I know the holidays can be a very stressful time. With the buying of all the gifts, organizing travel arrangements, planning the holiday menu, and let’s not forget about the Christmas parties! With all this going on, plus working, adds quite a bit of pressure. This is not good. You can end up causing yourself to get stress wrinkles, lose your hair, or even break-out. Here are my holiday gifting tricks I use every year to keep me hassle free so I may enjoy myself. It only comes around once a year you know!
• Set a budget per person
So many people think that how much money you spend shows someone how much they mean to you. This is false. You show your love through actions, not by material things. If you know you can’t afford that 40’ flat screen for your parents because your hours got cut at work, don’t go and get into credit card debt trying to buy something you can’t afford.
Set a budget for your Christmas gifts. Let’s say its $200. Then narrow your list to a key number of members of your family that you want to buy gifts for, like your mother, father, partner or spouse, and your best friend. Then divide the $200 among these people depending on who is most important to you. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, make it an even split, $50 each. After you establish your budget, YOU MUST STICK TO IT.
• Get creative with gift ideas
Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you really put some thought into. You want to give that special someone a gift that matches their interests and hobbies. What is out in mass market will not give you this option. Let’s say you know your mother loves to write in journals, and your best friend is really into African art. Sure you could find them something mass produced at Target or Burlington, but who wants that? Plus you might end up paying more.
A great hidden gem is Etsy. This is a great site where artists and jewelers from all over the world sell their handmade wares online. You can find anything from handmade leather journals, works of art, wall decals, clothing, and even vintage pieces. What’s really great is since you are buying directly from the artist, they are super open to do customizations on your purchase, or a complete made to order item. You can’t get that kind of customer service at the department store. Plus the site is completely reliable and safe.
• Use online outlet stores for designer deals.
Ok, let’s say you really want to give your friend something from Dolce and Gabbana because you know that is her favorite designer. A $1500 pair of sunglasses is not in the cards right now. What can you do? Check out online outlet stores like Nordstrom’s Off the Rack and Beyond the Rack.
With Nordstrom’s Off the Rack, you get the same designer clothes and accessories as the full priced store, but at discount prices because they are off season styles! You can get up to 60% sticker price.
Another great online store is Beyond the Rack. This company has become very popular. This site is for members only, so you may need to request an invitation from the homepage. The great thing is, they never turn someone down. You may not even have to request an invitation anymore. The beauty of this site, is they carry hundreds of designer names from Miu Miu to Marc by Marc Jacobs and smaller names as well. They offer site deals that only last about a couple of days or less on a particular brand, so you must act quickly. That is how they are able to give you deals like 75% off.
• Give gifts via Facebook
One of the easiest ways to give gifts this year is to shop on Facebook. No not the ads on the right hand side, but real stores like Starbucks and Levi. If you go onto eGiftSocial or Payvment, they will give you a list of all the stores that sell their merchandise or gift cards on Facebook. You then log into your Facebook account, and begin shopping. Use your friends “Favorites” list on their page to get an idea on what to buy them.
You can select items and purchase right through the company Facebook page and pay with Paypal. They will prompt you to say which friend on Facebook you are giving the gift to. When you put in your friend’s name and click send, the will get a message in their inbox stated that you bought them a gift. They will get a link in the message to the company website where they can redeem their gift and have it shipped to them.
• Utilize Amazon
I know everyone under the sun uses Amazon, but have you really utilized it? Do you notice the two smaller prices in highlighted text underneath the Amazon price? These items are sold either brand new or used by other sellers on Amazon. A lot of the products are sold brand new through these other Amazon sellers and are loads cheaper. Read each user’s customer feedback to gauge who has the best positive results and order from them. The order is still fulfilled by Amazon so if there is any discrepancies, Amazon will take care of it. The shipment might take two more days than it would if purchased from Amazon the seller, but who cares! Just make sure you start your holiday shopping in plenty of time before December 24th.
• Consider making your own gift baskets
Gift baskets in the most common gift I can think of. They are given year round for every occasion. Why not shake things up a bit and make your own gift basket. Grab a bottle of low priced wine, like the $2 bottles from Trader Joes, print a unique label and past it over so people never know how much you spent. Add some homemade Christmas cookies, you don’t need to eat all those anyway, or, small $1 and $3 items from Bath and Body Works. Sephora sometimes has great small treasures you can find by the register for about $5. By making your own gift baskets gives a great personal touch without breaking the bank.
Well I hope all these suggestions were helpful. Don’t let the holidays get you down. Stay sexy, flirty, and financial fit. Happy Shopping!
