Unbeweaveable

As I said in my last post, I am currently wearing weave. Just like anything else to do with my hair, everyone had questions and opinions. One friend wanted to know why I was getting weave when I was "supposedly" natural. I tried to explain about protective styling, etc, but his eyes just glazed over. My cousin assumed I got weave so I could work out more. Um no, I don't let my hair stop me from hitting the gym. These are just a couple of the questions people asked but I had many, many more.

Mainly, the reason I decided to wear weave is because I simply wanted to give my hair a break. Any time I have worn braids or weave my hair has grown like a weed. I wanted to leave it alone to grow without being manipulated daily.

I wanted hair that looked like my own, just longer. I did a ton of research on the Black Hair Media forums, and decided on All About My Hair's Kinky Curly wefted hair. It can be found here. I got the 12 inch length, and my stylist ended up cutting a lot. I wish I had left it a little longer looking back but there is always next time.

Had I left my hair out (another regret), it would have blended perfectly. The hair was kind of an off-black/really dark brown color, and that did not work for me. I guess I am too used to coloring my hair! Here is how it looked when it was first installed:

It's hard to see how dark it is there, but it was dark. About a week and a half later, I went to MPS to get my color done. It's the same salon who did the color on my natural hair. I can't believe how good it turned out. I gave her minimal guidance and it turned out absolutely perfect. However, my stylist was not too impressed with my weave install. She had to tighten up parts of it for me, a week and a half after it had been installed. Oops! Anyway, here is how it looks with the color. Yes, I am having a photo shoot at my desk at work. Shouldn't I be working?

All in all, I love my hair. There are a couple of things I wish I had done differently, but it's not a huge deal. Since I got a good, quality hair this time, I'm hoping that this install will last me awhile and I can reuse the hair.

I'm baaaaaaaaack

Hey all!

As you can see I have had quite a hiatus from my blog, but I had a new reader comment this week which made me think "Someone is still reading my blog!" So I thought I would get back to it. I stopped partly because I spilled some melted Nourish & Shine on my computer keyboard. At first I thought it didn't really affect anything, but slowly but surely different keys started going out. The 5, T, G, B, and space bar stopped working properly. Pretty important keys there.

Besides that, life just got busy with work, the holidays, and everything that comes along with that.

I'm still running, and I also started the Insanity workout DVDs. That along with journaling my my eating on Sparkpeople (I gave up on Weight Watchers after they introduced their new plan - sorry, JHud), has enabled me to drop nearly 30 lbs and counting. I started dating someone, my BFF got engaged.... I could go on and on but I won't. I'm back now and that's all that matters!

Right now, I have my hair weaved up, which I will take some pics and give some details about in another post. I am also approaching the anniversary of my big chop! I'm a little sad I won't get to take pics of my hair for the occasion but such is life =)

So that's what has been going on with me, I promise to update more often going forward!

Breaksfast On the Go

I was supposed to share these recipes last week. Oops. Anyway, I have found that I do better through the day when I have a healthy and filling breakfast. These two recipes definitely fit the bill, and they are portable. I make a batch on the weekend and put them in the freezer. I take out what I want each morning and by the time I get to work and get ready to eat, they are thawed and ready to be heated.

Quiche Cups

12 eggs
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
3-4 slices Canadian bacon, chopped
1/4 cup onions, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese (I use Kraft 2% Cheddar)
salt & pepper
splash or two of Tabasco, if you like a little kick
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Chop the bacon and onions, saute briefly in a small skillet with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Microwave frozen spinach until thawed (approx. 4 minutes). Squeeze out any excess liquid.
3. In large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly.
4. Pour evenly into cooking-sprayed muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. Can eat hot or let cool on rack, then refrigerate or freeze individually.

To reheat, microwave on 6-7 or medium power for one minute.


Baked Oatmeal

2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fat free skim milk
1/2 cup Egg Beaters (or 2 eggs)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup Splenda (I don't like artificial sweeteners so I just use regular sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
cooking spray

Preheat over to 350 degrees

1. Combine wet ingredients and add dry ingredients.
2. Bake in sprayed 8" square pan for 35-45 minutes.
3. Keeps well in refrigerator or freezer. Good cold or warm.

Variations - I like o add chopped walnuts and dried cranberries to the mix. Also good with mashed banana instead of applesauce. Experiment to change things up!

