Sign up with your email address to be the first to know about new products, VIP offers, blog features & more.

Apple Cider Vinegar Is My New Saving Grace, You Should Try It!

By Posted on 0 263

Now that I’m this jet setting ninja, I come across lots of interesting people, who have even more interesting habits.

Here’s how I got caught up in the Apple Cider Vinegar saga.

We’re in Tampa and my co-worker tells me that we’re going to take a shot of Apple Cider Vinegar in the morning. I don’t even eat salt and vinegar chips so I already KNOW there will be no shots for me, unless I’m off the clock and Hennessy is involved. My first response, which is also my first thought, is “No, we’re not going to do anything together but our job.” Of course she laughs and I’m standing there with a straight face.

I didn’t think about it for the rest of the day, or that evening. So you can imagine my surprise the next morning when she pulls out a bottle of ACV and takes out two cups.

Sweet baby Jesus, that stuff stunk so bad. She poured two shots and two glasses of orange juice. After toasting to a healthy lifestyle and fulfilling 2017, we took the shot and chased it down with the juice.

Truth is, it wasn’t that bad! I didn’t enjoy it, but I felt like I could do it again!

I felt really good the entire day. I’m usually tired between flights because of jet lag and I wasn’t tired after a 14 hour day. It took a few hours for me to realize it, but I felt really leveled. Not like I was going to crash and burn later, like I sometimes do when I end a three day trip.

I think it tastes best if you add a shot of ACV to orange juice, pineapple juice, any hot tea, or very cold welch’s juice. Some won’t agree, because of the acid, but I’m still alive and well.

Nywhoo…

Some amazing benefits have happened since I began drinking ACV. The first thing I noticed was a boost in my energy, which I already told you about. Second was my teeth; they were a lot whiter than normal. I also don’t have a dry mouth at the end of a long day. My arthritis pain in my wrist stopped, and I haven’t had any more aches either.

But the BEST benefit was the swelling in my tonsils subsided. I’ve had trouble with my tonsils for years. I’ve been delaying getting them removed, because if they don’t bother me I don’t want to bother them. I’m okay with them being back there (even if it looks like two big knots sitting in the back of my throat). My ENT told me my swelling comes from allergies. One thing I’m allergic to is dust, and there is a lot of dust on planes. From my understanding of one way ACV works is that it clears out your gut. So when we breathe in different allergens, they settle in our throat and stomach. ACV cleans all of that out. My throat burned for about a week, but I noticed that the size of my tonsils were going down drastically, so I continued to take my shot of ACV. Now, my tonsils don’t burn, and my tonsils look normal.

I’m encouraging everyone I know to take a shot of ACV at least once a day. I don’t usually get on the bandwagon about a lot of things, but ACV is something I truly believe in. So tomorrow morning add a shot of Apple Cider Vinegar to your glass of tea, or water, or be daring and take a shot like me and chase it with a glass of orange juice!

Bottoms up!

Share this article

Destress & Detox: 4 Detox Baths You Must Take

I truly enjoy taking showers, but when my shower broke on me, I enjoyed a good bubbly every night!

So, at first, I felt like I was wasting water, and that my nightly routine was taking more time than usual, because I do love showers. Then, I started to enjoy my nightly routine. I enjoyed the bubbles, bath salt, and bath bombs. I enjoyed doing my sugar scrubs and taking my time. I felt like a feather every night I stepped out of the tub, and I slept like a baby, which for me isn’t often hard, especially, since my body is always trying to adjust to a different time zone.

Once I got my shower fixed, I went back to my regularly scheduled nightly routine, but my sleep pattern is the main reason I began looking up detox baths. I’ve been reading, researching and reviewing the best detox baths to take. I found several, and tried many, but only these four I LOVED.

But, first things first! Preparation is very important. You want to make sure your bath water is as hot as you can possibly get it so that the ingredients mix well. The water will cool, and plus, you’ll need to spend anywhere from twenty to forty minutes in your detox bath. 

Let’s soak!

