Rese & Ry

Making Myself into a Productive Morning Person

Over the last few months, I’ve been incorporating small habits to help me transition into a “morning person”. The goal is to be one of those people to get up at 5AM and workout and complete half their day before the majority of people even have their first cup of coffee. So far I’ve been able to get up and have about 30-45 minutes of quiet time to have my coffee, plan my day, and make my to do lists. On some days, i’ve been able to wake much earlier and go to the gym, then do my quiet morning planning. There have been a few weeks where I’ve successfully been able to do this, but not as much as I’d like. But now that the new year has started, I am determined to be a morning person.

I’d like to do this consistently for at least a month or two to see if there any any changes to my mindset. I often feel that I don’t have enough time in the day, and that my mind is super busy and active at night and just thinking about all of the things I need to get done. On the days that I days that I started early and worked out, I did feel that it was easier to fall asleep earlier and have an overall better night’s sleep. On the days that i worked out in the morning, I felt more productive and my evenings allowed me more time to unwind and go to sleep earlier. I think working from home, but still with set hours, there are many days where I find myself stuck inside all day. So when I went to the gym in the morning, I felt better mentally and physically.

So starting in this new year my goal is to be a “morning person”. Here’s my ideal morning schedule.

5:00AM- Wake up
5:10AM- Go to gym
6:20AM- Shower and get ready for the day
6:45AM- Coffee and breakfast
7:00AM- Planning and list making

Do you have any tips or tricks for being a morning person? Check back in a month or two for an update!!

2020: The Year of Budgeting and Aggressively Saving Money

This year, I am determined to save as much money as I can. I hear all the time about people to save money so they retire super early to spend time of their passions. Although this sounds ideal, I don’t know if I will actually be able to do this, but I figured I’d try it out this year.

My goal is to live below my means and aggressively save my money. I’ve made a list a few things to do in order to so.

Unsubcribe from promotional emails. This one will be the easiest, I think. I figured that if I unsubcribe from emails from my favorite retailers, then I won’t be tempted to check the site and buy things that I ultimately don’t really need. Just because it’s a good deal, it does not mean that I really NEED to have it.
Not getting coffees, teas, and juices. I reflected on my purchases this past year and I have to say I am pretty disappointed with how much I spent on frivolous things like coffee from Starbucks and pressed juices. For example, a cold brew is about $4.50 and although I don’t have one everyday, let’s say I get 2-3 a week, that’s still $50-$60 a month. This is not including pressed juices that are even pricer.
Meal prepping and planning. I really want to get into the habit of meal prepping and planning. This will definitely help me to cut down on eating out and eat unhealthily. I also just purchased an instant pot so hopefully that will help with time. I fell into a Youtube loop of watching weekly groceries budgets of $10, which is less than what I would spend on just coffee. This definitely made me feel ridiculous and solidify my plans for saving money.
Decluttering my closet and wearing only the clothes I have. To be honest, I way more clothes than I need and I’d like to be more conscious of fast fashion. I definitely want to focus more on quality than quantity from here on out. I like to think that I’m not easily swayed, but since downloading instagram this year, i definitely purchased a several things that I did not truly need and online shopped a little too much.
Sell or donate anything I don’t use. This step will help not only financially, but I think more so mentally. Having clutter and things that I don’t need or no longer use just causes more stress than anything. Some ways that I have started selling not only clothes but also other items is on the Mercari app and the Poshmark app. Some other options are local second hand shops like Style Encore. I will also be donating a lot clothing or household items that I don’t need.

I hope I will be able to stick to my goals this year. To hold myself accountable, I plan on tracking my expenses closely for the month of January. So basically I plan to do “Dry January” but with purchases instead of alcohol. Let me know if you’re trying to aggressively save money this year, or if you have any tips on how if you’ve already started! Any tips or ideas would be super helpful!

Happy New Year!!

Thinx Period Panties Review

This post is going to get a little personal, but I wanted to provide an honest review. After seeing numerous ads and reviews on these period panties, I decided to finally take the plunge and try them out for myself. I had been contemplating purchasing these for about a year because of the price and skepticism of them actually working. So about four months ago I ordered the Thinx panties. While writing this post, I checked the Thinx website and saw that they now have a “super” version of the panty that should be able to hold twice the volume of the ones I purchased.

Before purchasing, I researched and read a crazy amount of reviews from blogs, magazines, youtube and even reddit. Finally, I took the quiz on their site to see how I would be able to use the panties. It turns out I would not be able to use them as I had intended–as a complete replacement to pads. Instead, I would have to use them as back up in conjunction with pads. Still I bought seven pairs to get the highest discount. I purchased the hiphugger, high waisted, cotton, and one pair from the btwn line, which is geared toward girls. I would say the size small fit similarly to the size btwn size 15-16, so if you’re trying to save a little extra money, and you don’t mind the colors, patterns and cotton look, then the btwn panties would work if you’re a size xs or s.

