I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream – The Banana Way

I don’t know about you, but I am more often than not craving something sweet to eat, like some ice cream. Now ice cream as we all know is not very healthy and pretty fattening, unfortunately. But I did find a really neat recipe for banana ice cream! Super easy to make too! All you need are 2 bananas, some milk (any kind), and a blender.

Take your 2 bananas and slice them up and then place them in a freezer. Once they are frozen, put them in the blender and blend them up. Once they are mostly blended, add a splash of milk (the recipe didn’t say how much). Blend again and BAM, banana ice cream :)

My roommates and I just made this in our dorm. We have a Magic Bullet to blend and we used almond milk instead of regular milk. We also decided to add some Nutella to our first attempt at banana ice cream and then added peanut butter to our second attempt. Both attempts turned out to be really yummy! It is a great late night snack that is healthy and it can curve your sweet tooth. If you try it in the morning, you can get away with eating ice cream for breakfast ;) Enjoy ladies and stay beYOUtiful!

Pancakes… The Healthy(er) Version!

Mmm pancakes are my favorite breakfast ever. Who doesn’t love those fluffy things? I can tell you one thing I don’t like about them, how FATTENING they are. So if you are craving some pancakes have no fear, I have a recipe here! I found this recipe online on the Women’s Health magazine website. It’s a recipe for buttermilk and blueberry pancakes. Here is the link… http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/recipe/buttermilk-and-blueberry-pancakes.aspx

I personally have not made this recipe but I will definitely be trying it when I get home and have access to all of the things that I need. The reviews seem to have pretty positive responses and some of the reviews even said that they interchanged some of the ingredients. So don’t be afraid to vary from the recipe. Some positives that I have found just by doing a little bit of research is that this pancake recipe is lower on fat, has fewer calories, and has a little bit more fiber.

Breakfast is an important meal; so don’t skip out on it! If you are on the go and don’t have time to make the pancakes or any breakfast for that matter, try to grab a piece of fruit or a yogurt. Or if you are organized enough, try to plan ahead and make extra pancakes so that all you have to do is just grab one and go. Skipping a meal is never a good option so eat up ladies!

Coffee Break!

Do you like iced coffee or hot coffee? Does it depend on the weather? I know my choice of coffee definitely depends on the weather. But does your choice of coffee also depend on the amount of calories…? When I go to Dunkin’ Donuts, I get a medium iced caramel swirl with cream and sugar. That drink has 260 calories, 80 calories from fat, and 37 grams of sugar. Yeah… that’s a lot of calories for a liquid. When I am at home in California, we don’t have DD so I am kind of stuck with Starbucks. But besides the point, when I go there I get an iced caramel macchiato. A grande (medium) iced caramel macchiato with whole milk is 260 calories, 90 calories from fat, and 31 grams of sugar. Again, so many calories in just one drink!

So the simple solution to this if you must have your coffee, ask for it skinny. Basically getting a “skinny” drink means skim milk instead of whole milk or cream, or getting sugar free syrup instead of the normal syrup. Also, ask for Splenda instead of regular sugar and try a smaller size than what you would normally get. Saving a few calories here and there when you can is always a plus!

Stay beYOUtiful ladies:)

Real Life Barbie

Have any of you ladies seen or heard about the real life Barbie? It is insane how fake she looks… I mean honestly, the way she does her make-up and stuff really makes her look plastic. I also found it really interesting that she doesn’t look like a typical anorexic girl. She is really skinny and doesn’t have the proper eating habits, but she doesn’t really look like complete skin and bones, from the pictures I have seen at least.

However, she is really damaging her body with her eating habits, or I should say lack there of. She wants to be able to live and survive on “air and light alone”. Obviously we know that is not possible. Our bodies need food and water to survive. Again, what she is doing is very unhealthy and nobody should strive to do that. Your body is a temple and it should be treated that way. Provide your body with the proper nourishments that it needs and continue a healthy lifestyle! Love yourselves ladies, be beYOUtiful:)

Photo Shopped and “Fabulous”

I think her before picture is beyoutiful

How absolutely flawless do models and people in magazines look? Or even the models on tv or online or anywhere in the media? Like perfect skin, flat stomachs, the iconic thigh gap, and all of the above of perfection. And why do they look so perfect? Like they almost don’t look real… Well guess what, you’re right.

I don't understand why she needed to be touched up 

Most magazines edit and photoshop their pictures like crazy. There is no way someone can look that good. I’m sorry, but there just really is no way to look that flawless. We all have our imperfections.

So now that we all know these models are photo
shopped, why do we continue to strive and look like them? I mean it’s okay to use them as an inspiration if that’s what gets you to the gym, but don’t use that as a motivation to look like that. It’s just unrealistic. So maybe instead of using these photo shopped and “fabulous” models as an inspiration, you should use yourself as one! Make realistic goals for yourself and keep track of your progress. When you make your goals, set new ones.

          Remember, beYOUtiful, ladies :)

#aerieREAL

The day has finally come ladies! A well-known brand has gone REAL with their models; unretouched ads. Aerie is known for its bras and panties and the target age is between 15-21 year olds. This is the age where girls are influenced by what they see in the media and it really affects how they view their body. This is just so amazing to me that a company is starting to take a stand and that they realize how much of an impact they make on girls and women. I really hope more companies will follow their lead on this. I looked at the pictures of the unretouched and unairbrushed models and they look beYOUtiful. I personally have never really shopped too much at Aerie but I will definitely try to shop there a lot more. Ladies, if you have not had a chance to check Aerie’s new website out, I really encourage it. “The real you is sexy. Xoxo, Aerie” Stay beYOUtiful :)

Accentuate That Body, Girl!

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but crop tops seems to be a big fashion thing this season. To be quite honest, I am not a fan of that whole trend. For one, who wants to see someone’s tummy hanging out? I mean I don’t. And two, I hate when I hear people say “Oh she should NOT be wearing that”. Really? Maybe no one should be wearing them… Maybe we should all dress to flatter our body and work what our momma’s gave us!
There are four common body shapes women fall into: circle (thick around the middle), triangle (larger at the bottom), hourglass (curvy but evenly proportioned), and rectangle (straight up and down).

If you fall under the circle body type, you should wear clothes that fit loosely around the midsection and a little more snug somewhere else on your body and you should stay away from any clothing that draws attention to your midsection, like high-rise pants, belts, and waist-cinching tops.

If you fall under the triangle body type, you should avoid styles that are oversized and shapeless (like sweaters), skinny jeans, and silk fabric skirts that are flimsy and hug your curves.

If you fall under the hourglass shape, find clothes that work with your curves and avoid styles that are boxy or offer no shape, like the baby-doll style shirts or dresses and avoid oversized cardigans.

And lastly, if you fall under the rectangle body type, go for styles that fit snugly around your middle and then flare out at the bottom and avoid styles that are tight all over (dresses) or anything unstructured or too flowy around the waist (empire-waist tops).
You’ll be turning heads when you walk by and your body is accentuated in the best way possible! I didn’t see crop tops mentioned anywhere… So who is on top of the style game now? That’s right, you areee! Happy shopping ladies :)