Biggest Lesson I Taught Alexa
“Hide yourself in God, so when a man wants to find you he will have to go there first.” -Shannon L. Alder
One of the biggest lessons I taught Alexa growing up. Be true to your faith and to yourself. The right person will seek you out and find you. Don’t go searching...that’s his job. 😉🙏❤️
Holiday Bloat
One of the most frustrating things for me is to be bloated during the holidays from eating more than I usually would. Here are some tips from CYRx MD regarding ways to avoid that.
Tips to Keep Your Gut Health in Check:
It doesn’t matter if you work full-time, take care of your children, or get all your errands done — While you’re being productive during the day, your digestive system is hard at work. When you eat a meal, your food is then passed through the gastrointestinal tract where it is broken down so your body can retain essential nutrients.
In order for this to be a smooth process, you must provide your GI tract with the proper care to avoid discomfort and digestive diseases. Here are some tips to keep your gut health in check to avoid conditions like irritate bowel syndrome, acid reflux, heartburn, and indigestion.
Limit Sugars
Sugar is a child’s best friend. But you may not realize the sugar content in every product on the shelves. When you’re shopping, it’s important to consciously limit how much sugar is in the items you bring home to your pantry. Sugars are the culprit for feeding the bad bacteria that lives internally. And, if there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria multiplying in your body, this leads to an unhealthy gut, upset stomach, poor nutrient-absorption, autoimmune issues, and more.
Also remember that artificial sweeteners that you put in your coffee or tea have been shown to have an effect on the microbiome, according to studies. It’s best to avoid artificial sweeteners altogether to improve your gut health.
Lay Off the Alcohol
You may need to hold off on Margarita Monday’s and Wine Wednesday’s if they have become weekly events. Consuming alcohol frequently allows the overgrowth of harmful bacteria, and also destroys whatever good bacteria you had left to fight the bad ones off. Drinking liquor leads to internal inflammation due to the toxins released into the bloodstream. It’s crucial to note that alcohol is the main disruptor of good gut flora, and allows bacteria to flow from the stomach into the small intestines, putting your entire digestive tract and overall health at risk.
Avoid Antibiotics
Antibiotic overuse is a common way to wipe away all your good bacteria. Although antibiotics eliminate the bacteria causing infection of illness, antibiotics cannot tell the difference between good and bad bacteria so it leaves your gut susceptible to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains. In order to restore your gut flora after a round of antibiotics, take some probiotic supplements.
Add Probiotics from CYRx MD Nutrition
Probiotics are live yeast and bacteria that help regulate and restore the digestive system. By adding probiotics to your diet, you can help balance the bad bacteria in the gut mentioned above.
Probiotics have been shown to improve irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and diarrhea caused by antibiotics. Taking probiotics reduces your risk of infection from bacteria, parasites, and other viruses.
Over at CYRx MD, we offer a nutritional supplement that has more than 30 billion probiotic bacteria that will help you boost your immune system, while also boosting vaginal, urinary, and oral health. What are you waiting for? Try it today to get your gut health in check.
(Black Friday to Cyber Monday sale - 20% off all skincare and nutrition products)
For More Nutrition Blogs: https://www.cyrmdnutrition.com/blogs
Glowing, Radiant, and Healthy Skin
Here are 3 ways you can have glowing, radiant, and healthy skin through the winter months:
HYDRATE
You should make sure to maintain adequate hydration. When you’re dehydrated, so is your skin, often leading to a dull complexion or patches of dry, flaky skin. Water cleanses your body, washing out chemicals and waste products. Drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water a day will help ensure your skin is plump and hydrated.
USE SUNSCREEN REGULARLY
The sun is the #1 cause of premature aging and skin damage. To mitigate the damage that the sun’s harmful UV rays can have on your skin, make sure you wear sunscreen or use skincare products with an SPF rating of 15 to 30. It’s also important to note that you should use sunscreen even if it isn’t sunny outside. The power of the sun’s rays penetrates cloud cover, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
WATCH YOUR DIET
What you eat can have a huge effect on the quality and appearance of your skin. Watching your diet is especially important if you’re someone who is prone to breakouts. If your diet includes a lot of processed foods, oils, sugar, and chemicals, it’s going to show up on your skin. These foods tend to stimulate your skin to produce more oils, often leading to an increase in breakouts and blemishes.
