Slave to hair....SEWED SOME IN!

Ya'll have heard me talk about how "we" - both African American women and WOMEN in general of all races will alter our physical activity based on our hair!  I've read about the Brazilian Keratin Treatment (BKT) craze in one of the zillions of mags I read - one woman wrote about her experience.  How after having it done, you cannot get it wet for 4 days, no showering, no swimming, and....YEP no sweating!  This was a white woman, so its not just "us."  Before relaxing my hair I won't workout for the prior 2-3 days because increased blood flow to the scalp can make the experience less than pleasant....okay, okay, I'll just come out and say it - it'll BURN!  Lately I've been rollersetting my hair each weekend.  I swear, whenever I do it, I feel so beautiful, my hair is so soft and bouncy.  Then I consider going to the gym.  I usually say....lemme just HAVE the weekend (I do my hair Friday or Saturday) then the curls stay intact.  Monday rolls around and I say "Oooh my hair looks good still"  so I won't go!  I am in the process of growing my hair out.  Its almost back to the longest I've ever been able to grow it (which is between APL & BSL for those on hair boards/forums) back in my early 20's - and it was WORK then - and so far I am in love with it!  However, lately I've been feeling like its taking over my life!  At night, I debate how I'm going to wear it the next day...I carefully moisturize and place it in plaits, rollers or pincurls.  If the style is cute, I don't wanna work out the next day!  Then if I do....my scalp is sweaty and after 2-3 days it becomes itchy so I wash it.  For those who are not aware, typically black women don't wash their hair as frequently as women of other races because our hair is drier by nature.  So at best I'm wearing a style for THREE DAYS and lord knows I don't have the time or patience to rollerset mid-week!  I wasn't like this when I first started either journey (hair or weight loss) seems like it was easier.  Maybe because my hair was shorter?  IDK because I think longer hair is easier.  At least I can do a bun/ponytail and look presentable now.  I think maybe its because now that its longer, I love wearing it out! 

Anywhoooo, I'm just ranting about how I felt.  And I wanted a change for the fall.  So....I sewed some hair in!  That's right I pulled out my "bin o' hair" found some Virgin Indian Hair I bought a couple years ago but never used, did a lil research and installed it myself!  Normally I have a stylist do it, but it was such a spur of the moment thing plus I don't know who I trust to do it here (in my current city), and it's EXPENSIVE!  I'm sure with working out it won't last me the 3 months I normally keep it in, but only 6-8 weeks.  I've done weaves on other people many times - and they always look FIYAH if I do say so myself.  So I decided to do it myself!  I do need some practice I will admit but the finished product is gawwww-geous, and I feel free to workout as much as I want! 

Save $$$ - Use the Library!

Hello Everyone!  I'm back on the losing side of things.  I looked back and realized I didn't lose ANYTHING all freakin' summer.  Smh.  I didn't gain what I'd lost back however....that just is not enough.  160+ lbs on my 5'3" frame just will not work.  Plus, I'd stopped working out to get my schedule re-adjusted, so while I was maintaining my weight I was gaining inches (and body fat also I'd imagine) which made my body look a lot "phluffier!"  So rather than to blog about how I was NOT losing, I just decided to chill - refocus and revamp.  And yes, I'm losing again! I will post a weigh in when I hit my mini-milestone, which should be soon...

Anyways - as you may remember I canceled my Comcast services.  No cable, internet or home phone.  I was using my cell to get online and going to my local library to study and use the internet as well.  When I signed up for my library card, the gentleman explained the features of the website and about checking items out:  CDs, DVDs, Audiobooks and regular books.  I browsed some of the DVDs just for fun and was amazed to see seasons of Grey's Anatomy and The Cosby Show (the greatest sitcom of ALL times) available.  Out of curiosity...I looked up some other shows that I followed closely at some point, but had lost track of over the years and they had Soul Food:  The Series and I was ecstatic!  Having these shows available to check out by entire seasons at a time really helped me go without cable!

One day while studying there I decided to browse through the non-fiction because I was looking for the Christian-inspiration section.  Amongst the shelves was a full health, diet and fitness section!  I thought OMGoodness, wow!  I bee-lined to the electronic card catalog and looked up Jillian Michaels, and wah-la - not only were her books available, but also all her DVDs as well as the Biggest Loser workouts!!!  My best friend recently bought a couple of belly-dance workouts and I decided to see if they had any available.  YUP!  The new JM Dvd that LeeLee reviewed?  YUP!  Cookbooks?  YUP!  In my city, there are different locations but they are linked so that you can request material from any of the city's locations and pick it up at your local branch.  I couldn't believe I had slept on library checkouts for so long!  Talk about saving money!  Most times we can copy recipes we want to try out of a cookbook or write them down.  DVDs are a great thing to get from your library because you can constantly change your workout to avoid boredom.  You can try something new to see if you like it without spending any cash.  So check out your local library, especially if you are near a city because I can almost guarantee they will have something you find useful!