1. Sea Salt Detox Bath

Ingredients: Hand full of Epsom salts, hand full of natural sea salt, hand full of baking soda

This is a very popular bath because relieves joint aches and pains. Most people use Epsom salt, but adding the natural sea salt  makes this detox bath healthier. The mix of Epsom and sea salt will give you more energy, although it’s very relaxing. What’s so awesome about this combo is that it pulls out the toxins in the body. The added bonus is that it doesn’t just take from your body, it also provides health benefits to your skin. If you scrub your body is circular motion, the dead skin will fall off, and your skin will look like it’s glowing!

2. Apple Cider Vinegar Detox Bath 

Ingredients: 1-2 cups of raw Apple cider vinegar

I think I sweat the MOST in this bath, and when I got out the tub. I think I even got dehydrated during this bath, and I at least drink 1.5 liters of water a day. So my first piece of advice is to drink plenty more water, before, during and after this detox. Apple cider vinegar helps restore the acid-alkaline balance in your body, which is good for skin health. Surprisingly, the vinegar detox bath made me extremely sleepy, so you might want to head straight to bed after your detox.

3. Lavender

Ingredients: 10 drops of lavender oil

This will be the most relaxing bath out of the four listed. Lavender is a great skin oil, for those who suffer from eczema, acne or even psoriasis. Its soothing fragrance helps relieve headaches, anxiety and stress, which helps you sleep better and be calmer throughout your day or night. On the inside, it helps balance blood sugar, and can serve as an antioxidant protector, which means you’ll look younger longer!

4. Green Tea Detox Bath

Ingredients: 3-4 organic tea bags (if you’re really about that life, add a squeeze of Lemon or Lime)

I’m a huge green tea drinker, but I never thought to put the tea in my bath water. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a great bath detox that does the same things as drinking the tea would do, but on a major level. green tea is a healing tea, so bathing in it has many healing benefits. Aside from gaining more energy, it helps increase antioxidant activity in the bloodstream and lowering cholesterol.

It’s important that you rub your skin gently towards your heart in every detox bath you take. This is so that you can have good for stimulation throughout your body and helps soothe your muscles.

Honestly, I loved all of theses baths for different reasons. I don’t have a favorite out of these four, because they all benefited me in a great way. I tried other detox baths which included ingredients like ginger and baking soda, but these were the four that were the best for me. I didn’t have the heart to add bleach to my bath water like many others do, but if it floats your boat, definitely research it first and then try it for yourself. Otherwise, I hope that you try a detox bath tonight. I promise you, it’ll be worth your time.

Baddie, Baddie Girl, Brittney, Hood, Blogazine, Thought, A, Worth, Value, Love, fighting, for, relationships, happy, self love, confidence, girl, talk, dating, advice, romance, woman, man, human, sex, sunlight, hand, sunrise, life, happiness, field, male, female, people, boyfriend, girlfriend, lover, 20s, mixed-race, multi-ethnic, asian, ethnic, caucasian, african, american, hispanic, black, away, sunshine, family, togetherness, lifestyle, young, old, mature, holding, romantic, beautiful, background, picture, perfect, silhouette, couple, kissing, adult, together, valentine, space, happy, blog, write, communicate, effective, person, friends, fun, retro, help, free, positive, group, teenage, friends, happy, hugging, couple, talking, holiday maker, travel, tour tourism, sunglasses, shades, hanging, out, style, fashion, clothes, teenage, lifestyle, girl, boy, young, woman, man, beatiful, smiling, people, person, concept, outdoors, student, together, friendship, cheerful, joyful, family, boyfriend, girlfriend, black, afro, african, american, international, multiracial, face, detox, bath, purify, ACV, apple, cider, vinegar, lavender, salt

 

Share this article

CANTALOUPE-MELON: A SWEET HEALTHY SMOOTHIE!

It seems as though everyone is trying to get healthy. Except me. I know I won’t be young forever, but I see no reason for missing out on the “bad” foods I love and crave.

Although I’m not “health conscious” I seem to somehow stay up to date about all of the latest health trends; I blame it on the blogging. I remember when flax seeds were in, and chia seeds, one teaspoon of coconut oil a day, oil-pulling, and a lot of other things that were sure to make you healthy. These things may be good for you, and trust, I’ve tried most of the health trends I named, but when is enough, enough?

