Ragtime Mouse Fashion&Beauty

Product Warning: No 7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser

My skin care regimen consists of Proactiv in the morning and a gentle cleanser at night. This combination has given me quite nice skin that others frequently ask about, wondering what products I use. My answer right now: NOT FUCKIN’ THIS. Like many people I am always switching it up with products, hoping to find the next great thing (in fact the only thing I use 100% of the time is Proactiv). I picked up this cleanser because it sounded gentle and moisturizing, perfect for my night routine. I noticed it felt quite oily after rinsing, but it was cleaning off my makeup well, and I toned afterwards, anyway…but then the blackheads appeared, and then the cystic acne. It started slowly, but now I have 4 cystic pimples on my cheeks (OUCH), two on my forehead, and one right under my nose. Just a couple weeks ago I have enviable clear skin, and now I feel like I can’t leave the house without shellacking my face with concealer.  I threw away this devil cleanser and am going back to my precious Purpose gentle cleanser. This is the ONLY new part of my regimen, so this cleanser is definitely the cause of my new, horrible skin. Unless you have incredibly dry skin that NEVER breaks out, AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. I will be battling the red marks from these pimples for months :(

(via squidbliss)

(via seraphine-therese)

Weight: 152.4 lbs (no change, -4.4 net)

I’m actually pretty stoked BECAUSE…with my wonky scale, usually it’ll give me a few different readings, and usually the highest one it will give me is pretty shocking (like my first week I think it said 159?) but 152.4 was the HIGHEST weight it would give me. Even if I shifted myself around on the scale a little bit. So it’s exciting that the max weight that the wonky scale will give me is falling.

Who knows what I actually weigh though, lol. Trying to focus less on that and more on how I look/feel. My legs are definitely getting sleeker, and while my stomach is still squishy, the fat is like…changing shape…like it’s responding to the muscles underneath (and obviously I HAVE lost fat, there’s just plenty there still). At this point there’s basically no way to make my weight loss goal for the month (5 lbs), but now I’m wondering if I should be focusing my goals on my weight at all. I mean, losing inches and reshaping my body is more important and an easier way to measure results. I’m interested to see how many inches I lose this month, since my weight isn’t really going down.

May 11: Had a nice cheat day today. Ate Mexican food for lunch AND dinner (though, I suppose it was all veggies and such, no cheese, so it wasn’t too terrible?), and went to this really amazing bakery that is down the street from me and got a slice of strawberry cake. It’s really painful to walk by the bakery ALL THE TIME and not buy anything, but luckily it’s rich enough that I can be satisfied by eating there like once a month. Also had a cocktail with dinner, which I never really do.

May 12: Whoa. So, my boyfriend has been eating quite healthy lately too (he drinks caloric drinks still, and more white carbs than me, but still lots of veggies and very little meat), and when we went out to dinner last night, he got baby back ribs, and afterward an eclair. He woke up at around 5am with heartburn and indigestion so severe that he thought he was having a heart attack. It’s crazy what junk food can do to your body after you train it to live off healthy food. I’m not feeling too great either, but nothing like what he experienced. Gonna eat super bland and clean today to help our tummies!

May 14: I think the reason I don’t like cardio as much as that I don’t get (as) sore afterward. Sure, I’ll be exhausted, but as soon as I catch my breath, I immediately think that I didn’t do enough. I’m really enjoying HIIT, it’ll be interesting to see how my results with a month of HIIT are compared to a month of blogilates! That being said, sweat is dripping off my nose and onto the keyboard…maybe I did work hard enough…

May 15: We have a guest this evening (the first ever in our new apartment), so I’m taking the night off. I don’t want to get all sweaty + showered right before someone is over, and I also don’t want to do strenuous exercise at 9:30. Also, I’m starting to wonder if it’d be a good idea to get a gym membership…or if I’m doing well enough at home.

May 17: Weigh in tomorrow, not sure what to expect. Ate fewer vegetables than usual this week (skipped the farmer’s market because there was a gunman on the loose in the area), but there were no binges of note (though I shouldn’t have gone out for beer with my coworkers after work, I feel like craaaaap), and I worked out every day except Wednesday. HIIT, don’t let me down!

(via tempestpaige)

And dinner: chilled brown rice, cucumber, avocado, sesame seeds, and a dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a touch of sesame oil. I was going for unwrapped veggie sushi, basically!

Breakfast this morning: cream of wheat, almond milk, strawberries, almonds, and honey!

Weight: 152.4 (+0.8, -4.4 net)

Honestly, with how guilty I’ve been feeling this week, I would have expected a lot worse. I mean, .8 pounds could be nothing more than a small, natural fluctuation. Going to try to get back to losing next week. This week I made a few unhealthy choices (two bagels instead of one on bagel day, getting sour cream on a burrito, having a donut, not eating as many veggies as usual, etc.), so with a few tweaks I should be fine, and I’m not going to lose sleep over a .8 lb gain.

May 4^th: Apparenly my hip-to-waist ratio is .68. In case you aren’t familiar with that measurement, the “ideal” is .70, and you get yours by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. Basically, .68 is RIDIC. I have a big butt and I cannot lie.

May 9^th: I suck at keeping up with this when I am busy with work, apparently! Still struggling with feelings of guilt despite a lack of guilt-inducing activities. All in all things are going well; I’ve been switching it up and doing HIIT lately, and man it is intense. I feel bad when I only work out for like ten minutes, but I suppose if I’m sorer after 10 minutes than I am after 45 minutes of lower-intensity exercise, it’ll still lead to results, right? I took today off though because my stomach has been hurting all day. They have this coffee machine at work, but it uses fake, powdered “milk”…so, basically powdered, edible oil :( I got a latte and I’ve felt horrible ever since. Should have known to stick to tea…

May 10^th: Weigh-in is tomorrow, and despite an okay week I’m expecting to gain…I just feel bloated and gross for some reason :/ Oh well, one week of gaining won’t kill me, and maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow…I had a protein shake for dinner, and I’m gonna do some HIIT and drink lots of tea and water, see if I can make myself feel a little better.