New Year, New You In 2018

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Now that the new year has started, it's time to get serious about sticking to those resolutions. This year, it's all about eating right, getting your beauty sleep, working out, and taking care of your skin.

Here are some tips on how you can be your best self in 2018:

Eat Right

We all want to eat healthy. I know no one is counting calories in December, but now that January is here, it's time to get back to eating smart. As someone who is always on the go with two busy kids, this is an area I struggle with. Working downtown can make choosing a healthy lunch difficult, but luckily I work close to Mad Radish. This Ottawa-based restaurant has great plant-based options to make healthy eating simple, delicious, and nutritious. My favourite is their Smoky Caesar salad–with a twist. This salad includes romaine and kale, garlic-marinated chickpeas, and broccoli. Instead of parmesan cheese, it's topped with a tasty cashew "parmesan" and a creamy vegan dressing. It's so good–guaranteed to become your favourite, too.

Second Cup is one of my go-to coffee shops for my morning caffeine fix and I'm so glad they have introduced their new Clean Label beverages, eliminating artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup from all beverages on the menu–including latte's, cappuccino's, smoothies, and hot chocolate.

Whether you love cooking or not, having the right cookware and kitchen appliances can make a huge difference. I don't enjoy cooking, but I do love my new Paderno cookware, especially my Paderno frying pan. Paderno is also the only Canadian cookware manufacturer, 100 percent Canadian-made, and lasts for an eternity. You'll totally have a different outlook on cooking once you start using Paderno. (Available at Canadian Tire).

And if you're looking for new and easy to prepare recipes, check out The School Year Survival Cookbook. Guaranteed to make meal planning a breeze, even with a hectic lifestyle.

Get Your Beauty Sleep And Relax 

I usually don't get more than five hours of sleep a night; I'm a night owl, and am most awake after 10 p.m. Falling asleep after midnight and waking up at 6 a.m. can take a toll on a person after a while, though, so I'm determined to start sleeping earlier this year, because sleeping well actually helps with maintaining a healthy body and even helps with weight loss.

I'm so thrilled that I recently partnered with Casper, (full review coming soon!) and received an incredible king-sized bed for our newly renovated bedroom.  The Casper mattress is the most comfortable I've ever slept on. Casper,  much-loved mattress-in-a-box company, has become one of the fastest growing consumer brands of all time. Casper includes a full line of mattresses, bed frames, foundation, pillows, sheet sets, and duvets, all created by a team of engineers, researchers, and scientists.

The Casper mattress is available in six standard sizes, and backed by a 10-year warranty. It has supportive memory foam and a springy comfort layer that come together to create a perfect sleep surface. Casper’s foundation ships in a compact box just like the mattress and works like a standard box spring. It’s engineered to provide excellent support under any mattress. Casper’s metal bed fame is the perfect frame for your Casper foundation and mattress. We just added a head board and now we have the most perfect bed ever. 

The Casper pillow-in-a-pillow is designed to stay supportive, cool, and comfortable throughout the night, regardless of sleep position. With just the right balance of squish and support, the inner pillow is supportive, while the outer pillow adds a soft comfort. Fine, silky fibers allow the pillow to keep its perfect shape, finished with breathable percale cotton to sleep cool all night long. Total bliss!

Casper’s cotton percale sheets are crisp, smooth, and airy, and get softer with every wash. Constructed with the longest, finest threads on earth—pure Supima cotton grown in California. The breathable sheets sleeps cool all night long. For more information, visit Casper.com. 

To add to your bedroom bliss, get a nice new candle from Chapters-Indigo. I love the Mantra Poured Glass Candle in Calm–it smells so good! I love lighting candles in my bedroom at night. 

Another thing I love doing before bed is writing in a journal, and Chapters-Indigo has tons of great journals in all sorts of pretty colours. The Five Minute Journal is my personal favourite. And why not cosy up after a great workout with a throw? Again, Chapters-Indigo has tons of comfortable throws and blankets to toss over your couch or bed. 

Using essential oils in a great way to relax after a hard day. Thursday Plantation is a 100% pure essential oil brand, and these oils have hundred of uses with restorative properties to help you maintain your health and well-being. I love the Pure Eucalyptus Oil; this oil relieves joint and muscle pain, coughs, headaches, and colds, and even helps clean floors and kitchen counters. The Pure Lavender Oil help calm, soothe, and relax the body and mind, and also relieves joint and muscle pain, and helps relieve coughs, headaches, and colds. Thursday Plantation is available at Walmart, and Well.ca. 

Take Care Of Your Skin

Along with eating right, working out, and sleeping, having a good skin care routine is so important. I never go to bed without washing off my make-up and I love my morning and evening beauty routine. I love using Elizabeth Arden's Skin Renewal Booster, and their Probiotic Cleanser–it's perfect to use after a great sweat session, and leaves your skin feeling clean and refreshed.

I also love using the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Wipes after my workouts. These awesome wipes remove all makeup, and cleans your skin while leaving it hydrated. And if you're looking for a great makeup remover, try the Garner Micellar Water. This cleans, removes makeup, and soothes your skin, and you don't even have to rinse it off. It's safe for your entire face, including eyes and lips.

A must-have product to bring to the gym with you? Matrix Play Back Dry Shampoo. This dry shampoo refreshes your lock, smells delicious, and works incredibly well.

Get Active

It can be hard to feel motivated when it's minus 40 degrees outside. I find it much harder to stick to a workout routine in the winter, but thankfully I have a warm vacation just around the corner that's motivating me to brave the cold and head to The Dailey Method. I love The Daily Method because they offer classes that truly help you feel and look your best. Between their cycle and barre class, you're definitely going to see this results sooner rather than later, get your full body workout done in an hour, and just feel amazing.

You know what always helps me stay motivated to workout? New gym clothes, of course! Bench has a great two-in-one tank top with built-in bra, available in store on bench.ca. They have a great selection of graphic tank tops and leggings, too, available in-store end of January. A great pair of workout socks is important, too, and Stance Performance Socks are perfect for your workouts. They are super breathable and provide an exception fit, and they come in a variety of fun colours to match whatever you're wearing to get your sweat on.

For days you want to work out at home, pick up a new yoga mat from Chapters-Indigo. They have so many different styles and colours. I love the one I received in pink, and love using it at home to power through a quick workout.

Don't forget to track your progress of the new you by taking a lot of pictures. The Huawei P10 smartphone is a great phone that'll help keep you on track with your health and fitness goals. You can utilize apps and tools that serve as reminders, do your calorie counting, find out nutritional information, and take incredible pictures with the camera. It's also a super fast phone, and has a long battery life. A 30 minute charge provides a full day's use!

Happy 2018, friends. Here's a healthy and happy year. I hope all your goals come true!

Disclaimer: I have received compensation and/or products for my review. All views and opinions are my own.