Due to popular demand on my instagram stories Q&A; Behold my morning skincare routine!
I hope you like it and stay tuned for more.

Due to popular demand on my instagram stories Q&A; Behold my morning skincare routine!
I hope you like it and stay tuned for more.
I have been wanting to do this video for a while since I find it to be such truthful and interesting content.
I am an avid skincare enthusiast and I LOVE discovering new products, specially though recommendations. Sadly nowadays with social media, you often get “recommendations” that are not very genuine because they are paid partnerships. I have no problem with that because we all need to make a living but never in my career have I recommended something I don’t really truly love and I use/wear myself.
I love empties because its a great way to showcase what you actually used (and FINISHED!) and decide whether you would re-purchase and recommend the product.
I hope you like this type of video and since I have also updated and upgraded my skincare in the past few months, will share those new products once I finish them.
Have a lovely day and thanks for coming back!
About 4 months ago, I went to Dr. Daria Voropai at Kalea Clinic in Amsterdam and finally tried the treatment that I have been seeing and hearing about everywhere. This treatment is called Ultherapy and its supposedly the best non-invasive treatment that goes deeper to stimulate production of your body’s own collagen and elastin, for natural-looking results without surgery or downtime. Because I still have young skin, Dr. Daria Voropai decided that the best option for me was to go for the “Half Protocol” in key areas of my face a couple of months before my wedding and I am shocked and super happy with the results! Let me know if you like this type of content so I can create more of this and most importantly, let me know if you decide to try Ultherapy and what your experience is!
I just want to begin by disclosing that this is MY STORY and from MY EXPERIENCE. I am in no way a trained specialist nor a nutritionist, but I know what has worked for me and that I would never try something that would harm my body. This is not a post to motivate you to try it, I merely want to share my story, because it has been truly life changing for my digestion and stomach issues. I did not use this method for weight loss as I didn’t need that, but I did want to share the images above to show changes in my body too. The text on this post is not focused on the weight loss benefits from Intermittent Fasting though (I am merely using these pics to illustrate and show you the impact on this aspect too –since I cant show you the before and after from my digestion-, haha).
I have always had issues with my stomach, yet I never knew this until I move to The Netherlands. What I mean is that I thought it was “normal” to have an indigestion almost every day, but surprise surprise, it turns out it was not. I am lactose intolerant which seems to be an issue for 30% percent of Mexicans and 65% percent of the global population, which means that A LOT of us cant actually digest lactose properly.
In addition to this, I indulged in a lot of highly acidic and spicy foods while growing up (I added -many- lemons to absolutely everything, from rice, to potato chips), so unsurprisingly I developed a stomach ulcer by the time I was 15 years old. Despite all of this, I have learnt to deal with all of this and I try to eat healthy and avoid things that irritate my stomach, until April this year…
Straight after coming back from Coachella, I started to get this horrible stomach aches EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was used to indigestion, but these pain was constant and for months on end. I started to get quite worried so I went to visit my doctor to find some answers. She did tests for a bunch of stuff and told me she didn’t find the helicobacter pylori (which is the one causing stomach ulcers). She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me so I patiently waited until I went home to Mexico on holiday, as I knew there was nobody better to figure this one out as a Mexican Gastroenterologist.
LONG story short, I was diagnosed with IBS (which is short for irritable bowel syndrome). I was really shocked because I though this was a condition you are born with but it turns out, you can develop this later in life and one of the main causes it; Yep, STRESS.
I got this diagnosis in July and I did A LOT of research on the topic. A lot of doctors suggested to go through the FODMAP diet, which basically means you have to almost remove everything from your diet and then re-introduce it slowly to see which foods are the ones triggering the symptoms.
This seemed like a big ass effort and I have never been fond of diets, I just simply don’t like dieting yet this time it felt like a life changing decision. Through this process, I discovered; “Intermittent Fasting” or IF for short, which is a term I have heard before but never paid much attention to.