Success! First Weigh In

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are doing a Biggest Loser type contest at my job. We had quite a bit of time between the initial weigh in and our next weigh in due to the Labor Day holiday.

Our first weigh in was on Friday, and I lost 4.2 lbs! Woo hoo! We are doing teams of two, and my partner lost 2 lbs. Which she confessed was purely by accident - she hadn't been tracking her food (she is doing Weight Watchers), nor had she been working out. And she doesn't seem motivated to do either one. GRRRRRR. But what can you do? I can't make her do it.

This week I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing with a few minor tweaks. I am going to step up my workouts, and try to add more fruits and vegetables. This is something I really struggle with but I am going to try and do better. Wish me luck!

On another note, I bought two pairs of jeans in a size smaller than I wear as motivation and they arrived on Friday. I thought I would try them on just for fun and they fit already! I didn't have to jump and down to get them on or anything. They just fit. I was able to wear them to a party yesterday. I guess that running is really working!

BKT Wash N Go

I just wanted to share some pics of my wash n go on BKT'd hair. Enjoy!

First Post- BKT wash

Here are pics of my wet hair which were taken this afternoon. My curls are definitely more loose, especially in the front where it was already loose (because of the highlights). But I have my curls back and I feel like myself again.




The best thing about the BKT, now that I see my hair will curl up, is the fact that I will have more options. I wore my hair straight all weekend, where I spent most of the days in outside in the heat, and my hair only reverted slightly at the roots. I very much prefer my hair curly, but if I decide to change it up for a week, I can do that. I'm also hoping the BKT will help with the single strand knot problem I was starting to have as my hair grew longer.

Major Hair Update - BKT

Well I succumbed to peer pressure (haha not really), and I got a Brazilian Keratin Treatment on my hair (BKT). So far I like it, even moreso once I saw that my hair still had my curls. It seemed to be BKT week at my job, as one of my coworkers also got it, and now another is considering it.

I went to a stylist that a different coworker also got her BKT from a few weeks ago. I went in last Tuesday. Here are the before pictures of my hair:



My stylist used the Coppola brand. After washing my hair, she blew it dry, then applied the keratin. She used a hair color brush and applied it in very small sections. After covering my head with the keratin, I sat for 30 minutes with a plastic cap over my head. She then blew it dry again, then flat ironed it straight.

It was evident I needed a trim, so she cut off about half an inch. One thing I loved was that she showed me exactly how much she was going to trim, and let me watch in the mirror. Most of her clients have longer hair, so I knew she wasn't one of those scissor happy stylists. Anyway, after the trim, my hair was just hanging there. She couldn't put any curl into it until after three days had passed, and I had my first WTF have I done to my hair moment.


The next morning, when I did my hair, I am going to admit I cried. I didn't know what to do with it! I went to work and of course everyone loved it. No one understood why I was upset, except my coworker who had gotten her BKT on Monday of the same week. She felt the same way I did. I went through the next two days trying to my hair. I was so mad at myself. Then came Friday *cue angels singing and heavens opening up*

I went back on Friday for the three day followup. This was to wash my hair and style it again. She washed my hair and of course my first question was, "Is it still curly?" Yes, yes it was! I even saw for myself (thought I didn't get to take a picture). She then dried me under the dryer (and I timed it, at her insistence). It took **6** minutes to fully dry my hair under one of those regular salon dryers. SIX! Anyway, she then flat ironed my hair again, and here are the results:


I went home to see my family this weekend, and my mom's first question was "what did you do to your hair?" Once I reassured her I had not relaxed it, she admitted it was cute. I was proud of my mom, she has come a long way. She was so against me going natural and now she was worried I was going back to the creamy crack. My other family loved my hair but my aunt took it too far saying that this was so much more flattering to me blah blah blahhhhh. My mom got her told.

So that's my experience! I don't know if I would do it again but I'm glad I got the itch out of my system. My advice if you are interested is to go to someone who is trained on doing the BKT, and look at before and after pictures. The stylist I used had one of those digital picture frames full of before and afters. Also, ask a lot of questions - and if the stylist acts irritated that you are asking a lot of questions, keep it moving. Some people who do the BKT flat iron and blow dry on high temperatures no matter what. My stylist took one look at my fine strands and knew my hair couldn't handle it, and blew dry on cool and did not use anywhere close to 450 on her flat iron.