1. Do not starve yourself all day in preparation for pigging out later
Lots of us do this every year. We anticipate all that good food that we are going to eat later, so we want to make room in our stomachs. What do we do, basically starve ourselves so we can have a major binge come dinner time. NOT GOOD. This is a sure fire way to blow all your exercise and eating right hard work right out the window. Without thinking, you can consume over 3000 calories in one meal!
Eat as you regularly do up until dinner time. That way, you can still enjoy dinner without being famished and you will eat reasonable sized portions.
2. Say no to the appetizers
If you know that you really want those mashed potatoes, dressing, and ham for dinner, forgoes the appetizers. You do not need those empty calories. Too many apps can add up to the same caloric and fat amount as a meal, and then you go eat dinner.
You know that the power player foods come at dinner, so just hold out. If your a little hungry thou, eat an apple or banana. They are full of fiber so will keep you satisfied long enough until Grace is said and you can chow down.
3. Eat your fill on one plate, no seconds
I know this goes against everything Thanksgiving is about, but try to resist going back for seconds. Instead, try to fit everything you like on one dinner plate.
4. Always make room for cranberry sauce.
Cranberries are known to be a power fruit. It is filled with vitamin C and antioxidants. Even though cranberry sauce is higher in calories than just plain cranberries, you still get the health benefits. In a ½ cup serving of cranberry sauce, you get 1 gram of fiber. A diet rich in fiber relieves constipation, lowers cholesterol, and reduces the risk of heart disease.
5. Go easy on the gravy
Who doesn’t love gravy, right? But what does it really do for you, but add tons of extra fat onto your already indulgent meal. I’m not saying don’t have any at all, but consider having a light hand. Think of rain: You want a light drizzle instead of a heavy down pour.
6. One serving spoon full of a dish is a proper serving. (Do not overflow i.e. heaping spoon full)
When it comes to serving yourself, try to avoid doing a heaping serving spoon full of your favorite starchy dish. I am not referring to a dinner or soup spoon, but a large serving utensil. A huge spoon full could be the same portion of a cup or more. This is 300 plus calories of one item you just put on your plate, and you haven’t even gotten to the turkey yet.
Just try for the spoon full without the mound. You could cut your serving and calories in half. It’s all about making room on the plate people.
7. Try to add in some exercise today. Maybe a walk with the family or gather around the Wii and play Dance Central!
I know. The last thing you want to do on Thanksgiving is exercise right? I mean the holiday itself is about giving into your laziness and gluttony. I’m not saying go run six miles before dinner, but how about you and the family go for a walk. If you’re lucky, there is no snow on the ground yet and people have started putting up their Christmas lights. Look at the houses you admire most and get some decorating ideas.
Another idea which is my favorite to do with my cousins is play Dance Central on Kinect or Wii. You can really work up a sweat dancing your heart out to Usher and Katy Perry, plus it a whole lot of fun! You could spend hours doing this and not even notice. Before you know if, you burned off half of dinner!
8. Do put some veggies on the plate
I know this is a no brainer, but I must remind you. Please do not forget to put veggies on your plate. You need the fiber and vitamins that they provide. Do not mistake foods such as green bean casserole as your veggie. THIS DOES NOT COUNT. With the calories you consume in a serving of that, you could have had a slice of cake! Opted for veggies without all the sauce and butter like a side salad, lightly sauced green beans and broccoli.
9. Do have turkey!
Turkey is one of the leanest forms of meat out there. It’s better than chicken, beef, duck, and lamb. Don’t forget, protein makes you feel fuller faster and longer; that’s why it’s great to pair with fiber. Go for the turkey first!
10. For dessert, choose a slice of sweet potato or pumpkin pie over the apple pie
Of all the holiday desserts, sweet potato and pumpkin pie stack up better than all the rest. Their calorie content comes in about 320 calories or less a slice! Both are good carbs, loaded with fiber and naturally sweet.
Apple pie: 411 calories
Pecan pie: 503 calories
Cherry pie: 486 calories
Here is an article I found on Web MD. Sometimes its not all about pain and dieting, but pure pleasure! Remember: ALWAYS PRACTICE SAFE SEX!!!!!
10 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex
The health benefits of sex extend well beyond the bedroom. Turns out sex is good for you in ways you may never have imagined.
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Marina Katz, MD
When you’re in the mood, it’s a sure bet that the last thing on your mind is boosting your immune system or maintaining a healthy weight. Yet good sex offers those health benefits and more.
That’s a surprise to many people, says Joy Davidson, PhD, a New York psychologist and sex therapist. “Of course, sex is everywhere in the media,” she says. “But the idea that we are vital, sexual creatures is still looked at in some cases with disgust or in other cases a bit of embarrassment. So to really take a look at how our sexuality adds to our life and enhances our life and our health, both physical and psychological, is eye-opening for many people.”