Digesting food is quite a big job for our body and I realised that eating constantly throughout the whole day from morning to evening, was giving my stomach NO REST whatsoever, which was causing my IBS flares to be constantly triggered. I read in various places that Intermittent Fasting could help with this, as giving your body that rest while fasting, could have a dramatic positive effect on digestion and by default, improve my gut health and hopefully get rid of my stomach complains.
This fact alone triggered me so I went down the rabbit hole and watched every single YouTube video I could find on Intermittent Fasting (IF), as well as reading few scientific papers on the matter (I was not gonna try ANYTHING that would harm my body).
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting means that you eat your daily meals on a specific time window and you fast for the remaining hours of the day.
A lot of people use this method for weightloss but what really pulled me in was the health benefits involved. There are a ton of health benefit claims on Intermittent Fasting including longevity, improved memory and learning, mental clarity and sharpness, decreased inflammation (which we know to be the root of many if not most diseases), anti-aging, increased HGH (human growth hormone—hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration), better balanced metabolic hormones (like insulin, leptin and ghrelin, which regulate hunger and metabolism), detoxification, increased energy and better immune function.
How do you do it?
There are different Intermittent fasting methods, but the most common (and the one I have been practicing for 2 months) is the 16/8, where you fast for 16 hours and eat in an 8 hour “feeding window”. To be honest this seems like a long fasting time at first, but once you break it down, it’s not. I thought it would be too hard to jump into this and that I would have to adapt slowly (starting with 12 hours of fasting and building it up slowly), but I was able to do it from day 1 (this might not be the case for you, so be patient).
What I basically do is that I “break my fast” (breakfast) at 12:00pm, eat my usual meals (I have been vegetarian for a few months but thats another post haha), I eat my last meal at 8:00pm and fast from 8:00pm until 12:00 pm the next day.
This sounds harder than it actually is. My body got used to this SO FAST and it has basically CHANGED MY LIFE. Those 16 hours of fasting give my stomach the time it needs to digest my food, getting rid of ALL my stomach complains. Because my body KNOWS that it will receive food at 12pm every day, I do not feel cravings or hunger, I have essentially put my body on a feeding schedule.
I know what you are thinking; “There is no way I could start my day without breakfast” and believe me, I empathise because I used to be that girl, but turns out that I was wrong. I still have break-fast (break my fast), the only difference is that I have it at midday. And no, I am not starving myself because I eat enough during my feeding window. I eat quite balanced and I eat enough.
Now, its very important that you understand that during your periods of fasting, the only things you can have are water, black coffee, tea and sparkling water, but you cannot add cream, sweeteners or anything containing glucose or fat, because this will break your fast immediately.
I do admit that I have lost some fat from “Intermittent Fasting” by default (as this is also one of the benefits), but what has amazed me even more, is that I seem to be building more muscle than when I was eating all day throughout the day, snacking at night and ending up with mayor stomachaches.
Who should NOT try Intermittent Fasting? If you’re malnourished, taking medication, have diabetes, blood pressure concerns, have been dealing with chronic stress or suffer from an eating disorder, Intermittent Fasting may not be for you, so please consult your doctor before trying. If you’re currently pregnant or nursing, this is definitely not the time for you to try Intermittent Fasting”.
I wanted to try this for one month to see if it would have any impact on my body and the results have been SO beneficial for me, this is my second month and I am planning on keeping this schedule as part of my lifestyle. I want to point out tho that I am not extremely strict with it. I often don’t fast on the weekends, or when I go to dinners with friends or my Fiancé. You can also be flexible 😉
Please do some research of your own before trying it but I wanted to share my story, because this method has changed my digestion for the better, with that said, Intermittent Fasting might not be for everyone.
Find out more about Intermittent Fasting HERE, HERE and HERE.
