Till It's Gone...

"Now why you wanna go and do that?" I can hear myself upset about my belly even after making such progress...progress I couldn't see.  Rightfully so because I see myself everyday and gradual changes are not to be seen by the naked constant eye.  

Until you gain the weight again and realize you had it pretty good.  MY BELLY HAS REBOUNDED LIKE NEVER BEFORE!  The saying is true that you don't know what you got till its gone...I'll take my old belly back for 200 Alex! 

Its really amazing how we don't pay attention to the little changes good or bad that our body makes.  

6.6 lbs down since Monday and I can only be patient with my body changes.  The belly will have to submit sooner or later.  If I continue to lose weight it will have to follow suit...how soon that will happen and if it will be to my liking?  That is yet to be seen.  All I know is that it will be smaller than it is now.  Its like I am with child literally. If not for shame...I would take a picture and post it.  The beast must be contained...lol!

I am still using my gift list from before.  A present for every 10 pounds.  I got the two presents earlier this year (earrings and makeup) so I wont repeat those.  Now I cant have a gift until 30 lbs...which is NEW SHOES! God knows I need some! I'm so hard on shoes...even more so since the weight gain.  I added something else....LETTERS!

Someone I follow on YouTube writes letters to herself and then opens them as she reaches goals...she says her memory is bad so its a delight to see what she has written herself.  Here lies my problem...my memory is NOT bad and I can remember things from when I was three so that would not be much fun.  So I handpicked 7 women to write me letters for every ten pounds....they have agreed to write me letters and I can open them until the I reach the weight I have assigned to them.  Some are very excited about doing this so this should be interesting...

I will post a video of me reading the letters here...each time I get to open one.  I reserved the last letter for my mom...who has no idea yet...I will let her know at a later date.  Probably Christmas time when I can get it from her and bring it back to put on my faith wall.  

This is HARD...I wont front...I make no excuses...everyone has opinions and victories to tell but this is so individual that you cant really follow anyone but Holy Spirit who knows what will work for you.  

This month... I'm meatless....YES MEATLESS!  Breadless too...
I've been juicing and eating fruits and veggies...

I allowed myself snacks...but need to change my snacks to healthy things...like popcorn and I'm looking for other salty and sweet healthy alternatives...

Some people go cold turkey...hap hap hallelujah for you...but I'm not going that way.  I'm really trying to introduce things that I can maintain FOREVER. Habits that I will use for a lifetime and not just for a moment....cause when I rebound....I REBOUND HARD!

Till Next Time,
Slow and Steady Wins the Race :)

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#TeamFat

#TeamFat.

I hate this team! 

Yet I keep coming back...well technically I never left but I was making progress...got to 17 pounds.  Somehow some way...17 pounds is now a measly TWO.  So here we go again....

Back to juicing and eating veggies and dusting off the Wii Fit and other tools of trade.  Gotta keep trying until it works...

Seems like I always start when Im bloated already, further dampening my excitement...its been three days since I restarted my journey to health.  Logged back in to MyFitnessPal and saw how many people had made so much progress during my hiatus.  I hid my virtual face in shame.  WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? The dreaded plauteau that wont leave....turns into frustration...which turns into me turning into the drive thru....everyday for a month...then the exercise becomes unbearable because my body is full of toxins...out of money and energy.

This is how seventeen becomes two.

Needless to say....Im back...same goal in mind....taking it ten pounds at a time....

Right now Im meatless...and starting off with low intensity workouts until I get my endurance up...

I know what to do...I just havent mastered not giving up....

Till Next Time,

Trying Again :)

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Shedding and Breakage....Which Is It?

So I am still in the protective mode....


Today I took out my updo and washed and deep conditioned my hair.  I will air dry and twist again tomorrow.  One thing I dont like about twisting my hair is the tangles that I get...I am still perfecting my ability to take my time and CAREFULLY take down twists. I find that I get alot of breakage when I am removing twists.  Im sure this is not at all as bad as what I am thinking but any breakage is BAD during a growth challenge.


I can say my hair remained moisturized and conditioned...it was not dry and brittle when I took the twists down which was an awesome thing!  


From now on...I will stick to larger twist instead of small ones which are really hard to loosen and easily gets tangled. 


I did wash with a new shampoo which I LOVE!


Its from U R Curly called Soya Shampoo 

Its a great complement for the Morning Mint Masque which I am deep conditioning with RIGHT NOW! The shampoo has soy protein, tea tree oil and abyssinian oil and provides a great tingle.  It makes my hair feel like SILKY GOODNESS!  The smell is heavenly...I love it!


Hopefully the hairs I lost was more shedding than breakage....(I didnt notice too many white bulbs....eek!) and when I measure my hair in July I will see some improvement!  I PRAY! 


Im really trying! :)


Here's the next style I am trying...

Till Next Time
Taking the Twists Down Slowly 

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Protective Style #1

So I really wanted to get kinky twists because they look so beautiful...but reality hit and I know that they never last more than two days in my head (well may be 2-3 weeks) and I dont get the full benefit of them.  I saw some pics of people who have twisted their own hair and did some awesome things with it and I decided to give it a shot.  I mean I have a decent amount of hair it should work!