While watching your diet, applying sunscreen, and staying hydrated will go a long way to producing the skin you desire – it may not always be enough.
CYRx MD Skincare provides a full line of products that can treat a variety of skin conditions. Our restorative cream (my favorite) can help reduce the appearance of dark circles under your eyes, puffiness, bruising, spider veins and broken capillaries. If you’re prone to acne breakouts, our full line of acne treatments can help you avoid breakouts and Maskne .
For more info: www.CyrMdSkincare.com
The Secret to Success
Choose wisely!!
The most important decision you’ll ever make, even more important than what college you go to or the career you choose, is your life partner. They can either propel your career forward or stifle you. Choose wisely and be sure that you are choosing someone that has the same goals in life that you do and sees the future the same way. Working together, especially as entrepreneurs, can be complicated but if you choose wisely, you can go further faster together!
How Is Alexa Doing?
A lot of people have been asking me how Alexa is doing at UCLA. I’m happy to report that she is fantastic! She applied for and was accepted to be a writer for the school newspaper, The Daily Bruin, as well as part of a fashion production team. She joined Pi Beta Phi sorority and absolutely loves the girls! Academically, she is doing great and acing her classes! She has become increasingly independent and has a sweet group of girlfriends with whom she has really bonded with. She has also maintained a loving and healthy Christ-centered relationship with her boyfriend.
Alexa has learned to book her own doctor appointments, clean her apartment, and buy her own groceries. Lol. (She’s only locked herself out of her apartment twice! ). She also earns extra money doing occasional modeling - so far doing a commercial for Fila Watches exclusive distributor, as well as a shoot for a sunglasses company (that I have not seen yet).
Finally, she has done a little bit of volunteering, but is hopeful UCLA will open up soon and college life will get back to normal so she can fully engage.
I am very grateful for my friends in California who are looking out for her. Your kindness will not be forgotten. It gives me much comfort knowing that she has you all there to lean on and hang with.
CYRx MD Skincare in Vogue Magazine!
Just came in the mail! CYRx MD Skincare featured in the latest issue of Vogue magazine with cover model Naomi Campbell! 🏆🎉
“I knew the products had to be cruelty-free and free of harmful chemicals and common allergens. With all that in mind, I realized the only way to obtain what I was looking for was to research the science behind safe and effective skincare.” ~Dr Cyr
Happy Halloween!
Halloween 2020 was one of the best yet. We missed our girl this year but still had a blast.
Stan Lee created the X-Men to represent those who were different, even feared, to promote Civil Rights. He said, “The only thing we don’t have room for are hatred, intolerance, and bigotry.” “We live in an age of darkness: a world full of fear, hate, and intolerance. But in every age, there are those who fight against it.” (Ororo Munroe/Storm). We love what the X-Men represents. So please, Love each other! Jean Grey, Cyclops, Rogue, and Wolverine signing off!
Thanks to Roderick Batson and Christina Scheet Batson for hosting an awesome celebration of life.
(BTW All Hallow’s Eve was named by Pope Gregory III to honor our ancestors and the Saints the eve before All Saints Day, so relax and have fun)
Alexa & Caden’s Journey
Like most parents, I am incredibly proud of my kids. But I wanted to take a moment to talk about my two older kids, Alexa and Caden. On social media, everyone always sees the results but they never see the journey.
These two probably went through the most in transitioning from San Antonio to Houston. Not only did they have to leave their family and friends, but they had to switch from a challenging AP curriculum at Keystone, to an IB curriculum at the international schools that I place them in downtown Houston. The commute proved to be more than our family could handle; unbeknownst to me the Houston traffic was unbearable and we were spending at least three hours in the car a day. So they both opted for a closer option. Alexa, for personal reasons, switched midway through her junior year. She had to go from AP to IB then back to AP. In some classes cramming 12 months' worth of work into 6 months in order to be prepared for the AP exams at the end of the year. At the same time, she was preparing for a very competitive state pageant, which she got extremely ill 2 weeks before and became septic. The doctors put her on a course of antibiotics and steroids, and she was good for the pageant, but became ill again afterward. The multiple courses of steroids caused a subsequent 30-pound weight gain over the next 6months. She struggled to get the uncomfortable weight off with an extreme diet and exercise regimen. At the same time trying to catch up and finish as close to the top of her class as possible. She was also preparing for SATs vigorously, taking every practice test available to her.
