Body Dysmorphia

It’s just a fancy way of saying “I hate my body” or “I have low self esteem”. Every beautiful person on Instagram has something about themselves that they hate. If you have EVER Photoshopped a photograph or used a smartphone app to enhance your looks, … then you too are part of this group of people. I personally don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to be perfect. But you really shouldn’t use Instagram models as your role model. We all know that most of them are all fake AF and they are using an app to look better. Some of them, like Kylie and Khloe have actually gotten called out on it. Khloe actually admitted to using filters on all her photos and once a photo got posted without a filter and she freaked out. Yep, she is not perfect either. Most beauty queens have done some form of looksmaxing, … fake eyelashes, hair extensions, hair coloring, silicon boobs, and of course concealer and foundation.

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I think it about time that guys start taking an concerted effort to do the same. Get that hair transplant or toupee. You don’t need to be bald and shamed. Girls will actually like you more. All of your new friends will never know you lost your hair. Believe it or not, there are a lot of married and sadly single guys who are not so great to look at, and I am just being honest. How difficult it is go to have your eyebrows threaded so you don’t have a unibrow? There are all kinds of make-up tools to help your brows and face look better. How hard it is to have some sunscreen incorporated into your face moisturizer? If you actually ate ONLY when you were hungry then maybe you would lose a few extra pounds. Face it, everyone could stand to lose some weight. All you have to do is look at a person’s neck and you can easily see there is some room for improvement. Double chins (fatty necks) only look good on turkeys.

Check out this Facebook page on hair. (https://www.facebook.com/hairsolutionsformenandwomen)

There are a lot of good articles and solutions for hair help/systems/alternatives. Some of the videos are just entertaining. At least you have some scientific help on your side.

And it is the Hunter full moon. Make a wish. May your days and nights be filled with light and love.

The Power of Make-Up

I don’t know about you, but I have always been fascinated by how make-up can make someone look totally different. At first you might be thinking of some magical transformations of making an ordinary person look like a hot Kardashian. I was thinking more like movie star, Avatar face painting make-up. Halloween is coming up and naturally changing who you are with a little face paint might have crossed your mind. In Denver they have had the Zombie Crawl/fest, but due to COVID it hasn’t happened, and I don’t think it is going to happen this year either. I have done some pretty cool transformations into the “undead”.

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Years and years ago I went to an Ulta and discovered the magic of concealer. One of the cute girls helped me pick a color that matched my skin and instantly that nasty red spot was gone. Wow. I was hooked and I have never looked back. With so many people in front of a camera or smartphone doing virtual conversations, there really are more people that should look into “looksmaxing” with some make-up. A little bit of concealer and foundation will take away those dark spots and some setting powder will get rid of that nasty shine from your LED ring light. You can always tell when someone gets old who never took care of their skin by those age spots. Their hands look like the old Rose from Titanic. You would think some of those politicians who are in front of the camera would take a little effort to improve their looks. They are the elected officials and they should look good. Who are we kidding? They will never look good.

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There are already dozens of videos on YouTube recommending foundations and concealers. You can go try some yourself but they aren’t cheap. Usually around $20-$30 but a little tube. If you are wondering which one I am using, it is called IL MAKIAGE. I use their foundation. The company sends you a full bottle of foundation for free, and if you don’t return it they charge your credit card. You take an online test to determine your 1 of 50 colors. When I ordered it I also opted for the matching concealer so I wouldn’t have to pay for shipping later if I decided I liked it. I liked them both and when I know I am going to do a photo or go out I just touch up some areas. Voila. Real life filter/Photoshop. Sometimes you get dark spots just from being in the sun. So be sure you are using some sort of SPF protection. Btw, I love this brand because it doesn’t feel like I have anything on my face and it smooths out the texture for an even tone. It is Aaron Approved!

The new “Halloween Kills” movie released in theaters and free to stream for Peacock app users. Yep, I have the app so I’ll be watching something scary this weekend. Game of Thrones is so confusing I had to watch YouTube videos just to decipher who is what family. I heard they are doing a prequel that takes place hundreds of year prior. I’m down.

DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for this review or product recommendation.

Willing To Recommend 111SKIN

I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of always wanting to try new beauty products. If I could give my younger self some advice, skincare would be it. Growing up as a teen I had a high amount of testosterone, which resulted in blemishes, acne, blackheads, … you get it. As a teen it dramatically affects your self confidence, no matter how cute or hot you are. I was on tetracycline and at a young age learned at 3 step face cleaning routine. Then later in life I was introduced to Proactive. I know they are still around, I just haven’t seen any of their advertisements on television. I think back to what my routine was compared to what I do today and it makes me laugh. Today I have the help of ultrasonic cleaning tools, red light LED therapy, expensive masks, and my secret weapon … 111Skin 3 phase anti blemish booster. That little green bottle above. Yes at first it appears to be really expensive, but ask yourself … what would you pay to have beautiful, clean, clear blemish-free skin? $135 every couple of months really isn’t that bad. With Proactive it is always a 3 step process. I just use a few drops after washing my face. Then use a moisturizer. Done. Pretty simple actually.

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Now if you joined Ipsy, my favorite beauty box/bag company … you would know that they sometimes put this in the monthly bags and sometimes they even put it for sale in the daily sales events. Ipsy has thousands and thousands of customers so sometimes the really good stuff goes like within minutes. So at 7 am Denver time, they put new items online. Now you’re going to think this is crazy, but you can actually get the 3 phase online now for only $18, … not $135. Damn. Yep, scored me another one. 111Skin caters to the celebrities, and some of their products are so damn expensive you’d have to be a celebrity to buy them. However, I think that if you take care of your skin now, you won’t have to pay for expensive plastic surgery/salon treatments later in life. So if you didn’t sign up previously, go score a free bag, and then go back to the online daily sales items and score the 3 phase. That is, if you know someone who has skin concerns. I don’t know anyone who WANTS to look old. If your skin is beautiful and glowing, then you don’t need to spend a lot of money on concealers and make-up. Oh and if you are wondering what do “I” get if you sign up? Points. Points eventually turn into free products. Nothing super exciting, but I like points. I love getting membership rewards points on my American Express card.

DISCLAIMER: Other than points, I was not paid for this review.

Oh No!

So I am sad to report that one of my favorite YouTube beauty bloggers/reviewers has contracted COVID from her vaccinated husband. She did not get the vaccine for her own personal reasons, and now she is struggling to breathe, possibly live. You know how you spend a lot of time with your favorite personality, and after awhile you really feel like you know him/her? This is very common when someone binge watches their favorite show, or in my case, watched a ton of videos from one particular artist. This actually happens with a lot of my own readers who have been reading the blogs for years. Every now and then a fan/reader will approach me and tell me they know who I am and they read my blogs. I had one person once say she knew me because I write how she thinks. Some people even think like I think because they change or modify their own behaviors and ways of thinking.

So rather than being negative, find a positive opportunity. As much I as I try to find something good from my YouTuber getting the virus, I just haven’t been able to come up with anything and it is just sad. SHE was careful. SHE didn’t go out in public, and yet, she had it personally delivered to her front door. So the only thing I can say is please be diligent in washing your hands, use those cleaning wipes everywhere and try not to go out in public. I don’t know about you, but I would be devastated if any of my little pups or kitty accidentally caught COVID and died.

Open those doors with your butt and stop touching door handles and stop touching your face. Especially if you aren’t wearing a mask. If you have the shot you are not immune to it, you are only “safer” that you won’t die from it. There are people who have the shot and are still getting the virus. Like that dipshit politician who I can’t care enough to repeat his name.

The new, Suicide Squad came out Friday. I’ll just say that it is NOT safe for kids and it is kind of bloody gruesome for a DC movie. Harley Quinn of course stars in it, alongside some military guy from the last movie. I can’t remember his name, but he played Officer Murphy in the Robocop reboot. So if you are headed to the theater you are really only there for the loud subs, big screen and popcorn. Don’t get too invested in this sad, but action packed killer. Jungle Cruise is actually a little more believable and quite a bit more entertaining.

