Goals for Feb? Beauty or otherwise

I'm still all about using things up so this month my goal is to completely use up an eyeshadow for the first time, use up my eos balm ( this thing has been hanging on forever! ), and maybe hit pan on virgin in my naked palette.
Also losing 6kgs would be great!
What goals does eeveryone else have?

- to buy none of the things (unless the things are empty and it's necessary)
- to stick to my eating plan every day (with the exception of my birthday)
- to fit in exercise 2-3 times a week
- to really enjoy my new career now that i'm in the swing of it and loving it
- to keep going with the cooking challenge kirstyj inspired me to and use my kitchen for more than storing wine

Great goals! Which eyeshadow are you working on?

Mine are

1. Continue my no buy (so far, so successful)
2. Cut out all obvious sugar (chocolate etc)
3. Finish my draft intro and two results chapters for my supervisors

 

Oooh what is your cooking challenge Trudi?It's cream from the lorac pro palette, I only have a little bit left around 2 edges so I'm really close to finishing it. 

using my recipe books and appliances and things to actually create meals haha. I'm loving it - recently i've made pikelets, chocolate chunk cookies, teriyaki sauce (which I then used to make a pork and mushroom dish that was delicious), raw beetroot, feta and cashew salad, parmesan crumbed pork, yoghurt and hummus topped baked chicken, grape, celery and almond salad, and something else which I forgot. Yummmmmmm

Nice Rezee! Such a good basic shade. Are you panning your Lorac Pro at all?

Try and loose weight. Started my diet and exercise today. Just to use up all my current foundations and skincare.

Yeah, I use it al over to set my base so it's a pretty easy shadow to use up! I'm not focusing on the rest of the shades. My plan for this year is to use up my naked palette,  or at least as much of it as I can. So far I've hit pan on half baked but I did already have a good dip in there. I so miss a matte peach though, the naked shade is just not doing it for me. I'm determined to use it till its gone though, then I'll bring in a peach to use instead.

Sounds like you have a solid plan! I have the Lorac Pro mini and it's so great I'm tempted to get the full size at some point.

I'm working on a matte vanilla shade too. Can't wait for it to be done!

Loving all the goals ladies!

Mine is just to continue what I'm doing. Trying a new recipe each week ( so far it has been great). And more panning. Only buying what you need. The only makeup product I have bought lately is foundation cause mine seems to be running out.

I also want to have a focus on being a bit healthier. It is my last Yoga lesson in a 6 session starter thing tomorrow and I want to find something else to keep me moving... I don't think Yoga is for me.

Start my weight loss goal (more like get my pre baby body back) which means healthy eating and exercise.
Learn eyeshadow techniques. How to blend right!

Lose weight for me too. I started off well but then fell over after day after day after day of fog and rain....

I failed today maree.Did my workout. I had a couple of slices of left over pizza. But Im not going to give up lol

Oh well Macs, I like to think it's a lapse not a relapse. I got home very very late from work after an unexpectedly crappy day, so had MacDonalds - bad (but tasted divine!! - and I even had a coke, I never drink coke!!)

I love that everyone is so excited about using up their makeup this year! :)

I want to finish a foundation! It's been a good year since I've bottomed one out. I'm more than halfway through one but it doesn't help that I'm pretty much loving every foundation I own atm so am cycling through them all instead of sticking to one. Hmm. Need to re-think that approach.

I have two goals, One is to go through my stash and get rid of all the stuff that I am keeping just because I can and the second goal is to finalise my house plan so we can start building (after all the consents and things) yay!

I have a few goals but the two most important are:

Lose wight (doesn't matter how much) before my cruise in March
Declutter and give away some makeup and skin care stuff I no longer use.

Eat healthy and exercise every day is my main goal.

30 days of yoga started today (minus weekends most likely) and no spending until we go away early March. On a side note I'd also like to get the washing/wardrobe situation sorted this month too as it is out of control and it's free to fits in nicely and takes up lots of time with the no spend aspect.

Was tested just now when I went to fill up my water bottle - the remnants of a morning tea (put on by a company) in the tearoom, including brownies and cupcakes. They looked divine but I resisted. I will not give in at day 2!

Find some good supplements and stick with it, start to walk every day (I'm lazy) and try to eat better in general. We shall see :)

No beauty goals except tryingto show more FOTDs on Instagram, get better at taking makeup photos! Want to make more progress on my creative projects, doing well so far. Also want to do a bit more housework, boring I know but Im useless at it and need to put in a bit more effort at the moment

Vacuum on a regular basis. I have been on late shift for 2 weeks and it has demoted everything cleaning except cleaning my brushes, to being dispised, dreaded and steals my motovation.
And if I can get my motovation back a small declutter will be happening.

