CHRISTINA AGUILERA RECENT WEIGHT LOSS

Christina Aguilera showed up at a "The Voice panel discussion" looking amazing in a flirty short pink dress. She looked very bright and summery in her girly ensemble, but the dress wasn't the eye catcher of the evening, Christina's sexy slender body was!

The last couple of months Christina has been putting in effort to loose weight after dealing with a lot of criticism on her weight. Although the singer said multiple times in interviews to be proud of her voluptuous curves, "Actually, the challenge I've always has is being too thin, so I love that now I have a booty, and obviously I love showing my cleavage.", she eventually gave in to the pressure of the media and started dropping the pounds. And now she's finally able to show off the results. 

So how exactly did Miss Aguilera get her skinny body back? According to a friend, all by herself. Christina signed up for the Fresh Diet Program, which gives you a set amount of calories and nutritious foods to choose from for your daily meals. "She did it all on her own. She goes online and picks out her own food."

Here's a look at Christina Aguilera's recent weight loss and her weight through out the years. 

2000

2006

2008

2010

2012

Beginning of 2013

March 2013

May 2013

Now

Although Christina looks great and seems to be at a healthy weight, I hope she did get to this point by living by a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet and regular exercise. The singer has been known to be a yo-yo dieter, and quitting a crash diet can make her weight go up as soon as it went down. Besides that I hope Christina enjoys the attention she's getting now and gives all the critics the big middle finger! 

Being bullied for your weight, too skinny or too fat, should never be tolerated. It's sad the media makes big money off celebs who gained or lost weight, which will only keep promoting unhealthy lifestyles, crash dieting, smoking and eating disorders amongst young women and men. 

What do you think of Christina's transformation?  

x x x

MENU MONDAYS

Hi everyone, today another Menu Monday! As usual I'm showing you what was on my menu this first day of the week. I'm still convinced a healthy start of the week, diet and exercise wise, will make it easier to hold on to a healthy routine during the rest of the working week. And of course in the weekend there's time to have a cheat meal or cheat day, whatever works best for you. 

The more I cheat during the weekend, the more motivated I am to reset, and start over. As I had a pretty filled dinner and party weekend with sushi, cocktails, pizza and ice cream, I was certainly looking forward to my salads and yogurts again. 

Without further ado, here's my Menu of this Monday!

 BREAKFAST

smoothie - 2 non fat yogurts, blueberries, strawberries, with some oatmeal and cereal sprinkled on top

LUNCH

salad - tomato, cucumber, mixed salad, marinated chicken, argentina sauce

DINNER 

salad with smoked salmon - tomato, cucumber, avocado, salad, yogurt and mustard vinaigrette

on the side some leftover pasta and hot veggies (carrot, onion, tomato, celery)

SNACK

a cappuccino

fruit biscuits - apple & cinnamon 

How did you start off your week? 

x x x

COCKTAIL CALORIE CLASH

Mmmmm a refreshing sweet ice cold cocktail at the pool or beach can be such a nice addition on a hot summery day. There are so many cocktails out there, from tequila based to coffee tastes, shaken to stirred, red to blues. But what are the best options when you're trying to watch your calorie intake? You don't have to cut out alcohol completely when you want to live by a healthy lifestyle, just switch it up between the light versions and the heavier ones. And of course, alcohol needs to be consumed in moderation and not on a daily basis!

I listed some of the most popular cocktails to give you an idea what to choose from the menu next time you go out for drinks with your girlfriends!

* These are the average amounts of calories per cocktail, numbers will depend of the recipe used and brands of ingredients.

Piña Colada takes the crown for most fattening cocktail and Bloody Mary is your healthiest option. But if you're craving the creamy coconutty drink, don't feel too bad about it, everything in moderation won't hurt you. Just don't get too carried away after the second one, neither your body nor your vocabulary will benefit from it. ;-) 

Hope you found this useful and thanks for reading! 

x x x

DUBAI PAYS CHUBBY CITIZENS IN GOLD TO LOSE WEIGHT

Bikini season, a wedding, getting healthy, a vacation, getting back at your ex-lover, losing pregnancy pounds,... These are all different but very common reasons why people want to shed weight. Some better than the other, but as long as you get driven to work on yourself you're on the right path.

Big Rich Dubai has come up with a very unusual reason for their citizens to loose those extra pounds. They are willing to reward their overweight citizens with grams of gold for the weight they will lose during a period of one month.  

