For the month of February, I challenged myself to a #30 Day Detox, to give up something that has been a vice for me.  I gave up wine (and alcohol) to shed a few pounds. I friend of mine did a Dry January where he abstained from alcohol for the whole month. I thought it was a great idea but alas I couldn't do it because my birthday is in January. I've heard that people give up for Lent what they failed to achieve in their New Years resolutions, but I couldn't wait for Lent, I wanted to start Feb 1.

I find that drinking makes me hungrier and I end up consuming more calories. I love wine and have made a habit of enjoying a few glasses of wine on the weekends which leads to late night pizza on days I don't exercise. My favorite wines are the sweet ones which have a smaller alcohol percentage so I don't get a big buzz but I enjoy the sweet taste. I have a fully stocked liquor cabinet that I never touch, it's only for the parties a throw. So wine really is my drink of choice unless I'm in a restaurant with a fancy cocktail menu.

I had a few social engagements last month that I was worried would tempt me. There was a Superbowl party, happy hours, a local bloggers event and a charity event I go to every year that had a reception before showing all the Oscar nominated movies. In fact, I was so worried I thought about postponing this challenge, but then thought well next month other events will pop up as well. I meant to buy some alcohol-free wine but it was so cold this month I couldn't motivate myself to go out of my way to the stores that sell it.

You can use an app stickK to keep yourself accountable for challenges, but I chose to just put gold stars on every day in my planner. I confirmed that I can go out with friends and not wine. I was surprised at how easy it was to not drink in social situations. But I did miss having a glass at home to unwind on the weekends. The results of my 30-day journey without wine are that I have to say it had little impact on my life. Well, I probably don't drink enough for it to make that big a difference which is good. But I did notice the scale finally moving (lost 9 lbs so far this year) and that's my reason to continue this detox until Easter. See can't have Easter dinner without my traditional Manischewitz wine. However, I should mention I did celebrate the end of the #30 day detox with some cocktails before I start my next #30 day detox. But now I'm back to drinking the healthy soda I've discovered, will post about that tomorrow.

Have you ever done an alcohol detox, how long did you last, how'd it work out for you?

This skirt has been literally everywhere for the past few years. Different stores release their own version each year, last year J.Crew's navy and white version was super popular. Right you can find one here, or here, or here, or this one. I used the stylebook app which I've raved about on this blog as my favorite way to keep my wardrobe organized to create outfits and get the most out of my wardrobe. It makes dressing for work easier because I schedule my work wardrobe a month in advance so I have no repeats each month at work which is important when you have memorable statement piece like this bold striped skirt. I won't remember how often I wear it, but I'm sure my co-workers are thinking "oh there's that skirt again." lol So on the calendar feature of the app I've pre-scheduled what days I will be wearing this skirt for the next few months in one of these outfits I created from my closet. I remember years ago I owned another black and white zebra skirt and only wore it with a purple shirt because I always thought pairing it with a white or a black shirt was just boring. So once again I paired up colorful combos, here's four ways to wear a striped skirt.
 

 

Last year I gave you a list of random acts of kindness that you can practice anytime. I'm revisiting that list to continue to practice those things. I'm also keeping a "Year of Kindness Box" for myself, it's a collection of compliments and moments of kindness I witnessed throughout the year. I keep it in my gratitude journal in the 365 app, they say that keeping a daily gratitude journal can increase your happiness.

Later this month I'm going to a volunteer orientation for a Books to Prisoners program. After reading the book Orange is the New Black I felt inspired to do something since I learned that many prisoners have little access to books. Usually prisoners are not allowed to receive books from friends or family and while some prisons have libraries, many do not. Of the prisons that do, access and selection can be extremely limited. As an avid reader I thought it would be nice to give back to a program that makes a few options available to prisoners seeking books. Basically I will get to read letters and pick out books to sent. I think it will be fun and rewarding!

