Fitness Friday: Smoothies vs Juicing

Hey all! It is Spring Break...I worked out maybe twice this week. Most of my workouts take place at home....working out at home with 4 kids (5, bc my 7 year old sister was over all week), is a joke. Ok, that is really an excuse, I could have exercised while they were outside playing, but I didn't. I was Spring cleaning...No I really was!

Anywho, I will go hard, next week. In the mean time, I was considering juicing for weight loss.


What is "Juicing"?
Juicing fresh fruit and vegetables works by providing the body with a vast array of living, vital nutrients in a form that it can easily absorb, because juicing breaks down or eliminates the fiber in fruits and veggies.
 Juicing also helps to cleanse the body of toxins and assists in its processes of repair and regeneration.

Is Juicing better than Smoothies? 

It is almost impossible to say one is better than the other, they both are great and healthy choices. Let

Juicing Pros

• Without fiber, you can really load up on some nutrients. You can only drink so much, without fiber taking up some of  the volume, leaves room for more nutrients!
•  Easier to digest than eating whole fruits and vegetables

Cons

• Juicing eliminates fiber. One of the health benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables is to increase your source of heart- and digestive-healthy fiber.
• More expensive by volume. For example, if you made a 1-quart smoothie you might use 1 cucumber, 1-2 bananas, and 1-2 handfuls of greens plus some water. But a quart of green juice you might use 2 large cucumbers, ½-1 bunch of celery, an entire bunch of dark leafy greens, plus 1-2 handfuls of herbs.

Because smoothies contain fiber, which is filling, making you feel full, they are a super healthy, low-calorie meal replacement.

Between drinking a smoothie, as a meal replacement, and getting in a good amount of water during the day, you should never really feel hungry. That is my plan for the next few days.

Also in the plan is cutting of fast food PERIOD!
I always rationalize what I am getting (i.e. salads or wraps), or try to negotiate caloric intake per meal. Well I realized that fast food joints are not just wrecking havoc on my hips, but my wallet as well.

All today I craved a Wendy's salad...all day I had to remind myself NO! The old me would bargain with the inner fatty lol, I'm having to train myself to shut her down, she is spoiled, she is manipulative, and she has been having her way for to long.

These #FitnessFriday posts, are really keeping me focused. Even when I feel discouraged, I write, and realize that it is only one step at a time, one day at a time, and everyday that I make an effort, is one day closer to my goal.

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To join in on #FitnessFriday go over to Saving Our Strands or Longing 4 Length to find out how!

Hairfinity!!!!

 

 

So I finally broke down and gave in to the "Hairfinity" temptation! I was just curious, I am satisifed with my progress so far that I have made on my own, except for my damn trimming....BUT I left that in 2013 MOVE ON!

 

Anywho back to Hairfinity, I just started taking them about 4 days ago so this is NOT a review, I will do a review after a month on the product itself.

 

What I can say is that the shipment was pretty speedy. I ordered on a Friday morning, got reciept for shipment on Monday, they were in my mailbox on Wednesday! I used standard shipping, as well.

 

Also the pills, are encapsulated, as you can see in the picture above...I am HORRIBLE at taking pills, they are usually hard to swallow and often feel like they are stuck in my throat. I have experienced non of that with these pills so far. They go down easy peasy and I am not mad at that.

 

I have only taken them after eating, so I can not say if they are ok to take on an empty stomach. I took biotin on an empty stomach once and almost DIED!!!!!!!! I felt so nauseated that it hurt! Since then I have not taken the risk of taking vitamins of any sort on an empty stomach.

 

 

The day that I recieved the pills, I got my hair braided, as a protective style. I plan to keep them up for two weeks, and then do a mini length check and review at that time, but I will do another at the end of my second bottle when I have seen true results.

 

I am saving my "before" picture, for the length comparisons.

 

 If you are interested in Hairfinity vitamins the link to order is here.

Here are the ingredients:



Are there any side effects? This is the statement that you will find on their website:

"Hairfinity is a natural supplement and 100% drug free. At this time, there are no clinically proven negative side effects of taking these vitamins. "

However keep in mind that these are vitamins and as seen on the Supplement Facts most of them exceeds the daily value percentage, meaning that you are taking in more of that vitamin than your body requires. Taking them everyday could result in toxicity of certain vitamins which could cause various reactions dependant upon the individual and their tolerance or sensitivity.