In Dubai half of the people are considered overweight and diabetes is on the rise. This is why the government  has come up with a way to motivate their citizens to go that extra mile. For each kilogram (2,2 pounds) they loose, they will receive a gram of gold, which is worth $45. Participants also get the chance to win a $5000 golden bar at the end of the program. 

Is this a good way to motivate overweight people to make an effort? I would personally sign up for the program immediately, because I love healthy food and exercise and would consider the golden grams as a bonus. But most people who live in Dubai are already rich, they easily give out $45 as tips in restaurants as I have heard.. I think it will be difficult to stay away from the fried foods and sweets for some pocket money. Unless they're 300 pounds and can loose a 100 in one month.. Mmm yeah.. not gonna happen. I'm very curious of how this campaign will play out, and definitely hope I'm wrong! 50% of a country that is obese is certainly too much and something has to be done. 

Do you think this campaign will be successful? And would you put in the extra effort to loose the extra pounds if you would be rewarded with money or gold? 

x x x

BACK FROM CYPRUS

I'm BACK! 

Hi everyone! Finally a new post on my blog!!

So I took a vacation with my boyfriend for two weeks, which explains the lack of updates the last couple of weeks. We went to Paphos, in Cyprus and had an amazing time. We relaxed a lot at the pool and beach, and explored the island a couple of days. It was a very nice trip with a lot of sun, laughs and love. 

As I've graduated school (I now have a Bachelor degree in Communication Management and a Post Degree in Digital Marketing and Communications, yay!) in June, I needed some time to chill out and think about what my next "big step" in the path of life is going to be. This last minute vacation came at the perfect time, as I'm starting my last student job ever in August.

I just wanted to give you a little update for why there weren't any posts the last couple of days and inform you that there will be new ones from now on! 

I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying summer! Here are some of my Cyprus vacation pics! 

Harbor of Paphos

Rock of Aphrodite 

 

Kisses 

Piña Colada time!

 Sunset at the beach

Have you been to Cyprus before? What did you think of it? I really liked it and would recommend it for anyone who is in need for a relaxing beach vacation! 

x x x

DIY CLIP IN EXTENSIONS

Today I'm talking about one of the greatest beauty inventions of all time, CLIP IN EXTENSIONS! I have been a fan of these babies for over six years now and don't think I'll ever fall out of love. Clip in extensions are super easy to apply and versatile in styles. They're very easy to manage and unlike permanent extensions you can just clip them out at times you don't want to wear them. For example when you go to the beach, work out, want to sleep comfortably,... Besides their user friendliness clip ins have to offer, they're also way less expensive than keratine extensions. Especially when you make them yourself. I will show you how to do so now, so let's get started!

hair wefts 

clips

needle

thread (in the same color as your extensions)

scissors

Buy your hair wefts in a hair shop or online. (For the Belgian readers, I get mine in Antwerp in the Offerandestraat. There are a lot of hair shops here with a large variety of hair in color and texture.) You can buy 100% human hair or synthetic hair. The synthetic hair is less expensive but you won't be able to curl or straighten it and it is a bit more shiny than human hair. 

I bought two sets of 100% human hair, 18", in two shades. Brown/reddish and light brown/blonde ones. I mix these two colors together to give more depth to my hair. My own hair has a lot of different colors in it too, so this way the extensions will match my natural hair better. 

Choosing the right shade that matches your own hair is very important. Noticeable extensions are a big no no, so make sure to take your time to pick out the right shade. 

I wear three wefts around the crown of my head and two on the sides of my head. You need to measure the wefts around your head so they will fit perfectly. 

Now cut the extensions as you have measured them. 

You are left with one weft. 

Now cut the same size extension again. These two will be sewn together, to make the extension thicker. 

Lay out the clips on your extensions. This way you get an idea of where to sew them and how many space you should leave in between the clips. I usually put three clips on the lowest weft, four clips on the middle and top weft, and two clips on each side weft. 

Now sew the clip on your extension. Sew through the top hole of the clip. 

When you feel the clip is secure enough, cut through the thread and tie the ends together in two knots. 

Finished clip, front view. 

Finished clip, back view.

Sew on the second layer on your extension. I sew this layer on the back of the extensions for the wefts around my head. 

In this photo a side weft is shown. I use a smaller piece of weft that suits between the two clips. I do this to make sure the weft isn't too thick, so it won't look bumpy on the sides of my head. 

Finished result.

All you have to do now is cut them and you're done! I always try to cut mine very natural, to remove the blunt and straight line of the extensions. 

I hope you liked this tutorial and you will try it out yourself. I've loving this method for a long time, clip ins are definitely my fave kind of extensions! 

x x x