This is a fitness post...

...because having a nice behind is pretty.

My friend told me the other day : "You should  blog about fitness and healthy recipes instead of fashion".  


Well, I will not do that because  although I am a serious fitness junkie, I don't feel certified to have a blog about health and fitness. Plus, I feel really strong about this subject and I tend to get really preachy about it, and I do not want to do that because it is really annoying. Also, because I blog for fun. Fashion and the arts are my fun. I take fitness very seriously, it is how I try to live my life.


So just for this once, I will share my errr... good habits with you, if you will.

Enter the preachyness: 


It really bothers me when people that are not at a body type they feel comfortable with hate on other body types.  Like when people say "Oh my God, she's so skinny she looks sick". Sometimes yeah (like when Nicole Richie weighed a pound) but most of the time its a hot model and people are just jealous they don't look that way (get your ass to the gym and stop hating).  
The other thing that bothers me, is when people are like "Well no, a hot body is Sofia Vergara and that's that". Yeah she is hot, but that is not the ONLY hot body type either. 


I am never going to have a Victoria's Secret model body or a Sofia Vergara body. I will also never be skinny again. I say again, because I used to be really, really skinny and honestly although I loved the way I looked (which I did, even though people would tell me I looked "sick") I made the decision in the past couple of years to be fit.  


Being fit means my body will now forever look... athletic. This may not be the most feminine look, but when I look at what I have turned my body into, I would never go back. Don't get me wrong, I am still very petite, at 5 foot 1 and 1/2 inches I only weigh 109 pounds. I am still a size zero, but I can lift more than most boys and that is empowering. I am actually leaner then I have ever been and I have gained 6 pounds... of muscle. 

this is exaggerated, I only look that big when I flex.

I have always done some form exercise and always "watched" what I ate. But I was never fit. Since I was 7 and through my first year of high school I did gymnastics, then I did horseback riding and cheer-leading until I graduated high school. When I started university I joined a regular gym. 

About two years ago I started doing Crossfit and a year later I switched to training at a hybrid gym.  
Hybrid gyms are usually owned and operated by people who have Masters and PHDs in nutrition, Kinetics, Anatomical Sciences etc...and the best way I can describe what we do is: sort of like CrossFit, P90X and Insanity all mashed into one. 

@ Taylored Training Fitness Studio

270 pound sled.

What have I learned in the past 2 years? In a nutshell:

1. I am not a dog, so I will not reward myself with food. Instead, I will "eat clean" because what you eat has a massive amount of influence on how tired you feel, how much you can improve your lifting, your speed and basically your over all performance. Also, eating clean is the ONLY way you will have a washboard stomach. Basic rule for eating clean: If it comes in a box or a bag and is made or processed by a human don't eat it.
2. Food is fuel for your body, and if used properly you can reap its maximum benefits. 
3. Stick to perishable foods. Fruits, Vegetables, and protein and have equal portions of protein and veggies (steamed, not with a stick of butter) for each meal.
4. Cut out sugar, alcohol and non-complex carbs (i.e. bread, potatoes, rice, wheat, peas and carrots) - when you ingest these things they are the first thing you burn, when you don't ingest these things the first thing you burn is your fat...
5. Lift heavy: Think bench pressing your weight, Squatting more than your weight, and ditching the 10 pound dumbell for a 35 pound kettlebell - and boys go heavier.  This will not make you bulky. It will trim you, and make you oh so strong.
6. Push, Pull, climb and throw things (heavy tires, sledge hammers, battle ropes, medicine balls, sleds, prowlers etc...)
7. Stick to the basics: Squats, Push ups, pull ups, presses...
8. Don't use fancy equipment. Use free weight.
10. Do something different every day, if you repeat your work out your body will adapt in a week.  Our bodies are resilient and adaptable machines!
11. If you want to gain weight you still eat clean except you eat more protein and more veggies...
12. OH! And train barefoot! Or with those hideous VIBRAM shoes. It will improve your balance. We were meant to walk around barefoot! Nike Free's are also good. I have also heard New Balance makes some good ones.