Should you have any health problems or concerns, see your physician beforehand. Should you begin feeling side effects or symptons that  you think are related to the vitamins, stop taking them and see a physician as well.

So far I have experienced no adverse reactions, again have only been taking for 4 days, however a few complaints that I have read OTHERS experience are constipation, pimples, intensified migraines, and itchy scalp.

HAVE YOU TAKEN HAIRFINTIY BEFORE??? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH US!!!

Fitness Friday: On the Grid!!!

She is back at it!!! Clean eating, and 1st week of "30 Day Shred" down. My actual weigh in day is Monday morning, so I won't be able to say how it is going until then, but I feel pretty good about it. Jillian Michaels' work out is pretty GOOD!!! Which means it is challenging but not impossible, it isn't discouraging and it's a mix of everything and not to much of one thing.

Like with T25, certain days were set for cardio....there is such thing as too much cardio!! When your chest starts to hurt, you can barely breath, and you just want to cry...lol I mean, yea I pushed past it, so it wasn't impossible either....but I will say those days it was quite discouraging and took A LOT of mental motivation to even "push play", simply because I knew the pain I was about to subject myself to!

Anywho "30 Day Shred" Level 1... is a pretty comfortable level for me,  5 days down, 5 to  go and then on to Level 2....I should at least check out Level 2 ahead of time and prepare myself, I always think the worst possible painful workout ever lol.

I decided to do the 30 Day Shred because it was a bit upsetting that I fell off weight wise, with T25.... I mean I can't blame the program, it was doing what it is designed to do.... I just wasn't doing my part. I was discouraged and thinking of starting ALL the way over with T25 was like "AHHHHHHHH!!! It is a 10 week program.

I wanted something quicker, more simple, something that I felt like I could do. Not to say that I could not start over with T25, but the whole 10 weeks to complete upset me, so I decided to do 30 Day Shred. It says to lose up to 20 lbs in those 30 days....I am not expecting that, but if I can just get back to where I was when I finished the Alpha round of T25 (152 lbs) that would be great!

One thing I am trying to do is cut back on the wine....SHE HAS FOUR KIDS....SHE NEEDS WINE!!! Yea she needs to lose these last few pounds too, get it together! LOL

Anyway in conclusion I have realized that eating better, makes me feel better...eating like a fat ass makes me feel like a fat ass....and who wants to feel that way? Why do that to yourself

That about sums it up!! Feeling hopeful, motivated and determined YAY!!!!

    
 

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Fitness Friday: Weight Loss LIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ok, looking the number of exclamation marks,it is probably obvious that I have ran into some issues. Well 1…I have gained weight WHILE exercising consistently…and before you swear it is muscle mass….IT IS NOT!!!!
From my progress pics of times when I was successful
compared with today, I have a gut again…and I am too mad to take set back pictures. This is what inspired this post….one thing in weight loss journey, well in MY experience has proven to be true:

"YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!"

 

Anyone who tell you “You basically can eat anything as long as you are burning more calories than you eat,” THEY ARE LYING!!!!

Well not necessarily so, but I guess it will just make you skinny fat. When I was clean eating, eating lean meats, I look lean! I wasn’t at my goal weight, but my body was taking shape! I would look in the mirror in my sports bra and do a little rocking body pump! Now I avoid the mirror all together (again).

I am mad about having to start over AGAIN! I am mad, because I had a formula that WORKED!!! I was eating clean, never hungry, working out, and losing weight!!! WHAT HAPPENED!?!?!?

I got greedy….decided that I would lose more weight faster, by eating LESS…by eating less, I deprived myself, which lead to hunger, feeling hunger lead to over eating, over eating lead to…..eating whatever was in sight, eating whatever was in sight lead to a reappearing gut!!

On the plus side I can say that I am still working out, so I am still physically fit (sort of)…I can run for a whooping 20 minutes now!!! that is major for me lol, so in order to get back on track all I have to do is get my diet in order.

I just bought Jillian Micheals 30 day Shread, because I mentally feel like I can take it on, and with proper dieting, I hope that I can lose the 20 pounds in 30 days as advertised. I am still doing T25, because I love Beta round it just does not have as high of a calorie burn as I would like.

So I am starting over…clean eating on Monday…AGAIN! I am so mad…my new motto is “I workout like a beast….why eat like a pig”… it truly says something about your diet/eating habits when you gain weight WHILE working out…smh.

 

 

 

   

   
   
 

 

 

Confessions of the Girl With Long Hair????