Lately I’ve been pondering on how we mostly talk about fashion here, but there are so many other topics that are important and have been popping up in my life. I really want to share some of them with you and create (as I previously mentioned) a small community + support system so we can share important issues. This brought me to the next topic;
When most people think about fitness -including myself to be honest-, we think about physical fitness, right? We’re all concerned with getting abs (I’m really trying to get my abs back!), losing weight, or just generally trying to stay in shape. But while we do all of this, most of us are neglecting a very important thing; mental fitness.
If you’ve never heard of this term, then think of this as a mini guide to mental fitness and why it’s so vital for our overall health!
Effectively, mental fitness is when you keep your mind in the best shape possible. You’re doing all you can to remain emotionally healthy and prevent yourself from burning out or becoming overwhelmed with stress and anxiety (anxiety is the absolute worst so I’m trying everything I can to fight against it).
Mental fitness is essential as it plays a significant role in all areas of our lives. If you’re mentally rundown and your mind is not in a good place, then it becomes almost impossible to function properly. You struggle with daily activities as your mind keeps distracting you with negative thoughts. Going back to physical fitness, bad mental fitness will make you feel unmotivated, and you’ll find it tough to go out and actually exercise.
If you’re mentally fit, then your brain is more dialed in, and your mind is clear. Everything becomes easier – from decision making to feeling motivated; your life is far easier to navigate through!
Thankfully, there are plenty of things we can do to improve our mental fitness. You don’t have to be a mental health expert, and you don’t need a masters of clinical mental health counseling to understand what might be causing your mental health issues. All you need to do is look inside yourself and assess what’s wrong in your life. Perhaps take a little time before going sleep and go through what’s bothering you/stressing you. Once you have detected the issue, the road becomes a little clearer.
Maybe you’re having issues at work? Or are your studies bringing you down? What’s causing your mind to work overtime and never shut down? Try to find out the causes, and then you can address them.
There are plenty of good practices you should consider to almost train your mind into being ‘fitter’. Don’t worry, I’m not saying you have to spend hours doing brain training exercises – it’s a lot simpler than that! Something as straightforward as reading a book is a great way to train yourself mentally. It calms your mind, takes you away from your regular life, and gives you time to unwind and de-stress. An hour of book reading every night (instead of spending time on your phone) will work wonders for your mental fitness, trust me!
Apart from this, adding more organization to your life can help you as well. This enables you to stay on top of your daily tasks, meaning you don’t have to worry about remembering everything – which often causes stress and anxiety.
Finally, make more time for yourself. Sit down and do something you enjoy, like watching a TV show, listening to music, or just giving your best friend a call. Find time in your day to forget about everything else and focus on you – it helps a lot.
So, if you knew nothing about mental fitness before today, then I hope this has shine some light. If you truly care about your overall fitness, then start taking care of the mental side of things along with the physical. I’m not quite there yet but that’s why it was important for me to share, because it seems a lot easier when we all try together.
Hope you found this helpful and if you have any other topics you would like me to address/research or discuss, leave me a comment!
As a teenager track and field athlete back in the day, long distance running was one of those extremely frightening things I would always beg my coach to leave me out of. I remember the first time I was supposed to do a 1500m race, I literally didn’t sleep the two nights before the race. I was terrified at the thought of having to do long distance running. In hindsight, this fear was completely ridiculous, I mean, all I had to do was run, thats all. A few years down the line, I finally overcame my “fear or running” and on any given day, I go for a casual 8 kilometre evening run, just for leisure.
I understand why so many people have a “fear of running”, or the idea that running is “so hard” and the truth is, the first time you decide to go for your fist long distance run, yes it will be hard!. Your lungs will burn and you will be out of air in no time, so you might be wondering; Why bother? Well I have a few very good reasons:
1) You can do it practically anywhere .
2) It will improve your cardiovascular endurance and obviously health.
3) You will become fit quick and stay fit.
4) Its one of the fastest ways to loose weight.
5)It will help you reduce stress (which is one of the biggest reasons why I do it).
6) Its a good way to help you disconnect from the digital world every now and then. (I love running in the forrest and forgetting about my phone for a little while)
Are you convinced already? what are you waiting for? get your playlist and Nike+ app going and lets go running!
