Bad week

this week on the health tip wasnt a good one. So Ive lost 5lbs so far but I think Ive put it all back on this week. I started my new position at the other group home and Im not use to packing lunch/dinner for work so Ive been just dumping all kind of simple in a bag and taking with me to satisfy my hunger, that was Monday. Tues I didnt get a chance to cook because I took the meat out too late so I tried to grab some bread a can of tuna and some other stuff.

I ended up eating 1.5 beef patties and some cream soda for lunch. Not the bed lunch to eat. Ive also realize that Im doing so much that I forget to eat when I initially get hungry and when I do realize that Im hungry its at the point where Im starving and then I start scrambling for something to eat.

Yesterday for example I worked a double from 7-10am. Once I got to the second group home I was in training and doing this and that, would you believe I didnt sit down and eat until about 9 pm, mind you Im suppose to stop eating after 8pm.

I did manage to get 2 good workouts in on Monday and Tues mornings and I felt so hopeful about the week but this wasnt the best week. I have to find a balance between working and exercising and eating right and being a mother and everything else I have to be..

Wish Me Luck!

yea right,

so like I had said at the beginning of the month, I was suppose to spend money only on essential things. I must say that I started off good, but this last paycheck I got distracted, I dont know what happened. I mean I did order Chinese food but it was steamed chicken and broccoli with brown rice and I did get a subway sandwich last night, but other than that I havent been buying food like I used to. I went out to eat once but that was on my son's father.

I have been however buying little things here and there that I see that are on sale like batteries, dog food, baby food, makeup, lip gloss. The latter 2 aren't needed but it was buy one get one free lol. Im going to analyzes my bank statement and see what I could eliminate from buying. Next month Im really cracking down and getting serious and Ive got my coworker in on it as well so we'll see.

So behind..

Sorry I havent been posting regularly. I recently got a promotion at my job and Im transitionging so Im doing my new Asst Sup role and my intial position so Im working like crazy but its all good. Im going to try to post the pics from sun, Im shooting to do that on Friday.

As always Im at work now and Ive been searching for Indian grocery stores to see if they had any henna and I found one not to far from my job. They had a good selection of henna and other hair oils, so I didnt really know what to get. I know on a henna for hair the site owner really breaks it down regarding the history and what henna is and everything. Its very imformative and a must if henna'ing is a thought. So I went out on a limb and bought a 200g pack of a Nupur Mehendi and I was very happy that I was able to find a site for it. This package is 100% Mehendi and it has Alma- helps darken haor and promote growth, Brahmi-promotes hair growth and Bkringraj- makes hair black and luxurious.

Im excited but I cant do anything to my head as of yet I just about at 30 days so I have awhile to go before I can do anything to mine but I will experiment on my moms hair. Her hair is very thin and since I got her using some of the hair oils Ive made and taught her about the cowashing her hair has grown a great amount. I still havent done the kinky twist in her head for lack of time but if we can dedicate a day I would like to henna her hair and then kinky twist it.

I also bought a bottle of Dhathri Hair Care Herbal Oil, which the man at the store said was very good and I bought a bottle of Vitka HairOil

I think I might use some of the Vitka tonight before going to bed

finally.....

Today is the day, Im finally going to wash my hair. YYAAYYY for my hair. its been over a week and a half since my last co-wash. This work week is going to be a little crazy so I have to do it know. Im going to cowash with HE Hydralicious the purple one and Im going to try a homemade deep conditioner. I was researching some things other naturals put in theirs, I have most of the common ingredients but Im just going to wing it and see what happens. Also I have to make another batch of my whipped Shea Mango butter mixture. Since Ive been using the raw Shea butter on my face Im going to whip some up as well as a body cream. So Ill back on later tonight with an update.

Day 20

I havent really been keeping up with my routine as much as I would like to but my new growth is coming in at a steady rate. I still spritz my hair with the Infusim 23 and water concoction I made and seal with Shea Mango butter, when I remember, and it seems to be doing a good job. However I haven washed my hair since Fri the 7th. I keep telling myself I need to do it but tonight I will. Im going to the gym and Ill probably do an oil treatment while Im working out and then come home and finally wash my hair.

Im suppose to be doing the same kinky twist on my sis's head before she goes back to school on Sun and my mother wants me to do hers as well. I have my work cut out for me.

I do think that at the half way mark I will redo my twist entirely, I mean this set still looks pretty decent but I think I just want to start a new. Also I might be going to Miami end of May so I might keep the twist in longer than the 90 days, I 'll keep you informed

Slow and steady wins the race

So I started my weight loss journey last Monday. My goal is to lose 20lbs
by May 09 and I've got my 2 friends on the bandwagon as well. I've had a gym membership to Lucille Roberts since last summer and I stopped going once I was about 3 months into my pregnancy. Now that my son is almost 22wks I think its time to get this weight off. I've actually lost the "baby weight" through breastfeefding that instantly took off the 20lbs I put on so now I'm essentially left with the weight I had before I was
pregnant and before I started working out.

