If you’re new to our story, several years ago, we were both diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Long story short, it’s super common to develop food sensitivities if you have an under active thyroid. After researching for months and months on specific “diets” to alleviate our symptoms, we decided to start following the Paleo diet. While you may have heard of this “diet” we prefer to call a lifestyle floating around the media, it has the potential to remove the triggers that promote inflammation and intestinal permeability, a major cause of digestive issues.
The good news: it worked wonders for us! The bad news: no more ANYTHING grain related! That meant no more oats, no more baked goods (created with conventional flours)–basically no more of our favorite foods!
Frustrated (and sad), we began baking up lots of treats (among those were some super tasty waffles)! We were so in love, we decided we wanted to share them with the rest of the world!
Then came our two babies:Simply Stacked, a 100% grain-free baking mix, and Double Dose Bakery, all natural, grain-free toaster waffles.(Okay, we are referring to our products, but if you’ve ever created a product, you know exactly how we feel! )
Our Simply Stacked mix is perfect for baking! It makes the FLUFFIEST pancakes, and it can be used to make anything from brownies, cookies, cakes, cheesecakes–anything! Even better, these treats will all be packed with protein and fiber, and low in carbs! The mix only contains three ingredients: Organic coconut flour, psyllium husk, and baking soda. For more information, head over to www.getsimplystacked.com!
Our Double Dose Bakery waffles are true homemade goodies that are made ONLY with ingredients that we would put in our bodies–that means no artificial flavors or preservatives and no refined sugars. They are perfect for busy mornings! All you have to do is pop them in the toaster and delicious waffles await you! For more information, head over to www.doubledosebakery.com!
We are Alexis and Samantha– identical twins living in Dallas, TX.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin (HOOK ‘EM!) with degrees in Management Information Systems (we promise it was totally not planned that we majored in the same thing!), we both worked corporate jobs at a public accounting firm before deciding to go after our dreams of running a creative business.
When we aren’t blogging, you can probably find us hanging out with friends or family, trying a new restaurant, or watching football! We love getting to share our love for fashion and creativity with you all and are so happy you are here!
Do you get your eyebrows microbladed? If so, do you recommend it, and why?
We did have them microbladed a couple years ago, but last year we got semi permanent makeup done on our eyebrows (very similar to microblading), and LOVE the results, even a year later!
We shared all of our favorite self tanners in this post!
FASHION:
What is the best way to shop your outfits?
The easiest way is to download and follow us in the liketoknow.it app (usernames are @alexis.belbel and @samanthabelbel. You can also shop all of our outfits at the “shop” tab of our blog!
Do you buy petite size clothing for length? I am 5’2″ and have a hard time finding pants that fit.
Yes, we almost always buy the “short’ or “petite” lengths! We know the struggle is real! Stores like Abercrombie, Express, and Loft all offer those!
PERSONAL:
Do you live with Samantha? I need a twin sister in my life!
Yes! We still live together, and fight 24/7, even though nobody believes that, haha.
What is your nationality?
Both of our parents have European backgrounds. Our mom was born in South America, and our dad was born in Egypt, but their parents were both from different regions in Europe. People always think we are Middle Eastern!
How tall are you?
We are both 5’1″.
WELLNESS:
What do you all do for your workouts?
We do a lot pilates, yoga, p.volve, walking, rebounding, some weights, and some running. See more of our workouts here!
What juicer do you all use?
We use this one and LOVE it! We have had it for almost 6 months, since we started juicing celery!
Celery juice? What are the benefits to drinking it?
I see lots of veggies for meals, but what do you snack on? Looking for ideas besides almonds.
We honestly snack on TONS of fruit. Not joking when we say we eat 4-5 apples a day, in addition to other fruits! We also love dates and baking some sweeter desserts/snacks from Medical Medium’s website, or from online!
We shared what we eat in a day in this post as well!
What are your tricks to staying so motivated with health and fitness?
We honestly think it has to do with lifestyle and habit. It takes a LONG time to get used to living a healthier lifestyle, and we always say, you can’t go from 0 to 100 overnight.
Making small changes over time is the best thing you can do! We started off eating this way for health reasons, but we didn’t do all of this overnight. We have been eating this way for 7 years, so it is a lifestyle, and one we enjoy now. We would say doing little things like eating more vegetables or adding more fruit in are good places to start. Also, swapping soda or sugary coffee for infused or sparkling water is a good one, too!
Becoming a blogger: where to begin, tips, challenges, how to make steady income.
It can be so overwhelming, and we have talked about it a lot in our podcasts, blog posts, etc. You can read more about in this FAQ post. We always say don’t go into it for the money because that is not something that is going to keep you in it.
You have to be passionate about it, or you’ll hate your life. Yes, it can make money, but it is tough, and you have to be extremely driven. A lot of the girls that we know in this industry are extremely hard working.
If you’re like us, then you LOVE bright shoes! We admit we actually enjoy looking like human highlighters 🙂 Add that to working out and basically living in our workout gear, and you have super dirty tennis shoes! Ew!
We have used our bestie, Google, to find ways to clean these suckers, but haven’t really found a great method that gets them back to their bright selves. THEN, we came up with this method, and it works great!