Sex does a body good in a number of ways, according to Davidson and other experts. The benefits aren’t just anecdotal or hearsay — each of these 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific scrutiny.
Among the benefits of healthy loving in a relationship:
1. Sex Relieves Stress
A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations — such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic — and noted their blood pressure response to stress.
Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.
Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in cohabiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.
2. Sex Boosts Immunity
Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had.
Those in the “frequent” group — once or twice a week — had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups — who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly.
3. Sex Burns Calories
Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.
“Sex is a great mode of exercise,” says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.
4. Sex Improves Heart Health
While some older folks may worry that the efforts expended during sex could cause a stroke, that’s not so, according to researchers from England. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found frequency of sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years.
And the heart health benefits of sex don’t end there. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.
5. Sex Boosts Self-Esteem
Boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex, collected by University of Texas researchers and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
That finding makes sense to Gina Ogden, PhD, a sex therapist and marriage and family therapist in Cambridge, Mass., although she finds that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better. “One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves,” she tells WebMD. “Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it.”
6. Sex Improves Intimacy
Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina evaluated 59 premenopausal women before and after warm contact with their husbands and partners ending with hugs. They found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.
“Oxytocin allows us to feel the urge to nurture and to bond,” Britton says.
Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you’re feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.
7. Sex Reduces Pain
As the hormone oxytocin surges, endorphins increase, and pain declines. So if your headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms seem to improve after sex, you can thank those higher oxytocin levels.
In a study published in the Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked lowered their pain threshold by more than half.
8. Sex Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk
Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life, Australian researchers reported in the British Journal of Urology International. When they followed men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those without, they found no association of prostate cancer with the number of sexual partners as the men reached their 30s, 40s, and 50s.
But they found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third.
Another study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men, as well, compared with less frequent ejaculations of four to seven monthly.
9. Sex Strengthens Pelvic Floor Muscles
For women, doing a few pelvic floor muscle exercises known as Kegels during sex offers a couple of benefits. You will enjoy more pleasure, and you’ll also strengthen the area and help to minimize the risk of incontinence later in life.
To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.
10. Sex Helps You Sleep Better
The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, according to research.
And getting enough sleep has been linked with a host of other good things, such as maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure. Something to think about, especially if you’ve been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.
Quick and Healthy Meal Ideas that Won’t Hurt Your Wallet and Fill Up your Stomach.
Posted on: October 20, 2011
Here are a few recipe and food staples that are affordable at every grocery store, taste good, and full of nutrients.
Breakfast:
Mixed Berry Maple Oatmeal
1 cup Quaker Steel Cut Oats
1/3 cup dried Mixed Berry Fruit (Find cheaper at Dollar General)
3 tablespoon of Sugar Maple Syrup
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the oats. Then reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally for 30 minutes or until desired consistency. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
1 cup – 250 Calories
Cheesy Spinach Bacon Quiche
2 slices of cooked bacon
2 cups cooked spinach
1 cup chopped cooked mushrooms (any kind will work)
2 slices of fat free or 1% milk cheddar cheese. (Kraft works well)
3 Extra large Omega-3 Eggs
2 egg whites
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees
Spray a pie pan with non-stick cooking spray like Pam. Chop up the two strips of bacon. Spread evenly the spinach and mushrooms. Then sprinkle the bacon bits and slices of cheese.
Whip together the eggs with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. Like you’re going to make scrambled eggs. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies, bacon, and cheese.
Make for 20 to 30 minutes or until the quiche is set.
¼ of the pie – 120 Calories.
Quick Meal fixes:
Egg Beaters Southwestern Eggs
Raisin Nut Brain Cereal
Special K Cereal (All varieties)
Frozen or fresh fruit such as Strawberries, Raspberries, or Mangos. (Dole is a great brand because the fruit is picked then frozen without additives or sugar.)
Yoplait Greek Yogurt with fruit on the bottom
Jamba Juice or Yoplait Frozen Smoothie packs
Canadian bacon
Low cal whole wheat bread
Fat free creamer like Bailey’s Vanilla Latte for your morning coffee
All of these can be made in less than 3 minutes and are full of fiber, vitamins, and calcium. Great way to start the day.
Snacks or Dessert:
4 – 5 cups of Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Butter or Kettle corn Popcorn.
½ cup Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
1 cup whole pistachios
Skinny Cow chocolate ice cream bar
20 dark or milk chocolate M&M pieces
1 bunch of grapes
All of these are 140 calories or less and taste great.
I will be coming to you in a couple of days with Lunch and Dinner options.
How to Get a Great Weave!
Posted on: September 7, 2011
Ok, I said in a previous post that I would write about how to maintain a full head of weave, so here are my tips. If you stick with these, your weave will look great every day, your scalp and roots will be protected, and your natural hair will grow.