Anybody who knows me, knows that I do not consider myself to having "long hair", I am APL...been here for a year and a half now...but hey who is complaining...anywho, being submerged into this world of hair care, I know plenty with much longer, fuller, and in my opinion more beautiful hair. Not to say that mine is not those things, but I just don't consider my own hair anything to "crush" over. Anyway that is neither here nor there, I have stumbled upon a rather unexpected "hairmotion"....that is my made up word to describe an emotion derived from my hair lol....it is the feeling :

Shame.

I don't know it is weird huh? It is like when people compliment my hair, I always find a way to down play how much I love my hair :-/ How proud I am of my hair :-/ I am all of those things, but when it draws the attention of others, I seem to cower at the idea of promoting hair care or, how seriously I care for my hair.

For instance...someone says "Why do you wear weave, when you got a head full of hair"?
I say "Because I don't feel like dealing with this mess!"....

1. I actually hate referring to my hair as "mess", because it is far from that, but I think that if I refer to it as such, then it deflects my genuine adoration for my hair lol.
2. The first thing that actually comes to mind is to explain "Protective Styles". But I think I am over trying to explain hair care, to people who simply just don't get it.

OR...Even Worse...Somone compliments me on how beautiful my hair is...and again, I will say
"this mess"....Kinda like someone who has just spent hours (or lots of money getting dressed...they get complimented and say "Oh this old thing?"

What is it with that!?!

I know apart of me feels awkward because they are complimenting on something that they could very well achieve themselves, with just a tad bit of effort. Hair care has been one of the easiest challenges that I have ever faced, unlike weight loss, if I have a lazy week, it does not result in a major set back....I am so tired of fluctuating weight lol...guess I should stop having so frequent lazy days lol....anywho when they compliment me...I kinda want to tell them...Hey this could be you...but I don't want to offend anyone, or solicite unwanted advise, so I kinda just shut down completely...probably calling it "a mess". To just shut down the whole hair conversation...if I go into detail as to what I do they will say "You do too much!"...and I will be compelled to say...."I do a lot....I have a lot of hair...you do to little and you have..........."

Yea I'd rather just facetiously call my hair "a mess." lol

Have you ever felt ashamed or "awkward" about your hair progress?

PLZ SHARE!!!

Blow Drying: The Tension Method

What is "The Tension Method"?

The Tension Method, is when you use tension to stretch out your new growth or kinky hair, oppose to blwing out by combing  while drying.

How To:

 

• Wash/Cowash your hair
• Detangle under running shower.
• Blot hair dry with towel, or T-shirt dry.
• Section hair in desired amount of sections.
• Hold a section of your hair taut (preferrably a smaller section if using four section, for quicker dry  time)
• With the other hand angleyour hand held dryer in the direction the hair is going, if you have a concentration nozzle, it would be great to use it.

I would suggest using warm or cold air settings.

I was impatient and used hot....here are my results:

 

If you decide to use "Hot air", remember to apply a heat protectant beforehand.


I pretty much got the results of a "blow out", without the harsh combing and  breakage. So I definietly say that it is a winner! Next time I decide to straighten my hair out, this will definitely be my method of drying, simply to limit the heavy manipulation, that comes with blowing out.

 

Have you tried the Tension Method before? What were your results? What is your method?

PLZ SHARE!

How I Saved A Sloppy Braid Out!!

Well let's see here, I cowashed my hair with Aussie Moist, deep conditioned with a lame deep conditioner that I can not remember the name of, but will do a review on, as soon as I get to it.
I then set my hair, in about 8 plaits (I normally do 4, I was going for a faux fro look). I then, rolled each plait on a pink perm rod.

I let them sit overnight. Upon waking up, I took them down and it looked a mess! I am sorry, it was such a mess that I did not even bother to take a picture. My intentions were not to "save" it, but to just rock this hideous turn out because I was too lazy to figure out anything else.

So I ran morning errands, and went to the gym. Because I did not care for my hair style, I did not bother tying my hair down or protecting it from the sweat and humidity, so braidout out and free, I went to my Spinning class.

I leave the gym and next thing I know, I have a frizzy, slightly braid out defined, puff on my head that I managed to shape into a faux fro!

WaaaLA! Tossed on some makeup to make it look like it was an on purpose fierce relaxed hair fro and called it a day!?!? LOL

What are some unconventional ways that you have created some amazing styles?

How do you save failed hair styles?

PLZ SHARE :-)