Weekend naughtiness, counting the cost and paying the price

This post is about my weight loss journey ... what *did* you think it was about? Naugthy! Naughty! :-)

I just spent my first weekend with my new diet and let me tell you, it was not good.

First of all, as I had mentioned earlier, I had that frozen yogurt treat. That was yummy but full of calories.

Then on Sunday, I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, which actually was pretty good. Not that many calories. Eggs are good for you.

But then, I made this incredible mushroom soup for dinner that night and I think that the soup had way more calories than I counted. I'm fairly certain of it ... maybe. I don't actually know since it's hard to actually calculate the calories ... okay, so I just did some math, and the soup was actually pretty good. It only had 331 calories per serve in it. That was a lot less than I thought. I guess it's because it was entirely a vegetable soup, so even a big bowl like the one I had, did not have a lot of calories in it.

Anyway, I was over my calorie count on Saturday because of the frozen yogurt, and I was just under on Sunday.

Either way, this morning I woke up at 138 lbs, which is 1 lb higher than when I started this whole thing.

I'm hoping that it's just the whole swing up, swing down, that happens to our weight based on food intake, etc., over a few days rather than actual weight that I have put on. I guess I won't know until I check myself a few days on.

The few things that I have learned though, because of the weekend, is that:

• I have to be extra careful about my food intake over the weekend.
• It's not possible to relax while on a diet. Seriously, the moment you take your eye off the ball, the whole thing falls apart.
• It's necessary to be patient, there will be ups and downs.
• It's also necessary, to continue to be really OCD about everything.
• Everything matters. Everything thing you put into your mouth no matter how insignificant it may seem counts. For example, I love coconut water, and I would think nothing of a can or two a day for a refreshing drink. Do you know that darned drink is 161 calories? When you're only allowed 1300 calories a day, that's a whole lot of calories to give up for just one drink!!

So, I'm back on the wagon and so far have only consumed 210 calories today.

Plus what I've heard is right, after the first 3 or 5 days, you don't feel hungry anymore. At least, I don't throughout the day, but I do still get very hungry by the time dinner rocks round, if I haven't eaten by 7pm or so.

The journey continues ... 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/
Keek: http://www.keek.com/langshipley
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/

Feeding my foundation fixation with Findation - color matching without testing

I'm talking about foundation again - just because I love the stuff!!

This time, I want to talk about this fab site I've found that matches foundation shades for you. It is called Findation. It's a very clever website, and if you do like your foundation or are just trying to find a color match for a particular foundation, use this site.

What this site does is that is asks you for foundation color matches that you know already works for you and matches you.

You enter the brand of the foundation, the type of foundation and the color that is correct for you.

It asks you to enter as many as possible, stating that the more you enter, the better the match would be.

Once you have entered all the foundations you know works for you, you click on the button that tells it to "find match" and it goes off and does its thing.

When the search comes back, it spits out a very long list of foundation color matches for you. You can then scroll through the matches and also have the list emailed to you. Just be careful, it will only email to one email address, one list, once. If you plan on doing this more than once, you might need to use a few different email addresses or just copy and paste the results from the website to your computer and save the list.

I've tested this several times (and have run out of email addresses to use) and the results are quite accurate.

I am not saying that the results are 100% accurate because it did spit out one foundation that did not match me and I know this because I had tried that exact foundation in the exact color it recommended and it was a shade or two too dark for me. That said, it was one foundation out of something 20 or 30 that they recommended and matched.

It's a fun site to play with and it's a great tool.

This is particularly useful if you are planning on ordering a foundation online and have no way to color match because you are not going to a store, or even if there just is not a store near you that sells the particular foundation that you are after.

It's a good tool to use, that I would say is about 90% to 95% accurate if you enter the right number and range of foundations for it to work from.

If nothing else, it's just fun to have a play.

Good luck finding your foundation match.



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/
Keek: http://www.keek.com/langshipley
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/

Some progress and holy frack! that's a lot of calories

So, I'm on day 5 of my calorie controlled diet and I'm doing well. I've lost 2 lbs so far and it seems to have stayed off for the last 2 days. Hooray!!