1- Pick good quality hair. No synthetic here.
So many women want weave so bad, but they don’t want to spend the money on the quality hair. No high quality hair can be bought for less than $20 a pack. I recommend purchasing cuticle human hair. Cuticle human hair is not machine made human hair, but it actually grew from someone’s head! Do worry, they have been thoroughly cleaned before packaged and sold. If you
want to, which I do think is a good idea, wash and dry the hair after you buy it and before applying. Some packs of hair say its human hair, but sells for $10 a pack. This is not true human hair, but machine made. Won’t last the longest. Synthetic hair is just a no no. They melt with any heat. If you want to find fine quality hair for decent prices, visit His and Her Hair (www.hisandher.com) and Hair Sisters (www.hairsisters.com).
2- Make sure you get a licensed professional to apply the extensions. No kitchen stylists.
Make sure whoever puts in your weave is a licensed professional with years of experience doing weaves. Do not cheap out on this. An inexperienced stylist might braid your hair too tight causing your hair to break off and fall out at the base from the weight of the extensions, which will lead to bald spots. Also, make sure the stylist braids your natural hair in a circular, honeycomb type around your hair. Some people say cornrows straight back are fine, but I disagree. You cannot sew in the wefts properly, and when trying to take it out, an inexperienced person may not be able to follow the thread and will just conclude to cut anything and everything, leaving you with less hair than you started with. Trust me, this has happened to me and it scared me for life. I had to catch a case in that salon. LOL
3- Choose sewn in or fusion process instead of glue.
Sewn in is the best process I found for African American hair. Fusion works well with fairer hair types. Sewn in process is where your stylists braids your natural hair around your head starting at the crown, or base, of your head and braiding around and in a circle. After this is done, the weft of hair is then sewn onto the braids. You can use a mesh braiding net on your head to further protect your hair from breakage. 
Note: If you have shorter hair, have your stylist add human braiding hair, human hair with no weft, into your braids to protect your hair and to make your braids thicker and last longer.
Sewn in weaves can last up to three months.
Fusion is a process where you take a group of your natural hair strands and a group of extension strands and fuse them together using an adhesive substance. This process is good for Caucasian and Asian hair. Do not use if you have any type of damage to your natural hair or baldness. Your hair must be at least six inches long. This can last up to three months, less if you brush your hair too much or too hard pulling out the extensions. 
Glue process of applying weave is the most used by kitchen stylists. They apply glue directly to your hair or scalp, and then apply the hair weft. This process doesn’t last very long, plus it is the most damaging. The hair can be ripped out, taking your hair and part of your scalp with it. Also, they can fall out very easily. I cannot tell you how many times I have found wefts of hair on a dance floor at a club. Tacky!
4- Keep washing and conditioning your hair as usual.
Many black women run by this rule of thought, if you have braids in your hair, do not wash your hair. Wrong! Not continuing to wash your hair can cause bacteria to grow in your scalp that can damage the roots and stop your hair from growing at all. You do not necessarily need to go to your stylists to wash your weave. When I had a full head of weave, I washed and dried my hair at home. Here is what you need:
a- Deep Cleansing shampoo
b- Moisture rich conditioner (Treseme Moisture Rich works
well)
c- Bonnet home hair dryer
Wash your hair by wetting your whole head including braids. Apply shampoo and clean the weave. Then take some shampoo, and lift up each layer of hair and shampoo your scalp. When you go to rinse, make sure you part every section of your hair to get the shampoo out of your braids. Do the same process again and then with the conditioner.
Towel dry your hair. Heat up your Bonnet Hair Dryer. Using hair clips, I recommend heat protected plastic, part your hair by the rows so each row of braids are exposed. Then sit under your hair dryer. Dry until braids have no moisture. 
5- Moisturize your weave with the proper oil.
You must oil your weave. This is because the hair is dead and does not produce natural oils. If you do not, your weave will become dry and ratted. The best oil I can recommend is IC Fantasia Aloe Enriched Hair Polisher for colour treated
hair Serum. You can find it in any drug store for no more than $6.
6- For a more natural look, leave your natural hair out on the hair line.
If you choose to use a partial lace front or not, it’s your choice. If you do or don’t, make sure you leave the front of your hair around
your face out and blend into the weave. This will create the appearance that you grew this hair. If you have kinky hair, and the weave is straight, make sure you relax the hair left out. If your weave is light brown, and you have black hair, dye your hair to match the weave.