My plan is to hit the gym everyday starting with 1 class and and I want to work my way up to doing 2 45 min classes and then 30 mins on the treadmill. I really enjoy the classes that they offer and I really like that gym because its an all women gym, you don't have to worry about a
a cute guy on the treadmill and being conscious of him while your working out. All of the women there are there for the same cause and there are women from every culture there.

Last week was a little rough and I only made it to the gym on Monday and this week I slept in on Monday because I had a busy weekend and needed to recharge. My lilttle sis is home on spring break and she came with me and enjoyed the workout. My starting weight was 186 and I'm at 184 as of yesterday so I'm getting there one pound at a time.

I need..

to get it together. I really dont want to be one of those women whose child is 5 and they're still talking about "its the baby weight". It is my goal to get back into the gym, since i paying for it anyway, and lose about 20lbs by end of May early June. I was able to do it last Dec before I got preggos so I know I can do it now.

The only thing is I cant go as hard as I was before because the section tissue is still healing, its only been 5 months, so I have to watch it. Im going to see if they have a Pilates class and spend some time on the Elliptical.

I have to do something and I guess I'll be charting my progress on here as well.

I bought what?

SO this month was suppose to be a "Spend Free" one but umm...I bought 3 things. *holding head down in shame* I was at work and I was so tired while doing Am runs that I stopped to get some coffee in an attempt to keep me awake. I spent about $6, I also got a cheeseburger..I was hungry

Then they opened a new Target by my job and I was with my son and bf so we went inside to see how it was. I have this thing for travel sized toiletries, because I put them in a make up bag and leave it in the car in case I forget to put on deodorant in the morning, I have some on had. So I got some of those and wet wipes for the baby and they had 24 case packs of water for $2, which is a deal. most importantly I finally bought my son a jumper. I was in between one made by Baby Einstein and the Exerscauer, ranging from about $85-100, and I was eyeing to see if i could get one on sale. This day the new Target has the Baby Einstein Jumper on sale for about $65. I was all over it and I dont regret it. My son is slowly liking it so its worth it. My grand total at target was $100...who spends that much at Target? Idk also they had baby socks for $.89 cents.

Then yesterday I was working at another group home and I stopped to get some coffee from Seven11 and that was it, no actually I got coffee from Seven11 twice.

Thats actually not bad considering Ive been having an urge for McDonalds and Ive been bringing food to work so I dont get tempted.

Ive got to do better!!

Day 8....UPDO

I had to leave work early yesterday and didnt get to post so I just posted it today. Anyhoo, so I went home lastnight and didnt feel like washing my hair so I left the oil in and did an almost 24 hr hot oil treatment. Around 1pm today I was able to tend to my hair.

I put the twist in 2 loose pig tails. I ran some warm over to rinse out the oil, then I used V05 chamomile tea cond to cowash. I liked it because its very light and I was able to put some on my hands and apply it between the pigtail. I let it sit while I washed up then I stood under the stream to let the cond rinse out.

Once I got out I put a t-shirt around the head to catch the water and got dressed. I sprayed some Infusim 23 all over the roots, then my Jamaican castor oil concoction all over as well. I made a Coconut oil, Castor oil mixture with some EO and I poured some in my palm and rubbed it down the parts. My scalp gets dry so this was my way of "greasing" my scalp. Lastly I melted some Shea Mango mixture in my hands and smoothed it down the twist stopped about where my natural hair ends.

I wasnt exactly sure how I was going to replicate the accidental updo I did yesterday so I just did a completely new one. I like when the back of the hair is woven like a basket weave, where you basically alternately pull hair up from each side of the head as you go up. Once I got to the top I grabbed a section and rolled it onto itself and then pinned it on top of the hair from the basketweave and did the front section the same way.

It came out very cute and the entire process took about an hour give or take 10 mins. As I was pulling out of my driveway this guy who's apparently my neighbors brother , approached my car and told me how I was pretty and this that and the third, so I know I did something right lol

Day 7..(yesterdays post)

only 93 more days to go lol. So far things have been going well. Tonight when I get home Im actually going to be washing my hair. Im at work right now and Im doing a hot oil treatment to my scalp and hair. What I did was before I left for work, I massaged in a mixture I made, dont really remember what I put it but I think its EVOO, peppermint EO, Jojoba oil and I cant remember i made it awhile back. I did a 5 min scalp massage and donned a clear shower cap then a black crocheted beany so you cant really tell.