Now, all the rage is juicing and making smoothies. So if you haven’t made a Pinterest board and pinned hundreds of juicing and smoothie recipes, or you aren’t drinking your fruits and vegetables, you’re late! Being that I don’t mind trying new things, I have been pulled into the smoothie craze by one of my mentors. (Maybe I’ll try juicing next month.) My mentor made me a “green” smoothie recently. I promise she put everything under the sun in it. She had everything starting with bananas and ending with ginger, with everything in between in this one smoothie, but it was good.

When I did my research on these smoothies, I found a slew of simple recipes that had no more than four or five ingredients. However, my good friends who make smoothies have ten to twelve ingredients in one smoothie. As my jaw dropped, and I clutched my pearls, the only thing I think of is, what happened to simplicity? Why are people going overboard with the ingredients? My guess is that some of you are having too much fun experimenting, and you others are trying to put too much healthy in one smoothie–but that’s none of my business.

So over the weekend, I finally put my Black & Decker blender to work, and made my first at home smoothie, (good-bye Smoothie-King!). My ingredients included: Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Spinach, and Ice. I used a cup of each ingredient. Smoothie Simplicity at its finest! Did you know most people don’t take the seeds out of the watermelon for their smoothie? Not me! I took those seeds out with a quickness. Smoothie2I put my spinach in first, and then I added my other ingredients.

Smoothie3
Smoothie4

This was my first time making a smoothie, and I’m proud of myself. This came out perfect for me. Of course, we all have different taste buds, but this one was perfect. The only thing I wanted to add were pineapples, but I forgot to buy some, (oh well).

Smoothie5

What I do like about smoothies, is that you can sneak in a little healthy. It’s hard for me to eat spinach, but when you put it in your smoothie, you can’t taste it. With this smoothie, the cantaloupe was very strong. It actually overpowered the watermelon, and I threw in a few extra pieces of watermelon.

If you’re a smoothie lover, what are some of your favorite recipes?

Share this article

GET FIT! BUT STRETCH FIRST

To stretch or not to stretch?

This is a question many people have asked when it comes to working out. Most of us were taught early in life that stretching is the most important thing to do before you start working out. This was so that you could warm your body and muscles up, and you would be looser, stronger, which would make you less susceptible to injury.

Now, some experts have people rethinking their pre-workout stretching routine. Here’s why.

Pre-exercise stretching has been said to be unnecessary and counterproductive. A study was published  in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, were they concluded that if you stretch before you lift weights, you may feel weaker than you were expecting during your workout.

Many of these experts believe that it’s better to warm up the muscles that you will be working on. Jumping jacks, and high leg kicks will help prepare your muscles for a more strenuous workout, rather than stretching alone.

On the contrary, other experts still believe that stretching is necessary, and can help strengthen muscles. They say many of your muscles are shortened during your work day, so stretching is good for preventing chronic pain. Did you know that stretching can reverse back pain that you may have from sitting at a desk for long periods of time.

When I was working at my last job, we all would sit at our desks for 8 hours a day or more. One of the guys there said it wasn’t good for us, and put pictures of different stretches we should do every hour to keep our blood pumping. This is an awesome idea.

So, if your job keeps you in the same position all day, do 2-minute stretch breaks. This will help to reverse that posture and help your joints from getting stiff.

How do you start your work out?

baddie girl, baddie, girl talk, stretch, brittney hood, blogazine, doctors, workout, fitness, excercise

Share this article

LISTEN BADDIE: MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR BODY, IT’S TIME

Did you know that January is self-love month?

Well it is, and it’s time we start loving every inch of our body,  cellulite and all!

Beauty norms and standards are changing generation to generation. Think about it. Cellulite was considered beautiful at one time. Some time ago, women who were hairy were considered to be women of wealth. A super thin waist was considered beautiful in the 19th century, so women would squeeze their internal organs out of their alignment to fit into a tight corset. The 1920s woman would bound her breast down to be more desirable. In the 1990s into the early 2000 the perfect female body was extremely thin with big boobs. Fast forward to today, big booties are deemed sexy.

Who knows what the next beauty norm will be?!

You have to determine your own beauty norms and standards. Ask yourself, what does beauty mean to me? You can’t look to media to determine if you’re beautiful or not. What if suddenly its decided that small fingers and hands are beautiful? Would you begin to wrap your daughters hands as a toddler, or would you begin to bind your hands as an adult, or both?