Follow this same idea if you have a middle part in your hair. You must conceal the wefts. If you do not want to relax the top of your
head for the part, you can use a hair piece that is specially made to be placed at the top of your head to give you a natural looking part. You can find this at His and Her Hair. (Mentioned previously)
If you choose to have a weave, make sure you save up and do your homework. The goal of a weave is to give you a new look, but without it being noticeable. You must protect your natural hair as well. If you follow these tips, you will have the perfect weave!
Sorry I haven’t written in awhile, but had a lot going on in my life and could not bring myself to write. But now I am feeling a lot better and changed some things around and it seems to have helped.
I deemed it time to reevaluate my life. I write a lot about tips to make you look good on the outside, but its way more important to feel good on the inside. Can you remember the times you felt the best about yourself? Nothing that had to do with what you were wearing or how perfect your hair was? It’s those times that makes you feel best about yourself, and has more staying power than the physical. It’s the times when you were truly proud of yourself. You set a goal, kept to it, and completed it.
What I am asking all of you to do is write a bucket list for your life, complete with long term and short term goals. If you just fill it with long term goals, you may feel like it’s a lot to take on and you might never reach them. While you’re in pursuit of your ultimate happiness, try to pursue smaller ambitions. For example, one of my ultimate goals is to train to become a fitness instructor and personal trainer, and start my own business. I am working on this, but will take me some time. I am concentrating some of my efforts on small goals. One of my prolonged life goals was to learn how to swim and tread water. I used to love the water, still do, but was scared of drowning as I almost did on several different occasions when I was a child. I started taking swim lessons in the beginning of July, practiced five days a week, and now I am proud to say I am swimming 90 laps in 60 minutes in the pool and no longer scared of the deep end. I feel so proud of myself that I overcome my fear, let go, and trusted myself. My next goal is to learn how to build a website and stand up in Pointe ballet shoes once without assistance. I am studying HTML and CSS on my own now for a week and plan to sign up for ballet classes in the next couple of weeks. Another personal goal is to kick my eating disorder in the ass once and for all. This will be a lifelong process, and lots of healing needs to take place. For those of you who struggle with this, you know what I am talking about. I am still working on this.
Achieving your goals gives yourself something that no one can take away from you. Self esteem. You did it! No matter what others say, you did it. You took matters into your own hands to make your dreams come true.
Having a bucket list can help you reevaluate your life and see where you have gone off course and what you hope to achieve before you “kick the bucket.” LOL
Do me a favor, tonight, or this weekend; sit down with a pad of paper a write it out. You don’t have to share this with anyone, it’s just for yourself. Take your time. Dream big! I would love to hear from people who have achieved a goal and how they felt afterwards. Let’s share stories of inspiration!
Summertime is a great time to get out and be more active. Running outside is way better than on a treadmill. You get to swim more, rock climb, tons of things to do. Plus, everyone bumps up their routine to fit into their tinny winy bikinis. But all this sweating and such can have a damaging effect on our hair. We lose elasticity, hair breaks off, split ends, dry brittle hair, and in worst cases, some blondes turn green.
I am going to give you my tips on gaining perfect healthy hair that will survive your summer regimen. This includes you Black women. No more excuses on not exercising because of your hair.
1- Protecting hair from chlorine and beach water.
Swimming in the summer is great, but can be havoc on your follicles. Swimming without any hair protection is ok every once and awhile, but continually doing so will dry out your hair and cause serious breakage. Excessive salt and chlorine are the worst on hair. Here is what you can do. Apply a deep moisturizing conditioner to dry hair before entering the water. Tresemme’s Moisture Rich works great. Evenly incorporate it. Comb the product through your hair with a wide tooth comb. Be generous with the conditioner, it will only help. Then I recommend putting on a swim cap. It’s not the cutest, but if you plan on swimming laps, it keeps your hair out of your eyes and offer additional protection from the water. Latex swim caps are the best. Once you get out of the water, immediately rinse off. As you do, you will find your hair feels silky and smooth.
2- Replenish hair that has been in chlorine or salt water
Ok. You didn’t protect your hair like suggested and you went in anyway. Now your hair feels horrible and some is breaking off. Told you not to, but anyway. First you want to find a shampoo that resets the pH balance in your hair. Joico moisture recovery and Kpak lines are great for rebalancing your hair and replenishing moisture. Philosophy works well also. Then, you want to deep condition. Any deep conditioner will really do, make sure it says “for damaged hair” on it to be the most effective. Apply in the shower, place on a shower cap, and leave on for five minutes. The steam of the shower will create heat and open the cuticle to let in the conditioner. If you are not in a shower, heat up a wet towel in a microwave, carefully, then wrap around your head.
3 -Everyday Maintenance
Use pH balance shampoos if you are an active person. It helps remove the salt from your sweat out of your hair. Wash hair once, do not rinse and repeat if you wash your hair every day. Your hair is not that dirty, plus you do not want to strip all your hair’s natural oils. Don’t forget to moisturize with a great conditioner.
