Goal Review | March Review, April Setting

March Review

1.       Exercise at least 3 times a week – For half of the weeks I exercised more than 3 times, but failed this goal on 2 weeks, when I just did 2 session for the week, overall, I feel the progress is great!

2.       Drink 1 litre of water a day – This has always been a challenge for me, I definitely did much better. During the week I do well, but over the weekends it’s another story

3.       Cut down on sweet stuff to only 3 treats a week – I didn’t keep score on this goal, but let me not kid myself, I failed miserably.

4.       M&S regularly – passed.

April Setting

1.       Continue not using heat (on a 6 month challenge 3 months down)

2.       Weekly protective styling

3.       Use coconut oil every wash day

How were your goals for March?

Happy Hair Journey’s Ladies! :o)

‘Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great.’ – Mark Twain

Fitness Friday| Strength Exercises

Over the weekend, as I sat around bingeing on sweets and donuts (why do I do this!) I really did notice how my belly is not toning up as quick/well as the rest of my body. My belly has always been my problem area.

As I was running on Monday morning, I started thinking about incorporating strength exercise into my exercise routine to help me with toning up. I currently jog 3 times a week and do Yoga twice a week. When I started researching some strength exercise that I can do that will not involve me going to the gym, I found out that Yoga is a strengthening exercise, which is great, but the overall visible benefits from doing Yoga as a strength exercise alone is much slower. Yoga helps with toning as it involves you carrying your body weight, thought if you want to bulk up more you would need to add more weights as Yoga weight is limited to your body weight.

So I really need to incorporate faster pace strength building exercise routine.

Insanity popped into mind. Insanity is a great exercise routine, but lawd, it can be very demotivating, I really don’t need that right about now.

When I did some more browsing, I got great ideas of strength exercises I could do at home, they sure did look and sound a lot like the insanity drilled but maybe not as fast pace. Then I thought to myself, yes it is demotivating at times and makes my body ache oh so much…but if Yoga is a strengthening exercise and I am in this exercise routine for the long haul, not for the next month or 2 but as part of my everyday life. So with that I put my fears of fast paced Insanity behind and have embraced my current routine with the possibility of increasing another Yoga day.

However, I have not completely ruled out insanity in my routine. Maybe just do as much as I can and when I can’t push anymore…stop

So the plan this week was

3 x Running

2 x Yoga

Everyone needs some strengthening exercise in their routine to help with toning up the body.

Happy Fitness Friday Ladies! :o)

‘My life is my message’ – Mahatma Gandhi

Wash Day| Protein Treatment - #11weeks

This week’s highlight was strength = protein.

[1] Sectioned hair in 4 and prepooed with coconut oil, each section was then braided.

[2] Put hair in heat cap for 30 minutes

[3] Diluted Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Shampoo with walnut oil and water. Shampooed my hair once

[4] T-shirt dried hair for 15 mins and applied ORS Replenishing Conditioner per section and detangled each section

[5] Put on a heat cap and left it overnight

[6] Rinsed out conditioner and t-shirt dried hair for 45 mins.

[7] Sprayed Aussie Hair Miracle Insurance Leave in and coconut oil to each section and left it to air dry for a full day

[8] Next day hair was still damp (in braids) detangled, used the tension method to dry hair, and M&S with ORS Carrot Oil and a serum.

[9] PS for this week is a bun using kanekalon braiding hair.

My hair is shedding like crazy! Detangling was a breeze, at 11 weeks post this is amazing. Next week Saturday is my planned relax day, however, I don’t think time will permit, as my hair is still manageable, I will hold it off for another week or 2 until I have enough time to tackle a monster relaxer day.

Next week’s wash day focus will be black tea rinse to combat the shedding.

How was your wash day?

Happy Hair Journey’s Ladies! :o)

‘Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.’ – John Watson

Fitness Friday| Meditation & Yoga

Happy Friday everyone!