Tonight after the gym I am going to wash my hair myself for the first time and I will be attempting a wash and go. My stylist said I should do it exactly the same as I did it before so we shall see!

Day 1!

So today was the first day of my new healthy lifestyle. I think it went pretty well - until I got home this evening.

I stuck to my plan for breakfast: I had two mini quiches and a greek yogurt. Lunch was leftovers from last night: tilapia and steamed broccoli. I felt great and after work went to the gym. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and did 30 minutes of weight training.

I got home, and was STARVING. I jumped in the shower, did a wash-n-go, and looked for something to eat. The first thing I saw was some salt & vinegar potato chips. Why didn't I throw those out yesterday? Luckily there weren't too many in there. I guesstimated (another bad move) 2 oz. I journaled it and moved on but I am pretty upset with myself. I am going to have to start planning a good snack for the afternoons so when I get home I am not reaching for the first thing I see in the kitchen.

All that being said, for my first day I think I did ok.

We also got **74** participants signed up for our Biggest Loser contest at work! I'm looking forward to the friendly competition between coworkers!

Failure to plan....

...is planning to fail ~ Alan Lakein

This is one of my favorite quotes. I am a planner by nature. I love a good to-do list. Going on vacation? Come to me, I love to research the locale. I am on the Fun Committee at my job, responsible for planning all the events around the office. One area I struggle with my love of planning is in healthy diet.

Anytime I have been successful with a healthy lifestyle, it's because I planned ahead every bite that went into my mouth. Because of this, I am planning out my menus for the week as I type. Being that I am single, I can cook a couple of things and stretch them for the entire week, so that helps a lot. Here are the meals I have planned for this week:

Breakfasts:
Mini Quiches
Baked Oatmeal

Lunches:
Dinner leftovers

Dinner:
Lemon Garlic Tilapia, broccoli, brown rice
Mexican Stuffed Peppers

I'll be sharing these recipes throughout the week!

The Biggest Loser!

I haven't posted in awhile but I'm back! Life has been a little hectic the last couple of weeks, bu things are back to normal.

Anyway, at my job we do a little weight loss competition modeled after the television show. The next "season" starts tomorrow. This weekend I have been fattening myself up for the initial weigh in tomorrow morning (haha). I am also spending today making some healthy breakfasts on the go.

I am going to follow the Weight Watchers Simply Filling Technique, which is pretty much a cross between the South Beach Diet and the traditional points technique of Weight Watchers. If anyone is a long term Weight Watcher (like myself *_*), and remembers the Core plan, it's basically that, with a new name.

So I thought it would be fun to document my process on my blog. With me having to post updates it will help keep me accountable too. I'll still be talking hair and fitness, and we'll just add this to the agenda as well.

I'll check back in tomorrow with the initial weigh in update and maybe if I'm feeling brave, some starting pictures!

Answered prayers

A little departure from the normal topics around here.... The weirdest thing happened last week.

A few months ago, my friend wanted to try online dating, and wanted me to try it too, so I said what the heck. However, I am not even going to lie, I am extremely picky, so it wasn't really going anywhere for me, until I heard from this guy, we'll call him "R".

R seemed nice enough, normal, employed, and had all his teeth, so I continued to chat with him. And chat. And talk. And text. Lather, rinse, repeat. Never any plans to actually get together. Why I continued this foolishness for two months, I have no idea, but I did. I guess nothing better going on. It's not like he lived across the country - he lives in a suburb about ten miles from me. So there was no reason for us not to meet asap.

Anyway, last week, we were texting AGAIN, and he busts out with "I think I used to date you." I've seen this ninja's picture, and he doesn't even look vaguely familiar. I told him I thought he was mistaken. He asked me if I used to live in GenericSuburb. Check. Didn't you have surgery for xyz? Ummm, yea. And you drove a green car and moved back to Dallas? Ok, WTF? How can I not remember anything about this dude? I was freaked out, but also embarrassed. The ONLY thing that was strangely familiar is that when I got his number, I thought it looked like a number I'd seen before. I work with numbers all day and have a tendency to memorize them easily, so there you go. The only thing I can remember about this guy was his phone number? Good grief.