I’m Hungry

What if … we only ate “IF” we were actually hungry? Not, hey it’s lunchtime, let’s go destroy a 1000 calories and top it off with some sugary ice cream that will spike our blood sugar. Has it ever dawned on you that maybe you don’t need to eat all those fatty sugary high carb foods? As a kid you ate because you were told to eat. Guess what? Kids today are getting fatter and fatter and their parents actually encourage it. We can’t totally blame the parents, as those kids have choices and they choose to overeat. 666. That’s how many calories you should eat at 3 meals a day, for each meal. THAT is 2000 calories. Wow, when you put it that way, that 1200 calorie Starbucks double whatever extra shot extra caramel wasn’t really worth it now that you only get one more meal for the day. Or just do whatever the F you want because you didn’t get the shot, you don’t believe you are going to die, because you are INVINCIBLE! There is no such thing as a virus. WRONG. You are reading this and finally getting it that you aren’t as healthy as you once thought you were. You don’t need that hot milked hormone laced Starbucks. If you didn’t know, ALL Starbucks fancy drinks are made with milk. That’s right. Not water. Years ago when I found out I stopped drinking those mochas. Hot milk makes me literally sick. You really have to tell almost every restaurant that serves you that you are vegan so you don’t get unwanted “stuff”.

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Cheese, milk, anything from a cow has hormones in it. You don’t NEED extra hormones in your system. There is this thing called the endocrine system that will be screwed up. So, if you didn’t know, a cow produces milk when she has a baby cow. We know that right. Well, when they steal the baby cow from the momma cow, she is emotionally traumatized. Her milk, intended for her baby, is now given to YOU, along with her sad tears and emotions that were created when she produced that milk. I know that sounds crazy, but have you ever thought that maybe your shitty emotions you are feeling aren’t really your fault. You ingested sad, hurtful emotions and it is affecting you accordingly. But since you don’t know that, you get pills from a doctor to combat it, but in turn it just makes things worse. Just try not eating dairy/beef for awhile and you will see a significant difference in your health and emotional well being. Chew on that. What you eat and drink affect how you feel. Wow. Go eat a happy strawberry, or a golden delicious apple. The natural sugar will make your heart smile.

Shame On You

I am not talking YOU personally should be shamed for doing or saying something, I am saying, have you been shamed? Fat-shamed? Look-shamed? Thin-shamed? SOMEONE at some point made you feel ashamed. Of course you have. Everyone in some fashion or another is made fun of by a bully or jerk. Maybe it was Miranda Priestly who made fun of your ugly blue sweater or your nasty black shoes, or maybe it was a coworker that laughed at your choice of handbag or backpack? Or as I mentioned in prior posts maybe it was a bro or a sister that felt he/she had to give their two cents. Guess what, you also have been discriminated against.

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OR maybe YOU were the person throwing shade. It happens. You can’t help it, you laugh at someone’s ugly fashion disaster and post it on social media as a meme. While it might sound I am condemning this type of behavior, it actually is a strong motivational factor when persuading people to improve their looks. Of course we can’t all look like super models, but you can get rid of that double chin and muffin top. Sometimes I see really unattractive people I and just wonder if they don’t have mirrors in their house. Hey if you never looked in a mirror you wouldn’t ever know you were unattractive, right? In theory that is.

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Have you done any research on fasting? Sure the first 24 hours is the hardest, but just imagine how the reality stars of Naked and Afraid tough it out. When you have a lower body fat percentage your face starts to get thinner and you lose that double chin. And if you suck in your cheeks in selfies, you appear to have a chiseled jaw/face. Swallow and hold … and your neck all of the sudden has had a neck lift. Wow. Magic. Nope, just selfie tricks. You literally only have to hold your breath for 1-2 seconds.

And a shout out to “Nothing Bunt Cakes” in Westminster Colorado. You can buy a single person cake for like $5. So I bought 4. Yes I know they are all empty delicious calories, but everyone deserves a birthday cake or 4.