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and their Mama | A Lovely Little Wardrobe | R Squared  Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy | Family Love Inspiration Education   The Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life | The Blondissima | Positively Learning | Quilty Joy Joy  Daily Style Finds | Sheila's Potpourri | Puppies and Pretties | She thought She Could   Foxy's Domestic Side | Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After | Sprinkled Just Right

I did a ton of walking in LA and used a free app called Every Trail to find walking tours. It was really awesome! It gives you a map and shows you where you are on the map through GPS. Then gives pictures and a brief description of every point of interest on the map.  You can also use it for hiking trails. All maps are made by users just like you so you can do your own photo geotagging. It's a great tool for community sharing. You can sort by rating to find the best ones. I'd say this is definitely a must have app and it was all free! I did these 4 tours during my vacation:

With financial rewards, it's not a great day until you workout!

If you want to lose weight then you must drink a lot of water each and everyday and no soda or juice. Water plays an important role not only in our hydration but also for maintaining a healthy weight. Always drink before you eat because we often mistake hunger for thirst so your body may just be thirsty and not hungry; and it will help you reduce the amount of food you eat. Drink water as soon as you wake up to kick your metabolism in gear. Drinking water speeds up your metabolism and if you don't drink enough water your body actually holds onto water weight.

Water helps your kidney and liver function more efficiently to flush out waste.  Water helps energize muscles so that they perform better and keeps your skin looking good. Drinking water regularly suppresses your appetite. Regular intake of water increases your metabolic rate and improves your digestive system. Try to get in 8 glasses of water a day and if you can't keep track download an app!
Waterlogged is a free iphone app, but in-app purchases ($2 per year or $3 forever) buy you no ads, with unlimited reminders, and detailed tracking drinking graphs. It will also let you set reminders so you don't go too long without something to drink.
Water Your Body is a google app that allows you to schedule reminders during the day so that when it's time for a drink, there is a  water pouring sound effect from your phone!

Tracking is really easy because every time you drink a (partial) glass or bottle of water you can just choose it from a list (completely with photos, if you add them) and it will be added to your tally.
This is my water bottle at work, it's a Tervis Tumbler, I put it in the fridge when I leave the office so that my first glass of water  in the morning is super cold.

Directions
Slice cucumber into thin slices. Place in a beverage dispenser and fill half way with water. Let the cucumber perfume the water for an hour then fill with ice and serve.




A friend of mine flavors her water with lavender! She puts fresh lavender in boiled water and lets it steep for hours before putting it in the fridge.

When you start on a weight loss journey you need to create a blueprint of your plan. When you decide that success is your only option, you will find a way to achieve it! But remember success is never a straight line, it's a squiggly one because everyone has bumps along the way to reach their finish line so don't be discouraged by plateaus and setbacks. If you read the story of any famous actress or singer, no one got where they are overnight, it was a difficult path that took a lot of work. Likewise your weight loss is going to be the result of you changing to a healthy lifestyle, and that takes patience to see the results of your hard work.You deserve to achieve your goals! So you need to remove the mindset of being a quitter and turn off that negative voice in your head that says you will always be where you are now. 

Sure you could bookmark the blog but will you remember to go back? The easiest way to see all your favorite blogs at once is to use a free service like Bloglovin. It installs a tiny button on your browser and puts a number next to it when your favorite blogs have new posts. Then you click on the button and it takes you to a site that shows a preview of all your favorite blogs all on one page, how neat is that! It's like pinterest but for blogs. You can also chose to get a once a day email with the same summary. If you're like me you have a long list of bookmarked sites, so long that you don't bother to go through the hassle of scrolling through them because you can't remember what most of them are for anyways. Bloglovin makes reading blogs fun and easy!

If you're currently using google reader, its shutting down in July. Feedburner that most blogspot users use to send out email updates was bought by google and last year said they were no longer supporting it. It's still up and running (for some people) for now, but without the bells and whistles so don't expect it to last for long.

I personally love blog lovin, it's takes 30 seconds to sign up, it's easy, no ads, there's no catch. There's even a free App for iphones.

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