This was the first week I tried meditating! I was really sceptical of it all but I really needed to take control of any stress and anxiety in my life and I was promised that meditation would really be good for me.

Meditation

I have done it 3 times this week, to avoid me making any exercises about time I decided to do it on my way to work as I sit on the train, then thought, let me do this right, so tried it after work at home.

 I downloaded 2 meditation apps on my phone

1.       Beginners Mediation

2.       Take a break

Day 1: I got comfortable on my exercise mat laying flat on my back. I put my headphones on and listened to the instructors. As I have never meditated before, I was a bit scared of completely clearing my mind, so I kept on opening my eyes. Not quite sure what I was even scared about!

Day 2 -3: After overcoming my fears, I let go and really meditated. Amazing! I loved the relaxed feeling I got after my sessions. I do not know why it have taken me so long to try it, I highly recommend it! Afterwards, or at least during the session, I feel free from any worries, or anything that I need to do, it is really a state of complete relaxation.

Yoga

Yoga and meditation go hand in hand, but am busy trying to stretch myself to meditate as I do my yoga. I have joined the 30 day Yoga challenge at DOYOUYOGA.com , when you sign up they send you daily 20 mins Yoga exercises to your inbox for 30 days. I have not been spammed by them at all!

As I run 3 times a week, I have been doing the Yoga on my rest days Tuesday and Thursday (will skip weekends). Honestly I love the exercise, the instructor is really flexible, so my version is never quite like hers but I will get there! I highly recommend this challenge, exercising has never been so simple and convenient!

Has anyone tried meditation or Yoga? How did you find it and any tips?

 ‘Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up’ Thomas Edison

Mid-Week Hair Update

Pending relaxer

There hasn’t been anything too eventful with my hair of late. I am just weekly protective styling it and prepping it up for my relaxer day. Though I am not too convinced I have enough growth to touch up yet. I am a self-relaxer, so I really need a good amount of new growth to really avoid any issues with overlapping.

So, I will protein treat my hair this coming week, at 11 weeks post, I will be moving on a weekly basis until I feel my hair has enough growth for a touch up. At the moment I will not be touching up my hair at 12 weeks post, I will review it at 13/14 weeks post.

Changing it up

I have been reviewing my hair regimen and at the moment I do not really use enough coconut oil in my regimen (like once in 4 weeks at bestK), so I will be incorporating more coconut oil into my regimen.

1.       After wash day when my hair is air drying I will apply coconut oil to my hair after I apply the leave in conditioner

2.       Every other day I will be moisturising my hair with coconut oil and sealing it.

Oil + Shampoo

If you have read my wash day posts of late, you will notice that I DC on dry hair and skip off the prepooing stage (oil only prepoo). The main reason for this is to avoid jumping in and out of the shower during my wash day.

Now I know quite a few ladies do not like using a shampoo after a DC as they feel it washes off all the DC goodness. I am fine with washing my hair after DC; I have not seen any difference in my results, so it works for me. The one thing I have switched up is my shampooing sessions. This is what I do with my shampoo to pretend my hair.

1.       I dilute my shampoo

2.       I add an oil in my diluted shampoo mixture

3.       I only shampoo my hair once.

Another reason I am comfortable DC on dry hair is I co-wash my hair, most of the time.

How has your week been?

‘Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.’ – Mark Twain

Hair Study | A comparison of African- American hair against Caucasian hair

I read an interesting article this week about black hair and its comparison to Caucasian hair. Though the results of the research most people are aware of, it was just interest to read. I have only gone into details for on the ones that surprised me.  The research looked at:

1.       Hair diameter

2.       Break stress test

3.       Resistance to combing

4.       Comparison of static charge properties

5.       Level of moisture

I have only looked at point 1, 4 and 5, 2 and 3 I thought were as expected. Now I did not look into the detail of the samples hairs, I believe it was mostly natural hair.