The panties worked for my light to medium days, usually day 1, 4, and 5, but for days 2-3, I had to either change or start the day with pads as well. In my opinion, one pair Thinx panties holds about as much as one Always Infinity Overnight Pad, or maybe a little less. I will say that using a pad and the panty together does provide more of a sense of protection and prevention of leakage. The site claims that the panties would be comparable to two tampons or two pads. The new “super” version of the hiphuggers claims to hold the same amount as four tampons or four pads.

The styles that I would recommend are the hiphuggers and the high waisted ones. The btwn and cotton ones feel a lot thicker and are more noticeable under certain types of clothing. I am seriously consider ordering the new “super” version to try out, but they are pretty pricey at $39 for one panty.

Overall I do think these are a great purchase if your period is light to medium. But I also think that reducing the use of pads is great so I’m going to keep using them as well. It does take a little more work to rinse/wash before throwing them in with regular laundry, but not too much of a hassle.

Let me know if you’ve tried these or maybe another brand? Did you like them? Are they better than Thinx?

Thank you for reading!!

Health: 21 Days of Keto

After seeing so many people trying keto and hyping it up, I decided to give it a try as well. Most people say the first 7-10 days will be when most of the weight changes, so I wanted to try it out for at least 21 days to see what happens after the initial drop. I researched the keto diet and read up on how it affects the body and leads to weight loss. When the body is in ketosis, it uses fat for energy instead of glucose or carbohydrates.

Week 1: During the first week I did have a weight lost of about 4 pounds which I thought was good, but most likely water weight. I found this first week to be the easiest for me. I did not experience the “keto flu” that most people do when their bodies switch over from using carbohydrates to using fats. I think the main reason for this was because was intermittent fasting and eating relatively low carb for about two weeks by this point, so I think my body was able to start ketosis sooner than if I had been eating regularly.

Week 2: I was happy with the weight loss from week one, but things started to get harder this week. I continued to eat foods higher in protein and fat, like eggs, avocados, and leafy greens. Then by the end of the week, there was no weight change from week one.

Week 3: This was definitely the most difficult for me. By this point, I was tired of the foods I was eating and I really missed fruits like apples, mangos, grapes, and oranges. I tried out some different keto snacks from ketoconnect.com which were pretty good, but also required for me to purchase ingredients I don’t normally buy. For example, xantham gum was an ingredient for smoothies.

Final Thoughts:

I don’t think I would be able to live a ketogenic lifestyle. Some of the main reasons being family/social meals and fruit. I cook meals for my family as well, so it was not very easy to incorporate all dietary needs/wants everyday. Since some meals were keto and not everyone was doing keto, the amount of fat and carb combination led to weight gain for some family members. I also never realized how many carbs were in fruits and on the keto diet, I would need to limit myself to mainly berries, which although I do like, are not my favorite fruits. What I did learn was that eating low carb was not as hard as I thought and that I would incorporate it more into my daily life.

One of the claims of the keto diet is “mental clarity” which was an aspect that I was looking forward to along with “sustained energy”. While on the keto diet, I don’t think I felt either of these more than I usually do. I did, however, find myself a little annoyed and tired of having to look up how many carbs were in every food and counting carbs everyday.

The keto diet is also not something that you can do some of the time like intermittent fasting or low carb diets. Once you start to eat more carbs–more than 20g net carbs per day–your body will no longer be in ketosis. This means that your body will revert back to using carbohydrates for energy, so you’d most likely have to start all over again to get back into ketosis.

Have you tried the keto diet? How did it work out for you? Should I try again?

Thanks for reading!!

Clean Beauty: Origins

Since I was running low on both my cleanser and exfoliator, I decided to see what products I could switch to with less chemicals and more natural ingredients. I decided to try Origins–the Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash ($13-$29) and the Original Skin Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay ($13-26).

The Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash is quite frothy and feels great on the skin. There is also a refreshing mint scent. I use this face wash for my evening skincare only. In the morning, I don’t use a cleanser, just a toner before moisturizer. My skin is mostly normal, a little oily in t-zone, but I have been using for about two months with no major breakouts or sensitivity.

I use the Original Skin Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay about 1-2 times a week after washing my face at night. I apply the mask and wait about 10 minutes for it to dry. Then I splash a little water to reactivate and exfoliate, the mask has jojoba beads to gently exfoliate. My skin always feels amazing afterward.

Origins Checks and Balances Cleanser and Retexturizing Rose Clay Mask

I would definitely recommend both of these products. Have you tried any “clean beauty” products recently? I think my next search will be for a toner. Have you tried any new products? Let me know!