Sort of like this year's beauty goals.

- I would like to get better at winged liner.

- Get back into doing regular manis.

- Get back into painting my toenails.

- Look pretty for me because I like it.

- Get to bed earlier.....oops.

I have a couple of extra beauty goals. To be able to do a double wing. To be able to curl my hair with my hair straightener. To be able to blend more than two eye shadows properly. 

Macs, those are good goals. I'd love to know how to curl my hair like that too.
I'm totally sucking at my eating well plan but I'm feling more into it today!

Im into my fourth day of diet. As I eat my tasteless oats and almond milk lol I failed yesterday miserably had three full fat coffees and full fat banna smoothie straight after my workout. Got some bad news and I went straight into eating lol

Macs - you're talking yourself out of succeeding by eating food you don't like. There are loads of options that are healthy and yummy. I have to head out for an 8am presentation but I'm back on the plan I lost 30kg on, so I'll share some of my ideas with you if you like?

I hope that didn't come off as harsh - I'm rushing a little this morning - but eating healthily doesn't mean eating things you find tasteless and boring I promise

Agree with Trudi! You're pretty much setting yourself up for failure if you're already dreading meals. Adding some cinnamon/fruit/stevia to your oats would be a good start for livening things up :)

If I could afford protein powder or smoothie maker I know Id enjoy that . You guys are right. Im liking salads just trying to keep my sugar intake down. Thats why I havent added fruit. I got a whopping 30 kg to lose.

Yes please share. I heard you talking about calorie counting before.

Like most of the other lovelies I'm TRYING to stay on a good healthy buzz - particularly with drinking more water and ummmmm I can say that I am trying :-S  Go hard lovelies - get back on it Macs, you got this xx

Aww thank you Koni. I dont like water but in the last four days Ive managed to drink a 1.5 litre of water a day. I dont know why I can't drink out of a glass lol But a bottles helping. 

I definitely find things easier if I'm in a positive mindset. And absolutely do whatever you need to, to drink lots of water. I used to alwys have a big bottle next to me but lately I've been liking drinking out of glasses.  We have really big 500ml glasses so I find that helps to get water down. The heat is definitely helping with that too, I've been getting at least 8 of these glasses down everyday.  I've already downed three so far today.Meal planning helps too, on Sunday I write out a list of all the dinners we are haing for he week so I can't make excuses. We were getting takeaways far too often, now we can save more money as well.

Aww Macs! Eat good foods you like or at least don't mind! 
Sometimes little things like cutting back on sugar & refined carbs are enough to at least get started. 
The biggest thing I learnt when I did a health kick a few years ago through Curves, was dont try do it all at once! Take steps in the right direction. Create the habit until it's no longer a concious thought then create a new one. 
Good things take time babe!! 

My goals are:
- To get healthier lol - eating less crap -I'm on a pastry ban & making myself have loads of water.
- Do the Jillian Micheals 30 day shred every weekday morning.
- Spend less money.
- With that, pay off my credit card.
- Get better at Wings
- do something with my hair - maybe a cut... it's so damaged! 

I havent had any carbs for four days. All my dinners and lunches are planned out for this week. Might try chia seeds and greek yoghurt for a breakfast and adding in kale into my salads. 

My goals are: To lose a about 5 kilos, get fitter through walking and using my exercycle every day, get a decent haircut, do something with my nails which are horrible looking and eat healthier. I have succeeded in cutting out a lot of sugar by not indulging in my favourite treat - chocolate, although I still have the odd choccy bar now and then. I had some general tests including sugar levels a while ago and my doctor informed me that if I didn't cut my sugar levels down I was a candidate for type 2 diabetes, so bye bye choccy bars! I have always had a sweet tooth but had no idea I was heading for a potentially serious illness. I would strongly recommend for anyone who is feeling a little sluggish and unfit to get their sugar/glucose levels checked through their doc. I'm also not drinking coffee because I can't drink my coffee without 2 teaspoons of sugar in it, so I'm drinking water and tea with milk and no sugar. Macs I heard that cinnamon is an appetite suppresant, so try sprinkling it on your cereals. Cutting down portion sizes is helpful as well, just do it gradually and you won't notice it after a while. If I get hungry between meals, I have a big drink of water before snacking and it makes me feel fuller so I eat less.

