An Update on My Health Goals!!

Summer is officially over. Well, it’s been over for some time now. 😔 It’s time to move on to another chapter of my life…

What health goals did I create this summer? Here’s the link to my health goals! I’m going to go over each one and how it went! Enjoy! 🙂

#1. Drink more water, less coffee:

I started drinking more water. It was pretty simple. That’s what I usually drink anyways. And yes, I stopped drinking coffee. No more dry skin and hair. Goodbye migraines. No more insomnia. Oh those sleepless nights because of *ahem* decaf coffee. Me and my coffee sensitivity. Oh well. I was never a coffee person in the first place anyways. Love the smell of it! But it’s not good for my well-being. So it wasn’t too difficult to kick the coffee habit, which only lasted for about a month. I gave the rest of my coffee bags away to someone who else loves coffee. ☕ I don’t even miss it. 👋🏻

#2. Back to my exercise routine:

I’m on a consistent workout routine, but it’s nothing crazy. I started lifting weights again too like I used to. I’m more focused on building muscle mass with some cardio. Weight loss wasn’t a goal of mine this summer. It was more about getting healthy and exercise helps to relieve stress. It also helps with my mental health. I like the way it makes me feel. It went well without overdoing it.

#3. Cutting down on skin care products:

I have a mad addiction for skin care products. Finally, it’s been tamed (once again). So I’m currently only using the basics — face wash, moisturizer, some eye care products, acne treatments, and sunscreen. I don’t use them all at once. It’s a very simple skin care routine that takes a few minutes to do in the morning and at night. I don’t use any serums, essences, ampoules, gel moisturizers (did nothing for my dry, irritated skin!!). They were a waste of money and didn’t do anything to solve my acne problem. Just money and hope down the drain. During this time, I was able to clear my acne too. How I achieved this goal was by adding a new acne treatment and not using a lot of products on my skin. Less products means less ingredients to clog the skin. So yay for acne-free skin (once again!)!! Finally! 🎉

#4. Eat more vegetables & healthier:

I’ve been skimping out on vegetables still, lol. I eat them, but I still need to eat more. I forgot that I even made this goal. I need to get back on it and get on the green smoothies. I’ve been eating healthier than before though, so I’m just taking baby steps to get there. Baby steps…hehe.

#5. Get enough sleep:

I’ve been getting enough sleep (as much as possible). Zzzzzzz…

#6. No more dairy/Eat less dairy:

I don’t eat much dairy, but it hasn’t been an issue when I do as of late. It doesn’t seem to be messing with my skin like it used to. I had a whole jar of cheese dip, mac ‘n cheese, shredded cheese, cheesy lasagna. No blemishes popped up. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We’ll see what happens in the next few months…

Some of these goals, I need to work on a little more. But, I think I did a pretty decent job. I’ll add more veggies into my meals tomorrow. Yay for veggies! 🫑🥕🍅🥒

My Life After Veganism

It’s been about 9 months after leaving veganism. I’m nearing 1 year! This is something I never thought would have happened but it did. You can read more on my what happened and my experience right here. So what happened after 9 months?? Time pretty much flew by that’s what it is. But really, my life has changed so much within those 9 months! 🙂 SO! Let’s talk about it!

