Weekend Life Lessons

Well it was a 3 day weekend for me and as I'm sitting here listening to the background noise of my honey playing call of duty I can't help, but reflect on this weekend. Well first of all Whitney Houston and her family have been on my mind a great deal this weekend. I'm glad that she is able to rest with the Lord and no longer has to worry about trying to fight her addiction, but I can't help, but feel for her family especially her mother and daughter. Her funeral was a beautiful and traditional service. Needless to say the Houston family is and will continue to be in my prayers.      On a lighter note the boo started getting sick on Thursday and I took care of him and of course in the process I ended up getting sick. I started to feel a tickle in my throat on Friday and attempted to take medicine to counteract the cold thing that I had going on, but it was too late and by Saturday I had a headached, stuffy nose, sore throat, swollen glands, and a slight fever. Well it's Monday and I'm finally feeling better...right in time for work...go figure!
     Lastly, what I did to my hair this weekend...I washed it on Sunday and did my Protein/Moisture Mix and I think I'm going to slow up on how often I'm doing it just a little bit. As of now my plan is to do it at 2 weeks post, 7 weeks post, and again at 9 weeks post. Just trying to make sure that my hair doesn't experience protein overload. I
     I am 4 going into my 5th week post and since I have done this protein treatment every week I will not do it again until the week right before my relaxer.

Hair Goals for 2012

Well I know I'm a little bit late, but I figured I'd post my hair goals for this year so here goes!

• Full BSL
• Continue DCing twice a week
• Remain consistent with my regimen
• Continue to minimize breakage
• Grow out areas of hair that experienced breakage from self relaxing attempt
• Take even better care of new growth

I will soon post a picture of where my hair is now, but I believe that it is about 3 inches away from BSL and probably another 2 inches from that will make me full BSL. I've got big goals, but I know with hard work I can make them or at least come close!

Midweek Wash

Well as y'all know Wednesday is my midweek wash day. My scalp has been forever grateful since I've started doing this! Anywho onto the real topic of this post. Because I've been going to bible study on Wednesday nights when I get home I immediately apply conditioner to my dry hair and sit under my steamer for about 20 minutes and then hop in the shower and cowash with my hair one. By the time I finish it's well past 9 o'clock and if I want to give my hair a chance to air dry it's 11 o'clock before I know it. I've tried going to sleep with my hair wet and in the morning it's not only still wet, but I just don't quite like the way my hair feels so tonight I decided after applying my leave ins (after letting my turbie twist soak up most of the water for 5-10 mins) to gently blow dry my hair on cool setting for about 5-7 minutes. This is just what my hair needed to dry faster. My hair is about 60% dry, but feels amazing. After blow drying on cool setting I smoothed my edges with my fantasia IC gel and tied my silk scarf. I am letting my hair hang down with no bun in order for it to dry as much as possible before I go to sleep. So far I'm really liking this, which is funny since I haven't used a blow dryer since I experience a setback from attempting to self relax. If all goes well I may continue to do this on my midweek wash day when I go to bible study!

Benefits of Sweet Potatoes

Well in addition to being on a healthy hair journey I've also been on a healthy weight loss journey. To this date I have lost 20 lbs and am hoping to lose 17 more. In my quest to find yummy, yet healthy things to eat I have become infatuated with the sweet potato. Here are some of the benefits of it :

. They are high in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps reduce the chemical homocysteine in our bodies. Homocysteine has been linked with degenerative diseases, including the prevention of heart attacks.

2. They are a good source of vitamin C. While most people know that vitamin C is important to help ward off cold and flu viruses, few people are aware that this crucial vitamin plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. It helps accelerate wound healing, produces collagen which helps maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essen­tial to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.

3. They contain Vitamin D which is critical for immune system and overall health at this time of year. Both a vitamin and a hormone, vitamin D is primarily made in our bodies as a result of getting adequate sunlight. You may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (or SAD, as it is also called), which is linked to inadequate sunlight and therefore a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin Dplays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth, and it supports the thyroid gland.

4. Sweet potatoes contain iron. Most people are aware that we need the mineral iron to have adequate energy, but iron plays other important roles in our body, including red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper im­mune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.

5. Sweet potatoes are a good source of mag­nesium, which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Magnesium is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function, yet experts estimate that approximately 80 percent of the popula­tion in North America may be deficient in this important mineral.

6. They are a source of potassium, one of the important electrolytes that help regulate heartbeat and nerve signals. Like the other electrolytes, potassium performs many essential functions, some of which include relaxing muscle contractions, reducing swelling, and protecting and controlling the activity of the kidneys.

7. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet-tasting but their natural sugars are slowly released into the bloodstream, helping to ensure a balanced and regular source of energy, without the blood sugar spikes linked to fatigue and weight gain.

8. Their rich orange colour indicates that they are high in carotenoids like beta carotene and other carotenoids, which is the precursor to vitamin A in your body. Carotenoids help strengthen our eyesight and boost our immunity to disease, they are powerful antioxidants that help ward off cancer and protect against the effects of aging. Studies at Harvard University of more than 124,000 people showed a 32 percent reduction in risk of lung cancer in people who consumed a variety of carotenoid-rich foods as part of their regular diet.2 Another study of women who had completed treatment for early stage breast cancer conducted by researchers at Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) found that women with the highest blood concentrations of carotenoids had the least likelihood of cancer recurrence.

