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Weight Loss - On My Own
- 9/25/2008
Just a quick update. I am still losing weight, even though I'm going it alone.
After all, I did promise that if I gained, I would head back to Weight Watchers. So, that is a great incentive right there.
All I'm doing is keeping track of what I eat & how much I exercise in an Excel spreadsheet. It's pretty simple, anyone with basic skills can set one up that calculates total for the day, the week & the difference b/w your goal calorie intake* & your actual. I fill it in with when I eat, what the food was & the calorie amount. I also note my excercise - what, how long, calories burned - but I don't figure those into my overall total.
If you would like a blank copy of mine, email me (amy at amycarriere.com) and & I will send you one.
So far I've lost 3 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Not too shabby. I don't feel like I'm "on a diet". I feel like I am just controlling myself & eating a reasonable amount. I am also not punishing myself by depriving myself - that never works, it always backfires.
One other change to note - I hadn't been excercising at all till last week when I made it to the gym 3 times. This week it's only been once. I wanted it to be more but some old pains popped up & I'm trying to rest so they don't get worse. Sigh... I'm frustrated by it because I was on such a roll, but the body knows when it needs to slow down, I guess.
*Here's a tool to figure your calorie needs.Labels: Weight Loss and Fitness
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Walmart Re-Do DIY
- 9/23/2008
I have a giant heap of clothing that I want to remake. Basically stuff that isn't good enough to sell on ebay but not bad enough to throw out.
This weekend I stole an hour & re-made this camisole I've only worn once, a year or more ago. It's now way too large for me. I know it's cute, but, sigh... I'm not wearing it & haven't in so long. Plus, I absolutely adore the pale gray color & the fabric - velvet, yum!
So, I cut just above the drawstring and hemmed it. It became a very cute skirt with a gathered paper bag waist that I can wear low on my hips or right at my waist. Photos below with & without a belt.
 
Also, from the tiny ruffle that trimmed the bust I made a velvet flower pin. I'm not crazy about it being a pin though. I think my next flower will be on a clip - less stress on the stitches that hold it all together.
See the outfit as I wore it here>>Labels: Crafting and Creating
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Perfect Fall Neutral Nail!
- 9/17/2008
I have found the perfect neutral nail for fall. OK, really for any season, but it's just so fashionable to declare new beauty fashion items as "perfect for (fill in the blank)", te-he.  So, it's WetNWild from the drugstore. It is a pinky-goldeny champagne color with a bit of shimmer but not so much that it looks like you fell in a box of glitter. The official number of this goodness is 222 - I don't think WNW gives their colors actual names, just numbers.
 And - bonus! - it actually has staying power. Yay!Labels: Beauty and Makeup
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How Not to Look Old - The Experiment Continues - Part 3
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So, for all you keeping track of my little (highly unscientific) experiment, here is part 3 of the "How Not to Look Old" experiment: the eyebrows. This "study" is based on the book of the same name. A link is provided in the bibliography at the end of this post. Now, I happen to like how my eyebrows look & I don't really know of any better way to do them. I am intrigued by the stencils she mentioned but I'm really too broke to order any right now. Plus, I want to do this now! I don't want to wait for shipping! So, I decided to compare my face, sans eyebrows (their normal habitat - not there) with my eyebrows after I've done/added them. Please keep in mind - the before photo is completely with no makeup. So, you've been warned: 
After I've added brows:
 I thought about it later & I really should have drawn them on with a colored pencil - that would be the old lady way, right? Oh well, I think me with no makeup is startling enough. Anyway, I think this demonstrates the basic idea that your features should be balanced & that the right eyebrow helps lift your eye & bring attention to it. I think everyone should pay attention to this, no matter what your age.
Thanks for watching!
Labels: Beauty and Makeup
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Done with Weight Watchers?
- 9/14/2008
I might be canceling my Weight Watchers membership, at least temorarily.
I feel like I have lost touch with myself & my motivation. It's been over a year on the program & I haven't been able to get past the first 25lbs loss. I hit it one time, and gained the next week. Since then I've been within a pound of it and then gained. I am on such a yo-yo with it & I think I need to try something different for a while.
I even tried their Core plan, which worked great while I stuck to it. The first week I lost 3.8lbs - an amazing loss! But then gained the next week & the next. I'm just feeling really frustrated right now.
Yesterday I found my old weight loss spreadsheet that I used when I successfully lost 20lbs on my own. I simply counted calories - eaten & worked off. It took about 5 months - the first 10 in 2 months, the second in 3. I think if I can get focused again & get into a regular schedule of going to the gym, that I can do it on my own. Really do it for myself - not to impress the scale lady or the group.
Now, keep in mind that after that loss (3 years ago), I immediately reverted & gained it all back and then some, thus Weight Watchers. So, keeping with the WW mind set this time, I have to remember that I always have to keep an eye on myself weight-wise. Even once I get "there", that perfect, happy weight, I will still have to be diligent.
I'm also setting a rule that if I gain 5 lbs over what I weigh now, then I will go back to WW, no questions asked.
I don't want this to be an excuse to quit taking care with what I eat. I want this to be a renewal of strength and focus.Labels: Weight Loss and Fitness
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How Not to Look Old - The Experiment, Part 2
- 9/10/2008
So, next is "lighten up", meaning "get highlights". In your hair. Around your face. (Duh.)