Palaces of Korea

Although Korea is currently a republic, there was a long lasting dynasty. Left behind from the reign of kings are four palaces, a shrine, and a secret garden.

Top Tips

1. Purchase the ticket booklet which includes admissions to all locations for just 10,000 KRW.

2. Double check the days palaces will be open. Most are open each day, but some days may vary.

3. Visit earlier in the day to avoid large crowds.

4. The shrine and secret garden have guided tours so check to make sure the time of your preferred language.

Changdeokgung Palace

Secret garden in Changdeokgung Palace was beautiful! The guided tour was about 90 minutes and very informative. In most cases the secret garden can only be toured with a guide, however there are two times a year when you can roam and explore the garden on your own. On these days certain rooms that are usually off limits are opened as long as you remove your shoes. This was definitely my favorite palace and I learned so much.

If you visit, be sure to walk through the gate of longevity to be forever young 😉

Work from Home Essentials

I never thought I would be working from home or that there were many jobs in my field that would allow me to work remotely. This will be my fifth year working from home as a science SME. Over the years, I have learned the essentials for productivity while working from home.

The Essentials:

Standing desk
Hourly Planner
Notebooks/pens
Blue light blocking glasses
Comfortable clothes

Standing Desk

I started off with a normal desk, but always found myself getting up and moving around or using a bookshelf to work at standing height. Finally last winter, I got a standing desk from Costco and even got reimbursed from my company. I got the Tresanti Adjustable Height Desk in white, but I recently saw the black version at my local Costco. The desk has a glass top with metal frame, one drawer with three sections, four programmable height settings, three USB charger outlets, and LED touch control on the glass desktop. The desk was on sale during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season–about $150 off.

Hourly Planner

In order to keep myself on track each day, I like to use an hourly planner with a weekly view to see when I have meetings and conferences. I also like to block my work throughout the day to make sure I stay productive. I have been using the STARTplanner this year and enjoy it so far. Check out my previous posts here and here for detailed pictures and reviews.

STARTplanner: Weekly planning pages with 30 minute intervals

Notebooks and Pens

Although all of my work is digital, I still like to take notes in a notebook during meetings, or to jot down tasks or important information I may need later. I used to to use just a notepad or post-its but i ended up throwing them out or some of them would somehow go missing. By using a notebook, I am able to date everything and keep notes organized. Some of my favorite notebooks have been from TJ Maxx. Check out my post here on the notebooks I am currently using.

Faux leather spiral notebooks with thick pages that won’t bleed through! ($7)

Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Since I am staring at screens all day–computer, phone, etc–my eyes get tired but the late afternoon. I’ve found that wearing blue light blocking glasses throughout the day has helped to reduce eye strain by the end of the day. I got mine from the Target Optical Center. I got my usual prescription and added the blue light blocking option to the lenses.

Comfortable Clothes

One of the first questions people ask me when they hear that I work from home is if I stay in your pajamas all day. Although this would be comfortable, I don’t think it really helps with productivity. Although I don’t get dressed in a business suit, I do change out of pajamas into my “work clothes,” which most days consists of leggings and a tee shirt tied at the side. I find that even though my colleagues may not see me that day, there are still instances when someone will see me, like running out for a juice or coffee and picking up deliveries. My favorite leggings are from Lululemon, either the Align Pant in the 7/8 length or 25 inseam, or the girls Strong Spirit Tights. I find these to be the most comfortable and breathable. My favorite tees are from LOFT, LOFT Outlet, and Kohl’s.

What are some of your work essentials?

Thank you for reading!!

TJ Maxx Finds: Handbags and Stationary

I used to think of TJ Maxx as a clothing store with random items for seasonal home decor and furniture. As the years went on, I felt like the style and quality of the clothing was not quite what I was looking for, so I stopped shopping there. Then after randomly popping in one day, I found so many great things, that I now pop in when I need various things.

The best discoveries recently have been handbags, specifically Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs, and stationary items. Here a couple of my most recent finds:

Notebooks — Faux leather spiral notebooks with thick pages that won’t bleed through! ($7)

MK pink bag — Michael Kors pink top handle crossbody studded handbag with gold hardware ($49)

MK black bag — Michael Kors black tote with gold hardware ($69)

Spade note pad — Kate Spade weekly planning pages with sticky notes ($10)

spade note pad 2 — Kate Spade weekly planning note pad with sticky notes

I recommend popping into a TJ Maxx when you’re on the search for any of these items. I have also purchased Samsonite luggage, linens, the cutest coffee mugs, and reusable bottles.

What are some great things you’ve found? Let me know so i can be on the look out too!

