Shea Moisture Organic Haircare- Reviews!

With the new year, one of my resolutions was to replace all my beauty products with organic ones, as I run out of things. One of the first things to go was shampoo, so I did some research and found the Shea Moisture brand.

They have a ton of different types, each with a different key ingredient, but I chose to go with the 'Raw Shea Butter' ones for moisturizing & with the hope of keeping my hair looking smooth.

Other than the obvious shea butter, the other key ingredients in these are sea kelp and argan oil. The argan oil, which is a super trendy haircare ingredient at the moment, is great for elasticity and shine, while the sea kelp is filled with essential minerals and nutrients that are amazing for your hair! SO basically, these are completely all natural/organic, which I love, plus they're cruelty free and that is a MAJOR plus.

I spotted the shampoo & conditioner on sale at Duane Reade, so I decided to jump on the deal and just grab both. Since the emphasis benefit of the product was "moisturizing," I was a little worried that my hair wouldn't feel as clean as I would've liked. I was happily mistaken! After applying the sham
poo I did notice that my hair felt a lot softer than it typically would have after using my old, chemically-induced shampoo. I loved that the shampoo easily lathered, which is one of my top requirements in shampoo. And it definitely did clean my hair!

The conditioner was as I expected- very smooth, detangled my hair and moisturized it. Not a whole lot to say about it to be honest but it is a great conditioner!

The only thing I don't like about this duo is that my hair doesn't stay clean for as long as I would like. Typically, I like to wash my hair every other day, and use dry shampoo on the off days. With this, my hair gets more greasy than it normally would, so I would definitely need to wash my hair every day to keep it as clean as I like it to be.

When my leave-in conditioner ran out, I picked up the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Extra Moisture Detangler. Mouthful though that name is, this is one of the best haircare products I've ever used. When I get out of the shower, I just squeeze a little bit of this onto my hand (about the size of a kidney bean), spread it on my fingers and just run it through my hair. I give it a few minutes to sit, and then just brush my hair out.

I love the smooth texture this gives my hair! After using these products, my hair definitely feels soft, moisturized, and looks super healthy. I highly recommend them and I really want to try some of the other varieties!!

Shop Shea Moisture here. 

The amazing spaghetti squash!

Spaghetti squash is one of those weird vegetables that you can use in almost any recipe. They are huge, easy to cook, and can be translated into almost any dish you prefer!

All you have to do is cut it in two (this is quite a task though I must say), place them on a cookie sheet upside down, and bake them at 375 for about 45-50 minutes, or until they are a bit squishy to the touch.

Once they're out of the oven, they'll look a bit like this. All you have to do is take a large spoon and scoop out the center bit (with all the seeds and stuff) and then scoop out the rest of it with a fork or spoon, leaving you with a spaghetti-like texture.

Lots of people like to use this as a pasta substitute, and pour some marinara sauce on it, which sounds delicious actually, but I usually prefer to up the health game even more and eat this with other veggies and healthy spices. Today, I decided to go with some asparagus, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and green pepper.

I love to create new dishes just by combining my vegetables in different ways, and this was no exception. Brussel sprouts have such a negative reputation, which is unfortunate considering how delicious they are when you throw them on a frying pan for a few minutes.

In any case, my next step here is to get out a pan, spray with cooking spray, chop up your veggies, and throw them in there to cook. I like to layer the veggies for optimum cooking- so, frozen stuff goes in first, then asparagus (since they're so thick), then mushrooms, then green pepper. This way, the ones that need to cook more get the most heat.


For spices, I just decided to keep it pretty simple with paprika, black pepper, a little garlic powder & turmeric. I use turmeric in almost all my meals because of its immense health benefits (its shown to be great for cancer prevention!). I don't love the way tumeric tastes, but since I do like my food to be well-seasoned, I have gotten pretty good at masking its taste with other spices.

If this seems a little dry for you, I would recommend going with either a mashed avocado (I love avocado on almost anything) or a bit of olive oil. You could also chop up a tomato and add that, you could do some garlic, spinach.. there are really endless options here in taking this dish and making it your own depending on your preferences. Honestly, this meal was mostly me trying to use up the rest of my fresh veggies, otherwise I definitely would have thrown an avocado into the mix.

Regardless, once its done you have your veggie medley over spaghetti squash, plus lots of spaghetti squash to save for later! This meal is super filling, flavorful, and mega-healthy.

Happy eating! :)

Jillian Michaels Yoga Inferno Workout 2: Review!

Ahh... Yoga Inferno Workout 2!

I think I like this one even better than workout 1, because it honestly just makes me feel like more of a badass, despite the pain of actually doing it.

The biggest difference between workouts 1 & 2 is that workout 2 incorporates hand weights- Jillian recommends using 3 pound weights, but you can also use 5s if you're a showoff (or if you're like me & don't have 3s).

Now, don't freak out: The weights are not in your hands the whole time. This workout does have a lot of similarities to workout 1 in that it still incorporates those traditional yoga moves, some balance work, a bit of cardio. This workout is definitely a step up from workout 1 in terms of difficulty though, and I recommend doing workout 1 at least 5 times before moving to this one, plus make sure you've done lots of traditional strength training and have worked out with hand weights previously.