Results:

Hair diameters

The research found that African American hair has an irregular diameter along the length of the hair.

The ellipticity index averages

African- American hair: 1.8297 ± 0.1456

Caucasian hair: 1.2887 ± 0.1182

My thoughts: This might result in our hair being more fragile as the strand strength is not consistent, thinner areas can break off. Note to self really be careful when handling hair.

Static charge when combed

African- American hair has a high static charge when combed than Caucasian hair. As a result having more fly away hairs

African-American hair: (-25.4 kv/m)

Caucasian hair: (+6.6 kv/m)

 African-American hair (chemically straightened): (+25.9 kv/m)

The research noted that with high charged hair, you tended to have a balloon effect with the hair, and some strands just do not lay down

Level of moisture

African-America hair has less moisture by weight compared to Caucasian hair.

African-American hair: 17.69%

Caucasian hair: 18.66%

Holding 5% less moisture

My thoughts: I know our hair does not hold the moisture as well, but I was expecting more than 5% less, I mean how dry does our NG get!? My overall thoughts on this is that the struggle of moisture is a struggle with all hair types

See the article for yourself at: (http://www.dralisyed.com/2008/05/study-on-physical-properties-o.html)

Happy Hair Journey’s Ladies! :o)

‘Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom’ – Marcel Proust

Wash day #10wkspost

Before I started my wash day, I sectioned my hair in 6 and braided each section.

1. DC on dry hair with Vatika Black Seed deep conditioner hair mask for 2 hours, to help with heat generation I used 2 heat caps, regular shower cap, plastic bag and stocking. I could feel the heat! 

2. Rinse out conditioner and shampooed once with Elasta QP creme and conditioning shampoo diluted with water and walnut oil. 

3. I tea rinsed my hair with burdock root, first time trying this.

4. I applied Herbal Essence Hello Hydration conditioner and left it on for 5 mins, then rinsed

5. I t-shirt dried my hair for 20 mins sprayed Aussie Hair Miracle Insurance leave in conditioner and coconut oil, then a layer of ORS Carrot Oil and sealed it in with a serum and let it to air dry in the braids

6. A few hours later when my hair was 80% dry I detangled in sections. 

Overall great wash day, minimum issues during my detangling. My plan is to protein treat my hair next week, ready for relaxer, which am still debating about.

Burdock root really left my hair moisturised and I believe really helped me with the easy detangling. Will order more.  

Overall at 10 weeks post it feels too good to be true.

How was your wash day?

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o) 

“ Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself. ” Robert Frost

Mid-Week Hair Update

Bagging

Take 2, I bagged my hair three times this week and I am still in love with the results! My hair is super moisturised and so manageable! Last week I also bagged by hair 3 times.This is definitely here to stay in my regimen.

Wig, wig, wig

Now, I have been craving a LT protective style and have my weave already in my arsen! But then I remembered my hair does not do well with LT protective styling. So I have decided to make a wig with my weave, then I will never have to have my hair in a LT PS but I have the option of having a LT PS look! Will let you know how my wig looks like. However, I loved the bangs I had over the weekend. Not brave enough to give myself real bangs.

9 weeks posts

Where has the time gone! I can hardly believe am 9 weeks posts, I should really start getting ready for my relaxer at 12 weeks post, but to be honest I don’t see any new growth, it has really blended into my texlaxed hair. I don’t think I have any more than ½ an inch of new growth. Will review my hair more closely in the next 3 weeks and see what will be my best move.

Exercise

This week has been as good as last week, managed to jog for 30 mins 2 times this week! It is still an effort for me to get out there and jog, but it is slowly becoming a habit, I hope! Hopefully the week to come will be just as amazing!

Happy Hair Journey’s Ladies! :o)

‘If you will say it about them, don't be afraid to say it to them. If not say nothing at all.' - Anonymous 

Fitness Friday| Motivation to keep going

It has been 2 months now since I started my exercising life and I love the new found energy I have. It is unbelievable I had all this energy in me!