9. There are versatile. Try them roasted, puréed, steamed, baked, or grilled. You can add them to soups and stews, or grill and place on top of leafy greens for a delicious salad. I enjoy grilling them with onions and red peppers for amazing sandwich or wrap ingredients. Puree them and add to smoothies and baked goods.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-sweet-potatoes.html#ixzz1mCyBTj4c

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-sweet-potatoes.html#ixzz1mCy3mQXx

Things I've Learned throughout my hair journey

1. Someone else's hair regimen will not necessarily work for me. When I first started I jumped on every long haired girls bandwagon and tried their products and was greatly disappointed when I wasn't left with hair that looked like their's.
2. Every new hot product isn't going to magically make my hair grow!
3. Every person's hair does not grow at the same rate. I've seen ladies who've gone from ear length to BSL in 2 years. In my personal journey that's not the case. I am going on year three and I have gone from ear length to almost a little past APL. I'm currently working on reaching BSL by December 2012.
4. Concistency is key to any hair journey. I have not always been consistent in my hair journey and because of that my hair has suffered. I am currently doing my best to remain consistent. My hair has been thriving from that.
5. Self relaxing is not for everyone. I tried it. All it left me with was breakage that I am still recovering from.
6. If something works for you don't change it!

FAT

So I'm sitting here DCing my hair under the steamer and playing around on YouTube and I ran across a video with a lovely Brazilian chick dancing...so I was reading the comments like I normally do on Youtube bc often times they are amusing and someone commented 'she's beautiful, but she's fat'. Now if you see this girl she's what most guys where I'm from would say is 'thick' She's in great shape...has hips and butt outta this world and still the first thing someone can see is that she's not a size 2. I think that's sad. Ultimately I think you should be whatever size makes you happy. I have and am still losing weight to meet a personal weight loss goal for myself..some people like that I'm losing weight some people don't, but I'm doing it for ME so otheir opinions dont matter! Ladies, we have got to learn to do things for us and ignore the negativity from others because at the end of the day we all know that someone will ALWAYS have something to say!

Whew!

Well I had every intention of blogging yesterday, but life got in the way of that! I had to run some errands with the boo when I got off work and then went straight to the gym after that! I had a great 40 minute workout...20 minutes of cross training on the eliptical and after that I lifted weights. The boo is my trainer (he played baseball and was in the band in college). I've been told that I have to work out consistently for 3 months...I'm on month 2 right now. I'm excited because I'm really dedicated to this and down a total of 18 pounds! My goal is to track on here my weight loss as well as how my gym training is going.





Because of my workout schedule (5-6 days a week) I'm washing my hair twice a week

Headache...

Well I'm laying down in the bed with a pounding headache...it ruined my plans to go to the gym today or to do much of anything else. I haven't shared, but I have lost about 18 lbs and am trying to lose another 15...days like today I'm a little unsure of if I'm ever going to get there...persistence is key right :-/ On a lighter note my hair felt amazing after my protein/moisture DC mix...I'm absolutely loving my hair and for the first time in a long time catering to my hair to maximize my growth. All in all I believe tomorrow will be a better day...be blessed!

Protein/Moisture DC Mix

Well it's Sunday which means Washday for me so I'm sitting under my steamer DCing my hair with my protein moisture mix that I created. I do this treatment once a weak to my hair and so far I have been seeing less breakage and stronger more moisturized hair. I'm really loving the results! Here's the recipe:

**no exact measurements taken**

• 8 squirts of Aussie Moist
• 5 squirts of Aphogee 2 Minute Reconstructor
• 2 squirts of Roux Porosity Control
• 1 squirt of honey
• 1 squirt of aloe vera jelly
• 1 squirt of honey

I apply this concoction to my dry hair in sections every Sunday. After I sit under my steamer for about 20 minutes I hop in the shower...rinse out my hair and follow up with my Hair one tea tree cleansing conditioner. I then rinse and proceed to apply a little aussie moist to my wet hair continue showering and right before I get out I rinse the conditioner and detangle my hair. My process is pretty simple and so far it has been working for me so we'll see how this works out.

Target Haul

Well today I stopped by Target to pick up a couple of things that I was running low on and even a few new things. As y'all can tell from the picture I'm an Aussie Moist fan...I love the conditioner as well as the 3 minute treatment. I normally mix them and it gives me great slip. Since I'm washing twice a week now I'm going through my conditioner a lot quicker than normal. I also picked up a Conair Velvet Touch Soft Touch Handle brush with rounded flex tip bristles. For years I've held onto this paddle brush that has the generic bristles and I've noticed a lot of split ends lately and I really think that brush could be the culprit. Thanks to Traycee from KISS I decided to give this a try. I'll do a review later and let you guys know how I like it. Lastly I bought a satin scarf to use on wash days to lay down my edges. This definitely helps to keep my bun looking sleek!

Sleep vs my hair!

Well my goal is to blog on a more regular basis about my hair and what has been working for it as of yet. The boo and I just got back from going out to eat and I was so sleepy, but decided I'd better go ahead and moisturize and seal my hair before I got too tired and regretted it later. I moisturized in sections with my garnier fructis smoothing milk and sealed with my proclaim natural 7 oil. Right now I am 2 weeks post, but I have noticed such a difference in my hair and the amount of breakage I've been seeing since I tweaked a few things in my regimen...I'll talk about that in a later blog. After moisturizing and sealing in sections I did the same thing to my nape and edges and followed up with about 2 drops of oil that I put just on my ends...now my hair feels like silk and I can sleep without feeling guilty about neglecting my hair!