Beauty is Skin … Color?

Do you know what “colorism” is? Yes, you got it. It is the discrimination of your skin color WITHIN your own racial ethnic group. WTF. Seriously. Now, this is not a black thing, or an Asian thing, or even an Indian thing. Because it happens in ALL of those people. Now I know you white folk are scratching your head wondering WTF I am even talking about right? Right. Basically the whiter/lighter your skin the “better” you are as a person and therefore much more attractive. Yeah, I know, I don’t quite get it either. My skin has always been brown. In my culture (the USA), being a golden tan/brown is a sign of luxury and wealth. Because you have all the time in the world to lay in the sun on your yacht, beach, or private pool and just … get tan. Shit we even pay money to go to tanning beds to get even darker. Guilty. I think I look great with a tan. Nope. Not in all societies. In fact, if I was back in say, Singapore, some people might think I was “the help”. Or worse, I work in the rice fields picking rice. Although, in my personal experience most people don’t think I am poor, or uneducated, or a servant because of my looks. Usually people look at me and wonder if I am doing botox or something. Yep, today is the anniversary of the date of my birth. 48 and fabulous. I will be eating all you can eat crab tonight in Blackhawk and then gambling at the tables. Wish me luck.

I actually saw a picture of me a few years ago with my twin brother and it was not so flattering. I think that is because I was starting to lose my hair and it was clearly evident to me. As soon as I hit my 30’s I started taking a vested interest in my health, well being and spiritual enlightenment. So within the black community, they have a standard they use for “acceptance” within their own groups. It is called the brown paper bag test. You put it up to your arm, and if you are darker than the brown paper bag then you aint getting in. So I put a brown cardboard box up to my arm, and they look the same. Like, literally if I had a concealer shade made for me they would have to call it “Brown Paper Bag”. I know, how depressing right? I guess if given the test I might pass.

My K pop friends might be nice and educate me on which skin whitening product is best. Skin whitening? Yes, it is a real thing. It actually is a billion dollar industry, right up there with cosmetic surgery. There is a plethora of YouTube videos on debunking celebrities and their beauty secrets. If it isn’t a filter, PhotoShop fail, or FaceTune app, it is probably plastic surgery. Go search on Madonna’s plastic surgery, Gwen Stefani, and Zac Efron. Sometimes it is something minor like removing the fat over the eye. Other times it is a whole new jaw/face. While you are searching on celebs you should also search colorism. It actually is kind of fascinating if you know nothing about it. I didn’t even know it existed. Am I going to whiten my skin? No. I am going to keep it out of the sun and use sunscreen daily. In all my years, I have never once had anyone comment on the color of my skin or even how dark or light it is. I do get comments on how youthful and tight it looks. As I have aged I have become obsessed with having great looking skin. Because it is what I have to look at every time I look in a mirror so I might as well be happy with what I have right? The secret to looking young is having amazing young looking skin. When you are healthy and in your prime, your skin literally glows. When you are sick and dying, you can see it in the color of your skin in your face. Pale. Ghostly. Lack of any color or pigment. Yeah, you know what I mean. Eat your green leafy vegetables. Drink your filtered water. Get lots of sleep. Take naps. I do. I love them.

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And in case you forgot, the new Zelda remake Nintendo Switch game released today! Excuse me while I adventure off in the land of Hyrule.

I Hate My Body.

Did you know that every beautiful person hates something about their body? Well, except for true narcissists, because they are perfect. And before I share my thoughts, I am not bashing on anyone specifically, I’m bashing on everyone. Sadly there are many of us that were verbally abused by someone at a young age that had detrimental long term effects that caused us to hate “something” about ourselves. I am sure you have seen “Mean Girls” and there is the scene where the “perfect” girls all complain about something stupid about what they hate about themselves. I grew up in a small redneck town in Nebraska, so I was faced with racial comments. Not often, but it did happen. Which of course, you can imagine what racial body comments stupid kids would make. I don’t need to educate you on them.