It has been really difficult to keep it going at times. When I started, I was powered with the thought of something new, then I dropped a few pounds and the motivation got stronger. But after a while, the weight doesn’t move as much as it did at the start, and the thought of exercising becomes just another thing on the list that I have to do for that day.

This is what has helped me keep going.

Phase 1: Start gradually. When I decided to take up exercising, I started with one day of exercising in the first week. I then built this up to 2 exercising days a week and then 3 exercising days each week. I am hoping to slowly incorporate 4 days of exercising. The key was doing it gradually.

Phase 2: Find something you enjoy. For me, this has been jogging. Most people find jogging boring, but the great thing about exercise is you can do so much; boot camp work out, kick boxing, swimming, aerobics etc. the list is endless. I tried Pilates and Insanity at the start, but I am enjoying jogging more, and when my exercising routine is more stable I will incorporate more variety.

Phase 3: Allocate a set time. You need to allocate a time for you to do your exercise and stick to it. I am currently working out 3 times a week and I know my workout days are; Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I used to work out after I got back from work, but I found I would start making excuses of why I could not go from about 3pm that day. So to avoid this I have changed it to 30 mins in the morning before work. With spring coming and the sun rising before 7am I have no excuses.

These were the 3 phases that I have used to keep going with my exercise, and really I hope it becomes a habit soon, I love all the extra energy and swing I have!

How have you kept the motivation to exercise going?

Happy Fitness Friday! :o)

‘Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.’ – Karl Kraus

Scalp Scan

I was reading the Stylist Magazine the other week, and there was a section about hair, and a subsection about assessing your scalp.

They have 3 different types of scalp problems and possible reasons and solutions. I thought it was very interesting and useful as I had a scalp issue not too long again. Though this is not an extensive list of all possible scalp issues, I still thought it was good to share.

Dry and flaky scalp – Apparently 1 in 5 people suffer from this.

Cause: This is mainly due to not washing hair often enough to get rid of dead skin on your scalp surface according to hairlossconsultation.co.uk

Also, foods with dairy and alcohol are harder for the body to metabolise, therefore the body’s immune is sent into overdrive, and this can also cause dry flaky scalp.

Solution: Their advice was to look for an antibacterial shampoo with piroctone namine ingredient.

Flaky and oily – This is a combination of dandruff and greasy roots.

Cause:  This is usually a fungal infection. This is triggered by a change in diets and lacking vital nutrients for skin.

Solution: Possible solutions are a vitamin supplement and dandruff shampoo containing zinc

Red and itchy – This is usually eczema

Cause:  it is triggered by high level of histamine in body or yeast on the scalp. This tends to be a reaction to alcohol or spicy food if you have sensitivity to the two.

Solution: The solution is to use a shampoo to cleanse the scalp (clarifying shampoo); however, this is not a cure for the eczema

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! :o)

‘Do not think that what is hard for you to mater is impossible for man; but if a thing is possible and proper to man, deem it attainable by you.’ – Marcus Aurelius

Wash day #8 weeks post

[1] Sectioned hair in 8 twists and applied a Vatika Black Seed Conditioner with a mixture if glycerine, lavender oil, rosemary oil and walnut oil. 

[2] Detangled and left it on overnight

[3] Rinsed out conditioner 

[4] Shampooed hair with Elasta QP creme and conditioning shampoo mixed with walnut oil.

[5] Tea rinsed with rosemary tea

[6] Co wash  with Herbal Essence hello hydration 

[7] T shirt dried my hair and sprayed Aussie Hair Miracle Leave in conditioner and detangled.

[8] Flat twisted and wore a wig for the rest of the day. 

How was your last wash day. For 8 weeks post my hair has been really good, my new growth appears to be really blended with my new growth.

Happy Hair Journeys Ladies! 

“ If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. ” - Federick Douglass