The "eating clean" part was the hardest part for me because I really enjoy cooking gourmet and making desserts. I have compromised by making gourmet food and desserts for everyone else while I stick to my diet. So below I will give you a "clean" breakfast recipe and a gourmet one (which is also really "clean" actually). I don't usually follow recipes therefore the measurements will be missing on these:

Ana's breakfast staple:

• PAM
• half an onion
• slices of deli turkey (substitute with tomatoes and/or mushrooms)
• 1/2 a cup of egg whites
• 2 huge hand fulls of spinach
• the best Italian hot chili you can find.

** Pam up a nonstick pan and throw in the onion and turkey until onion is wilted and turkey is browned. Mix in everything else. Voila!

Man's Omelet

• olive oil
• diced up pancetta
• different color cherry tomatoes
• mushrooms
• eggs
• arugula
• thyme

**  Throw some pancetta in a nonstick pan until it looks nice and crispy. Remove the pancetta (leave the oil it generated). Dice up the cherry tomatoes and the mushroom, saute in the left over pancetta oil. Set aside. Pour some olive oil in pan, and put in the eggs (make them sunny side up, or over easy). sprinkle with salt and pepper (I use Nature's seasoning). When eggs are done, throw on pancetta, mushrooms and tomatoes. Top with Arugula, decorate with thyme. Sprinkle some olive oil and natures seasoning on top. Serve rustic out of the pan, with rustic toasted bread :)

Thoughts? I really want to know!

Also, I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. Let me know what else you would like to see on this blog :)

Lucky Jeans Tee, Ann-Taylor skirt, Zara shoes

An outfit for a playlist...

... some tunes to get you through the last 

2 days of the working week.

** push play for an awakening**

Current on-the-go from BohoLove on 8tracks.

*** This list goes out to my long lost model Salva.



I asked Salva for some suggestions a while back, and he told me

to upload some "current" playlists. So here it is, the 

latest and the greatest.



The last song might be pretty old but I just discovered it. My 

Sifu (amazing Uma Thurman-like-in-Kill Bill- Jennie), put this on

in Kung Fu class while we were doing our forms. The

song is amazing albeit a tad long, so I do recommend fast 

forwarding to the 1:00 minute mark. That, or be patient, I swear 

it gets AWESOME at that point. 



So how about it Salva? An outfit for a playlist?

blazer by Benetton,  leather shorts by Madewell, nude peep toe pumps by NineWest,  muscles by Whitney.

CURRENT ON-THE-GO

1. Young Homie - Chris Renee

2. Wild One - Flo Rida ft. Sia

3. National Anthem - Lana del Rey

4. Boyfreind - Justin Bieber

5. Good Feeling - Flo Rida

6. Drive By - Train

7. Video Games - Lana del Rey

8. Song for Lovers - Bachelors of Science

Haute Couture @ The Hunger Games...

Clearly I am now part of "The Hunger Games" hoopla... No, seriously. I went to watch the movie this weekend because there was so much buzz and I was curious, and now, I am 100% hooked. Seeing that I am not a tween, I was not even familiar with the books, but it was so good, that the first thing I am doing on my lunch break is going to buy these books and put the "crazy French lady" on hold because now I need to know what happens next. 

For the purpose of this blog, I will just say that the plot is so different from anything out there and is simply great. There are hair raising, inspiring and tear jerking moments. My favorite part? The "fabulosity" of the haute couture (yes, it was so amazing I needed to make up a new word for it)!

So, the setting of the story is in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem. Panem would be what is current North America and it is divided into 12 districts which are all under absolute rule of the super modern-futuristic Capitol. The clothes and makeup in the capitol are absolutely outrageous and totally high fashion. Think a mix of the best of every single era's haute couture all rolled into one. 