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So I watched quite a few YouTube videos on how the Kardashians hate their body too. Yep, it is true. They edit almost every single photo, and as pointed out in the videos, not very well sometimes. AND they pay the paparazzi to edit their photos, so you don’t see any of their hail damage on their big fat asses. No way. Way. I love how they changed the modeling world standard and models aren’t anorexic stick figures. Let’s be real. It is super unrealistic to think that is healthy for someone to be super skinny. So don’t interpret the last post that you need to be a stick figure. You might just need to do a little fasting and watch what you’re eating, or drinking.

So my motto, and back in the early 2000’s was, “Flaunt if if you got it. Someone’s bound to like it. Flaunt it if you don’t, someone else will like it.” It would usually get a good laugh, but it is true. Just because you think something minor makes you imperfect, someone else might not even notice it until you brought it up. I’m short. I could live my whole life wishing I was 6′ tall. That isn’t something I can change, so why worry about it? Right? Exactly. So if you are overweight, and it bothers you. Then hang out with people that are heavier than you. Feeling old? Go hang out with OLDER people and all the of the sudden you’re the young one. Feeling insecure about your looks? You got it. Find some less than pretty friends so now you are always “The Hot One”. The world is full of sad, lonely, unattractive people. Go find one who has a dashing personality and lower your standards. But, beauty is still skin deep, so having a good skin routine should be part of your standards at any age.

And for the record, Toni Camp shamed me for having “no ass” in college, which forced me to do thousands of countless hours of stair-stepper exercises. While it was painful and in the long run, totally worth it. I can still remember and hear her laughing. Crazy how peer pressure, or a stray comment can effect/influence our decision making skills. I’ll admit that I have made quite a few comments to “friends” who should consider having their eyebrows threaded/done professionally. Make-up is a real life filter. It is crazy the number of people that feel the need to edit their photo/selfie before posting it. Adobe Photoshop used to be a coveted tool only for professionals, and now it is anyone with a smartphone. Aren’t you glad people are out in public and can’t edit their real life self? Except when they are using make-up.

Marvel’s “Loki” has me intrigued, but not recommending it to anyone yet. Black Widow releases July 9th, in theaters or for $30 on Disney+. So, invite a friend or two over and enjoy it at home like me.

2000 A Day

2000 calories a day. That is all we are “recommended” to eat on a daily basis. Says who? Oh, the doctors, the professionals, Dr. Now (from My 600 pound life), dietitians, athletic people, coaches … basically everyone. Okay, cool. So why a blog about it? Because, everyone, including me is kind of going over that daily allotment and the world, as a whole, is getting fatter. It’s not healthy, it’s unattractive, and frankly someone needs to say something.

Do you enjoy being fat? Do you like your clothes not fitting nicely? As my fat manager from AT&T once said, “You don’t have to tell fat people they are fat. They know it. They just get used to it and deal with it. But please don’t remind us we are fat.” I thought this was hilarious, as I used the exact same analogy for when an employee is late. It’s not like that employee all of the sudden looked up and said “Oh shit, I need to be at work like ten minutes ago.” Well, maybe some do, but more normal people know when they are supposed to be somewhere, like work … where the schedule is usually the same and the days off are also the same. In all fairness though, once I didn’t show up to work until 8 hours later, I was coded “No call no show”, but when I came in to “close” due to a schedule mix up/change, it was A-OKAY. Simple mistake. No need to fire Aaron.

So, back to those 2000 calories. Well, when Arby’s put out that orange dreamsicle shake it was like, … a dream for me. I had one, or two a day. OMG so good. And yes, I kept eating like I was a growing teenager, eating whenever I wanted. Surprise, Dr. Now says you cannot eat 10,000 calories a day. What? No way. Yes. Way. Stop it. No chips. No sugary sodas. Some people can drink that ALL DAY LONG. You might as well just put an IV directly into your veins pumping in that much sugar all day long. Sugar is in everything. It is almost impossible to buy anything without sugar, … at a gas station convenience store. Red Bull and Monster drinks are totally off limits. Damn. I really liked my Red Bull vodkas back in the day, but you can imagine what that does to your system. An upper and an downer at once.

