Best Shampoo for Oily Scalp!

Yes, I have oily scalp!! My hair was not like this in the past, but I think I can blame the change of weather of my new city. You see in the past I used to live in a hot and dry weather and now Houston, if you ever been here summers are hot and humid. I was using a “normal” drugstore shampoo and it started building this oil thing in my head, I would feel as if I hadn’t washed my hair in months!!!

I changed shampoo’s and it worked for a week or so and then it started happening again, I felt so bad!! Especially because I am going to the gym more and well nobody wants to have greasy yucky hair. I know that washing your hair also everyday is very very bad, but as my hair was this way I could not go one day without washing it.

So the other day I remembered about the Neutrogena anti-residue formula shampoo, It is a small bottle (not like any conventional shampoo) but a little bit lathers real good. As my hair was having a horrible day I went with it two times.

 

 

The scent of this product is a bit musky and it does linger in your hair after you wash it and even till next day. What I did was wash my hair at night and let it air dry and slept (which is exactly what I’ve been doing with my other shampoo’s). The next morning amazingly my hair was not oily at all, I decided to straight it with my CHI flat iron (which I stopped using due to my oiliness) and my hair feels so soft and light I love it.

Now one thing though I know you are not supposed to use this every day, because it really strips all the oil out of your hair. But what I am planing is on “training” my hair to not washing it every day and be more reliable on my dry Shampoo.

I heard that this type of Shampoo is good to be used once every two weeks if you want to get rid of all of the gunk in your hair and believe me it works. So Yes I would recommend this shampoo I love it.

Until Next Time,

xoxo

My Zumba Experience

Hey everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend I know I am full of work thanks to month end…but still I have a small break and decided to write a bit, and wanted to talk about my new hobby. Well is no news to everyone that since I returned from Ecuador and moving to Houston I’ve been gaining some pounds (ok a lot!!). These past few months have been a bit stressful and I have not been taking care of my eating habits that much, until a couple of weeks ago when I said enough!…

So I decided to eat healthier and join the gym once again, now that I am more “stable”. They offer tons of classes, but my first option was cycling since I used to do that in my previous gym and helped me a lot! But, a friend of mine (who joined as well) went to the Zumba class and told me how great it was. Honestly I was a bit skeptical because I never thought it would work, but I decided to give it a try, little did I know that I was going to LOVE IT.

IT IS AMAZING, you burn a lot of calories, while dancing (even if you don’t know the steps) and you work out ALL YOUR BODY. I ended up burning almost 500 Calories in a 60 minutes class which is way more of what I’ve burned in cycling in the past. So yes! I recommend Zumba if you want to exercise while having fun and learning a few new steps.

Have you practiced zumba?

Until Next Time

xoxo

What’s in my Gym Bag

You are in the gym after working out, getting ready for work and uh oh! You forgot your shoes!! Yes this happened to me once and it is not a nice feeling especially when you need to run to work!

So today I have for all of you What’s in my Gym Bag, let me tell you I have come to this from Trial and Error, Enjoy!

Until Next Time,

xoxo

The Benefits of Morning Exercise

I’ve been working out for 3 weeks straight and today I thought that I was ready to write about it. Basically I’ve joined a gym since last December and I was going after work (a couple of days a week). While this “routine” worked for a couple of months I got to a point where I just could not handle it. I just remember feeling tired and not wanting to go anymore.

One night after a hefty dinner I could not sleep, it was 3 in the morning I believe, that guilty feeling for eating a lot and the fact that my birthday was a month away made me say to myself I cannot do this anymore (it was like my AHA moment!) 2 hours later I jump up off bed, got my stuff ready and hit the gym.

What started as an abrupt decision of me going to the gym at that Insane hour became a habit, I only was planning on doing this for a straight month, only to see what it felt (after all I’ve never did this in my life), but honestly I think that this has become my new way of living. I wake up every day at 5:00 am and get ready for my 6:00 am gym time, after that I get ready there and go to work.

Today I want to share with you all of the great things that have happened since I have been doing this:

I feel more awake. Yes people often say that morning exercise really helps you feel more awake during the day. And it really does, my work requires my brain to be awake so since I started working out I completely forgot about “needing a coffee to wake up and start my day”

I think faster and give more accurate solutions. Sometimes there are situations that need to be fixed fast and correctly, before working out early I felt tired all the time and lazy, now I find an easy way out when I have to solve a problem at work or take better decisions.

My breathing has improved. Before this I would say I breathed normally, but believe me when I tell you that every day I leave the gym ready to start my day my breathing is different and feels good, I feel that I can really expand my lungs, which makes me feel pretty alive.

I don’t stress anymore. I used to be a person who could get stressed pretty easily, when I went to the gym after work I went and got out all the “stress of the day” but REALLY, now that I think about it, working out in the morning helps me not to have stress during the day.

