Posted on Jul 07, 2016 under health |
DermaUtopia Acne Skincare Products
As summer heat comes into full swing, there will be many opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. But as you’re packing for that upcoming beach trip or hike up the mountains, one thing you should not forget to bring with you is protection from the sun!
I did some research and found a bunch of interesting facts about the skin.
- One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
- Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have either basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma (the 1st and 2nd most common forms of skin cancer, respectively) at least once.
- About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
- One person dies of melanoma every hour (every 52 minutes).
- The vast majority of melanomas are caused by the sun. One study found that about 86 percent of melanomas can be attributed to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
- An estimated 90 percent of skin aging is caused by the sun.
Vitamin C Antioxidant Sunscreen
You should not necessarily be afraid to go outside, you just need to be prepared whenever you do plan to be out under the sun. I’m actually deficient in vitamin D, which you get from natural sunlight! A product that I’ve been using is the Vitamin C Antioxidant Sunscreen from DermaUtopia. It is a medical grade sunscreen that offers broad spectrum SPF 40 protection, and water resistant with micronized zinc oxide. I’m pretty sensitive to other sunscreens but I’ve been able to use this particular sunscreen from DermaUtopia without any issues or irritation!
One thing to note about the DermaUtopia Vitamin C Antioxidant Sunscreen (and other skin care products): while other sunscreens can still allow you to burn your skin, DermaUtopia products are safe for all problem and sensitive skin including eczema, psoriasis, etc. All products are 100% organic, free of parabens and toxins.
Blueberry & Coffee Bean Exfoliating Cleanser
I’ve been a runner for the past 15 years or so, including high school cross country and track. But I’ve had acne well before that, probably back around middle school. Running in the hot and humid LA weather probably made me break out more often than I would have liked. Since then, I’ve tried many different over the counter acne products with little to no success. But I’ve seen pretty quick results from the line of acne products from DermaUtopia. The first is the Blueberry and Coffee Bean Exfoliating Cleanser. This acne product has a natural, organic (fruity) scent but is professional grade and allows you to scrub away dead skin from the surface for noticeably smoother skin each and every time. I’ve used the St. Ives Apricot Scrub before and found that product is a little too rough on the skin and causes unwanted irritation.
Benzoyl Peroxide
The acne product that has made the biggest difference for my skin is definitely the DermaUtopia Benzoyl Peroxide 10% Wash. This product is medical grade so it is much more effective than any over the counter medication you’ll find at the drug store. You can also use it for spot treatment for new acne breakouts. Similar to the exfoliating cleanser, the Benzoyl Peroxide wash is safe on my skin but works really well due to the medical grade ingredients. Combining the exfoliating cleanser with the wash has provided amazing results for my acne in a very short time.
Restorative Marine Moisturizer
The other DermaUtopia skin care product I’ve tried is the Restorative Marine Moisturizer. Another professional grade product within their skin care line, it’s a great way to treat irritated or dehydrated skin. My face is usually pretty oily, but there are times where certain parts of face are dry. Vitamins A, E, & C are also added to act as anti-oxidants to fight free radicals that cause damage to the skin.
The sun can cause a lot of harm to your sensitive skin if exposed long and hard enough. But it doesn’t mean you should live the life of a hermit and stay indoors all the time. As long as you take preventative measures, use the right skin care products like line from DermaUtopia and you should be safe to enjoy the outdoors under the sun!
Posted on Jun 27, 2016 under Race |
Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Half Marathon – 4/30/2016
Expected Finish Time – 1:40:00
Actual Finish Time – 1:40:07 (7:39 min/mi)
5K Time – 25:19 (8:09 min/mi)
10K Time – 49:25 (7:58 min/mi)
10mi Time – 1:18:05 (7:49 min/mi)
Age Group Placing – 73/1,027
Gender Placing – 303/6,439
Overall Placing – 389/18,152
UCSD Triton 5K – 4/10/2016
Firecracker 10K – 2/12/2016
Finish Time: 40:41 (6:32 min/mi)
Age Group Placing – 6/235
Gender Placing – 29/1,175
Overall Placing – 32/2,388
Posted on Apr 02, 2016 under health |
The top weight loss surgeries reduce the size of your stomach, which lets you eat less and still feel full. As you consume fewer calories, you’ll notice that you start losing weight rather quickly. Though your doctor will give you a list of instructions to follow after you leave the clinic or hospital, you can get a jump start on your recovery long before going through that procedure. With a proper diet and exercise program, you can lose more weight and avoid suffering from saggy skin or flabby spots.