Better Health ✨

The #1 thing I noticed after leaving veganism was that my health improved drastically. I was having joint issues, losing clumps of hair, had really bad skin, brain fog. It was just really bad. And all of these health issues happened at the end years of veganism. Fish oil is really good for the joints and hair! I took vegan omega-3 supplements, and I ate chia and flax seeds when I was vegan. That was just not enough! They didn’t work for me. Once I started taking fish oil supplements and eating fish, the results were night and day. For me, eating high-quality protein, collagen did wonders for my hair too. I stopped losing a bunch of hair pretty fast. My hair has been growing so much faster! I’m getting a lot of compliments! This was within 2-3 months of eating meat again! That’s a pretty short amount of time. It took me years to grow my hair at the end of veganism but now my hair is just growing like crazy. That’s just unbelievable and insane! My skin definitely heals so much faster now too. The texture and quality looks so much better. It’s softer and more youthful. I don’t ever want to look back at my acne-ridden, depleted collagen face ever again. Looking at photos when I was vegan vs. ex-vegan, when I was vegan, I didn’t have much color to my face. My face looked washed out. It appeared more dull and lifeless. Honestly, it’s so embarrassing thinking about it. Lastly, my memory is so much clearer and sharper now. I had trouble remembering just simple things at the end years of veganism. End stage veganism is a nightmare. I don’t wish it upon anyone. It didn’t seem to matter how much plant-based foods I ate. I would still feel sick. Eating meat healed me. 🍖

Saving Money 💵

I’ve been trying to save money, and I’ve been having more success not being vegan. I can’t believe I spent my money on that vegan sh!t. I’m talking about groceries. Also, I remember going out to eat and having to PAY MORE for a meal that contains very little protein. Beans contain protein? Just a little. It’s mainly carbohydrates and fiber! How much protein was I even absorbing?!! Even the vegan burgers/meat-free burgers are crap quality. It doesn’t matter if it tastes similar to meat, which it doesn’t at all, by the way. Trust me, I’ve tried almost all of the fake meats, cheese, eggs, whatever they had. None of that stuff tastes like the real thing. It’s like you have to trick your mind into thinking it’s good. No, I didn’t only eat that stuff. I ate whole foods too. Real meat is just more bioavailable and easier absorbed by the body. At least, for me it is. I’ve noticed a huge difference between eating real meat and fake meat. Yuck! It doesn’t even taste like meat. 🤮 Vegan eggs? hahahahahahahahahaha. Just no. Just no. Make them stop. lol. All I know is my grocery bill and other necessities went down. I’m savinggggggggggggg. 💸

Road Trips & Traveling ✈️

I’m such an avid traveler and life has been so much easier after leaving veganism. People make it seem like it’s so easy to be vegan when traveling. It pretty much sucks! You get a limited amount of choices in what you can eat and have to go far to get those meals. When I was vegan, I did what I needed to do to eat. But now, all I can think of is, well, that was ridiculous. Not only did I had to go far to get vegan food, I had to (once again), PAY MORE for vegan food. Vegan food just looks sad most of the time too. I’m not talking about junk food like brownies, cookies, chips, blah, blah, blah. I’m talking about wholesome meals. The only vegan foods that look good are the ones that try to mimic meat/animal products. Going on road trips and traveling when vegan was no fun. All of that gas I endured on those trips due to beans and more beans. An excessive amount of fiber. I definitely scared some of my friends away. ☹️ The farts weren’t normal farts either. I was literally blasting away non-stop. Uncool. Anyone been to weddings as a vegan? LOL. I’m just sitting here SMH because the foods that I received at weddings were SAD! They even charge more for the vegan option too. 😭😭😭 Good riddance! What a rip off! lol.

Not worrying about what’s in my food

When you’re vegan, you have to check labels all the time to make sure there’s no animal products in the food. I mean, I’m a particular person, but looking back, this is NOT a healthy way to live. Spending so much time looking over labels and refusing to eat it because it has this ingredient or that ingredient. I wonder how many people I pissed off over the years. lol.

Going on dates is much easier 💗

Being vegan made me so uptight. Most likely having to check every label and make sure it’s all vegan. Going out to eat was such a burden. It’s just not easy getting food if you’re vegan. You’re better off just making food, eating at home. Now, since I’m not vegan anymore, I have so many choices. But it’s not just about the choices that I have. The stress of having to look up restaurants, calling them to make sure their food is vegan (dear Lord!) is no longer there. I don’t have to stress much about stuff like that anymore. I just want to be able to go out and not have to pre-plan my meals or where to go. Sometimes it felt like I was becoming a burden to the person I’m with. It would just kill the mood.