She recommends developing (pun intended) a relationship with your colorist - which should not be the same person as your hair stylist. Hmmmm...
My budget swap in? An on sale box of Revlon Frost & Glow. I believe it was $6.99.
It's the first time I've done the cap thing but thought that would give the most natural looking highlights. Otherwise, I might end up glopping the goo on & creating a skunk stripe.
The cap tested my patience and pain threshold. Well, the pain really wasn't that bad but the hook they give you to pull the hair through the holes may as well be a chopstick. It was next to worthless at hooking & pulling bits of hair.
So, between the tiny amounts of hair I was able to pull through & my taking the cap off before rinsing - I ended up with a very believable highlighted area in front. If I did it again I would do the entire head, use a larger plastic hook & get a friend to help with the back (skipped it - too lazy). And read the directions - there's some trick you do by separating the cap & rinsing then removing the other half, oh, whatever... Oh, and keep it on longer - I admit that I got scared when I looked at it & only kept the crud on for like 20 minutes.
So, drumroll..... The before photo:
After photos (couldn't decide which was least offensive, so I included both - bonus!):
 So, do I look any younger? Will you be trying it to look a little closer to the womb?
P.S. Here's the link again for the book, in case you want to run towards pre-pubescence! Labels: Beauty and Makeup
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Movies & Fashion - Watching the Detectives
- 9/09/2008
I am in love with this movie. One of my favorite leading men + an adorable & fun leading lady + cute clothes + movie nerds = a great ride! I will watch anything Cillian Murphy is in, first of all. Also, I am totally digging Lucy Liu as the cute & kooky female sidekick (see Lucky Number Slevin). Plus, this chick wears the craziest cutest stuff! I so want a lookbook of every nutty outfit. One day she's skater, another she's layer crazy and yet another she's total vamp. I just really liked the overall story line - it's about a video store owner that meets this nutty girl & they end up dating but she is a total kook! I did read a few reviews on Netflix & the majority of them wanted him to just get away from her because she was messing with him so badly. But I managed to suspend disbelief in order to really enjoy the hell out of this one. Labels: Movies
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Thrifting & Shopping
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I haven't posted much lately about shopping because I haven't been doing much of it. I did take a Saturday to myself last weekend though. I went to the library and to the thrift and to TJMaxx and even out to a fabulous lunch! It was pretty much heaven, except for the exhaustion that hit once I got home LOL.
So, here are the accessories I ended up snagging:
This is a pair of Madeline navy blue patent leather peep-toe mary-janes. I don't even think they had been worn. I don't know if I would have given them a second glance at TJMaxx, but on the thrift store shelf they sang out to me! I'm actually wearing them right now as I write this post. I'm totally digging how the strap sits lower on the ankle - so much more flattering to the leg!
Another thrift find. I've been looking for the perfect pair of classic black leather pointy toe heels & these just might be them! The heel is low for comfort but the shoes are definitely vampy with that pointy toe. These too had never been worn. In fact, I could tell from the original price sticker that they were from TJMaxx LOL.  After the thrift I stopped at TJMaxx to "see what I could find". I picked up this Franco Sarto patent bag for a song. I am totally digging the lipstick feel I get from the color & shine off this. AND, the inside is a good size & well divided with 3 pockets. The shape is so lady-like!
 My other TJMaxx clearance find - such comfortable pointy-toe flats from Penny Loves Kenny.
I also found lots of clothing at the thrift - just for me this time; I wasn't even shopping for the store. So, lots of outfits coming up soon.
Oh, I'm wearing a dress I actually made myself tomorro! Maybe I will post about it. Otherwise, check myStyleDiary tomorro for it and more outfits! Labels: Shopping and Fashion
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How Not to Look Old - The Experiment, Part 1
- 9/03/2008
I picked this book up at the library this past weekend. Instead of just doing a lame book review once I have finished it, I decided I will do an experiment based on the advice within. (An added bonus is that I will be doing this all on a budget - read: dirt cheap.) This chick lists a bunch of different ways of not looking OL (old lady) and instead looking Y&H (young & hip). Interesting...
Now, granted, I'm only 30 as opposed to the 40+ women that this book is aimed at. Still, who doesn't want to look younger. Am I right?
So, step one is to "get bangs". Now, I have avoided bangs since high school. Mainly because I don't want to hide half my face. And required maintenance comes into play as well - I wash my hair at night & sleep on it. That is my hair beauty regimen. Period. Well, I got a bug up my butt to take the plunge after reading the second chapter of the book. (The first Chapter determined how high maintenance you are. I rate somewhere in between not at all & a little.) I stopped in at Great Clips and asked for bangs, but not the ones that cover your whole face - these more just frame it & "swoop" off to the side. Total cost = $19 including tip. Below are the results. Me before the miraculous bangs: 
Me after: 
What do you think? I'm thinking I look more mature & polished in the second photo - but not really "younger", possibly older, in fact. I AM totally digging the look though, even though it requires a little more work than before. I use a flat iron on the bangs & on a few other chunks of hair around my head. Overall, I think the time invested is worth it. I am starting to understand those women who put so much more time into their hair. It really makes you feel good.Labels: Beauty and Makeup
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