So like most people locked up during COVID and no one to see my beach body, I packed on the pounds. No way. Way. Like 20 pounds. Can you imagine me 20 pounds heavier? Damn, I’d be almost as fat as my twin brother. Wait, he’s fatter than that. My abs turned to “flabs”. Fat – abs. Or so they say on Botched. So I needed to do something drastic, and unfortunately for me, those dreamsicle shakes had to go. I started by putting keto creamer in my coffee, which has MCT, grassfed butter, and Himalayan salt in it, which turbo charges your metabolism and helps you to burn fat faster. I also switched to a 24 hour fasting, which was kind of hard at first but the results have been amazing. I am happy to report that I shed those 20ish pounds and my 6 pack is ready for summer. I won’t bore you with the medical science behind keto diets, fasting, and putting MCT in your coffee daily. There are a ton of YouTube videos that will educate you nicely. IF you are going to start a fasting program, read/research the do’s and don’t so you don’t accidentally damage yourself. Switch to sunflower seeds as your go to snack. Drop those Twizzlers and Snickers. Switch to some variation of green tea. Lemons and honey are good for you.

“Watch it wiggle. See it jiggle. Cool and fruity.” J.E.L.L.O.

Have you seen Goonies? Yeah, you don’t want to do the truffle shuffle either. Lose the fat. You don’t have to do a hundred sit ups, but you could maybe start with 10. 10 sit ups, not 10 jellos.

Your Personal Spa

Have you ever been to a “spa”? The closest thing I have experienced is looking at the spa treatments through the glass windows in the fancy Vegas hotels. Since I’m not a millionaire with boatloads of money to blow, I do the next best thing. Create my own spa like experience in the comfort of my own home. After staying at many of the 5 star resorts in Vegas I had a pretty good idea how to make my personal retreat even better.

Years ago I upgraded my shower to have five different spray nozzles, the overhead rain simulation is probably my favorite. We upgraded the hot water heater as well and now it is literally like a steam shower sauna experience. Cool LED lights, plants in the window, and of course an Amazon Echo dot to play “wind chimes” or zen music while you relax. And yes, of course there is a vanilla candle. Go buy a half dozen new expensive fluffy white towels and roll them up in put them in baskets so you always have an awesome towel like at the resort spa. Get yourself an expensive bathrobe. My shower is nicer than many of the million dollar home flips I see on HGTV. Every shower should have a handheld nozzle sprayer so you can wash your dog in the shower.

A long time ago I was at a friend’s house and in her guest bathroom she had paper towels instead of a cloth towel to dry your hands. She said it was much more sanitary, and you really shouldn’t be wiping your face on a towel that you used to dry your hands. It makes sense. It might accidentally expose your face to something nasty. We will just leave it at that. Paper towels also are great for wiping down the dirt from your face after you “think” it is all clean. Nope. There is still always a little bit of dirt and it is a good exfoliater as it is sterile and clean.

If COVID taught us one thing, DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE. Yes, the mask is down but seriously stop touching your face. Don’t touch doorknobs. I open doors walking backwards with my ass. If anyone sees me I say “Look at me! My ass opened the door and I didn’t touch it with my hand!” Laugh all you want, but there are millions of people that don’t wash their hands. Even with COVID people do their thing and then don’t wash. It’s gross. I always wipe down the gas pump handle before I touch it. Germaphobe? Nope. Smart. Hey I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t get infected. I don’t have to worry about the virus making my hair fall out. I can walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. I can still carry a bag or five of groceries from the car inside. There are a ton of documentaries on YouTube of the after effects of “long haulers” and their life sucks.

Be thankful you are alive, made it through this and got your shot. Hand sanitizer is almost free, so stock up and keep using it in your daily routine (if you are out in public or around people). If you haven’t gotten the second shot is it really so hard to tell Siri, Alexa, Google, or Facebook to set a reminder?