Experiencing my culture & other cultures

I get to enjoy my culture’s food and other culture’s food. Simple as that. I missed out on some great experiences being vegan, especially my mom’s home cooked meals. 😔

This is my experience after 9 months after leaving veganism. Chances of me going back to veganism is just not going to happen. I feel a ton healthier eating meat/animal products. So I’m glad I left that life behind. Now I can focus on other aspects of my life. I feel like veganism took up a lot of my life. It’s so crazy thinking about it. Last but not least, that animal protein is doing wonders to my body! My body just looks way healthier. My 🍑 is back. Woohoo! 😊

My Health Goals for the Summer ☀️

Here are my summer goallsssss!!! 😄

Drink more water, less coffee:

I’m mainly a water person, but I picked up drinking coffee again for 1 month because I was having trouble staying awake. 😴 But, I’ve noticed negative effects from drinking coffee within 1 month, such as drier skin and hair. Also, my mouth/throat would get dry so much faster too. I would get headaches and migraines more often after picking up on this coffee habit. The migraines were the worst of them all. I’ve decreased my consumption of coffee. Even with decaf coffee, I was still feeling negative effects after consuming it regularly. Much less to the extent compared to caffeinated coffee. I mean, I stopped drinking coffee 5-6 years ago for a good reason. Now I’m reminded why I stopped once again. It’s not good for my body and mind. And, that is quite disappointing because I have a few bags of coffee left. I guess I could just give them away or drink it once in a blue moon. Back to drinking pure water… 💦👌🏻

Back to my exercise routine:

I’ve been exercising more consistently. I took a break due to joint issues due to veganism — an update coming up soon! Hiking, lifting weights, running, cycling, and so on. I’m just going at it with tons of rest in between. Since it’s summer, I’m really excited to increase my physical activity. I really do enjoy the warmth and humidity that summer brings when I’m exercising for some reason. Am I sweating or is it just hot? Both? 😂 haha. I’m just kidding. Well, that’s another good reason why to stay hydrated too. To replenish from sweating. Not just from exercise but also because of the warm, hot, humid weather!

Cutting down on skin care products:

I’ve been really exhausted knowing that I have bottles after bottles of skin care products that I don’t even need. My obsession with skin care started when I was little. I started messing with my mother’s makeup and skin care products at an early age. I mean, I love skin care. It’s really addicting and has been a love of mine for so, so, so many years! But now, I feel like I don’t want to spend an excessive amount of money on too many skin care products anymore. I don’t even spend that much on makeup either. I use whatever I need, and they seem to last forever too. I’ve been trying to use up all of the skin care products I don’t intend to buy again anymore. It’s taking forever to finish them, but it’s not too bad. Since I started my acne journey a few weeks ago, they seem to come in handy when my skin needs more moisture. I tried using them on my body, but my body rejected them. I developed a rash. Maybe they’re just to sticky. I’ll try again some other time. I think decreasing my consumption of beauty products have helped with my mental health as well. Also, money-wise. I’m saving lots of money by not purchasing anything new. I don’t really need this many products. My main goal is to treat my acne, which I’ve been suffering with on and off for most of my life. I’m happy with my current skin care routine. My skin looks fine. 🙂

Eat more vegetables & healthier:

I’ve been skimping out on vegetables. I eat them, but I need to eat more vegetables. I miss my green smoothie days along with a healthy diet, of course. My skin was spectacular, clear, and clean. I started drinking green smoothies a few times a week already. They taste atrocious, but I think I’ll get use to them after a few more weeks. 😂 I’ve done it before, I can do it again. I wonder if it’ll help clear my skin up once again or at least improve it even more. 🥕 I’ll make an update soon on my progress. Stay tuned!

