Whole30

I don't know about you, but eating healthy and clean always makes me feel like a million bucks. However, it is SO easy to get off track and start eating yucky food because it is "easier", when in reality a little food prep can go a long way! I can see where I got off track. It all started with getting a late night meal here or there, maybe a soda or a cupcake.. then next thing I know the guy at the drive through recognizes me {that happened}. I kept justifying my eating habits by thinking, "I work out so it cancels out" or "I'll eat better on Monday". Well those excuses aren't going to fly around here anymore!

Today my mom and I are starting a 30 day eating overhaul. It's called the Whole30 and it focuses on eating healthy food to reset your body. It eliminates junk from your diet like sugars and alcohol {I'll miss you wine} among a lot of other things and helps you get back on track to a healthy lifestyle and body! It has sooo many benefits from detoxifying {duh}, to reducing inflammation, stress, hormone levels, the list goes on and on! We picked up the book at the local Barnes & Nobel and after reading through it we are obsessed. I know it won't be an easy task but I am up to the challenge of bettering myself and my life.

I will be updating my blog at the end of each week outlining our experiences along with keeping myself accountable for staying on track!

Let me know if anyone else has tried this lifestyle change or if you want to join us in this month long journey :)


xx krystena

The Coffee Diaries- Day 2

Thanks for the well wishes friends, because I needed them. The headache officially set on around 2 pm today and I have been in a fog ever since.

Day two was rough, but I read that 1-3 days is usually the amount of time feeling bad, so there is hope that tomorrow could be better! I didn't sleep well last night and had crazy vivid nightmares {I wonder if that is due to the lack of caffeine?} I decided to have a cup of green tea in the morning to give me a little boost, since I had a debate in class, but other than that I have been good and stayed away from caffeine!

Things I've found helpful combating the groggy feeling:

• Ibuprofen: this helped ease my headache when the feeling was getting bad
• Vitamins/Emergen-c: gave me a little boost in the middle of the day
• Taking a nap: restored a little energy for me to keep awake and into the night

I was a little irritable and groggy today but I am hoping tomorrow will be easier now that I know what to expect!

xx krystena

The Coffee Diaries

Coffee: my personal addiction. It started off innocently enough, a cup here or there to study or stay awake during a late night essay. Then it turned into a morning cup of a light roast to get me going. Next thing I know I'm drinking three cups + a day and ordering a double shot venti iced coffee just to stay alert during one class. There comes a point where you step back and go woah A.) i'm drinking a crapload of coffee and it isn't affecting me, and B.) I'm spending A LOT of money of coffee. Like no wonder my monthly accounts are looking a little bare.. I am personally stimulating the economy with my excessive coffee addiction.  

I am starting a little series about my week of lessening my coffee intake. Anyone who is currently in college, or went to college probably knows that coffee might as well have it's own space on the food pyramid. And from how it looks this nasty coffee addiction follows most people into the work place, so this may be something I should get a handle on.

So today {monday} I did a little research and decided that what is best for me is to go cold turkey on actual coffee this week. My goals are to bring down my tolerance to coffee {by not drinking it}, but still use different alternatives for energy {green tea, fruits, etc}. I still don't mind having coffee in my diet after this week, but I would like to cut down to a cup a day, or even less if I don't need it. I have heard some pretty scary things about headaches and moodiness when cutting down, but something even scarier are the effects of prolonged high caffeine intake! These include high levels of anxiety, stress, and sleep problems, and those are just a few I have seen around health journals on the internet. Although those are problems for high users of caffeine, moderate caffeine intake does have many health benefits, so I will continue the drink it after I try to lower my tolerance a bit!

On to how I am feeling after Day One. My day has been very busy today, so I didn't even really have a chance to miss my coffee. I will admit it was a bit of a struggle to get myself up and going today, but I am almost done with my school day and I don't miss it too bad at this point!

Things that have helped me stay on track today: 

• I have been drinking water all day to keep feeling full and to replace the iced coffee I usually drink through class
• I had a two hour break where I usually sit around campus and get work done/grab a coffee. I went home instead and worked out for 30 mins {this was my saving grace, I think it gave me the energy boost I needed! }
• Made it past the 4:00 pm mark without coffee and its a breeze from here, I bet I will be nice and tired tonight

I will let you all know how things go tomorrow! {wish me luck in the morning}

xx - krystena

Where I Went: Grand Canyon

Recently I took a trip up to the Grand Canyon and Sedona with my family. It has been something my Dad has been wanting to do since I was in High School, so I had a feeling that with my being in College in Arizona it was only a matter of time until we ended up here. I'm going to be honest here for a second because I was soooo not even the smallest bit interested in seeing the Grand Canyon. Because like, whats so special about a huge hole in the ground? And lets be real I'm not the type to do any of this crazy two day hiking and river-rafting bs. I am just fine with a little stroll around and some sight seeing with my feet on the ground. Well, apparently thats something you can do at the Grand Canyon and it is totally amazing to see, even from the top of the ridge.

Unfortunately the weather sucked was not ideal and there was a little bit of rain {it was pouring} BUT we were lucky and had around 30 minutes of just clouds so we were able to go explore a bit. I was actually really impressed with the views and how beautiful it was! The pictures I was able to take did not even do it justice, but i mean it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World for a reason...right.

Oh, and apparently people are abso-freaking-lutley insane and like to climb to the edge of the rocks off the path and take pictures. WTF. These people seriously have a death wish or something. I wouldn't even get close enough to snap a pic of below, so use your imaginations people, because it was pretty far down. Oh yah, and that's totally a picture of the crazy lady who crawled out past the hand rails. She was later seen taking pictures on the train tracks {i'm not kidding}. It literally makes me cringe.