I smile more. It is easy to smile when you are awake, have good natural energy and feel awake.

I sleep better. Incredibly I do, I don’t have any more problems with my sleeping habits plus I sleep early because I wake up at a bloody early hour every day.

I eat better (ok I try). I am still lacking a bit on this side, but I believe I become more selective because I do think more before putting stuff in my mouth and if it is a snack and it doesn’t taste good why bother I just won’t eat it.

And basically that is it, I know I have more to go, but today when my alarm rang and I woke up with no hassle and started getting ready without nagging I realized that it already became a habit for me and nothing can beat that.

Have you had an AHA moment lately?

Friday| Take a Deep Breath

Hey everyone, happy Friday, I know probably many of you are just starting their weekend (so jealous!) so be happy and be safe. Today I just wanted to take some time and update, because I’ve been missing a bit, so I said Tomiko take a deep breath and carry on, I will not deny that I am a bit (ok A LOT) tired, but still I feel pretty good.

I did complete my entire week of going to the gym at 6:00 AM (12 days now) which makes me feel pretty energetic throughout the day. Also, I have a new position at work, so this has had me studying a lot; there are so many new things and I’ve been running up and down, it’s been a bit of hectic, but at the end of every day I just sit and say to myself:

But returning to the weekend part, this one will be my last one before starting school again (decision I took by choice!) and I wanted to show you my outfit. Nothing says more relaxed than a pair of shorts, some sneakers and a t-shirt.

And while I’ll be sporting this outfit I will be working on future posts and some video ideas I’ve been having (so stay tuned for those). Also expect my May Favorites soon!!

PS: Something I also noticed today (due to our month end closing at work…duh!) is that June is coming!! I am pretty excited because My B-day is in June so I always love my birthday month is like a huge celebration for me even though I never have a BIG party I just love it.

Until Next Time

xoxo

Exercise, Money and Am I a Student?

Hey everyone, so if you are a current assiduous follower of this blog of mine, you might have noticed that I have not been posting a lot. Well basically I’ve been running up and down here and there with a lot of “interesting” things, and today I wanted to share them with you.

Well, first of all you know I’ve been working out in my fitness/health side for some time now, and somehow the past months I got stuck in my weight and was not feeling good. I just knew I needed a change, so one day at 4:00 AM I decided to give a big turnaround to my routine. I started working out early in the morning!! Now this is a big challenge, because my working hours are from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, so I started getting up at 5:00 AM and going to the gym.

This has been a BIG challenge and I’ve been trying to get USED TO my new schedule, which I won’t deny is a bit harsh, BUT the feeling I get every day after I leave the gym ready to start a new day is PRICELESS. No wonder I heard that working out in the mornings is the best thing. On my weight I have not seen big changes, but my clothes are loose now and I feel great, which is the most important thing.

On the other side, well I think I am going back to school (wait, I am going back to school)…I still cannot believe it. Two years ago I finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and I felt that was time to go for my Masters, it all happened very sudden and I’ve actually been given a great opportunity that I cannot reject. So yes, I will be a student again. Not a full time because with a master is very different and this one is great because classes are only on Saturday’s so this will not mess with my weekly goals.

So where does this leave my blog and my YouTube channel? Well I’ve been giving it some thought and I will definitely not be leaving it because I love it, this is my hobby my escape and something I truly love doing, and I know school and work are first (after all they pay my bills and the stuff I review for all of you guys! ?) but I have to be realistic and I know that I will not be posting every day as I used to. Hang in there posts will be juicier!!. Plus thanks to these new activities I have now tons of new Post Ideas for all of you, so it is a win win situation.

On my No spending month let’s say that I’ve been a little overboard with my expenses (just see my YouTube Hauls) but now that my birthday is coming well let’s say that It will be over for some time, maybe until winter comes. But I have managed to keep my savings in good condition still and keep moving forward!!

Wishing you all a happy Weekend!!

Until Next Time,

xoxo

Is Willpower Enough for Losing Weight?

A friend once told me:

If you really want to be healthy and lose weight you need to follow this equation:

Now it sounds simple, but in my head and looking at my background I thought that things were different, I mean I thought that 80% was the exercise and 20% controlling what I put in my mouth. Well that hasn’t taken me any farther so now I am under an experiment.

This experiment started last week when the hubs and I felt really down and with no motivation for working out or taking care of our meals. Until he was like ENOUGH I can’t take it anymore, and I was like yeah sure…(in my mind I couldn’t take it either but I was just craving some desert that I didn’t want to listen).

Does this situation ring a bell to you?

