Week 30 Hair

This week I've been experimenting with hair accessories. 

I love hair accessories! 

As well as wearing my hair out. 

I went "clubbing" with my sister for a friend's birthday party last weekend and I wanted to wear my hair out. The initial idea was to do curls with the flexi rods but that didn't work out.

I had my 5K that same day so we couldn't put them in the night before. Then with trying to find something to wear and getting all glammed up we did it too late.

My sister did put the flexi rods in but I didn't have enough time to prep my hair or wait for them to dry. So instead of frowning at the huge 'fro I was left with, I embraced it. I put my hair in a side puff with a pompador style bang and a cute flower.

I love natural hair! 

It can be crinkly, curly, a 'fro, big, little...the options are endless. Since starting this HHCJ I haven't worn my hair out, at all, except for a few ponytails. So I completely forgot how big my hair can get! 

I didn't have a chance to take a pic of my hair that night. But I replicated it for my younger brother's graduation this past Thursday. My hair didn't come out quite as big (and these pics were taken at the end of a VERY long day) but you get the idea. Just imagine my hair twice as big and that's how it looked for the birthday party.

To re-create this look I just re-wet my hair. I was not about to have those flexi rods put back into my hair because it was too much work. Instead, I wet my hair in sections, detangled, and then applied some coconut oil. 

I then braided each section. Next time I will just twist each section because I don't need my hair to be super stretched out for this look. Plus, braids take forever to take out! I ended up having to finish my hair in the car, with no mirror, because I was running late. (No, I was not driving!) 

Once all the braids were removed I just separated and separated until the puff got as big as I wanted it.

The flower I got at TJ Max or JC Penny. It was on sale for $7. I picked up another one this weekend while my mother was finishing her Christmas shopping. I don't remember what department store it was but I got it for $5. It's actually cuter than the one in the above picture so I can't wait to rock it!  

Like I said: I love hair accessories! I've been meaning to pick up some but they are too expensive! Many of them are more than $10 and I refuse to pay that much for a flower or a headband. 

Plus, the two I have now double as broaches. So I will be using them on my scarves and cardigans! I know you can pick up cheap ones from Forever21 and places like that but I haven't had the time to get out there yet. 

Some people find the cutest ones at their local dollar store or hair store. I've been in both places where I live and haven't found a thing. So I will keep searching. 

But these things quickly glam up a simple style. If you don't wear hair accessories now I seriously encourage you to try them, regardless of your hair type.

Anyway, as far as my routine goes I'm thinking of trying something new. A few youtubers (I'm always quoting youtube because it's great for natural hair ideas) say they only twist their hair when it's dry. 

Their twists look fabulous so I'm going to give it a try. It works out perfectly because I don't plan on washing my hair this Sunday (Christmas). I plan on keeping these twists in until the Monday after Christmas.

I prepared my hair yesterday by doing the usual. I then divided it into sections and braided each section to keep it stretched out. I wore my beanie to work today and now will commence to twisting as I watch reruns of Teen Titans. I will definitely take pictures of the twists to let you know how it turns out.

It's funny because during the winter months people tend to cover up their hair with protective styles. But this past week I've enjoyed wearing my hair out. Actually, wearing it out made it so much easier to detangle. 

While I won't abandon my HHCJ, I'm discovering how much fun it can be to have natural hair!

Week 31 Hair

Detangle

Shampoo

Deep condition

Kimmaytube leave in

Twists

Jolly Elf Trail Run: Recap

• I finished 57th out of 599 participants
• 8th out of total females
• AND FIRST IN MY CATEGORY!!!! 

Here I am near the finish line.

 It was such an amazing feeling looking at the website the next day and seeing my name FIRST!

This was a smaller race so only the male and female winners got medals. But, heck, I don't care! 

Winning my category was MY medal!

RACE RECAP

 It was a trail run. I didn't even realize I had signed up for a trail run until I went to pick up my race pack on Friday. I was mildly curious about it. But since it was only a 5K I was not too concerned.

I woke up on Saturday excited and ready to see what the course looked like. The only bad news is that it was so cold. 

I feel like it was colder than the half-marathon. That makes sense because we are now in the second half of December.

We got there an hour early to find parking and pick up my chip. It was old-school this time.

Here I am picking up my chip.

The typical shoe chip that you have to give back.

No high-tech technology like the half-marathon. But hey, it was a 5K and it only cost me $20! I wasn't complaining!

Before my race there was 1 mile "fun run" for little kids and their families.

It was cute. There were tons of little munchkins, and a few tears, but everyone finished the race.

My race started a half hour later at 9am. There were about 599 participants in the timed 5K.

I placed myself at the front this time. I had no plans to run a PR or anything. It was all in good fun. The trail was not as scary as I expected. I had to run through quite a bit of mud and leaves but it was OK.

I had fun and even got a yummy candy cane at the end!

I gave it to my niece because I don't eat candy canes.

The food after the event was good too. They had bananas, oranges, whole wheat bread and tons of yummy types of bagels. It was great. After the half-marathon I could only eat a banana because the other options were pizza and beer!

All in all it was great. (I said that already didn't I?)

I saw tons of elves like promised.

Ok, clearly not elves but festive!