One thing I can say about Alexa is that she’s a hard worker. She’ll always be the hardest worker in the room. Despite having very little social life and studying constantly, she was selected for girls state, President’s advisory council and vice president of her senior class. Alexa then applied to 17 colleges. Most of them extremely challenging. Her acceptances included three of the best, most competent schools in the country, among others. Of those three she was awarded academic scholarships to all (Berkeley, UCLA & U Mich).
Caden also had a difficult transition, not just because of switching schools but he probably had the closest friendships in San Antonio. Leaving friends that were like brothers to him was difficult and I certainly felt the weight of that. But he also had to deal with his father traveling so much back-and-forth to San Antonio and Houston. Caden and Colton have always been very close to Steve and this sacrifice was very difficult for our family. It proved to be the right decision and Steve does not travel nearly as much as he used to, but it required sacrifice on their part. Just like his deployments to Iraq did.
Caden has always done really well academically but he had lost his luster his freshman year. He closed his business he had for several years and it was difficult to get him re-invigorated in something else. Fortunately, we were able to and he’s thriving again. I’ve always known that Caden is exceptionally bright with very little effort, but the thing I’ve noticed most is that he has the Midas touch...everything he touches turns to gold. His first time hunting he shot a buck, his first time deep-sea fishing he caught a Marlin, his first time bidding at an event he won a trip to Vegas...he is the type of kid you want to take with you to buy a lottery ticket. Haha. But we are not big advocates for gambling so he will have to figure out how to channel this gift in other ways.
So, all this to say, is that nothing is ever easy and nothing is as it appears. When parents sacrifice, children typically have to as well. Although we try our best to shield our children from our own personal struggles, sometimes making them privy to the fact that life isn’t always a walk in the park is good. They need to understand that there will be struggles, BUT as long as you have each other, and some faith in God, that’s all that truly matters.🙏❤️
My Current Skincare Routine
As Fall approaches, it is necessary to take a good look at your current skincare routine. As the temperature begins to drop, it is necessary to ensure that you are feeding your skin with the vital ingredients it needs to enhance healthy, beautiful skin. Studies have found that adding retinol pads to your skincare routine this Fall comes with several benefits. These pads are ideal to help cleanse and hydrate the surface while enhancing beautiful, youthful skin. Here are a few reasons you should use retinol pads.
Helps Minimize Inflammation:
Applying these pads to the surface of the skin is an amazing way to help keep your pores unclogged. Unfortunately, if your skin has an excessive build-up of dirt and impurities, this causes the pores to become clogged, which leads to redness and swelling on the surface.
Promotes Youthful Skin:
Unfortunately, as we get older, it is not uncommon for the body to produce less collagen. Once the body begins to produce less collagen, this makes it easier for visible signs of aging, such as wrinkles and fine lines to appear on the facial area. Fortunately, adding retinol pads to your skincare routine has been shown to help boost collagen production on the skin. Once collagen begins to increase on the surface, this helps limit premature aging on the skin and also minimizes wrinkles and fine lines on the surface.
Helps with Skin Regeneration:
People have found that using retinol pads have helped improve conditions such as hyperpigmentation and scarring on the skin. Studies show that these pads help enhance the skin regeneration process, which makes it easier for the surface to recover at a faster pace to help maximize healthy, youthful skin this Fall.
CyrMdSkincare.com
#RetinolPads
Full article right here.
Be Better, Not Bitter
I’ve been listening to Andy Rooney’s satirical commentaries for as long as I can remember, but this one I found especially on point. Maybe it’s because I’m one of those “near 50” women that wouldn’t go backwards to save my life...
“As I grow in age, I value women over 50 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: A woman over 50 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ She doesn’t care what you think.
If a woman over 50 doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it’s usually more interesting.
Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age.
You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 50, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.
For all those men who say, ‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? Here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage.”
