Diet Challenge of the Week: DRINK LOTS OF COLD WATER

This week I will focus on my water intake in addition to portion control.  This is something that is difficult for me because I not only drink way less than I should but I also find water very boring.  I prefer soda and juice when thirsty.

As you often hear, drinking water is very good for you.  Experts have always recommended drinking atleast 8 cups of water a day to stay well hydrated. Additional benefits of water include: healthy skin, hair and nails, flushed toxins, reduced risk of heart attack, reduced risk of disease and infection, cushioned and lubed joints and muscles, more energy, staying regular, and regulated body temperature.

There are added benefits when you drink cold water. Cold water is not only more refreshing, it is also more easily absorbed into your bloodstream than warm or hot water. Because your body is constantly regulating your temperature, your body uses extra energy to bring cold drinking water up to 98.6 degrees. Your body will burn additional calories just to heat this cold water in your stomach.  How cool is that!

Lets make it a water on the rocks week!  Although we'll be running back and forth to the bathroom, we'll be bettering our bodies in so many ways.

New Weave Installed

Last week I noticed that I had a lot of breakage and that was extremely dissapointing.  I know that it is because I have been using a lot of heat since I am due for a relaxer.  Ive also been lazy when it came to moisturizing my hair. 

I decided to have my sister install a weave and keep it in for atleast 2 months.  By the way, check out her blog and youtube videos at http://www.hairdelacreme.com/.  She has great information on growing and maintaining healthy hair.

My sister braided my hair in sort of an orange peel design.

She left out my edges in case I want to wear ponytails. 

 She then sewed the braids down.

This is the hair that was installed. There was a sale at my beauty supply store.  I bought two packs, one is 14 inces for $59.99 and the other is 12 inches for $49.99.  Duvessa is premium quality Remi hair designed to last longer.  Its tangle free and easy to care for.

After installing the weave, I dyed my hair with a black rinse, blowdried and straightened.  Here is my final result.

I am really loving the straight look.  When I get bored I'll layer the front and curl it.  I'll be sure to post those pics.  Later guys!



Diet challenge of the week: PORTION CONTROL

Portion control helps you to lose weight. When you carefully monitor your portion sizes, you decrease the amount of food that you eat. This makes it easier to burn off those calories through less activity.


This week I will focus on the amount of food I consume.  My biggest problem when it comes to food is overindulging.  Chinese food and pizza are some of the foods I should definetly stay away from because I rarely get that feeling of being full no matter how much I eat. 

I want to train myself to always eat in moderation which includes eating only when hungry and eating a decent amount.  The easiest way for me to accomplish this is by preparing my meals beforehand.  Today I brought some cereal for breakfast which I ate out of an 8 oz coffee cup with non-fat milk.  For lunch I had about 1 1/2 cups of yellow rice and beans and about 4 oz of baked chicken breast. I will most likely have a yogurt for snack and another chicken dish for dinner.  This is pretty much the meal template I'll follow this week.  Lets see if I can see some good results on Sunday.

Hair update (So much happened since January!)

Where do I begin? Ok let me put it like this, I:

1. texlaxed - tried to relax my hair because I could not take it anymore.  My hair was too hard to manage and since I am so picky with hairstyles, my choices were limited with natural hair.  I tried to relax it but I did not leave it in long enough.  I ended up having texlaxed hair, meaning I softened my kinks but kept the texture. I liked it for a while but got tired of the big hair. 

2. hightlighted - As you can see in the pic above, I added some highlights.  The salon was careful about using bleech but ended up leaving the color in my hair so long I might as well used bleech.  I love the highlights! It adds so much pizzazz to my hair.

3. relaxed - As I said, I missed my straight hair.  All I kept picturing was going to the beach or pool and having such a hard time maintaining my hair.  I LOVE my relaxed hair and do not think I will ever go back to natural.  Its just my preference.  Here is a pic of my hair last month:

As far as my regi goes, I no longer have one.  Once I relaxed my hair, I have been washing, co-washing and moisturizing.  I tried a new shampoo and conditioner but I do not like the feel in my hair.  The condition smells very good...very almondy.  The shampoo smells like cologne...a bit strong.

Here are some length pics that were taken about two months ago:

I will treat and install a weave in my hair this weekend.  I'll do the length check before and after I clip my ends.  I'll post those pics along with the pics of the install and some info on the regi I will be using.

See you then! :-)

2011!! Happy New Growth!!

Hey guys!

I straightened my hair last month so that I can post my end of year lenth pic.  As you can see, I am currently neck length.

My goal for this year is to pass necklength, pass shoulder length and move right to armpit length.  I am about 6 inches away from APL.  If I grow and retain atleast 1/2 an inch a month, I will be graduating from APL school in December. 

My regi will remain the same.  I'll be cornrowing my hair and protecting it with weaves and wigs.  I'll wash biweekly and moisturize daily.  I am also keeping up with my hairfinity vitamins.

I currently have an install in.  Im wearing the Bohyme Brazilian Wave, 14 inches.  Very beautiful hair and great for kinky curly naturals.  Im not sure how long I will keep this hair in but I am shooting for atleast 2 months. 

So thats my hair update.  I will keep you posted on my progress.  Grow girls!! Grow!!

Its been one year since my last relaxer!

This is definetly the longest that I have stretched my relaxers.  My plan is to stay natural for some time but I wont lie...its tough!  My hair is tough!  I also miss seeing the sleekness I had when I wore ponytails or when my hair was straightened and wrapped.  I guess I need to find a really good straightener. 
My last relaxer was December 19, 2009.  Here is what my hair looked like then:

As you can also see, this was before my hair tragedy.

Anyway, I am now 100% napylicious!  My goal for 2011 is to grow and retain atleast 6 inches.  Thats half an inch a month bringing me to APL (Armpit length).  To achieve this goal, I will continue to wear cornrows under wigs and weaves.  Its very quick and simple and also less manipulation.  I'll be back with end of the year pics so we can see what Im working with next year.  Stay tuned. 

I can still braid my TWA!!

Yay!  I can still braid my hair!!

So I bought a new wig and could not get my freshly washed hair to lay flat so that I can see the beauty of my wig. I decided to cornrow my hair. I braced myself for a frustrating task but no...the process was so easy!

I applied some Ms. Jessie's Stretch Silkening Creme to each parted section and then braided. 

I was amazed that after chopping off 2 inches from my hair, I still have decent length! Sorry, I didnt take a pic.  I will next time.

After braiding my hair, I continued with my wig wearing regi:

Apply some braid spray

Apply some S Curl

Put on my wig cap

Put on my durag and pull the back to tight to flatten my braids

Then on goes my beautiful wig!

I usually take out my braids and wash my hair every weekend to get rid of the product build-up but I'm going to see how long I can keep these braids clean and neat. Hopefully 3-4 weeks...pretending I'm wearing a weave. Plus I'll be able to see the progress of my new hair-growth vitamin called Hairfinity.