The calorie watching is continuing well and I am becoming very aware of how many calories there are in food and making conscious choices about that I eat. I have also been fairly good about coming in under my calorie ration for the day and being good. That has made me feel really happy and kinda proud of myself.

Except ...

Today, I decided to skip breakfast and lunch and allocate all my calories to a favorite treat - Yogurberry, which is frozen yogurt with some yummy toppings.

ZOMG!!! Frozen yogurt has a TON of calories!!!

I didn't check before I went to have my treat, I was so focused on the treat itself, but then I came home to update my diary and discovered that between the frozen yogurt treat and a normal dinner, I have blown my calorie ration for the day by 158 calories.

I feel awful about it.

I also feel guilty. Really, really guilty.

This has taught me a valuable lesson on being very careful about my treats. This much beloved frozen yogurt treat is going to need to be one that is allowed in few and far between instances.

On a more positive note, the first few days of my calorie counting, I was starving by the end of the day. Now, I'm feeling much more stable, and while I get hungry by dinner time, I am not STARVING and wanting to just shove a whole bunch of junk into my mouth. I find that if I eat by a reasonable time, say between 7pm and 7:30pm, I'm fine. If I'm really desperate, a snack of a slice of roast turkey just fine, which is a mere 25 calories.

The long and short of it is that I'm happy with how it's progressing. In the long run, this is a lifestyle change. I'll get over the frozen yogurt blip and be wiser about that choice from now on. I even managed to avoid the temptation of fresh macaroons which I love and didn't buy a box to eat during the week, which is something I would have done before I started my diet. By the way, a macaroon is 58 calories. Eat with caution!!

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/
Keek: http://www.keek.com/langshipley
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/

How I color match foundation at the drugstore

Those of you who know my makeup habits (and watch my videos - shameless plug here!!) will know that I am a bit of a foundation junkie.

I love me some foundation and smooth even colored skin.

The hardest thing about foundation is finding the right shade, I always find.

A lot of stores are not very helpful and do not offer samples or testers. Some places that do, have poor lighting so it's hard to find a match and often standing in a drugstore and testing foundation on the back of your hand is just not ideal.

Then, there are the department stores that have sales assistants to match you - I have found that does not always work out right either. Helpful tip: most department store makeup counters will give you samples to take home and test, so get color matched and ask for a sample to try at home. You never know how the foundation will work on a normal day of wear - how long does it last, does the color really match, do you like the way it feels, will it oxidise ... the questions are endless and only a full day road test under your normal day to day circumstances will answer them.

But I digress ...

I have become pretty good at testing and finding my foundation color in a drugstore. I have a foundation color that is my "go-to" base color that I know works for me. It's a commonly available foundation at the drugstore - for me, it's Revlon Colorstay Stay Natural Makeup Foundation in 03 Nude. This is what I call my "baseline" foundation color. It could be anything for you, but I find that this Revlon one works for me as the basis of comparison for all other foundation colors.

What I do, is, I pump a small amount of the baseline color on the back of my hand - do not blend it out. Then, I move onto the color that I want to try or buy, and I squeeze a small amount right next to my baseline color until they are both touching, and I look at the colors of the two foundations. I compare the colors and try to come up with a shade that is as close to my baseline as possible. Some might be a bit more yellow, a bit more pink or a bit more neutral, or some might be an exact match. I pick the color that is the closest match to my baseline.

This method has worked very, very well for me, and I have never picked a wrong foundation color using this method. Of course, this method only works when the drugstore offers testers for you to try.

I never try the foundation on my face / skin when I'm at the drugstore as I do not want to mess up my makeup, especially since I usually go to the drugstore to test foundations and shop in the middle of the work day and I still need to go back to work at the end of my lunch hour.

Anyway, this is what I do. I hope it helps you, if you do decide to try it out yourself. I might even film a video on this and demo the method that I'm talking about here.


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/
Keek: http://www.keek.com/langshipley
Cooking blog: http://dazinthekitchen.blogspot.com.au/