I will try cinnamon. That sounds like a good idea. Yes coffee is one of my down falls. I had three yesterday. Im going to try a some of my herbal teas to replace that feeling for one. 

Macs don't be too hard on yourself. Three coffees and a smoothie is not the end of the world. The best "diet" is one that is sustainable for you.

MrsO I have been feeling very sluggish in the afternoons and thought it was general exhuastion but it seems to have improved since cutting down on sugar, hurrah!

Right, here we go :)

Things I learned losing 30 kg in 11 months counting calories:

- fat is your friend, not your enemy - use it wisely.  Just like you use oil to clean your face, you can use fat to help you lose weight.  If you're not eating enough fat, your digestion suffers. But that doesn't mean go and eat junk - avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, cheese etc... the 'good fats', in moderation, make a huge different.  Peanut butter is a classic - dieters are terrified of it but I top up my calories all the time with nut butters - they're delicious, satisfying, and help you process the rest.

- protein keeps you fuller for longer.  Using calories for lean meat, tofu, egg etc is smart.  These also taste pretty good :)

- if you're struggling to get into the water habit, then add chopped up fruit, sweet herbs, or a herbal tea bag to the water.  It's still water.  It still counts.  Ice is also water.  Eat ice cubes, make ice water iceblocks etc.  Fizzy (soda) water is also still water.  I have a soda stream machine to fizz my own water!

- VLCD (very low calorie diets) plans aren't always needed. I eat 1750 calories a day. It's about total expenditure vs total intake.  This calculator can help work out how much you can eat vs how much you can burn in your day to day life.

- prepare.  it's easy to fall into a trap of 'well it's too hard to find something healthy' so stock your house.  I always have a container with a bit of cold water and chopped carrot/celery sticks to grab on the go.  Kids lunchbox sizes of treats are great.  Small, accessible things like grapes, mandarins, popcorn (not the commercial, covered in fake  butter stuff - there are some great organic brands, or pop your own the old fashioned way with a lil bit of oil/butter and salt), rice crackers etc are all great go-tos.

- when you find a food you love incorporate it wherever you can.  Crumpets are a staple for me; i prefer them to bread, they're fewer calories, and you can have them breakfast, lunch or dinner with a variety of toppings.

- cheats to making simple food taste good - salsa, chili powder/flakes/oil, onion salt, fresh herbs, lemon pepper, cinnamon, honey etc are all low calorie but high in flavour.

- do not, under any circumstances, completely deprive yourself of foods you love.  I still have wine, chocolate, corn chips, pizza etc that are my vices.  But homemade pizza, or even takeaway WITH a side salad.  A small portion of corn chips, or chocolate.  Dark chocolate is more satisfying for a smaller amount, esp if you eat it as choc chips over a longer time frame.  A glass of wine is only 100-200 calories - it can be a treat. 

Long story short, the second you vilify food you are heading into unsustainable territory.  If you focus on having a positive relationship with healthy eating, rather than 'dieting' then the diet naturally occurs without being forced.  I generally lose about kilo a week when i'm on my plan and so i'm hoping to be sorted by Easter :)



 

Those are some really great points Trudi.  Interesting about the crumpets, I wish I liked them! I always feel better when I eat less bread but I find I get 'carb hungry' when I don't eat it.

I just calculated . Now Im doing math of what I can eat for the day. Thank you for sharing your secrets to your weight loss.

Macs, some of the food photos you've posted on IG look pretty good (your makeup has been awesome too the last couple of days, may I add!).
Hope all of us are on track and keeping our goals in mind no matter how big or small. We got this!

Macs, basically work out your TDEE number and then eat 80% of that and you should be good :)

thebeautycontext - i freaking love the things haha. I'm a savoury girl though, they're best with cheese, pesto dip or PB

That's some interesting suggestions Trudi, I might have to give them a go. I'm always looking for ways to improve my attempts at healthy eating and losing weight.

They make it so easy to do for that site. 

it's epic eh?  I use Myfitnesspal as a food diary as well

Its definately a good idea. I just worked out that what Im eating is within the amount of required calorie intake.

Im trying to think of different salads for next week. Might try quinoa and barley. Im pretty much Winging it when it comes to my make up @ Artemis. I love your paintings. 

I'm failing miserably at my diet/exercise goals. It's all head stuff, I'm so miserable in my job that my resistance to anything is gutter level. I need a new job/other option....

I'm going to try and up my water intake. I ordered the fat to fit drink bottle and cleansing tea. Hoping they will help encourage me to drink.... wine on the other hand, don't need to be asked twice ;)