Get enough sleep:

I’ve actually been getting enough sleep, so sleep isn’t a big issue. Also, since I’ve cut out caffeinated drinks like coffee, I’ve been sleeping much better. Drinking coffee and caffeinated beverages messed up my sleeping pattern. I would toss and turn due to being awake from the caffeine. I don’t drink caffeinated drinks before bed, by the way. It’s always in the morning when I wake up. Somehow that stuff just doesn’t leave my system quick even after drinking tons of water. I’m glad I’ve decided to cut that habit out. Sleep is very important for the overall health.

No more dairy/Eat less dairy:

When I started eating dairy again, I started having issues with my skin. I noticed that my skin became more oily and also noticed blackheads and some clogged pores. I developed acne. Looks like I can’t eat much dairy. I’ve decreased my dairy consumption. I’ve gone days without consuming dairy, and my skin looks so much better. I knew I couldn’t eat dairy before, but I wanted to try it again anyways. I guess it’s the same as before, no dairy or eat very little dairy (or eat it once in a while). I can get away with eating just a little once in a while. But, I don’t care for it much anyways. I rather have nice skin. lol.

Those are my thoughts on my health goals for the summer. Hopefully they’ll last much longer. An update on how it’s going soon!

What are your health goals for the summer?? 🌞😎

I Ate Meat After 7 Years of Being Vegan…

About 2 months ago, I started eating meat again. I didn’t expect this to happen but it did. I started having health issues at the end years of veganism. I developed joint issues, brain fog, my hair was falling out. I was tired all the time. My skin looked awful! I couldn’t believe how much my skin aged! I saw fine line and wrinkles that weren’t there before. My skin looked dull and washed out. On top of that, I battled with really bad skin issues for nearly 3 years at the end of veganism. I had a bunch of tiny little bumps all over my face. I remember having a rough patch of these bumps along my jawline. At that time, I thought it was just acne and that it’ll go away soon. I tried prescription medications and creams. Over-the-counter creams. I tried adding more healthy plant-based foods into my diet. I exercised. I did all that I could to get healthy again. Nothing worked. NOTHING. It’s like my skin was resilient and had a hard time healing. I would get blemishes, and it took them forever to heal. This is something I’ve never experienced before. My skin was clear before and at the beginning to mid-veganism. Even though I’m prone to breakouts, it was manageable when I wasn’t vegan. When I was vegan (end years of veganism), I wasn’t able to keep my breakouts under control with anything. It would get worse and worse day by day no matter what I did. Until one day this happened.

I started taking fish oil supplements for my joints and hair. My joints were in excruciating pain. By the way, I was taking algae supplements when I was vegan. Algae supplements are very expensive!! But I bought them anyway because there was no way I could possibly take fish oil supplements when I was vegan. I also ate chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, and plenty of other vegan foods that contained omega-3 fatty acids. I made sure to get my omega-3 fatty acids from plant sources. But, the results from them weren’t the same compared to taking fish oil. Just one week into taking fish oil supplements, my joint pain eased and my hair stopped falling out. It became thicker and fuller. It grew so much faster too. You know, I had a very difficult time growing my hair as a vegan. In the beginning it was great, but I had poor growth in the last years of veganism.

Since I wasn’t vegan anymore, I went out and bought some salmon and tuna. Why? Because salmon was my favorite food pre-veganism. And I didn’t feel guilty about it anymore. My health was failing, and I did whatever I had to do get healthy again. After eating fish, I started eating chicken and beef. If you’re wondering if I had issues eating meat, I didn’t have any issues with fish, but I did with chicken and beef, especially if it had a lot of fat on it. I would doze off and fall asleep after a fatty meaty meal. ha. It took me about 1 month for my body to get used to digesting heavier, dense meats. But, I can digest them easily now. I guess after so many years of being meat-free that was bound to happen.

