Hey y’all!
Today I’m sharing what I’ve been into lately, touching on a little bit of everything from recent beauty purchases, food, hobbies, and personal development. I created a YouTube video about this – feel free to watch it instead of reading this post, if you prefer.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. You can read my disclosure by clicking here.
Beauty
This week, I applied my trusted MineTan self-tanning mousse and got a nice glow up from it. I also retook my professional headshot, and having been quarantined for 3 months, the self-tanner helped bring my skin back to life. It’s super affordable for self-tanner and does a nice job. I use the coconut coffee one.
I’ve also heard great things about Isle of Paradise’s tanning drops, which you blend into your own lotion and use that way, so I bought some and am excited to try them out. Hopefully, they work well! I bought the light version for my pale skin.
Food
The first food that I’m going to highlight has been such an eye-opener – it’s jackfruit! A couple of months ago, I saw Ali from Inspiralized making pulled pork-inspired jackfruit sandwiches, and then I found a recipe for it in one of her cookbooks, and I went on a hunt for it at the grocery store.
Jackfruit is is a species of a relative of figs and breadfruit family and grows in tropical areas of Southeast Asia, Brazil, and Africa. It’s most commonly known for being a vegan meat-replacement While it is technically a fruit, jackfruit’s consistency is similar to that of chicken or pork.
It has a fairly neutral taste when young, so it takes on the flavor of whatever sauce or seasoning you pair it with. It has a stringy consistency that works especially well with barbecue sauce. Unlike animal sources of protein, jackfruit contains no saturated fat or cholesterol, it’s light in sodium, and is also low in calories, with just 20 per a 2.65-ounce serving.
It also contains 3 grams of fiber per serving, as well as 110 milligrams of potassium, heart-healthy nutrients that many of us are not getting enough of.
Here’s the Inspiralized jackfruit recipe.
The second item that I’m loving right now is Bloom Nutrition’s Guava flavored pre-workout. This is the original pre-workout, not the high energy kind – Bloom sells both kinds.
I have been following Bloom’s co-founder, Mari for a while now and use her at-home workout guides. I incorporated these workouts into my 75 Hard Challenge, and they are fantastic for at-home workouts.
Anyway, the guava flavored pre-workout is SO TASTY, and ONE serving has over 100% the recommended daily value of vitamins C, B, and B12. I’ve used pre-workouts in the past that literally have made me feel like my heart was going to pound out of my chest, and I had to stop taking it.
What I like best about this pre-workout is that it doesn’t make me feel jittery at all, but it does warm me up just enough to feel it working.
Hobbies
Recently, I bought a sewing machine but haven’t sewn in like 15 years so I need some help learning how to sew again! If you have any go-to sewing experts who have an online presence, let me know – would love to follow some sewing gals.
Personal development
From the global pandemic and black lives matter movements, I’ve realized just how important not only building a diverse network is but also how important it is to get active and engaged in the community
I’m considering applying for the Impact Denver leadership program, which is a 6-month program designed for young professionals to gain exposure to critical issues facing Denver communities and work with a diverse set of community partners to collaborate and work towards creating solutions to community challenges.
The deadline to apply is later this summer, so I’ve scheduled a couple of calls with program alumni to hear about their experiences and perceived benefits from doing the program
I also printed off The Blissful Mind’s Personal Growth Plan, which I’m excited to fill out. Catherine from the Blissful Mind has an eloquent way of describing personal growth – she says, “At its root, personal growth involves improving your habits, behavior, attitude, and actions. It involves self-discipline and commitment to yourself, even when you don’t really like yourself.”
In order to truly grow as a person, you have to actively work at your personal growth instead of trying to absorb all of the self-help advice you come across.
Currently, I’m reading “How Not to Diet” by Dr. Michael Greger who is a nutrition expert, physician, and founder of www.nutritionfacts.org. He’s also the New York Times best-selling author of “How Not to Die” and in this book, How Not to Diet, he shares the latest research on the leading causes—and remedies—of obesity and pinpoints the optimal criteria to enable weight loss while considering how these foods actually affect our health and longevity.
It’s brilliantly written – and I should mention nearly 600 pages – look at how thick this book is! Every page is packed with actionable advice and groundbreaking dietary research that hasn’t been promoted because of Big Food and Big Pharma companies and the lack of profit they can make from these remedies.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been doing my own research on racial injustice, following anti-racist social media accounts, signing petitions, sending emails to elected officials, and watching a variety of #BlackLivesMatter content.
As someone who has worked with black and brown communities as an educator for the past decade, I may have more direct experience building relationships with people of color, but it’s been humbling to realize that I have so far to go in truly internalizing how I can be an anti-racist and commit to being more active for this human rights issue.
We can’t just stand up to injustice when it’s trending on all our social media platforms or when we’re surrounded by people who agree with us. When the news and media moves on, we must remember this moment in time and continue to do this work.
With respect,
Marah Elizabeth