4- Apply less heat
Instead of blowing drying your hair on high heat, use the low setting. It may take a few minutes longer but it’s the closest to air
drying. You are trying to get your hair dry, not straight. So many women try to straighten their hair with the blow dryer then with a straightener. All this heat is killing your hair. If you use the low setting, you will save your hair the stress and then you can use a straightener. I suggest you buy one that allows you to adjust the temperature setting. If you have coarse hair, use a high temp, if you have light or chemically treated hair, use a lower temp.
5- Black women, when working out, wrap your hair or pull it back in a ponytail. Including weaves!
Some women I see do this at the gym, but more I see have their hair all out and them walk on a treadmill at 2.0 speed hoping and praying not to sweat. If you wrap your hair prior to your work out, you will prevent your roots from puffing up like crazy later. The trick, do not unwrap your hair. You must let it dry like that. Including if you have your hair pulled back in a pony tail. This is why I would recommend evening workouts so you don’t have to worry about messing up your hair before heading to the office. Also, wrapping saves you from apply to much heat on your hair too often.
6- Black women, do not oil your hair to death!
So many of us have grown up having our mother and grandmother’s slathering pink lotion on our hair, slicking it down so it doesn’t move. Why do we still do it? Maybe because so many of our stylists were raised the same way and insist that we continue to do so? Or is it just a bad habit? Yes it is true that our hair is drier than other races and does not produce as much natural oil. But out hair DOES produce oil. We are not looking for shine here, key word is luster. Luster happens when your hair has been moisturized from the inside out. You must use better products. Put down the Pantene and Motions, these products are not good for us. Instead, try Philosophy, Joico, or Carol’s Daughters. These lines specialize in relaxed hair and restore moisture and mend breakage. Keep words: “Moisture Recovery” “Replenish” “Moisture Rich”
I hope these tips help. Check my blog later for tips on having the best weave and fun and easy hair styles.
As we all know, the hardest part about making the decision to lose weight and get in shape is changing the way you eat. You can exercise all day long, but if you don’t make a food lifestyle change, you won’t see results. Plus, changes in the way you eat will show faster on your body than exercise. You will find you have more energy, sleep better, and you are more regular.
The second hardest part of dieting, is affording this food change. Eating more fresh produce, meats, and switching to organic can really take its toll on your wallet. Let’s face it; it’s a lot cheaper to eat processed food then fresh. Well I have compiled these few tips to help you in your food shopping and cooking endeavors. In the future, I will be posting a video following me shopping in the grocery store to help you pick healthy options.
1- Shop for in season produce. Summer is great for strawberries, cherries, kiwi, mangos and pineapples. For veggies, try to pick up some summer squash, zucchini, green beans, and ears of corn. Summer salads are great quick and easy meal ideas. If the produce that you want is not in season, buy frozen. They still have the same nutritional benefits and last longer in the freezer. Avoid canned veggies and frozen veggies with sauce and oil. You can add your own.
2- Grill meats and fish whenever possible. You save a ton of calories grilling. The fat melts off and away from your meat, you add flavor from charcoal grilling, and it’s so hot in the summer, why turn on your stove?
3- Invest in a slow cooker for healthy one pot wonder meals. Slow cookers are great to help you cook healthy meals without slaving over a hot stove or oven. You don’t have to do a thing but add all the ingredients, set it, and forget it. Try chili,
goulash, and pot roast recopies. They are low cost to make and full of fiber and protein.
4- Summer is a great time to incorporate more fish to your diet. Fish is abundant during the summer months. They are spawning and starting to swim around. Because of this, you can save money and buy fresh fish at your local store for a lot less money. Plus, prices on frozen fish are down as well. I am not saying go buy tons of fish sticks and other Gordon products loaded with fats and sodium. Buy the plain filets. Catfish, whiting, and tilapia are great starter fish and perch as most available during the summer months.
5- Sometimes, frying isn’t so bad. Yes I said it, you can fry sometimes. Stay away from batter dipped frying. That is where majority of your calories come from, not necessarily the cooking process. If you fry, try to use flour coating on chicken and light cornmeal coating on fish. Fry using vegetable oil and do a shallow fry as oppose to deep frying. You will only add about 30 to 60 additional calories to your food depending on the amount of breading.
6- When choosing dairy products such as yogurts and cheeses, go for full fat instead of low or fat free. We are so programmed to choose the low fat or fat free options of everything, convincing ourselves that it’s better for us and we will get used
to the taste. Sometimes choosing these alternatives will hurt us in the long run. When they take out all those calories, they take out a lot of natural probiotics and calcium. Even thou the name says it has probiotics, research the brand compared to the full fat version. They don’t have nearly enough. You will end up needing to get more of the fat free version to get the same nutritional benefits of the full fat.
