Radiant Skin - Benefits of a Facial Scrub

As I'm losing weight, and exercising more, I've found a natural tendency to take care of my skin better and even to wear make-up on a regular basis! One thing I've started doing more often is using a facial scrub on my face about 2-3 mornings. I use a scrub that is safe for daily use, so no worries about using it this often.

Every day that I use my scrub, I get compliments on how great my skin looks! I also feel so great! My skin feels soft and smooth and gives off this healthy glow that only those fresh, healthy skin cells give off. The facts are that using a scrub helps to exfoliate all of those dead skin cells off of your face. As I've been reading and researching more information on facial scrubs, men will also benefit from using a facial scrub because it helps to lift the beard and thus enabling a closer shave. It will also loosen ingrown hairs, helping to prevent nasty razor bumps.

One thing to look for in a facial scrub is natural products. Using finely ground nutshells, pumice, apricot kernals, etc. help to exfoliate the skin without digging into the pores of your skin. I use the Arbonne FC5 Exfoliating New Cell Scrub. This uses bamboo, kaolin, and jojoba for exfoliation. Like all Arbonne products, using botanically based ingredients in all of their products makes them pure, safe and beneficial for my skin.

Additional tips for men (these work for women too!):

• Use your scrub daily in the shower.
• In a circular motion gently massage the scrub across your forehead, nose, cheeks and neck.
• For those of you that are bald, or shave your head, feel free to gently use the scrub on top of your head too. Take the time to gently work the face scrub into the skin. Yes, gently!
• When you have the time, leave the scrub on while you soap up your body, as your skin will benefit from the nutrients in the scrub.

Other fantastic scrubs:

• Arbonne NutriMinC RE9 Facial Scrub (use 2 times per week)
• Arbonne NutriMenC RE9 Reveal Exfoliating Wash (daily use)

My first 5K in a LONG time...

I just finished my first 5k race this season. Whew. I made it! It was kind of a tough race…it was ½ downhill, just to turn around and finish the second ½ uphill. I actually finished in 33 minutes, which I don’t think is too bad considering the whole second half was uphill. Thanks to my friend, Cali, who ran with me.

I was running the other night while pushing my son in the stroller. I kept telling myself that if this is tough, I just have to push through it. That’s what I did today. I had a father running with his son in the stroller, so I ran beside them and sang cadences to his son while I pushed up the last part of the hill. The little boy thought it was fun and it really motivated me up that last leg.

I’ve had to push through a couple of things on this journey. I have lost 10 lbs so far. But it hasn’t been easy! I started out by taking a supplement 3 times per day, and I made sure that I ordered more way before I ran out…but now they are on backorder. Why should that matter you ask?

I love, love, love the supplements I’m taking. They give me more energy, they give me a much fuller feeling when I eat, and they really help that weight come off even quicker. Hopefully I will get them this next week; but, I’m just trying to push through it.

My mom was here for a few days last week and I loaded up the Lose It! program on her iPhone. She had the same comments I did - it truly makes a difference when you counts calories. I’m loving this app!

Thank you to those that read my posts and help me with encouragement. I know I can do this!

Healthy Lifestyle 4 Me!

I haven’t blogged in a while and I’m going to change direction a little bit. While I will still include information on skin care and healthy living, I’m going to start including details of my personal journey.

On February 28^th, 2010, I decided that it was time to do something with my weight and my health. I was feeling the pinch of my pants as they were getting tighter and I refused to go up another size. My company, Arbonne, provides us with training podcasts weekly. This particular week, I listened to a podcast on our weight loss program. It was enough to motivate me to really start changing my lifestyle.

The one thing that I learned that is the most important thing: there must be 3 things in place to truly lose weight and change your lifestyle. First, you must commit; without a commitment, there is nothing to hold yourself to. You must truly commit yourself to your program. Second, you must exercise. While I would love to be able to exercise every day, I just cannot work it into my schedule. My goal is to exercise 3 times a week, but I try to get 4 in per week. And last, but certainly not least, you must change your diet.

The commitment was certainly the easiest – I wrote down my goals, sent them to my girlfriend, and made a decision that I was going to do this! Another girlfriend also suggested that I download the Lose It! Free app on my iPhone – thank you so much Kris! It is my favorite thing! It allows me to enter my goals and track calories throughout the day. It even has calorie listing for most restaurants! It’s fantastic!

Exercise, while not super easy, was not too tough. After being in the Army for 10 years, I know how to run. I like to run. BUT, I was still way out of shape. So I found this fantastic podcast: Robert Ulrey’s “Couch to 5k.” It is so great! It is set on a weekly schedule and he actually tells you when to walk and run and plays music for you! So you don’t have to watch the clock, you don’t have to write your intervals down on a 3x5 card and re-write it every week because you left it in your smelly gym bag last week and all of the pen has smeared off. I love it and it worked for me! Plus, it moticated me to do my 3 runs per week. I wanted to get to the next week – and I’m running a 5k April 17^th! Thanks Robert! My next goal is to do a 10k this summer. http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/

Finally, my diet. Whew. This was going to be my hardest feat. I figured that since I’m an Arbonne consultant, I should be able to represent my company by using my products. Here’s a little secret about me – I don’t like to take pills of any kind! So, even vitamins and supplements are hard for me. But I made my decision, so I was sticking to it! I started by following the general guidance and sample meal plan we have on www.gofigure8.com. I do take the Going, Going, Gone! Supplements and I can tell you, I wouldn’t trade them for anything! They truly help with both energy and appetite. I feel fuller faster, I can’t eat nearly as much, even when I occasionally forget to take them, I’ve cut back so much on my portions, that I don’t eat as much anyway. I feel fantastic!

More next week – I’ll go into more details of things I’ve learned about myself and different obstacles I’ve encountered on this journey…