#andyrooney ☺️😉 #SoTrue #BeBetterNotBitter #cyriouslyspeaking
Know Your Worth Ladies
Frida Kahlo told her husband, "I'm not asking you to kiss me, nor apologize to me when I think you're wrong. I won't even ask you to hug me when I need it most. I don't ask you to tell me how beautiful I am, even if it's a lie, nor write me anything beautiful. I won't even ask you to call me to tell me how your day went, nor tell me you miss me. I won't ask you to thank me for everything I do for you, nor to care about me when my soul is down, and of course, I won't ask you to support me in my decisions. I won't even ask you to listen to me when I have a thousand stories to tell you. I won't ask you to do anything, not even be by my side forever. Because if I have to ask you, I don't want it anymore.”
Giving Back to Your Community
Well, I guess Alexa is enjoying her first week in Los Angeles without us. She was invited by Executive Chef Vallerie Castillo Archer of Yamashiro Hollywood to participate in a zoom cooking class with all proceeds benefiting the non-profit, Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club.
Vallerie’s co-host was Matt Underwood. If you are old, like me, your kids may know him from Zoey 101 (which Alexa used to watch every day of her life growing up).
Seriously, so glad Alexa Cyr is finding a way to keep up with her non-profit work. Giving back to your community has a way of keeping you humble and focused on what is important.
Grateful to people like Vallerie who have a heart for children and causes that support them.
Fun fact: Alexa’s grandmother Maria Luz Centenera-Cyr is from the Philippines so she grew up eating the delicious food that they prepared today!
Living Your Best Life
We spent our last meal at #Hollywood Hotspot #Yamashiro visiting with Executive Chef Vallerie @chefvallerie. Coincidentally, Steve and I went to middle and high school with Vallerie (Castillo) in the #Philippines!! Kind of a strange coincidence that I “re-met” her through a mutual colleague after all these years.
I’m always so proud when I see people from my childhood who have become successful in their respective fields. I always try to celebrate them and am genuinely happy for them. I think people spend too much time trying to act “unimpressed” by other peoples’ success. I don’t know why we consciously or subconsciously do this, but I do try to make an effort to intentionally give people the props that they deserve for the hard work that they’ve put into their careers.
Here’s to living your best life! Continued love and success! Cheers! #losangeles #hollywood #travel #ucla #amazingfood #bestview
Always Consider the Source
When I was 13 years old, I was reading a very ambitious book for my age... I don’t recall the exact name, but it had something to do with the rise of Christianity in Western Civilization. My uncle, a Doctor of Theology, saw me at the kitchen table and immediately walked over and picked the book up from my hands. He turned to the back of the book and began to read about the author. After about five minutes, he handed the book back to me. I asked him what he was looking at and he explained to me the importance of understanding the “perspective” of the person whose book you’re reading. You see, the title of the book was ambiguous enough that it could have been written by an atheist who didn’t tell the story from a Christian world view, but rather a secular. Don’t get me wrong, atheists have the right to write books too, but it’s important that we understand what we’re reading and whose perspective we are digesting.
The same goes when watching the news, reading the newspaper, or listening to a speaker. It’s okay to read and listen to different viewpoints, it’s just important that we understand the angle, perspective, and motive of the person delivering the message.
Personally, I like to watch opposing viewpoints because it helps me understand the other side of the argument. It helps me to challenge my own belief system and hopefully strengthen it.
The best debaters know both sides of the argument. They can argue the opposite side just as well as they can argue their own. Every “side” has its “points” and that is why the country is so divided. But YOUR truth comes down to what is consistent with who you are as a person, your faith and your belief system.
My uncle taught me an invaluable lesson that day. It has since stayed with me for the majority of my life. Everything I read, everything I hear, I always consider the source and where they’re coming from and why. What do they have to gain and what is their motive/agenda? Sometimes there isn’t one, or the motive is for good, but my point is simply to be AWARE.
Live Your Life with Integrity
I try not to discuss politics too much on my posts because I feel like it’s a polarizing topic. I tend to respect other people’s opinions, or at least try to. Obviously, I don’t agree with things that are morally against my faith, like some of the things that have cropped into our social norms and culture. That said, politics has gotten so personal lately and I want to share a personal story of how this type of mindset has affected me and Steven.