The fashion trends in the capitol seems to be Louis XIV inspired wigs and powdered faces with a touch of Marie- Antoinette, a little bit of Alexander McQueen, butterfly thingie things as eyelash extensions, lipstick a la Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland, elaborate nail designs, etc, etc, etc...

You must check out this  tumbler page dedicated entirely to it.

 

Effie's Alexander McQueen booties!

Snake & sequin...

sequined sweatshirt: Banana Republic,  suit pants: Benetton,  snake skin shoes: Zara, Onyx bear ring: Tous

Spring is here...

... which means lots of open toe shoes :)

 

BCBG runway sandals.

Madewell Shirt, Benetton pants

Benetton Scarf

I LOVE Jenna Lyons...

Damn it Jenna, you're sooo COOL!!

A lesson in fashion history...

It is amazing how this "fashion business" follows me around these days. 


Turns out I have gotten such a good fashion-history lesson from this book I am reading (the one about the crazy & adventurous French lady I told you about). 


Before Magda (the heroin of the book a.k.a crazy French Lady) was hired to be a spy in the middle east by the Brits, she had moved to Paris in the early 1920's to work as an interior designer. Her sister in law, used to be "first seamstress" for none other than Madeleine Vionnet.


Madame Vionette came from a working class family. She was forced to quit school when she was only 12, at which time she learned confection and cutting. She then worked for various famous houses until she set up her own boutique in 1912 sur la Rue Rivoli. 


Vionnet is credited with "inventing" diagonal cut, and the ruched and draped detail in dresses which is so indispensable in fashion to date. She was also one of the first people to give her employees lunch breaks and vacation time way before the law imposed it.

House of Vionnet circa 1939

Vionnet Fall/Winter 2012

During the early 1920's Madame Vionnet along with Gabriel(a.k.a Coco) Chanel, and Jeanne Lanvin were merely just beginning to make a name for themselves.  These three designers had found a niche market in wealthy women who appreciated the quality and uniqueness of haute couture.

Lanvin Fall/Winter 1926-27

Lanvin Fall/Winter 2012-13

Coco Chanel had a small boutique in which she sold her now sooo famous hats (and imported accessories and bags). She started off with only a few pieces of couture:

Chanel 1926

Chanel 1950's

Chanel 1960's

We also know how Chanel is given credit for helping make pearls an "in" thing back then. Women would wear up to 6 strings of pearls at a time if not more. 

What I did not know was that because Chanel could not wear all the expensive jewelry her lovers gave her in public, she only usually wore fake jewels. She would claim she preferred fake jewelry because she found them provocative and also found it a shame to wear real gems when there was so much poverty around her (since this was right after World War I). Furthermore, she said wearing expensive jewelry made a woman an object of wealth, and that the point of jewels was to adorn a woman and not to make her rich.   

Chanel Fall/Winter 2012

Elizabeth Arden had also set up her first SPA in the U.S. as women had started to take an interest in skin care and beauty quite seriously.


This was particularly interesting to me as my crazy sister, God bless her soul, made me start using facial products at the age of nine. She instructed that I start washing my face every night with Elizabeth Arden's "One Great Soap" and applying an Elizabeth Arden tonic to finish clearing out impurities. When I got to my teens I graduated to Biotherm, and have since moved on to Lancome (all under her instruction). I will mention that my sister is 40 and looks 25. She knows what she's talking about.


She also mentioned that when she would have her first child she would only bathe him with "one Great Soap"... Obviously she forgot about this because the "The Pinkus" was bathed with Johnson & Johnson.

The last piece of interesting information I learned was that mascara was invented by famous French perfumer Euguene Rimmel. He came up with mascara after he studied the colors and protective greases American Indians used on their faces, which is basically what we wear on our eye lashes. I love this because in Spanish (and I just learned in various other languages as well), no one calls mascara, mascara. We simply call it "rimmel".  Now we know why! 

** All vintage photos taken from metmuseum.org.

Ode to Jenna Lyons...

BCBG glasses, Zara jean shirt, BananaRepublic cross body bag...

