat, and I don't know if I can make a habit of that. I'll probably try it again some time in the summer. But I'm glad that I tried it because it made me learn about so many healthy things I could eat and now I know how to eat healthy easy :)
I'm still trying to get in shape though so I'm still working out. I'll keep posting about that and soon I want to get a pilates/my exercise routine video on YouTube. I might film it today.. I dunno.
Happy Canada Day!
xo

First Fitness Class

Today I started going to this fitness class with two friends at this place called Studio 64 and I'll be going there every Tuesday! It's so much fun.. we did a lots of arm workouts and running and leg exercises. It feels awesome. So if you have trouble keeping up with workouts at home everyday, I recommend for you to join a fitness class or go to the gym once a week with friends! There's more motivation and time goes by quickly when you're having fun ;)
xo

Late Night Garden Eats

Sorry I don't have pics, I already ate the food :P
But it's awesome having a garden cause there's always something to pick and eat when hanging outside and when I'm hungry for a snack, there's a lot of yummy but healthy stuff right in my back yard!
Today I had this soy spread on a bun with slices of radish on top from the garden, my fav!
Then I had some veggie (I don't know what it is in english, but in Slovak it's called kalerab) for a snack which is a green and sort of white inside.. it's so good!
And for my super-late dinner which is now (bad :P) I'm having a salad with lettuce (including mint leaves!) and radish from the garden and then also cucumber, pepper, tomato and some kind of vinigrette.
Sorry about the lack of posts but I've been busy studying.. or trying too. Tomorrow is my last exam though, so more posts will be coming!
xo, Claudia.

No More Jelly Bellys :(

Well my mom told me yesterday when we were shopping that she won't buy me Jelly Bellys anymore. But they have them in so much different, cute packaging, they're basicially making you buy it! Didn't fool my mom though. She says that there's some ingredient in them that no other candy has and plus they keep it out of the ingredients list. I know! I was like, "that's illegal!!". They must be pretty bad for you! Smoothie blend was my fav. :(
Oh well,
xo.

Ugh,

Sorry I haven't really been posting, I haven't been keeping track of what I'm eating and my mom is buying all this candy and junk food, I can't stay away from it :P And so I'm uninspired. I promise that tomorrow I will eat healthy and post a 6 meals a day post (:
xo

6 Meals A Day - 9.6.09

Almost forgot!!
Meal 1 - Eggo waffle with jam and tea with honey.
Meal 2 - small smoothie (banana tofu, milk, yogurt)
Meal 3 - Organics cereal
Meal 4 - croissant (& Skittle :P)
Meal 5 - Tim Hortons egg salad sandwhich & Iced Capp
Meal 6 - mango (thats it cause the sandwhich was pretty big)
So yeah, I better go to bed! Just had my dance rectial.. I will post a video on YT tomo :D

6 Meals A Day - 7.6.09

Today we had people over so we had a lot of food and platters but I still didn't crave. Well, I did for ice cream and cake :P But it wasnt hard to tell myself "No". And I didn't keep wanting it, I got over it! I stole some food though for some of my meals...
Meal 1 - mini bagel with jam (jam for extra morning carbs!)
Meal 2 - potato salad with chia seeds (chia seeds for protein!)
Meal 3 - small smoothie (banana, milk, strawberry ice cream, mango tofu)
Meal 4 - a kiwi, grapes and yogurt with bananas
Meal 5 - celery, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli with dip
Meal 6 - 5 crackers with garlic dip

My Dad's Garden

Some plants are really easy to grow and its awesome that you can grow free, good food in your own backyard! My backyard has everything from fig trees to blueberries to green onions. Gardening is my dad's hobby I guess, lol. In the morning me and my brother and sister go to pick strawberries and red currants :)

6 Meals A Day - 6.6.09

So for my first day with this diet - I love it!! I didnt have aaaany cravings between meals and I feel really good about myself :) It all just fills you up just enough, you dont have to worry about wanting to eat more of anything! Ok, so this is what I had:
Meal 1 - mini bagel with jam (I dont use butter because its extra fatty and the jam is good because it has carbs to start the day off energized)
Meal 2 - small smoothie (containing milk, yogurt, banana tofu, frozen berries and some antioxidant and vegetable powder stuff)
Meal 3 - little sandwhich with cream cheese and chia seeds (for protein) and half a pickel
Meal 4 - some organic strawberries from my dads garden, pineapple, mixed nuts and carrots
Meal 5 - Organic cereal with a few diced strawberries
Meal 6 - Eggo waffle with chocolate chips
...aaand some green tea and water throughout the day!
Seems like a lot of food but I really only had small portions of each! Its actually kind of fun to plan your food for your day, actually. Well Im going to go and watch more Ugly Betty episodes that I missed :) New post tomorrow!
xo

6 Meals A Day Diet

So today I have started this diet. I'm going to post what I eat every day as much as I can, but this here is the info about the diet that I researched and stuff.
So you can have 6 or 5 small meals a day, it doesn't really matter, but I'm doing 6. You're supposed to have a meal every 2-3 hours, (I'm doing 2 hours today because it's Saturday and I woke up later than usual, but I would do every 3 hours otherwise) which can be hard with work and school, but I'm starting now that I only have one more day of school left so that it's easier and then I'll get used it. Hopefully next year my teachers don't mind eating during class :P You have to make sure that you have enough from every food group, of course. Protein, dairy, veggies & fruits, grain, and fats/carbs. Your first meal should have more carbs than the others, just to make a good, energized start to your day.
This diet is really healthy because first of all, it boots your metabolism. Also, you're eating a lot, but in small portions, which fills you up just enough, and you don't even feel the need to snack because you know that you'll have your next meal in a couple of hours! As long as you don't surround yourself with fatty snacks and learn not to go to gross fast food joints.
One thing about this diet is working it around your family. My family gets it, and I don't really eat with them a lot anyway, but when I do, I have a little portion and finish faster than the rest of them. I decided that if I go out for dinner with friends or family, I would have a bigger portion than usual, but still not that big, and the next day I'd go to the usual 6 meals a day.
I think that an important way to start this diet is plan what you will eat in the beginning of the day so that you know you're getting enough nutrients and stuff. I go to the kitchen, see what we have, decide on what I should eat and go to write down what I would like to eat. It isn't hard to stay to what you write down. Especially if you pack your "lunch". I think I would write "meal 1", "meal 2" etc. on my packaged food :)
So yeah! If you're thinking about this diet, you should totally try it! It's awesome and you can even lose a lot of weight :D I got to go make my third meal now, but I'll post a new blog tonight about what I ate today :)
xo

Exercise Blog - 6/6/09

I'm trying to get more into shape..
I realized that I stopped doing my daily routine which was mostly pilates. I used to do it every morning, then I started doing it before bed, and now I stopped. I do go for a bike ride every day, but I think I'll start doing that routine again. I'll also make a video of it for YouTube this summer :) It's actually kinda hard to do it every single day, but I guess that's because it hasn't really become a habit. Putting some time aside every day can be easy, though.
Anyway, I thought that I was in shape, but I don't think so anymore! Let's see if I can get into great shape this summer.
xo

Introduction

Today I got inspired to make this blog when I was biking and probably because I started my 6-meals-a-day diet :) This blog is basically going to be all about health, facts, and at the end of almost each day, I'll try to list what I had for each meal so that you can get an idea of how to eat in case you want to start the 6/5-meals-a-day diet. I'm really excited about this, because like fashion, health is another one of my passions! Hope you like the upcoming posts.. this will be fun :D
xoxo, Claudia.