This is a great workout to make your core stronger and even though it was never one of my favourite exercises, the stronger I get, the more I like the challenge of being able to do more reps.
Try to make your elbows and knees reach, not literally because you aren’t a contorsionist (or maybe you are?), just get them as close as possible, hold for a second or two and repeat 10 times if you can. do 3 sets of 10 reps (or start with 5 reps if you are a beginner)
Trying to tone my shoulders is a constant work in progress, so I try to do all different kinds of shoulder exercises. Using a resistance band, keep your arm at a 90 degree angle, tuck your elbow in and do a circular movement outwards. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps on each arm and feel those shoulder muscles burn!
I love doing angled pull ups because it targets your chest, upper back and lads, and since I am not really upper body strong, I’m trying to put more focus on getting that part of my body fitter. You can either do it with rings as I did, but if you don’t have those laying around (who does right?) , you can pull yourself up from the metal bar itself. This workout is a bit tough if your upper body strength is low, so start easy and work your way up as you get stronger. 3 sets of 5 reps is a good start, then build it up to as many as you can handle.
Squats are my favourite workout, believe it or not. Being a high jumper made me have complete focus on my legs on trainings and that’s why my leg muscle memory is a lot better than the rest of my body. Squats by themselves are great but if you add a little more weight, you can boost up the speed of how much faster you can see results. I have 2 kettle bells at home, one weights 8kg and the other one 12kg, so I alternate between the two, depends how strong/lazy I feel that day.
Please make sure that you first know how to do a proper squat to avoid any injuries. Squats are extremely efficient but you have to do them right! (You can check this youtube video for guidance). Now that you have it covered, add the kettle bell to the equation. My squat was more of a sumo squat which also targets your adductor muscle (which is that muscle in the inner part of your legs).
For these I really go nuts and target the muscle until it burns, Try doing 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps (if you are more advance do 20 reps).
I have a love hate relationship with push ups, I love them because they are one of the most effective workouts to tone your arms, I hate them because they are hard!. I think I’ve made it clear that my upper body strength is close to null, so doing a proper push up is almost impossible, thats what I normally tend to go for half push ups (with the knees on the ground), or a full push up using a resistance band. You would be surprised as how hard it still is using the elastic band but it make it a lot easier to do the full motion.
Make sure that you get a resistance band strong enough to hold you and most importantly, wide enough so it does dig under your arms while you are doing the exercise. This exercise isn’t pleasant, but if you get your 10 reps, you will feel like a superstar and your arms will be shaking like crazy, which is really what you want ;).
Do 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps. (15 or 20 of you are more advance)
Last but definitely not least, this is one of my favourite shoulder exercises because its simple and its effective. Make sure you keep your elbow straight the whole time and raise at a 45 degree angle with the ending position behind your back like you see in the gif.
Do 3 sets of 15 reps. (on each arm)
Even though most of the time I am on the go and constantly trying new workouts that require nothing but my own body weight ( I have already posted a few here ), I also like to make time to work out outdoors at the parks playground and take some equipment with me – even if it only include some elastic bands and a kettle bell-.
These are some quick workouts I used to do with my trainer back when I was training for the Nike #WOTN race and I have carried on doing, at least most of these.
Don’t forget to check my leg and abs workouts!
-3 sets of 12 reps on each leg.
Try to keep your bottom lifted the whole time and tighten the glutes while you are lifting each leg.
-3 sets of 15 reps each.
Think of this exercise as the plank version of a simple jumping jack but on a plank position. Try to keep your hips engaged (do not sag them down), that way you are also working your core.
-3 reps of 10 lunges on each leg (20 in total per set).
This is a crossover lunge which is basically a variation of a normal lunge but crossing your legs side to side. Amazing workout for your hamstrings and glutes!
Have fun with these 3 leg workouts and check out these 3 easy moves to get your ABS toned!. Lets get fit!