7- During the summer buy fresh herbs and dried spices. Herbs are abundant during the warmer months, and because of that, they are pretty cheap. For a big bundle of parsley or cilantro will cost you less than a dollar. Fresh spices are very expensive
no matter what time of year. Buying dried versions are cheaper and give you a richer flavor profile. Substitute these instead of lots of butter and oil to your food to add flavor.
8- Cooking with olive oil cooking spray gives you the same taste of EVOO without the added fat.
If you are one of those people who are uncomfortable cooking with sprays such as PAM, invest in a MISO can. These cans are great. You can fill them with your own oil. You pump the top three to five times until it’s hard to do so, and your oil comes out as spray!
I hope these few tips help. Remember, small changes lead to big results.
12 Tips For A Less Stressful Life
Posted on: July 13, 2011
1. Eat Dessert First!
So many of us are so focused on losing weight and watching what we eat, that we deprive ourselves of food we like. The first thing to go is dessert. Oh sure, we try that fat free and sugar free options, but they do not satisfy our sweet tooth like we want. By doing so, we end up eating more of the stuff you don’t like then just a little of what you really wanted. Here is my tip: eat the dessert first.
Go ahead! I won’t kill you to do this every once and while, but make it an experience. Enjoy it. Don’t eat that slice of cheesecake while watching TV or reading a book, concentrate on the taste, smell, and feel of it on your tongue. Savor each bite. If you’re still a little freaked out about this notion, just eat half of the dessert or share with a friend. Then when you eat your main meal, you are more likely to eat less of it because your taste has been satisfied and you are not as hungry.
2. Take one exercise day a week and do something you love. AKA Swimming, play soccer or learn the moves to your favorite music videos
I dub this your exercise day off. You need to relax and enjoy yourself. We can get so regimented in our routines that we can end up dreading our next workout session. This dread can lead to procrastination, then to giving up exercise all together. In the end, you gain back the few pounds that you did lose and are at square one. Choose a physical activity that you love to do. If you love to swim, this is the perfect weather for it and you won’t sweat! Like to take up a dance class, do it! If you can’t afford a dance class, check out your favorite music video with chorography, study the moves, and practice the whole video for about 30 minutes. Trust me, this works just as well. When I was in high school, I did this all the time. I learned the whole dance from Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” music video. I had a ball, and had new moves showoff to my friends.
3. Take some time out for yourself and enjoy your favorite show or movie with no interrupts. Treat it like a theatre. Pop some popcorn and enjoy a glass of wine or soda.
I do this about once a week. This really comes in handy after a long day or week. My favorite show is True Blood on HBO. I love it! I let all my friends and family know that when that show is on, don’t care if I am watching the DVD or on television, do not talk to me or disturb me in anyway. I pop some popcorn and pour myself a nice glass or Verde champagne with a cherry in the bottom, or make myself a skinny girl margarita and enjoy my hour. Sometimes my boyfriend joins me and he is just as into it as I am.
4. Eat one meal without any distracts. Sit at the table (no TV, no book, and no computer)
Pick a meal, any meal, and plan to eat it without any distractions. Don’t eat while watching TV, playing a video game, reading, or at your desk at work. If you can, eat at an outside café. That’s a great lunch break. Set the table at home for one. Have a center piece of a vase full of flowers or candle light and enjoy. Eat with a friend or partner without distractions. If you do this, you will slow down your eating and give your mind enough time to register when you are satisfied. When you eat while doing something, it’s kind of mindless and you end up consuming more than you needed to because you simply weren’t paying attention.
5. Listen to music you like while you work to make the day go by smooth
I do this every day. Don’t play your music so loud that your co-workers can hear it, and don’t use headphones or ear buds because you might get in trouble. Just set it as a like background noise. It will really help you be more productive. Happy worker performs better, and who isn’t happy listening to their favorite song? My personal favs to listen to at work; Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Kanye West, Lloyd, Usher, and Beyonce. Also, music will help keep you calm under stressful situations.
6. Wake up to music using a clock radio or clock with CD player
Have you noticed when you are jarred awake by your buzzing alarm clock in the morning, your heart is racing, and you are automatically on edge for the next hour or so? Then you are hardwired for stress for the rest of the day. To wake up relaxed, try waking up to calming sounds or your favorite song. These will gradually enter your consciousness and you will wake up peacefully.