We were, and still are, very good friends with a former local politician and his family. For many years while he was in office, their family would come to our home for get-togethers, such as birthdays and Bible studies. They are truly great, genuine people.
I had a couple friends that took advantage of this relationship that I had with them and befriended them through us - these women would play with their kids, take pictures with them, post their “clout” on their social media, and basically were opportunistic. What bothered me the most was that I was an unknowing catalyst for them to be able to capitalize on this relationship.
When reelection came around, they (yes, plural) publicly and privately spoke out against this friend. They certainly had a right to do whatever they wanted as they felt they had personal reasons to do so, but what blind-sided me was that they had spent the last two years using me to get to a social position that they wanted to be in and once they “thought” they got there, they used the opportunity to leverage the relationship in a negative way, by association, and actually started a smear campaign and got others involved.
Although I would never disassociate with people based on a difference of opinion, I would disassociate people that I felt were morally unethical and lacked integrity. Transparency in relationships is so important; you don’t have to agree with me, but don’t use me for self-serving purposes.
This is an example of politics have become so personal and I understand that people have strong opinions, just like I do. But trying to destroy people’s personal relationships and lives because of politics is not the way to go. The crazy thing is, they could have just reached out directly to this person, but instead they took to social media against someone they knew personally through me.
I wanted to tell the story because so much has been said about it over the last couple of years. I never really talk about it because I feel like the truth speaks for itself and the character of the people involved should speak for themselves. You should never have to defend yourself to a friend and you should never have to explain yourself either, so I don’t.
My whole point is ...be honest. If you don’t like someone or something, don’t pretend like you do to get to a place that you feel like you need to be in to justify who you are. Just be yourself, be you. Don’t make politics such a personal vendetta that you lose relationships over it. Don’t be a bottom feeder...live your life with integrity.✌🏽#PeaceAndLove 😘
10 Random Facts Challenge
I was sent this “10 random facts challenge” a while back but never did it, until now. I guess it’s better late than never.
1. I was born in Saigon, Vietnam, during the Vietnam War and I am half Vietnamese (mom side) and half Norwegian (dad side)
2. I love to cook but I don’t like following recipes
3. I met my husband, Steven Cyr, when I was 12 years old, but we were not married until 1999 and we have been together since
4. I have four children, who are the greatest & most important loves of my life
5. I am very introverted and can come across as socially awkward
6. I grew up in the Philippines and did not move to the mainland United States until I was 13 years old
7. I don’t like shopping
8. I am a Christian
9. I love to travel and experience different cultures (I especially love learning about their history and cuisine)
10. I am very intuitive and analytical, I think a lot and I’m always in my own head
Bonus:
11. I have absolutely no rhythm and cannot find a beat to save my life
Happy 10th Birthday Colton!
“If I had to choose between loving you, and breathing, I would use my last breath to say I love you.”
Happy 10th birthday to my heart. I love you so much.
'Maskne' Is a Real Thing
I’m feeling very color coordinated today with my matching mask. Lol. 😂😜 Seriously, I don’t know if anyone is having the “Maskne” issues but I was just talking with a friend in the beauty industry and apparently it’s a real issue.
The skin irritation of wearing masks for prolonged periods of time can be frustrating. Masks create an environment that irritates the skin due to increased temperatures, moisture/humidity, and pressure on the skin. This can lead to damage to the skin barrier leading to redness, acne, tears in the skin, and even scarring or discoloration.
Thankfully, CYRxMD Skincare has several products to protect the skin from mask-related issues. The Ultra Recovery cream has Ceramides and moisturizers to protect and treat the skin from damage. If acne results from the sweat and irritation, The Acne Control System can be a skin-saver. It is the world’s first non-irritating micronized benzoyl-peroxide system which increases penetration and efficacy. With scarring or dark discoloration of healed skin, use the Melasma fade, retinol pads or Tretinoin cream, or Antioxidant cream to lighten this discoloration. First and foremost is prevention, so start with Ultra Recovery cream twice daily and hopefully, your skin will stay pristine.
Shop: www.cyrmdskincare.com
CYRx MD Skincare (As Seen On TV)
Here’s a collaboration we did with Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank for CYRx MD Skincare!