Of course I couldn't let her show me up...KIDDING. This little picture is all an optical illusion of me being high up on a rock
{might have staged this to look a lot cooler than it was}. But of course I had to do something artsy and fun when I'm at one the the Seven Wonders...right. Also note my really stylish outfit. Silly me, I was expecting it to be hot outside at the GRAND CANYON, so my super trendy "Canyon Fit" was put on hold because it was literally 40 degrees out and I only brought that one jacket.. sigh.

Me and the Pops being all touristy safely away from any direct edges.

Here are just a few more pictures I took of the Canyon. Isn't it spectacular? I wish my pictures did it justice, because it was actually one of the most beautiful things i've seen. I'm thinking seeing the Seven Wonders of the World might just have jumped to the top of my Bucket List.

After our Grand Canyon adventure, we decided to stop in Sedona and see what that was all about. And WOW, what a beautiful place! I can totally see why there are a bunch of spas and retreats. It is just something in the air there that is relaxing and zen. ALSO, we couldn't stop joking about how we felt like we were in a real life cars land!! {we're lame, I know.}

Of course I could't take a normal picture, but forget about us and just look at that sky behind us! Doesn't it look like a painting?

The most exciting part was that it was warm enough for me to break out at least one cute outfit {yay}.

Here I am wearing: Top nasty gal Shorts bp/nordstrom Sunglasses ray-bans Jewelry vintage rings/forever21 bracelet

Walking this little trail around the Red Rock park was just amazing! I wanted to live here
and frolic outside forever {who would have thought}. 

Seriously, everyone go out there and travel outside of your comfort zone. I was not all that excited about a road trip in the car {barf}, but my feelings have been changed! You don't need a first class ticket out of the United States to travel and see beautiful places, they're are all around you. It doesn't even take much, we did this whole trip over a weekend, so there is not an excuse people!

Go get inspired by the beautiful places that surround us every day.

xx - krystena

Reawakening

Hi friends, its been awhile since I've posted anything {five months.. embarrassing, I know} but I am back in action and have a million new ideas for this blog! I feel revived and ready to take on new projects and really focus on things that make me the happiest {aka food, fashion, art}. So keep tuned for some really exciting new things to come!

On to business... I haven't typically posted anything too personal on my blog in the past, but I think I want to change that and add in snippets of my life and what is happening. I think that Krys Loves should be about everything and anything I love in life, so I plan on sharing it all. Also, there may be a few things I'll share that I don't love, but I hope that through my trials and errors, maybe you can learn from my mistakes and then my mistakes won't suck so much, amiright.

My hiatus over summer was something I like to now refer to as the Summer of Unfortunate Events. Anyone who knows me well also knows that I am the Queen of Stressing the Small Stuff. So, when bigger things come along that are stressful I crawl into my little hole and try to avoid dealing with everything. Obviously not the best way to deal with your problems, but unfortunately with everything going on this summer that is exactly what I did. And while I was in my sad little hole I didn't even realize I was there. It took the people who love me to shake me up and open my eyes to the way I was living {or not living} my life.  

On to the present.. I finally got my wake up call and although it is not the easiest task to make a change, it is soo important to take the time to do things that make you happy. I started small and now each day I try to wake up and meditate/think about how blessed and lucky I am to live the life I do. I think everyone could take this advice no matter what your current happiness level is. For me personally, I have been making small changes that ultimately make ME happy without any thought to what others will think {cus who cares, right}. I have been making crafts, reading books, and even redefining my style {aka I now have pink hair}.

I really hope that each and every one of my readers will take the time to do little things that make you happy. It is really unbelievable the impact of a positive attitude and cultivating positive thoughts. A lot of the time you don't even realize you are dwelling on the bad in life, so I encourage everyone to take a moment to think of 3 amazing things in your lives and recognize how great life is!

Love you all and so happy to be back!

xx - krystena

Bikini Round-Up

With summer so close I can feel it I decided to put together some of the trends I've been seeing recently in Swimwear. Apparently this season tan lines are in with almost every suit featuring daring cut outs and strings , the one piece has officially made a comeback and swimsuits that don't look like swimsuits are hot. Read on for some of my favorite picks!

I especially love these suits with the prints! Call me old school but you can't go wrong with a classic. The triangle tops and bustier inspired tops are flattering, while also making it so you don't have to worry about the dreaded bikini malfunction. I really love how the second bikini ties in the cut out trend along with flirty details of the print and bustier. These are perfect for a tropical vacation or a trip to the beach!

 

   

The one piece is back! Remember when it was a total no-no to sport that one piece to the beach? I do. Well, its okay again friends and the one pieces this season have a range of styles.  I am gravitating towards the crochet and cut outs but if you are bold enough there are some awesome prints and graphics out there {aka the lobster suit}. Wondering where you should sport your trendy new one piece? I would say at a pool party is the best place. Vegas here we come!

 

 

The last trend is one seen through a lot. Minimalistic colors {aka black and white} with some crazy cut outs. Personally I would wear these somewhere I wasn't planning on tanning at because I can only imagine the tan lines you would get from these babies! Im loving the lack of color though, I feel like these suits are minimalistic and classic even though they have some fun cut outs and shapes!

 

Hope this gives some inspiration to your Summer swim style!

{ALL bikinis found on www.revolveclothing.com}

 

xx- krystena