My main concern was why did we stop dating? I asked R, and he said we just grew apart. That doesn't sound me at all. So I prayed about it. I asked God to please let me know what I needed to do about this guy. That is saying a lot for me, because I am (sadly) not a big prayer. God forgive me. But you know what, God always comes right on time.

R and I were supposed to get together finally tonight. I was the one who finally had to force the issue, which I don't like at all. He told me that he would let me know b/c he might have to go out of town, and he would let me know this morning. I am not the type of girl to put my life on hold waiting around on some man, but I made an exception and looked to hear from him this morning. Not a word from him. So, now I think I have my answer as to why he and I stopped dating eight years ago. His weirdness about us getting together, the fact that I have felt I have had to chase him, and his lack of consideration about letting me know about tonight told me all I need to know.

So the whole point of this long drawn out story is that prayer works, and listen to what God is trying to tell you, even if it's not what you want to hear! And as Jay-Z would say:

The twist out revisited

I'm still being super adventurous and rocking my twist outs. I really like them because my hair isn't quite so shrunken and it shows off my length a bit. Plus it makes my hair look really thick. Here is a picture of my second attempt last week.

(I'm such a dork)

Then, this past Wednesday I got really crazy and decided to do a twist and curl.

I used a combo of flexirods and perm rods. It wasn't bad sleeping on them. The next morning I took them out and there was one random piece that was hanging down lower than the rest, so I had to roll it while I finished getting ready.

It turned out ok though, I think. It's not my favorite so I don't know if I'll be trying this one again.

I DID remember to take the perm rod out before I left for work!

Last night, I washed my hair, and for the first time since doing my BC, I did not do a wash and go! I washed with Nutrogena T-Gel (I have developed dry scalp again, something I thought was gone by way of the relaxer), conditioned with Joico Moisture Recovery, and applied Knot Today as my leave in. I squeezed the excess water out, divided my hair into four sections and did a large twist in each section. I let my hair dry to about 80% dry, then did small twists all over using Nourish & Shine and ORS Twist and Lock Gel.

When I woke up this morning my hair was totally dry so I untwisted and separated each twist. My hair was full of super defined ringlets. It was gorgeous and of course I didn't take any pictures this time! I got several compliments while I was out shopping today! The cashier at DSW was telling me that she was currently transitioning and was 8 months post relaxer. I gave her some encouragement and told her to stick with it, it would be worth it in the end!

I got home before it got too hot and retwisted it again since I don't plan on going out tonight. Tomorrow headed on a road trip to San Antonio with one of my besties. Have a great weekend!

*sigh*

I just had to share this conversation between my coworker (a sista) and I this morning:

Coworker: What you done did to your hair now?

(hasn't my hair looked like this for the last three months, minus the two days it was straight?)

Me: *stank eye* I washed it.

Coworker: But it was so pretty and long! You should wear it like that.

Me: Well, I like it curly and straight but the curly is just easier.

Coworker: Once you get it trained, straight will be easier. It's really growing.

Me: Yea it is growing. I like my hair the way it is, I don't want my hair to be trained.

Coworker: If you'd get your hair trained, it might get as long as mine one day.

Me: *death stare with fake smile*

***************************************

And THEN, later on that morning we have conversation with me and coworker "Becky":

Becky: You're hair is curly again!

Me: Yep

Becky: Well I just wanted to tell you your hair is so cute either way. It's so versatile.

Me: Thank you!

***************************************

I just really have no words about my own people sometimes.

Randomness

My inner product junkie won out this weekend and I ordered two new products: Jessicurl Weekly Deep Treatment and Wonder Curl. So I'll be doing some product reviews in the near future.

Today after work, I washed my hair and my straight hair was no more. It was fun while it lasted. I was grateful to find I had no heat damage. I was really concerned that I would have some.

I have been a slug since I've been back on vacation. How does one work out every day on vacation then decide to take a break when they return? Foolishness. Anyway, tomorrow morning I am going to start over with my Bridge to 10K program. I am trying to lose 10 lbs this month.

And now for something really different...

Every month or so, I think I want to straighten my hair. I get myself all psyched up to do it then I chicken out. This time curiosity got the best of me, so I called the salon where I got my color done and made an appointment, which was yesterday. I wanted to do a length check, and see if I needed a trim.

It turned out so well, I wish I hadn't done it.. lol. Good thing I love my curls!



