Ripped in 30

With everything going on in my life right now fitness has taken the back seat. Right now I'm working on getting some order back in my life so I can refocus. For the most part I've tried controlling what I eat to manage the weight gain but as you know stress causes me to eat. For a fresh start I ordered Jillian's newest DVD "Ripped in 30". As you know Jillian is my favorite trainer and I practically have all her workout DVDs. Once I receive my copy from amazon.com I plan to use this DVD to jump back on the workout bandwagon.

Weekly Inspiration

"Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools."

-Ecclesiastes 7:9

1 Year Natural

July 9 marked my 1 year Nappiversary and I’m so excited to reach this milestone. This past year overall has been a good one in regards to my hair. However, the last couple of months I started to experience some frustration which I talk about in my “Hair Woes” post.

Overall, my hair is the healthiest and longest it’s ever been before which I contribute to improving bad hair habits. Notice I did not say my hair is healthier because I’m natural. You can have healthy long relaxed hair but the natural route is the better option for me. Transitioning to natural forced me to change my mind set and learn my hair’s needs.

Now, have I learned everything I need to know about my hair within one year? No, there is still a lot I need to learn and document throughout my journey. Even though I had a short “thought” of relaxing my hair I’m still happy with my decision. The thought I had was basically out of pure frustration; the frustration built up because I strayed from the basics which I will talk about later in this post.

Within the last year I’ve noticed that my hair is curlier and I love it. Another observation is my hair needs water more than once a week. Since I workout 3-4 times a week my hair needs more water due to sweat. However, since my hair is highly porous I make sure to use a ph balanced conditioner to help close the cuticle and lock in moisture.

As a way to celebrate I’ve included pics from over the past year and list of tips learned for my hair. Please forgive me for the late anniversary post: life happened. Enjoy!!

Tips
1. No matter what stick to the basics!

a. What are the basics (for my hair)? Water and a ph balanced conditioner to seal in moisture by closing the cuticle

2. Low manipulation styles are my friend

3. Since “this” product works for me why try a new one

4. Patience is a virtue!!

Life always throws curve balls

Hi everyone! Let me start by apologizing for the inconsistent blog posts and please bear with me. This year has been tough for me in so many ways and too much to explain. All I know is that life has thrown me way too many curve balls this year and it’s time for someone else to play catch. Seriously, I do plan to start up my weekly postings as soon as my plate is cleared.

Recently, my 9 year old niece has come to live with me and to my surprise she was relaxed. She just received her relaxer about two months before coming to Texas. When I picked her up at the airport one of the first things she said was “Auntie, can you make me an afro puff?” Of course I was proudly sporting my puff which inspired her to want one too.

Currently, my plan is not to relax my niece’s hair again so unbeknownst to her she has started transitioning. Since I have sixteen months of transitioning experience under my belt she should have a good transition back to natural. Of course I discussed this with my sister and she is ok with my decision because I have to deal with the maintenance. Hopefully you guys don’t mind but I plan to document my niece’s journey right here!

Until next time ladies, ciao!!

Get fit with Netflix

You read right! Now you can get fit with Netflix. There are tons of fitness DVDs you can receive by mail or upload to your TV. Here is a list of just a few: Jillian Michaels, Crunch, and the Biggest Loser. If you have Netflix you should take advantage of it to try out the DVD before purchasing it. This morning I worked out to a kickboxing fitness DVD uploaded right to my TV. How convenient? Now I can have more variety without stretching my pockets!!

Weekly Inspiration

Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.


Viktor Frankl

Hair Woes…

It’s common to experience frustration with your natural hair. During my transitioning phase I was able to avoid my hair “woes”. Now that I’m embarking on 1 year natural the frustration with my hair is starting to build up. Oh where do I start with my hair rant? The frustration is in every aspect of my hair from length, thickness, shrinkage, battling the frizz, to finding the right product(s). At this point I just want to enjoy my hair but I feel like I cannot. On one hand I want to wear my hair free but on the other hand I need to wear protective styles to retain length. Right now I’m trying to find a healthy balance but it’s hard when the weather is battling against me. The humidity in TX is unbelievable and I’m having the hardest time finding the right products to help with the frizz.

Now I’m constantly learning new things about my hair and documenting the process but at what point will “everything” just click for me. Please do not be alarmed but I truly thought about just relaxing my hair. Seriously!! Then I thought about how limp and lifeless my hair was, the money spent on relaxers, and not to mention the countless hours in a hair salon! What’s the point?! At the end of the day I decided to stay on my natural journey and get back to the basics. For me, moisture and making sure to restore my hair’s ph balance is essential. But every now and then I sway away from the basics after viewing or reading an awesome product review. At some point, like now, I need to get it together in order to reach my bsl goal in December. *sigh*

With all that said I still love my natural hair and just needed to vent. Thanks for reading and sticking with me on this journey!!