After that declaration we cleaned our fridge (with all my pain) and made a healthy groceries list. We redefined our goals for losing weight which resume in:

• We will lose at least 2 pounds per week (until we reach our personal goal)

• We will weight weekly and take our measurements once a month.

• We will go to the gym at least 5 times a week (1 hour minimum).

• We will not eat any junk food, processed food and Sodas are way out of limits.

• We will eat more Veggies and Fruits (that is how we get our sugar from).

• Dinner after gym will only be salad and a small protein portion (tuna or chicken).

Ok at this point I was going to cry LOL. But took the determination of saying, if you want different results you have to do things differently.

My first week just went by and let me tell you my experience, I did have some freaking cravings which are not fun, these cravings were due to the fact that I was in the junk food cycle, you know, the more you eat that type of food the more you desire it. BUT the gratification of seeing my weight in the scale this past Saturday was WORTH IT, I lost almost 4 pounds (even though I must confess that I did cheat twice over the week, but I don’t care).

I am not saying that I am over it, and that from now on things will be easy as pie, but if last year was the time when I became from an exercise hater to a person who enjoys it, this year will be the one when I will become a person who enjoys eating healthy.

In my belief, although willpower is important while conquering losing weight or any other goal (because you have to say NO to the good to say YES to the best), I also think that the words commitment, patience and perseverance play a big role. Why? Well because losing weight is not a thing that happens from one day to another, you have to let go of old patterns and develop a new way of life, which makes you a patient and perseverant person, and you do have to be committed all the time, is not like “I eat healthy on weekdays and have 2 free weekend days to eat what I want”. No it does not work like that, if you do that you are only fooling yourself.

Now, I am starting week number 2 now I want a Krispy Kream donut, but that’s OK because I am human, so what am I going to do? I am going to my fridge and eat a bit of chopped strawberries before hitting the gym. It is all about the choices, and though it takes willpower, I don’t want to restrict myself, because if I do I will fail. So I am just weighting my options and taking the best one. I know a donut right now will bloat me and will give me energy for like 10 minutes, while strawberries will be fresh, low in sugar and will reduce my craving for a longer period.

Feeling Depressed? Hit the Gym

Ok so last week was very hectic for me I must say, if you go a couple of posts back you would know that I was involved in a car accident and I’ve been going on and off dealing with car insurances, yara yara…anyways besides this I had tons of work and a dentist appointment (which was stressful). My mood was awful.

I was only able to fit 3 gym days and yesterday I was feeling grumpy and I didn’t know why? I only felt bothered at everything and very very tired. I didn’t even feel like going to my spin class, but that was when it hit me. I had to go more than ever because I needed exercise to feel better.

So after work I put my sneakers and hit my spin class. I must say I felt great after, and the instructor just puts you in this great mood always. He was saying to us “Smile just for 20 seconds, it’s free and it will make you feel good” so that’s what I did, even if those were the hardest 20 seconds of our strength class, that made me feel amazing.

Of course that you need to hear your body and if you feel physical exhaustion you do need to rest, but in my case most of the times is anxiousness from the day, that I do need to release by exercising. So next time you start feeling depressed and not so good, put your sneakers and go to the gym or just go for a walk, the thing is to do something different than be sitting in front of your computer or watching TV believe me your body will thank you later.

Until Next Time,

xoxo

Better Sore Than Sorry

With all the Christmas Treats you might be receiving right now, there might be a chance you are forgetting about something. I’m talking about that place you know you should be at and that whispers to your ear “don’t forget about me…” Yep that’s right I’m talking about THE GYM (or what you might call your favorite place for exercise), I know festivities can be hectic, but I do think that doing some exercise can help you stay focused with all the things you might have to accomplish.

So the hubs and I have been in the search of a new gym for some time now, and let me tell you something December is like the best month for haunting a new gym, because this is the time when they have their lower rates. This is because well, nobody actually goes I mean with cold weather all we people want is stay home drinking some hot cocoa watching Christmas Specials. Anyways…

I was able to score some deals at work and I received a free 3 day pass for both of us to a gym that is near our home (nothing can beat that). So yesterday I left work very very tired, and I got home with a face that made the hubs say with a jingly voice: It’s Gym Time, in reality all I wanted to do was lay back at my couch with my laptop but then I remembered about some strong words that always help me workout.

And it’s true, we went there, took a 45 min spinning class, with a great instructor, burned 605 calories and felt GREAT after that. I cannot wait to take my second class with him today. Let me tell you something, I did feel that this class was more intense than my previous spinning classes (at my other gym), I don’t know why, but with the other classes I used to take I burned around 450 calories, and at some point yesterday I think I got to my limit, but then I said to myself.

So yep I am very happy that I did went yesterday, and I cannot wait to keep going, this means I am still committed with my goal of being healthy and feeling great…

Until Next Time,

xoxo