He also said my ends were in great shape and there was no need for a trim. That was a new one, as I'm used to being in a constant state of "needing a trim" and never being able to get my hair past a certain length. Now I have the longest my hair has been in my adult life. I have to say going natural is the best thing I have ever done for my hair.

My first twistout!

Me being me, I have been getting a little bored with my hair, so I thought I would experiment and try something new. I was sitting on the couch messing with my hair, and I did a couple of sections in two strand twists. Then I thought, well let's get crazy and do my whole head! Because as you know it doesn't get any crazier than a twist out. I'm such a daredevil!

I took a lot of breaks and it took me about two, two and a half hours to finish. Here is a picture of my hair in twists. They turned out pretty big but I think I did an ok job keeping them uniform:


This was done dry, on a two day old wash and go, and I didn't use any additional products on it as I twisted it. I put on my satin bonnet and slept on the twists overnight. The next morning, I took the twists out, using a little Jane Carter Nourish and Shine to separate and fluff. I wasn't too sure at first but I kept working with it and put on a headband and ended up really liking it:



My coworkers were all "your hair is longer!" I didn't want to try to explain the whole stretching thing to them because they wouldn't get it anyway so I just said I did something different with it. Anyway, now I feel confident to try some different things so who knows what I will come up with in the future.

On another note, look how much my hair has grown since I got my highlights last month!

My Denman brush revisited

This morning I pulled out my trusty Denman brush and decided to use it to shingle my hair with the Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Thought I would try something different. I kind of had forgotten about my brush... hahaha.

I washed, conditioned, and applied Knot Today as my leave in. I sectioned my hair in four sections and clipped each section. In the section I was working on, I separated smaller sections, brushed with the Denman, then applied a small amount of KCCC. I repeated this over my entire head.

I used the same amount of product I usually do (maybe even less), and it didn't really take much longer than it usually takes me to do a wash and go. And here are the results:

Cute! Curls are poppin', but the shrinkage is killing me! It blows my mind looking at that picture, that I can pull my hair back into a ponytail.

Anyway, it's almost time for me to get my Carribbean on. I'll post again next week when I return!

Slowly but surely

So I'm still doing my running evening though I have not really given an update. Oops! I just finished Week 3 of the Bridge to 10K. That was a tough one. It actually took me four sessions to finish instead of the planned three sessions.

I am going to start Week 4 on Wednesday, and I am going to TRY and keep it going while I am on vacation later this week. Week 4 consists of a 5 minute warmup walk, run 18 minutes/walk 1 minute, repeating this three times, then a 5 minute cooldown walk. Week 3 was 17 minutes of running, so hopefully I won't have too hard a time with this.

What I haven't been doing is running outside like I should. It's just so hard! My whole body hurt last time I did it a couple of weekends ago. I need to get back on track or I'm not going to be ready for my 5K I have planned next month.

I use Nike+ to track my running, and I made it to the Green Level, which means I have run a total of 154 miles. Go me! To celebrate my accomplishment, I think I might treat myself to a new pair of running shoes. Any excuse to shop! Plus I won't get to the next level until I get to 620 miles. WOW.

Hair/progress pics

Today was deep conditioner and wash day, so I thought I would take some pictures of my hair while it was damp so I could see how it looked before shrinkage. Here is one damp hair shot with some leave in conditioner:

Here is a different view. Please excuse my brows. I am going to get them done today, lol:

Here it is after I've applied my KCCC:

And here is the back:

Shrinkage is something else. You can't tell from the pictures, but my hair is now long enough to pull back into a small ponytail. Definitely long enough to attach a phony pony if I want to go back to that as a protective style. I think I am making great progress! Also, looking at my roots, I think I have gained about a half an inch in length since I got my highlights which was a little less than a month ago. I'll take it!

Finally, when I had my big chop almost three months ago I went out and bought the KCCC. I balked a little at the price, but I am happy to say that I am still on the same jar that I bought three months ago. And I probably have enough to last another month or so. So definitely worth the money in my opinion.

Perfecting my flat twists

I had today off from work so I have been playing around with my hair while I was lazing around on the couch. I really want to get my flat twist technique down, because I want to be able to do this style:

I think I've got it down, I just have to practice more. I would love to be able to do it for when I go on vacation in 9 days, but knowing me, that's not going to happen. I would just love not to have to fool with my hair for a few days. Maybe I can talk one of my friends into doing it for me :-)