ConfidenceKini- Back & Glutes Workout (W2D5) + Friday Five

Happy Friday! Here’s to an amazing workout following by my Friday Five. If you’re new here, every Friday, I share my “Friday Five” – it’s a list of 5 random things I’m obsessed with that week. I LOVE making this list becuase you know my dream job is to become a professional product reviewer haha; it’s just a bonus that you ladies seem to love this list too!

After this workout, stretch for a few minutes and enjoy reading the Friday Five!

 
1. SKINCARE
I know I’m way late to the party on this one but a sudden change happened in the past few months… I’ve become really into skincare.
Background… skin concerns, for me, used to be all about getting rid of a pimple fast. It’s really all I’ve ever cared about until recently. After I had Leo, I feel like I’ve placed a greater importance on myself and making myself a priority. One of the things that naturally came up was my skin.
I don’t have perfect skin but honestly, I feel that makes sharing about skin more relatable because we all have various skin struggles. Mine have primarily been acne.  I went through a long phase where I struggled with perioral dermatitis (just google it and you’ll be horrified); I did not want to take all the trugs they suggested so I worked tirelessly to heal it naturally. Now I’m over that but I feel my skin texture (scarring and red marks) is something I would like to improve as well as to just have radiant, healthy looking skin.
I’m not a skin care expert but I’ll gladly share what products I’m using, what I’ve found to work/what is a waste and so on along the way! Any recommendations you have?? I’m all ears!
 
 
2. BLUE LIGHT BLOCKING GLASSES (here)

This is for my friends who stare at computer screens all day long. SO, I would say about 3-4 years ago, I started getting migraines. Prior to that, when people would say, “I have a migraine,” I just thought it must be a really bad headache. NO… if you have had a migraine… you know it can be a can’t function, sit in a dark room, close your eyes type of situation. At least, that’s how mine get. I can feel them coming on and it’s just awful.

I do sit at a computer the vast majority of my day. What… I don’t workout all day?! Haha, certainly not. I go from large desktop screen to phone screen to laptop screen pretty much all day. And, I feel like that contributes to my headaches and migraines.
My nerd/science self knows that the shorter wavelengths in blue light is actually higher energy light within the visible spectrum. And, it has the ability to penetrate deeper into the eyes. Studies has shown that this can actually suppress melatonin, leading to sleep issues (another great reason to reduce screen time before bed!). A Harvard Med School study found blue light increases migraine pain.
Now, blue light is everywhere but screens are a SIGNIFICANT source, so I found these blue light blocking glasses on Amazon. There were cheaper options but I read these don’t distort the screen color as much, which would have driven me crazy with other options.
RESULTS: the jury is still out. I haven’t had a headache or migraine yet since I started wearing them regularly but I will keep giving it time. I am hopeful!!
 
 
3. OPA FETA DILL GREEK YOGURT DIP

I’ve been eating this stuff with everything! My husband calls me the condiment queen – I like ketchup, dressings, sauces and dips with all of my meals. I think it’s super weird that he doesn’t use any of that… except BBQ sauce (now that he has about 6 different types lol).

I just love dipping my food in things but that’s definitely where a healthy meal can turn not-so-healthy. I found this dip at my regular grocery store (I shop at HEB) awhile back.
My favorite way to eat this dip is with raw veggies. I’m really into broccoli and dip at the moment. I’ll eat it with my last meal and it’s oddly satisfying.
If you can’t find this dip near you, you could totally make it using:

• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup (or less) unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup finely crumbled feta
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 finely minced garlic clove
• 2 tbsp chopped, fresh dill (or less if dried)

 
 
4. CORE DURING WEIGHT TRAINING

Yesterday’s workout was and upper body and core circuit. It included various weighted moves with ab/core exercises. I find so much benefit in including core moves during a lift. It’s just amazing to me how much more I feel it!
Now, if you’re focused on increasing weight with lifting or more interested in purely building muscle, I would opt to do an ab workout at the end of my workout. The ConfidenceKini Challenge style of workouts are about high sweat, circuits, sculpting and shredding so abs in the midst of weights is great!
Heck.. I may even try a Premium Ab Plan workout in the middle of a lift!

 
 
5. YOUR RESPONSE to my post about the most amazing $25 Amazon bed sheets

This isn’t about the bed sheets, but about YOUR RESPONSE to the bed sheet post. Quick background… a few weeks ago, I was on stories in bed and mentioned how much I love our sheet and that they’re so inexpensive.
In last week’s Friday Five, I shared the link (I mean if they’re Amazon prime, I’m already half in… the fact that there are almost 40,000 reviews and that they’re 20 something dollars, I get why so many of you thought so too)
You guys… 4,000 of you bought the bed sheets according to a report on Amazon! WHAT! That is so cool to me. Obviously, this brand didn’t sponsor this or send me free sheets (trust me though, I would graciously accept)… they’re just that good, heavenly soft and inexpensive so I wanted to share!

BUY THESE SHEETS – BEST PURCHASE!

sorry I can’t resist sharing this pic of my little guy again…