Clean Beauty: Biossance

With the surge in health issues in the US, I have been trying to switch over to products that are clean and mostly free of chemicals. My first thought was that only health food stores would carry these products, but after some searching, I was able to find some products at Sephora.

Sephora has labeled some products and brands that they carry as “clean”. This means that the ingredients do not contain parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde and many other harmful chemicals. Some of these chemicals act in the same way as our natural hormones and can disrupt the functions of our hormones. Possible side effects include, irregular menstrual cycles, increase risk in breast cancer and tumors, and other reproductive issues.

I am currently using the Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil and Squalane + Peptide Eye Gel from Biossance. The Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil is supposed to brighten and visibly firm skin. The Squalane + Peptide Eye Gel is supposed to reduce puffiness and dark circles. These are pretty pricey products, but I was able to get a great deal as a set. I use the eye gel morning and night and the rose oil as my evening moisturizer. I have seen a beneficial change in the tone and texture of my skin, but not too much of a difference in my under eye area. This maybe more due to work stress and lack of sleep. I think I might try the Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream next time.

It has been a couple months of using these products and I am definitely interested in trying more products from this line as well as other “clean” seal brands. Just thinking about the chemicals that can seep into our skin from these products is scary thought.

What are some clean beauty products you have tried?

Thank you for reading!!

One Day Juice Cleanse Review

In the effort to make healthier choices, I decided to try out a juice cleanse. I didn’t want to do anything too crazy, so I opted for the one day juice cleanse from Clean Juice.

I was actually at my local Clean Juice getting an açaí bowl last week when I saw the juice cleanse options. In my mind, I always thought that juice cleanses were at least 3-5 days and it just seemed to daunting for me. My interest was definitely piqued when I realized that there was a one day option. The cleanse consisted of 6 juices, in a specific order, over the course of the day. To stay satiated, the juices should be consumed every 2-3 hours. Drinking water in between juices is also recommended. All of the juices made are made from organic produce and ingredients.

In preparation for the one day cleanse, I looked up other people’s experiences. Some say to eat clean the days leading up to the cleanse and to eliminate coffee from my diet. I have been eating pretty clean recently, but my coffee intake has been pretty high, about 2 cups a day. When I looked at the Clean Juice website, they actually don’t encourage eliminating coffee on juice cleanses! Could this juice cleanse get any better?!?!

Yes! It did get better. Not only did I start off my morning with a black iced coffee, but I also had my first juice, Sweet Greens. It was delicious! Sweet Greens is combination of cucumber, apple, kale, spinach, and mint. It really was so refreshing!

About two hours later, I started on my second juice, Orange. This one consisted of carrot, pineapple, orange and turmeric. I was a little worried about liking this one because I’m not the biggest fan of turmeric, but it was just as good as Sweet Greens. There was a very slight spicy feeling at first, but overall very tasty!

Next up was Green. This one was not as tasty as the first two, but not bad either. It tastes like a typical green juice made of cucumber, celery, spinach, kale, ginger, and lemon. Overall, not bad, but not as satisfying as the first two.

A couple of hours later, I had my fourth juice of the day, Yellow. At this point, I was getting a hungry and peckish. Yellow consisted of filtered water, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne. I did enjoy this one more than Green. It tasted like a slightly watered down spicy lemonade.

Toward the evening time, I had my fifth juice, Red made with apple, beet, carrot and lemon. This one was really good. It definitely had more flavor than the previous two, Green and Yellow. It was pretty satisfying, but after drinking it, i started getting a slight headache–almost like I needed coffee. Since my work day was over and we were headed out, I did decide to get a black cold brew coffee.

Last, but definitely not least was the sixth juice, White. I was really looking forward to trying this one because of the ingredients. I pictured this one being a decadent dessert compared to the other juices of the day. White was made with filtered water, Himalayan pink sea salt, cashews, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla. The first sip tasted like a cinnamon bagel from Panera Bread to a cinnamon bun! Then it started reminding me the milk left over when you eat cinnamon flavored cereal, which then reminded me of the book Stupid and Contagious! (If you haven’t read it, but you like fun rom com books, definitely give it a read!) But overall pretty good and a great way to end off the juice cleanse.

After thoughts:

The juices were pretty good. In my preparation research some people said their juices were not very good and had thick textures. I did not experience this at all. All of the juices had a liquid juice consistency.
I would consider doing a one day juice cleanse again, but probably not any longer than a day.
I felt very hydrated and went to the restroom more than usual. (In addition to the juices, I did have one cup of coffee and water throughout the day.)
Juices in order from most liked to least liked: Orange, Sweet Green, Red, White, Yellow, and Green. (I would say that it was a little difficult to place White and Yellow because they were so different, but I think the two are ranked about the same)

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you’ve survived a juice cleanse or plan to try one:)

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