I believe you have two choices, accept your body as it is, or continue to look to media for their standard of beauty and continue to live feeling as though your body is subpar.

But at the end of the day you have to love yourself to be successful. Confidence is everything and if you are feeling insecure about your body people will be able to tell. If you don’t like something about your body change it until you feel absolutely confident. If you feel too short, where taller heels. If your lips are too small, where a clear lip gloss. If you feel fat, go work out. You have the power to change what you don’t like naturally. There is no need to go run under the knife.

So, for all the women who struggle with cellulite or  feel like their nose is too big, breasts are too small, or whatever, make peace with your body. You’re beautiful, so love your body because God gave it to you, and only you can rock it. So move on because there are more important issues at hand.

Baddie, Baddie Girl, Brittney, Hood, Blogazine, Thought, A, Worth, Value, Love, fighting, for, relationships, happy, self love, confidence, girl, talk, dating, advice, romance, woman, man, human, sex, sunlight, hand, sunrise, life, happiness, field, male, female, people, boyfriend, girlfriend, lover, 20s, mixed-race, multi-ethnic, asian, ethnic, caucasian, african, american, hispanic, black, away, sunshine, family, togetherness, lifestyle, young, old, mature, holding, romantic, beautiful, background, picture, perfect, silhouette, couple, kissing, adult, together, valentine, space, happy, blog, write, communicate, effective, person, friends, fun, retro, help, free, positive

Share this article

GET FIT GIRL! WORKOUT WITH FRIENDS

Working out can be something you look forward to everyday or a serious burden everyday. But whichever one it is, you have to do it!

You want to look good in every outfit! You want to be summertime fine in the summertime. Shoot! You want to be summertime fine all year!

For some people, they look forward to working out. It brings their life so much joy to go for a morning run, or spend three hours in the gym.

For others, it’s not so fun. So, if it is a burden for you, friends or workout buddies are a great way to add the much needed fun and excitement you need.

Some people like to workout by themselves. But sometimes its good to have someone there to help you push yourself, and talk to as your body burns from a good effective workout.

Here are a few reasons why friends and workout buddies are awesome to have.

ACCOUNTABILITY!

It’s hard to get out of the bed and work  out. Or after a long day at work, go straight to the gym, but when you work out with friends, you all hold each other accountable for working out. You’ll feel bad letting your friends down for a 5 o’clock kickboxing class, and you don’t want to have to hide out, because you were being lazy.

MOTIVATION!

You finally get to the gym, and you feel like walking right back out. Been there before? Well when your friends are in the mix its easy to get that extra push to try a new yoga class, or lift heavier weights. You’re friends will have your back when you feel like you can’t go any further with your workout.

COMPETITIVE FACTOR!

Why are you still lifting the same 5-pound weights, from two weeks ago? You’re friends will have you pushing the limit. This is always a good thing. You’ll be closer to your weight goal in no time. Healthy competition is always good to have. Just remember to not go overboard. Too much competitiveness will have your friends not wanting to workout with you.

FUN! FUN! FUN!

You can catch up on all of the latest news with your friends while you work out. You won’t event feel the burn as you talk and workout. Try a new dance or step class, and laugh throughout the entire class, because it doesn’t matter if you don’t get all the moves right.

CELEBRATE SUCCESS!

Those pounds will come off, and there needs to be a moment of celebration. It’s easy to get into the routine of just working out, but take pleasure in actually loosing weight. Go out to dinner, go out for drinks, just don’t gain back all of the weight you worked so hard to loose. Celebrating never hurt anybody.

TRY THIS!

Here are some fun ideas for working out with a friend.

  • Try a class together that you might be too intimidated to try on your own.
  • Go on weekly hikes, walks and runs.
  • Get on your bikes and ride around. (Especially fun in the city!)

How do you feel about working out with friends?

baddie, baddie girl, brittney hood, blogazine, girl talk, Perfect, imperfect, attitude, love, happy, cute, self esteem, self love, self worth, value, girls, women, relationships, beauty, beautiful, gorgeous, texting, couple, health, eat, work out, fitness, sexy, body, friends, accountability, motivation

Share this article