Goodbye Chocolate Monster

Lately my skin has been horrible and no dermatologist or product seemed to be working. So I have turned to food. I have now been on a very low sugar, low carb and if I can help it NO processed foods regiment for 2 weeks. So far it has been going well, until this week.
This week the chocolate cravings hit me! They come with fiery and unrelenting force...ladies you know what I'm talking about! You just cant help it you have to have something rich and chocolaty! But what could I do I wasn't supposed to eat anything like that.
Well today I concocted a perfect antidote and all day I have been free from further chocolate cravings! Now don't get me wrong it was still chocolate and still sugar but it wasn't a processed sugary bar. It was 100% natural sugar and good dark cocoa powder and I want to share it with all of you in hopes that it can help others with the miserable chocolate monsters that live inside us.

1 glass of organic milk
1/2 tsp of dark (60% or more) cocoa powder
1 organic banana
put it in a blender or use a hand mixer like I did.  That's it!

Its sweet and yummy, almost like chocolate milk shake but with no processed foods or added sugar PLUS using 60% or more cocoa powder means you get all the great antioxidants that chocolate has to offer.  ENJOY!

Creatively Yours,
Christina Marie
PS. If you need it a hint more sweet add just the smallest drip of raw honey on top before you blend.

Hitting the re-start button and welcoming 2015!

2014 was a crazy year for me. It had some up points but over all it was one stress filled year! I welcomed my Hubby home from deployment number 2, moved 3 times, had a lot of personal decisions to make about my future that were all accompanied by a lot of stress and on top of that I had some personal health issues that were not fun to deal with. Well now that it's 2015 and I have done the typical New Years reflection and have found that non of my 2014 goals were met! Partially because of the things listed above but mostly because of me. So...I have decided that this year is the year I make my goals achievable. 

My goals for 2015 are to not judge myself so harshly. In order to help me do that I want to get back to my yoga practice where I feel calm and centered. This feeling resonates into the rest of my life when I am actively doing yoga. It inspires me to take the time to enjoy life's beautiful moments and live in the present.I feel if I can get back to that I will judge less and enjoy more.  

In the process of being less judgmental about where I am in my life and what I am doing I have also decided that its truly time to throw myself back into this blog! I started it as a way to share myself with the world and it quickly became a place where I constantly judged myself because I was so worried about how I would come off. Well no more! I am over my writers block/self shaming and I am here to share and hopefully inspire. 

Below I have re-posted my first blog post about why I started this blog in the first place. I hope your read it, I know its lengthy but I hope when you read it that you get inspired too to hit the re-set button on a past project you put aside and never completed. Happy 2015 everyone and welcome back! 

Creatively Yours, 

Christina Marie

Finding quiet moments and balance for a stress free life.

Stress is apart of our every day lives. We wake up stressed out and go to bed stressed out. Many of us don't even recognize stress anymore because we are so use to it. Many of my friends right now are planning for new babies, moving, house hunting and weddings planning which are good stresses but still stress. Some are dealing with the lose of loved ones and others are dealing with personal illness. We all have stress! For me these past 8 months have been very stressful with my Hubby being deployed. So I wanted to share a few things that I personally believe in and try to do to in order to find those quiet moments and have balance and as much of a stress in my life as possible.
1) Breath in the fresh air… I’m not talking about just stepping outside and going, "ok I took some breaths!" and then running back inside to do your job or project. I’m talking about going out for a short or long walk, I take my dog every day, and really taking time to breath and look at nature. Really breath deeply. Maybe find a beautiful spot and stop there. Take in 5-10 really long deep breaths. Look at the beauty around you the green grass or the blue sky…Even here in New England when its cold and grey, I look at the bare trees all dancing together in the wind and I reflect on how strong they are for living through the hard winter months. To me no matter how ugly or crazy the world gets nature is always peaceful and grounding and oxygen is always my drug of choice.

Homemade Salt Scrub (helps me with acne)

Recently my good friend Willa and I were discussing how in the last 3 years our skin has gotten worse. I have always struggled with light acne but suddenly when I turned 22 it took a seriously bad turn, especially on my back. After trying all the chemical options I decided to go a whole new direction.

When it comes to using chemicals in my house I am a bit of "hippie" (for lack of a better word). So as my acne got worse I thought "why not be diligent about not using chemicals on my face and back too?" You see I was a believer and constant user of benzyl peroxide but recently it just hasn't been making any difference. So I began to try different things. The first thing that really helped was switching to an all natural lavender body wash (Lavender helps with inflammation). I since have also switched to a natural SPF and only use it when I know I'll be outside. The rest of the time I use Trader Joe's Nourish Oil-Free Antioxidant Facial Moisturizer mixed with a few drops of rose-hip oil. My skin so far has responded pretty well!

One thing I really like to do for my back and for my face is exfoliate 1-2 times a week and to do so I combining three different ideas/theories into my homemade salt scrub... the Oil Cleansing Method, sea salt and essential oils. I wanted to share it with you all especially because so many others are struggling with the same issue of adult acne.

Besides even if you don't have acne its refreshing and gives your skin a nice glow. I will give you two variations one for body scrub and one for a face scrub.

I just use the ingredients I can find from the grocery store here. But when we move I hope to transition to all organic ingredients.