...Madewell skirt and shoes. 

Happy Father's Day...

It's Fathers Day in Honduras so I would like to dedicate this post to my father.

I know everyone thinks they have the best dad in the world, the thing is, I REALLY do.

Not only is my father amazing because of the beautiful career he has had, and the cool things he has done (which include settling a maritime border between Cuba and Honduras - one amongst a plethora of amazing achievements), but because when it comes to the things in life that matter the most, he is the most exemplary role model.

I know my sister and I were lucky children with a perfect family. I never in my life heard my parents argue.  Ever.  About anything.  I do attribute this to my father and his sanctity because my mother does have quite a fiery personality.

My father is the epitome of integrity and honesty. In a country where most people who work for the government are extremely corrupt and have done at least some dirty move here and there, my father never benefited from it. He did everything out of sheer passion and with utmost integrity. 

Although I really admire both my parents, when it comes to the growth of my soul,  my father would be my greatest role model. I am trying to mold myself after a person who I never heard express a single bad thought about anyone. Who has forgiven those who have played him dirty, and truly never held a grudge. Who always sees the good in people even if to the average person there is nothing good to see. A person who never raised his voice at my mother, sister or myself. A man who I know has helped people build their future and have a better life. It is incredibly hard to be this good. I wonder every day of my life if my father has judgmental thoughts in his head and if all of this is just amazing self control. That would be more human, because his goodness and righteousness are beyond...

My father is so incredibly clean cut, well mannered, and does not speak unless he absolutely needs to. He has never left his room unless he is wearing a suit and tie (and those Bally shoes I mentioned previously). One time he tried to be really fashion forward and bought a pair of Oscar de la Renta cargo pants. 


Even though the disciplinarian in my household has always been my mother, one time my dad caught me kissing my then boyfriend in our living room.  He gave me the most disapproving look and shook his head in a manner that was worst than anything my mother could have ever done to punish me. That was the only time I did anything that deserved getting "scolded" by my father..


You truly are a role model daddy. You don't drink, you don't smoke, you are successful and brilliant at what you do, yet you are SO HUMBLE, and on top of all this I have never heard you curse.  It is amazing my sister and I managed to settle down when our significant others have such big shoes to fill.

Happy Father's Day :)

Luck of the Irish...

BCBG glasses,  Zara blazer, Madewell sequined Tee, Gucci purse

influenceU riding pants, leather converse

 

We spent Saint Patrick's day at our nations capital. Though I did dress for the occasion, the last thing we did was drink green beer at an Irish bar. We ate sushi, drank plum wine and listened to latin music all day long... 

NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

PARLIAMENT

Current Obsession...

 ... Dolce & Gabbana FW 2012 sunglasses!! I am dying here!!

 

Velvet & wide legged trouser pants (that are not $3,000.00)...

If someone knows where I can get some, let me know! Or if Olivier Theyskens wants to send these my way...

Do it yourself...

...featuring Salva.

I have mentioned before that my favorite bloggers in the whole wide world are Arabelle Sicardi and Tavi Gevinson. One of the things I love most about vintage Tavi and Arabelle, is that they design their clothes... sort of. Mostly they would get their clothes from the Salvation Army and thrift stores and twist, cut and knot things up and make them look like a Comme de Garcons design (refer to my "High Fashion" post to see what I mean). 

Salva's outfit below consists of Salvation Army dockers (that he cut off himself). :D Though I did mentioned to him that I do prefer him in his Gucci Booties and his paisley bow ties, there is something that tickles me about the DIY Salvation Army outfits... It just reminds me of those blogger girls which are so damn cool here and here. 

Also I LOVE that Salva can go from Gucci to Salvation army and from bow ties to DIY cut offs and look adorable in all :)

 

 Salva is currently reading and listening to:

 Oh! I got something good in the mail the other day! If you read my first post, you know these were my previous obsession! I finally managed to get my hands on a pair, since they were out of stock until earlier this month!! :D