7. Try to take time out for minimum of two minutes of silence
This might seem like a hard one to do, but try it. You can do this anywhere at any time. There is so much noise out there that you can’t even hear your own thoughts. Go to the ladies room, or your bedroom, or where ever, close your eyes, and just engulf yourself in silence. Listen to the sound of your breath, the hum of the air condition, feel your chest feel up with air then decompress. Become one with yourself. This is your time. Don’t forget how special life can be with its simplicity. Goldie Hawn suggests this in her writings on becoming a happier person.
8. Go for a walk. The fresh air will revitalize you.
Flesh air and sunlight does a body good. We need fresh air to improve lung function and flush out any impurities, and we need vitamin d in our system to be healthy. Too many people are vitamin d deficient. But besides the health benefits, going for a walk outside can help clear your mind, awaken the senses, and give you a natural energy boost. Take your Mp3 player or nothing at all, and go for a 10 minute walk the next time you are feeling overwhelmed. Also, physical activity improves brain function, so it you were working on a project and got stuck on a problem, I bet after your walk, the answer just comes to you.
9. If you hear your favorite song, don’t hold it in, sing out loud!
This one can be hard to do for some people because we are all so self conscious and scared of what other people think. One of the happiest people I know does this, and not only does she sing out loud, but dances down the street! She doesn’t care what people think, just rides the feeling. She inspired me to do this. So far, I just sing in my house and outside when I think no one is around, but I am building up my courage. I will say this; singing full heartily without any regrets or fears is a great feeling.
10. Take a long shower or bath to wash the hustle and bustle of the day off of you and relax.
I love to take a nice long hot shower after a workout or a long day at the office. I feel as if the weight of the world washes right off me. We are so prone to be in a rush that we forget to take time to slow down and pamper ourselves. This is far from the spa, but the steam will open your pores, so a great atmosphere for exfoliating and deep conditioning. Just make sure no one has to use the
bathroom when you do this or the stress relieving purposes are gone.
11. Smile whenever possible.
Ever hear that it takes more muscles to frown then it does to smile? Sure you have. But it is harder to smile when you don’t feel it. Try it anyway. If you smile long enough, pretty soon, your brain will get the message, “Hey, maybe if I’m smiling so much, I must be happy.” Your mood will improve. Smiles are contagious so spread yours around.
12. Last but not least, act like a kid again.
Do you remember how it felt when you were little? I’m talking ages five to ten, before the opposite sex and puberty came into play? How freeing it was to have no responsibilities and just do what you wanted, even if that meant you might get in trouble? Too
many of us forget that feeling. We get so wrapped up in our own drama; we forget how to have fun. Try something to night. Go in your bedroom, take off your shoes, and jump up and down on your bed. Even if you feel a little silly, do it anyway. Be careful not to break anything. Run around your house with no purpose at all, just cause. It’s a great feeling to dump all that crap out of your head
and just feel the endorphins and spin, jump, and run around.
This subject is what many women think about when making the discussion to go on birth control or maintain it. Will it make you gain weight? Well, I have searched around the internet including WebMD and The Mayo Clinic, and they both say it’s a myth. They chalk it up to women just aren’t watching their weight like they should and that’s why you are gaining weight or having trouble losing it. I don’t quite believe this logic.
When I was in college, I was using the Patch as my method of birth control. I was on it for about a year, and during that year, I was trying to lose the few pounds I gain over freshmen year. I consulted with a nutritionist to set my caloric and nutritional goals and started working out five times a week for minimum of an hour each time. I combined strength and cardio in each of my routines. I ate a healthy diet full of protein, veggies, fruits, whole grains, and good fats. When I saw the weight was not coming off, I bump up my workouts to 90 minutes in length. Still nothing. I became very frustrated. I talked to my doctor about it and she says she could not explain why I was having such trouble losing weight. She did routine blood work on me and everything came up fine.
I took matters into my own hands and decided to take a break from the Patch. Within a week of doing so, I dropped 10 pounds! Now it seems I am having similar problems again. I was at a lower weight last year while on my current birth control, Loestrin, but like I stated in previous post, I had a serious eating disorder. I only consumed max 600 calories a day so I would be at a lower weight. Sometimes I went up to 1100 calories but only after over exercising. Now that I am working with my support team to get my weight and health on track, my weight has gone up some, but to be expecting in the first few months. Now that I am eating a very healthy diet, no fast food, 5 servings fruit and veggies, lean protein, cook all my food myself, and working out 5 to 6 days a week doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30 minimum of 60 minutes a day, my weight is at a standstill. Had blood work done again, and still normal. My fitness level is higher than ever. Running six miles without stopping at 10 minutes and 30 second miles. My body has shaped up, my stomach is flatter, and my upper body is stronger than it has been. I don’t know. I do not want to place blame on my birth control, but since it has happen to me before, I don’t know. Check out these clips I found online and form your own opinion.
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/birth-control-and-weight-gain
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