This workout incorporates a higher ratio of traditional strength moves (like squat & press, chair stance with bicep curls, lunge stance with rows, etc.), but also uses the weights in the yoga moves, like superman (shown on the side here) while you hold one weight out in front of you, bring your arms behind you, pass the weight to the other hand, and bring it back to the front. Moves like this are hard for me because I've always had weak arms in comparison to the rest of my body, but it is such a great move because you're using your ENTIRE body to do it.

This is a really hard workout, but I love it so much and would definitely recommend it if you want to work hard and burn a ton of calories. Overall, this may be my favorite Jillian workout!

Have you ever done yoga inferno? What did you think?

Get it on Google Play!

Buy Yoga Inferno!

Jillian Michaels Yoga Inferno Workout 1: Review!

If you know me, you know that I love Jillian Michaels. She's basically a goddess, and I adore her workouts because they are so incredibly effective and are pretty much all about half an hour long, which is perfect as I know myself and so many others are so pressed for time. And I mean, let's be honest- don't we all want to relax in our free time? These short but intense workouts are amazing because they are minimally time-consuming, but maximum fat-burning.

Also, if you cannot afford a gym membership or aren't comfortable working out in a gym, a DVD at home is the perfect thing to do! All you need is a yoga mat and some hand weights, and you're set!

Yoga Inferno is a DVD set with two half-hour intense yoga-inspired workouts. Now, when I say "yoga inspired" I mean that this is not your traditional vinyasa-flow yoga. It adds in cardio, as well as traditional aerobic movements to give you the optimum calorie burn.

Let's talk about workout 1!

Jillian jumps right into this workout with sun swings, chair poses, standing crunches... this workout really challenges range of motion, which is great for a yoga inspired practice. The first time I did this workout, I was a little overwhelmed by the fact that the warm up is so rapid-moving, but don't let that discourage you! Once the workout really starts moving, it goes very quickly.

On the other hand, I love that Jillian jumps right into it here, because one thing that occasionally frustrates me with traditional yoga is the amount of time spent in relaxation poses. To me that is just a waste of time. If I am going to do a workout, I want to do something that I know is going to burn a lot of calories (otherwise, why do it?!).
If you are someone who loves the relaxing parts of yoga, I apologize for dissing it. I do love yoga, but I just don't always feel like those elements of it are time well-spent.

Jillian is always good about offering modifications of all the moves, so if you're a beginner, you can do the slightly easier version. She also tends to offer a "badass" version of some of the moves, so if you're already a well-conditioned athlete, you can challenge yourself even more. This is also great because I have certain days where I am really feeling it, and others when I am not- therefore, I can alter the workout a little bit depending on how tired or how strong I am feeling.

This workout, like most yoga, requires a lot of upper body strength- chaturanga push ups, downward dog, planks, side planks, etc.. It is a lot, and my biggest issue with these things is I have not yet discovered the mystery of avoiding pain in my hands from putting so much weight on them. One other issue I have is that my palms get sweaty, which makes it difficult to remain balanced. I occasionally find myself having to get out of a pose just to wipe my hands on my clothes. If you happen to have the answer to this mystery, please let me know what it is.

I have gotten a better at these things though, and I know you will too.

Despite the struggles, I love this workout because the cardio intervals are super short (about 30 seconds each, and there are only maybe 4 in the workout), and a lot of balance work. I find balance poses (like Warrior 3) so amazing because my whole body is engaged, I can feel my muscles working, yet all I'm doing is standing in this position (precarious though it may be).

Overall, this is one of my favorite Jillian workouts. Once I get through it, I always feel super strong and proud of myself. Plus, the inspirational words Jillian shares at the end (she is so good at encouraging!!) always lift me up.

If you are a beginner who wants to try this workout, I would recommend trying something a little less intense before doing this- maybe do yoga a few times a week for a couple weeks, while mixing in some more traditional workouts for conditioning.
My suggestion would be to mix in Jillian's 30 Day Shred or Ripped in 30 with some youtube yoga (Yoga with Adriene is great for beginners).

Buy Yoga Inferno!

join the journey

Hello friends!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kelley. I am a 20something who lives in Brooklyn with my pet rabbit, roommate, and her cat. I work full time in an office, but have a huge passion for health & wellness.

Other interests include musical theatre, travel, fashion, makeup, animals and iced coffee.

I decided to start this blog because of my passion for living well, and my desire to share my journey with all of you! And, just to be clear, this is not just about weight loss- this blog is going to be about an overall healthy lifestyle. Trust me, I have my vices, and will never give up pizza or sweets. This blog is going to be about living better, treating yourself well, and living better our of LOVE for your body and respect for yourself.
So, what will you see here?

• Healthy recipe ideas
• workout ideas
• workout DVD reviews 
• My weight loss stories
• Organic beauty product reviews
• and of course the occasional wild card post :) 

I hope you're excited and I hope you will follow along - let's jump in. Enjoy the journey.