Video: Holiday Health Travel Essentials

Hello again, 

I hope you are having a great week. Today I wanted to share with you a little something different: a video!

Today I am traveling back to my hometown for a 10-day trip to celebrate the holidays. I couldn’t be happier to spend time with loved ones but unfortunately my family and my husband’s family have all been sick. Last year I came down with a horrible flu on Christmas Eve so this year I am packing an artillery to protect myself against those nasty cold and flu viruses. I hope you enjoy this little video and please let me know if you would like to see more videos. 

 I would love to know your recommendations for vitamins or supplements. Let me know below or tweet me @imperfectperla

Happy Holidays and Safe Travels!

How To Tuesday: Recycle Magazines and Boost Your Mood

Happy Tuesday!

In today's post I want to share with you how I take a giant stack of magazines and turn it into a compact book. It's super easy and a great way to have all your favorite articles in once place. Plus it is a great way to boost your mood! (keep reading to find out how)

What You Need:

• Your stack of magazines. I like to stick with one type of magazine per book but you can mix magazines if you want.
• Three-hole binder
• Scissors
• Clear sheet protectors. Make sure to get sheet protectors that already have holes punched in the side.

How To:

• Grab your stack of magazines and organize them by type of magazine.
• Flip through each magazine and cut out each recipe or article that you want to keep.
• Create different piles for your articles. For example I divided mine into three piles: recipes, workouts, and beauty/fashion.

• Slip the articles into the clear sheet protectors and then pop them into your binder. You may want to use a separate blank sheet of paper to make a divider to separate each of the different themes within your binder.
• Optional: Make a decorative cover or label for the front of your binder. 

To prepare for this project I like to make a cup of my favorite coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and get snugly on the couch. I also like to turn on my favorite music or movie. I found this project to be a great way to unwind while still keeping my mind active.
 Sometimes a small project can have a big effect on your mood. The act of organizing stimulates the left side of your brain and when you are able to easily complete this project you are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment. In addition, the act of creating something or looking at creative content keeps the right side of your brain happy. In combination your brain produces more serotonin. (The chocolate can help too!) Serotonin makes brains happy. A happier brain means a happier you! So the next time you are feeling a little down grab that stack of magazines and those mood-boosting juices flowing.


I hope you enjoyed this fun little DIY. If you make a binder like this let me know what magazines or recipes you used in the comments below! You can also tweet me @imperfectperla.

Have a great day!

How To Tuesday: Make Your Own Healthy, Travel-Friendly Coffee Creamer

Happy December Lovelies!

Today we're talking about one my favorite things in this whole wide world: coffee. During the colder months I like to change up my morning coffee routine and add some creamer. There is just something so comforting about a hot, creamy cup of coffee on a chilly winter morning.  Usually I like to add almond, soy, or coconut milk as my creamer but I have been traveling a lot lately and it's not easy to constantly have one of those on hand.

 So, I did some experimenting and found a way to create my own healthy travel-friendly dry coffee creamer. I know many people will be traveling for the holidays so I thought I would share this quick little "How To" in case you want to try it for your next trip.

I actually made this specific batch last week when I was traveling to a tiny town in Mississippi and I knew my options would be limited. I packed it beside the baggie of stevia packets that permanently lives in my purse.

What You Need:
~1-2 Scoops protein powder. Mine is the Vanilla Nutribiotic
~1-2 Packets of Stevia
~ 1 tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (You can add more or less depending on what you prefer)

 

 

You just pour the ingredients into a travel size baggie and shake, shake, SHAKE! Make sure it's  closed all the way before shaking. I learned the hard way.

 

It should look something like this:

 

 

 

Tip: I have found the best way to mix this into coffee is to add the creamer to your cup first with a little bit of coffee. Then, with a fork mix in the creamer really well. Add the rest of your coffee to the cup and enjoy! If you are at a coffee shop you can also ask the barista to add a splash of soy milk, which will help the creamer more easily blend.

 

Essentially the protein powder and stevia are the base for your creamer but you can add in whatever flavorings your like.



 

Here are some other flavor combinations I want to try:

 

Peppermint Mocha: Chocolate protein powder, stevia, cocoa, crushed all-natural peppermint sticks.

Flavor Of Fall: Vanilla protein powder, stevia, nutmeg, and cinnamon

Chai: Vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, allspice, and clove.

White Chocolate Mocha: Protein powder, cocoa, stevia, natural white chocolate chips (I found some at Trader Joe's)

Peanut Butter Cup: Chocolate protein powder, cocoa,  stevia, and PB2

 

Let me know if you have any other flavor ideas in the comments below or tweet me @imperfectperla

 

 

Have a great day!