According to my coworker, however you can see the plastic , as she pointed out lol. I did this to treat my scalp because it been a little itchier than usual. I had my br check to see if the scalp was dry but it wasnt Idk why this has happened but I figured the heat from my scalp and the oils do rectify this issue.

Today my son had a check up and while I was waiting for the Dr to see him I had unintentionally put my hair up in some kind of bun with no mirrors, no pins, no anything.

My bf happened to take a pic of me and the baby as I was consoling him after his vaccines and the updo was captured...might I say how nice it looked, so now Im not sure if I want to recurl the hair or wash it and wear it in an updo.

Now that im thinking about it, this week I will do an updo to change up the look. When I get home I'll try to post the pic of the updo, how I wore my hair tonight at work and the updo results. This should be a quick hair night, considering Im doing the longest part now.

Also almost every other day Ive be spritzing my hair with Infusium 23 and then a mixture of Jamacian Black Castor Oil, water, Rosemary and Lavendar EO's and a little Suave Trop Coconut cond. then I melt some of my Shea Mango butter mixture and smooth that on the ends then go.

3 month hair check

At first I didnt think that my hair was retaining any length because when I would detangle my hair I felt like so much hair was coming out, some of which had the white cuticle at the ends and others didnt indicating breakage. However pictures do not lie and I can definitely see and feel the difference since I started taking care of my hair. Here is my 3 month hair check, I started in Jan 09 and my first check is now Mar 09.

Spend Free Month

Since I will be back in school in the fall, I am determined not to take out another loan for this extra year. Im already not liking the student loan debt that Im in and this is only undergrad, smh. So my biggest plan this year is to save up and pay for school myself. I need about $10,000 to cover the fall and spring. Im only taking one class in the fall and 4 in the spring. Actually lets bump that up to $12,000 because I want to take a summer class as well to boost my gpa.

So Im declaring March as a "no spend" month.
-I will not make any purchases, no restaurants, no malls, no EXTRAS!!!
- Im only going to pay my bills at the beginning of the month
- Im going to spend my money on the basics ie gas, food, and minimal extras for my son, which really shouldnt happen because he's well stocked.
- I will be putting all unused money in my savings account and opening a 6 month CD in April to build the money
- I will also stick to my budget as outlined

Also as a precautions Im taking out all of my credit cards from my wallet and putting them away. I have so many things that Ive been meaning to return back to the stores and this month I will do that which is extra money. depending on how this goes I may be doing a "no spend" month every other month. This is going to require some great discipline but this is something that is important to me. So I will updating you on my progress and any temptations Im feeling along the way. Feel free to join along, it doesnt have to be a month but it is a real test to see how much we spend monthly on extras that could be saved.

Day 3

Hey guys,
So this is day 3 of my kinky twist 90 day challenge. I did the twist on Friday evening after work, it took about 6.5 hours, with a couple breaks to tend to my son. The reason I am doing this is my life is a little hectic at this moment and doing my hair everyday is something I wish I could do but Ive proven that it cant be done they way I want it to, so Im taking a break and giving my hair a chance to do its thing.

What I will be doing:
co-washing my hair every week
spritzing my scalp and moisturizing the ends
"pre-poo" hot oil treatments

What I will not be doing:
combing my hair
no cutting
basically not really touching my hair

I still havent decided if Im going to redo them every month, maybe half way through Ill see if it needs re-doing. Im at work so Ill be posting pictures later when I get home for you to see .

My hair was in twist after I had washed it the night before and I twisted my hair twist by twist. I applied some more Shea Mango butter mixture to each section then twisted, just as a final moisture attempt. After each strand was twisted I set it on blue or grey perm rods. Once my entire head was completed I dipped the rollers into hot water and then took out the rollers.

The final result wasnt what I had envisioned. I wanted tight curls and I know where I went wrong. 1st I ran out of blue perm rods and the beauty supply store was closed already so I had to use the grey ones which I normally use to curl my natural hair. Needless to say the diameter was too big for the look I was going for. So some curls came out very tight, like I wanted, and others very loose. I spend the better part of Sat morning with my mom attempting to recurl the ones that didnt take. 2nd the next time I might do the twists a little smaller, I did them medium sized because I didnt want to spend all night doing my hair. Overall I am happy with the results but I see that I will have to recurl the ends every week, well the ones that have gotten straight.

ETA: Here are the pics

washed and conditioned

I bought 3 packs of hair and used almost all of the 3 packs. I cut the hair in half right down the middle instead of using the entire length of the hair. This way gives you a shorter twist set

The final results

not the best but not the worst, theres room for improvement