So I attempted to do an updo and I think it came out pretty good....its modeled after FusionofCultures on youtube I put one of her videos in my last entry about flat twisting.  I am not that good and the flat twisting but I am am better than I was before...I have a hard time getting them to be tight. All and all I think I did a good job!

YAY ME! I will try to keep this in all week and then I will probably wear my hair down to wash it and back up it will go...

How do you style your hair during its protective seasons?

Till Next Time,
Protecting and Shielding :)

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Hair Growth: Protective Styling

So I am not sure if my hair has grown at all during my little challenge!  It does seems thicker, less hair is trapped in my combs and brushes and definitely more moisturized...I haven't measured again yet...that isn't due until July.  I am still using MTG and covering my hair and that has served its purpose...I will continue to do that!  Next phase is protective styling!  I am not one for true protective styling because I like my hair to be FREE so I can play with it!  BUT I've seen the proof....protective styling is very important for length retention! So I must try it...


Starting next week (sometime after 6/2) I will be doing protective styles ONLY for one month straight!  YES! ONE WHOLE MONTH!  I want to do kinky twists....but I am not that good.  I will see how it goes!  I am not looking up protective styles so I can try them out and get this thing GOING!  I will take down for my deep conditions....then right back up they will go! 


I will play my deep conditions by ear.....when my hair is looking broke, busted and disgusted I will refresh it with a nice conditioner!  


This method will minimize combing, finger play and brushing which will minimize BREAKAGE!


I found a great video that teaches me how to do the style above....
Why not give it a try!

Till Next Time,
Twisting and Protecting

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You Deserve It!!!

Take a look at your life.

Do you treat yourself well? How do you keep your home?

How do you look when you leave the house?

All of these things are direct correlations to how you really think about yourself. There is a scripture that says "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7). Such a powerful scripture! However you think about you...will manifest in your everyday life. You may think you have high self esteem and you may even convince others but if you really felt that way...you would treat yourself better. Would a queen really sit in filth day after day and be ok with it? Would you look like yesterday's bad news? Deep down inside we all know we deserve more but lack the courage to change things.

You were created to reign and to rule, God only thinks good thoughts toward you. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants you to have the best in life. Somewhere in our journey we have allowed the words spoken over us to get into our hearts and we may not even know...but its easily seen on the outside. God has designed you to LIVE!

Paint your nails...buff those heels! Dress like the paparazzi is waiting at your doorstep! Clean your house...treat it like a palace! Do your hair (or your weave)...you never know who is watching! Manage your health...exercise and eat well! Your life depends on it! Say nice things to yourself and about yourself. If you dont like something about you...CHANGE IT! You can do it! Sure your heart is WONDERFUL, but we only can see your outward appearance...let the inside shine through! We want to see what God sees! This is especially true for us singles that desire a husband. Dont you want to be shiny crown to his head? Why would God place one of His kings in sloppy care? He wont. Not just for a man...Im not talking facades IM TALKING LIFE CHANGE! Do it because you want better.




These tips are for us all...me included. Lets stop talking about it and start BEING IT!




Till Next Time
Watching Over My Kingdom Royally ;-)

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Still Pushing...

Im still here!  Dont you doubt me...lol!


So life got busy...
My parents were coming to town, it was my church's anniversary so there were services and activities to prepare for and attend, I was getting ordained, and it was FCAT time (for a Florida teacher...that means WORK!).  So many things going on in the month of April...my head could've popped off!  Despite of that I know I can do ALL things through Christ...so its all good!  Made it through the season...but my weight suffered a bit...working out was falling farther and farther on my to do list...until it wasn't there!  


So my weight go from 17 pounds lost all the way to 6 pounds lost...now we know that most of that was water but still....I had to stop it!  So I slowly got back into the swing of things this month (May), first I started eating better and picking up my water again...that alone brought that 6 to a 12 in the matter of days....then I slowly began to exercise again...now that 12 is back to a 17 YAY!  I am trying to make it to 20 by Friday. I know it sounds over zealous but the fact of the matter is that most of this is water weight that I have gained and I just need to regulate myself now...I think three pounds in a week is feasible for the place I am in. Meaning just starting out again.  Its like that first week when you start working out and you lose six pounds because your body is like WOAH!  So I am hoping to have one of those weeks...then I know I will just go back to my 1-2 pounds a week which is normal.  Just happy to be out of the 240s....even more anticipating the 220s...its been a loooooong time coming.  I know if you are reading this, you are probably saying that the 220s is nothing to be excited about...well you can just HUSH IT!  Its not a parking spot but its definitely a big change from where I was in December...


I am looking to be solid in the 220s by the end of summer, if I really push it I can get to the teens of the 200s...then I am on my way back to the 100s....I will be throwing a party the moment I hit at least 199.9 because I haven't seen the 100s in about 6-7 years.  Its been a long time. I miss them so much...and we will have our reunion!


You know that each time I lose an increment of 10lbs I get a prize!  Here is my next prize:

MAKEUP!!! I am a little scared of pink...so this is a great adventure for me...
I already have it in my possession but I wont wear it until I reach that 20 lb mark...hopefully next weekend LOL!  So I can wear it then....EXCITED!!! I just cant hide it..




Till Next Time,
Pushing Pushing Pushing :)

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