Exercise Guidelines
It can take up to six full weeks or even more before you completely recover from the surgery and feel comfortable doing any type of physical activity. Make sure that you do not push yourself or try to do too much starting out. Tampa bariatrics specialists generally recommend that patients work out for no more than 30 minutes a day and no more than three times a week. Try splitting those exercises into 10 minute increments until you feel more comfortable. Taking a walk around the block, going for a short swim or going for a short bike ride are some exercises you can safely do after your surgery.
Diet After the Surgery
Some patients assume that they can eat anything they want after the surgery, which isn’t true. For the first 48 hours or longer, you’ll need to stick to bland foods and liquids until your body recovers. The hospital will likely put you on a liquid diet that includes clear broths, water, skim milk and coffee. You may eat ice cream or gelatin that contains no added sugar. Once you feel comfortable eating those foods, you can soft or blended foods to your diet like unseasoned mashed potatoes, smoothies and shakes made from sugar-free ice cream.
Dieting Later
It’s important to keep in mind that you will need to completely change your diet after undergoing weight loss surgery. You need to stick to a healthy diet that features little fat or sugar. Many patients find that they can only eat ½ cup to one cup of food at a time. You’ll also want to drink liquids after eating to keep those liquids from filling your stomach. When you schedule your weight loss surgery, your doctor will talk with you more about how you can workout and eat after you go home.
Posted on Jan 31, 2016 under Race |
Runners who complete the Spartan Race trifecta will run all 3 distances in one calendar year. I went the unconventional (e.g. easier) route by completing the trifecta across 3 separate years! Training for one Spartan Race a year is tough, I don’t know how people train all year long for these races. It is too physically and mentally draining! I remember telling myself that I would never compete in another Spartan Race after the Beast in Temecula during the ridiculous heat wave in 2014. But I had another entry last year and decided to just do the Sprint, which still wasn’t that easy. And since I had completed those 2 distances already, I really had no choice but to compete in the final Super distance and get that last medal wedge. I mean, what was I going to do with 2/3 of a medal?
I was very pleased with the results for the Spartan Super: ~9 miles, 2:13:23, age group place: 61st, gender: 319, overall: 337. My initial goal was to complete the race in about 2 hours so I was definitely within that range which I’m happy about. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Jan 31, 2016 under health |
Alcohol has never been and never will be a health drink. Companies that produce alcohol sell it for what it is and expect customers to be responsible enough to know the risks associated with more than moderate drinking. Alcoholic beverages were never meant to be consumed in large quantities, although some customers take this route. For those more health conscience drinkers who simply enjoy a delicious drink once in awhile, there are companies out there producing a hybrid alcoholic beverages that try to reduce the health consequences of alcohol consumption.
Low carb alcoholic mixers
A good mixed drink is a luxury. Even people who don’t regularly drink often like to have a few mixers on hand to enjoy. Diet conscious people will appreciate the benefits of low carb mixers. Brands like VLiNG offer a unique line of already mixed low carb alcohol beverages that adhere to the standards of both taste and diet conscious people.
Low calorie and low alcohol content drinks
Some people want to enjoy the great taste of alcoholic beverages without getting a lot of the alcohol content. Lower alcoholic content per drink means that you can enjoy more of these beverages. Many companies are trying to bring out brands that give you the opportunity to put taste before alcoholic content. It makes for a safer – albeit not safe – alternative to drinking as much as you might want just for the sake of the feeling you get.