And no, I didn’t see an improvement in my skin after just eating meat for one day or even a week or two weeks. It took a whole month to see drastic changes in my skin. I woke up one morning and my skin looked soft, dewy, and looked like it had more collagen to it. It looked elastic and more plump! The fine lines and wrinkles I noticed diminished! My skin had color to it. My lips looked rosy again. Also, the bumps I was dealing with on my skin vanished. My skin looked so clear for the first time in so many years!!! Not only that, a lot of my skin care products that I had issues with while being vegan are working on my skin now! If you have been following my updates on skin care, you’ll notice that I mentioned products that I’ve used before that didn’t work in the past are working now. Well, it’s because I started eating meat again. That’s what cleared up my skin! My skin is healing so much faster now. Brain fog vanished in a month and a half. I stopped feeling tired. I wake up each morning with so much energy now. I’m just way happier and feel so much healthier!! Last but not least, I’m really upset about developing joint issues on a vegan diet. I was livid when I learned about it. So, the vegan diet wasn’t doing me any good in the end. It made me sick and gave me health issues that I didn’t have before.

There ya go. 7 years. Waste of my life.

Review: Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder

Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder

Here’s my review on Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder! It’s about time! ? The first one I used was BeLive Activated Coco Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder. I used it for about 5 months. The reason why I stopped using it is because the results didn’t stick. Also, it was a messy product to use on a daily basis. It didn’t freshen up my breath either. It was a nice product to try out, but I wanted more out of my teeth whitening powder. That is why I decided to move on to Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder.

Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder:

• 100% Natural
• Premium blend
• Polishes teeth
• Freshens breath
• Fluoride-free
• Handcrafted in small batches
• Made with coconut shell charcoal
• Excellent for tooth & oral health with no sensitivity
• Efficient alternative to charcoal teeth whitening toothpaste, strips, kits, & gels
• Unique dental blend including high strength mineral grey Bentonite
• Benonite works with activated charcoal to absorb toxins naturally & reduces sensitivity
• No synthetic additives, colors, preservatives, foaming agents, artificial flavors

Directions:

1. Put a pinch of powder in the palm of your hand.
2. Dip a wet toothbrush into powder.
3. Brush teeth for one to two minutes.
4. Rinse.
5. Brush again with water to remove residue.
6. Use twice daily for best results.
7. Avoid brushing over gums or brushing for longer periods of two minutes (may cause irritation).
8. Use within 12 months of opening.

Ingredients: Bentonite Clay, Calcium Carbonate, Activated Charcoal (Cocos Nucifera Shell Powder), Flavouring (Mint), Peppermint(Mentha piperita), Sodium Chloride, Ginger Root Extract (Zingiber officinale).

The Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder comes in a tiny jar with a net wt. of 2 oz (57 g). I must repeat, it is very tiny. The powder isn’t black. It’s gray in color. Since it’s not a black charcoal powder, it didn’t stain my bathroom sink. It didn’t leave stains between my teeth. That’s awesome! On a daily basis, it was much easier to use compared to the BeLive product. This made my life less complicated, and I really liked that aspect of it. Pro Teeth Whitening Co. also freshened my breath. It contains mint and peppermint in their powder. BeLive states that it is mint flavored, but the only ingredient is 100% Organic Coconut Charcoal made from Coconut Shells. Interesting. By the way, as I mentioned earlier, BeLive wasn’t a good breath freshener.

Just like the other charcoal teeth whitening powder, it worked. My teeth looked more white and brighter with consistent use. With the Pro Teeth Whitening Co., the results were more apparent in a shorter period of time. Good news, the results didn’t fade quick. Love! The only downside to this powder is that the texture is on the gritty side. The gritty texture made it difficult to stay put on my toothbrush. It would fall off in chunks. Be aware of that. Between BeLive and Pro Teeth Whitening Co., I’m in favor of the second charcoal teeth whitening powder. It may not be the best, but it is better than the one I used before. If you’re in search of a charcoal teeth whitening powder, this one is nice to try out. As of now, I’m still using Cali White Activated Charcoal & Coconut Oil Toothpaste. Read more about it here:

*Cali White Activated Charcoal & Coconut Oil Toothpaste*

*My First Time: Cali White Activated Charcoal & Coconut Oil Toothpaste*

Have you used Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder before? Share your experience!