As more people discover these drinks, more companies make efforts to accomodate drinkers who want to be responsible in their alcohol consumption. While drinking will never be a completely safe option for the majority of people, for those who can enjoy a good beverage once in awhile, it’s a wonderful thing that companies are trying to go with alternatives that foster and encourage more responsible drinking. Low carb mixers are great for low carb dieters, of course, who might not ever drink much but who want to keep the high carb content of most alcohol out of their beverages. In the end, people get the kind of drinking experience they want, with the great taste of mixers, and the health consequences are reduced, although never eclipsed.
These beverages are sometimes sold only in specialty stores but for the most part they are found even in grocery stores. Checking out low carb and low calorie alcohol products might be a great step toward a healthier drinking experience.
Posted on Jan 22, 2016 under Race |
3 years ago I decided to run one of these track and field events (the last time I competed in these types of events was in high school 9 years before!). This event was hosted by a local high school, primarily geared toward high school athletes that want to get some practice racing before the track season officially starts in the Spring. But the races are open to the public, so I decided to participate and see what type of speed I still had in me. I must have forgotten what I wrote in my initial race report because it sounds like I had a terrible time! But since that last race, I have been playing indoor soccer almost every week (which involves a lot of sprinting) and recently, been doing high intensity workouts from the Insanity program. I felt like I would run fairly fast this time around, but was still nervous about having to compete against younger, faster high school runners. I really didn’t know how to tackle the races since I haven’t been training for it. I didn’t want to start too fast and tire out for the rest of the race. But I also didn’t want to start too slow and not have enough distance left after picking up the pace. Here are the official results: 800 meters: 2:20:79, 8/16 overall, 1 mile: 5:20:99, 11/18 overall. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well I ran, I was definitely tired during and after each event but ran very smart. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Dec 25, 2015 under Race |
It’s been 2 months since I ran this race, but better late than never, right? The Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles half marathon was the final race of the 3-pack Tour Pass that I purchased at the beginning of the year. I had already run 2 other destination races: Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle and Chicago. I actually didn’t want to run this particular race for a number of reasons: I’ve ran this race many times before, it was the weekend before my New Zealand vacation, and I hadn’t been running as often as I would have liked before a half marathon. But I couldn’t find any other race that would fit within my year-end schedule. LA is always a safe bet because it’s my hometown, so I can always make it an excuse to visit the family. And the results weren’t too terrible: 1:37:55 (7:29 min/mile), AG: 38/658, gender: 176/3290, overall: 185/7797. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Oct 18, 2015 under Race |
As mentioned in last year’s race report, I said I wasn’t going to participate in the Spartan Race again. But I had another opportunity to run this race again this year and decided to just do the Sprint, which was a lot more reasonable at 3-5 miles rather than 12+ in last year’s Beast race. Even though this race was a lot shorter, there were still 20 obstacles that we had to complete, compared to the 30 last year. On the website it said that the top participants complete the Sprint in about 40 minutes, so I was hoping to finish my race in about an hour or so. I must have underestimated how long and difficult the obstacles and hills were going to be, but I finished at 1:33:51 but placed 18th in my age group and 111 (out of 5,317) overall for the Sprint race. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Sep 20, 2015 under running |
Whether it’s your 1st or 50th marathon, you will almost always run into some type of issue while running a marathon. Fortunately, the folks at Run Rock ‘n’ Roll put together this nifty infographic that shows you how to run a marathon. It basically shows you common in-race issues that people encounter and how to prevent them. I actually experienced one of them in my last race. I in the hot and humid weather in Chicago and approached a hydration station. The first few tables are usually for Gatorade while the last few tables are for water. Well, I thought I had passed all the Gatorade tables and grabbed a cup from a volunteer and immediately splashed it on my face. It took a while for me to realize that I had just poured Gatorade onto my face, which was then sticky for the rest of the race. Lesson learned!
Posted on Sep 20, 2015 under health |
As runners, we know how important it is to accurately track and monitor exercise and sleep patterns in order to workout effectively and allow time for your body to recover. With so many fitness wearables on the market, it’s difficult to know which one to pick, but figuring out what information you need from your wearable, whether that’s calories burned, miles run, or heart rate changes, can help you to make your decision. This helpful infographic breaks down each wearable, so you can choose which one would best suit your lifestyle and needs.