 DJs and cheerleaders. If you look to the left you can see some pre-teens with pom poms.

 An old man with no shirt on in 30 degree Fahrenheit weather.

 Beautiful views

 And most importantly: camaraderie

The woman in blue was super fast! The tall elf to the right finished second.

I'm definitely a fan of community races.

This was my last race before my marathon next year. I definitely ended the year on a high note!

Weekly Recipe: Molasses Biscuits

This was one of my vegan Thanksgiving recipes. These biscuits are DELICIOUS! I made 19 on Thanksgiving and then 10 more the Sunday after. Chema and I ate them all by ourselves. It was ridiculous.

The ingredients are so cheap and things that you already have in your kitchen. The only thing you have to buy are the herbs and maybe molasses. So yea, I had to put my foot down and not make any more.

Maybe I'll make some this weekend. Although, I found a ridiculously easy vegan pancake recipe online that I want to try. Maybe that'll be my reward after running my 5K on Saturday!

(This recipe is courtesy of the Food Network Magazine. The photo below is courtesy of my camera.)



These are the uncooked versions. They were too good to take pics of post oven!



Molasses Biscuits (Vegan)

Mix 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 Tbsp wheat germ, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp each of salt and chopped thyme, and a pinch of pepper in a bowl. Whisk 3 Tbsp molasses, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 3/4 cup non-dairy milk in another bowl. Then stir it into the flour mixture. Drop 10 mounds of dough (1/4 cup each) on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with more oats, thyme and salt. Bake at 450 degrees until golden, about 12 minutes.

It was easy to measure out the biscuits because I used a dry measure cup. So I just scooped it out and then molded them into balls. So easy and quick! You only need two bowls and some measure spoons/cups. Just be careful because they are addictive!

Week in Review

The highlight of this week is my 5K on Saturday. I'm not worried or stressed out about it. It should be a nice, fun, race. It's holiday-themed so I should have some funny pictures to share with you all in the race recap. I, however, won't be dressing up...maybe next year.

We also put up our Christmas tree! For the past few years my mom has bought a fake tree. I'm not a fan. So this year, to please me, she got the biggest authentic tree ever!

Actually, while I was writing this post the tree fell over! The honest truth. I had to pause for at least half an hour. If we had a camera it would have gotten a million views on youtube! Seriously. It wasn't funny cleaning up the broken ornaments and re-decorating the tree though. Oh well, it didn't kill my holiday spirit!

Anyway, the highlight of my Sunday was that I found a new running route! I'm so excited because my 16 miles last week were torture. I ran 6 miles on Sunday and in 2 weeks I run 18 miles. Chema found it while riding his bike and it's perfect! 

New scenery really helps to recharge your motivation.

OK, so here's how my week is developing:

Monday

I felt incredibly sluggish so I decided that today would be my rest day. 

Tuesday 

Today I did 20-minute intervals on the treadmill and weights (upper body). I can feel how long it's been since I've done intervals because I feel like my body wants to fall off! Wow, I feel super tired right now and it was only 20 minutes.

Wednesday

Weights (lower body). I wanted to do a class at the gym but I have to go with my mom to a Community Watch Meeting. It's going to be quite boring but we have to go and "argue" against a fine. My mom's neighborhood has this new ridiculous rule where the trash cans have to be on the side of the house. We had them maybe 2 days in front of the house and so we got sanctioned. These communities are the worst!

Thursday

20 minute interval training again. Hopefully it'll be a lot easier than today! Abs. I'm also thinking of a class if I have time. 

Friday

This was going to be a rest day because of the 5K on Saturday. But since I rested on Monday I might just do a class. There's a body combat class and that's not intense cardio.

Saturday

5K in Cary! Look for recap pics!

Sunday

Rest day. It's going to feel weird not running today on my typical long run day. The only time I didn't run was when I was injured! Although, I am going out Saturday night with my sister for a birthday party so maybe I'll even sleep in!

Let me know what your get moving plans are for this week!

Week 28 Hair

The deep conditioner is the best! 

I love this stuff! (I use Organic Root Stimulator) I've noticed a serious difference with my hair. Last week I felt the same way but thought that maybe it was a fluke. It wasn't, thankfully. 

My hair is condiserably less frizzy than it usually is. Not only that, but my twists last a lot longer as well. I kept them in until Thursday of last week. Usually by then they really need to come out. However, I could have gone another day. 

For now, this is something that is staying in my routine for the long term. I'll come back with another update on the deep conditioner once I've been using it for a month.

Anyway, since I know I've been lazy about taking hair pics, I have some today! 

This is how I wore my hair on Thursday right before taking out my twists. It's a style you've seen before with a twist. The hair is definitely frizzy but workable. My hair has never done this before on Day 4 hair!

My bang. I tend to either roll it up (like it is now) or wear it out in a bump sort of style.

This is my hair post twist take out.

Here's the side view.

Another successful week with my hair. It was even easier to detangle and style. If you don't deep condition now, then do it! Some only do it a couple of times every month but it works for me every week. My strands are a lot stronger and fuller.

Next week is my 2nd protein treatment. I won't deep condition because the Organice Root Stimulator has protein in it as well. I will just use the ApHogee moisturizer and then style my hair as usual.

Week 29 Hair

• Detangle with conditioner
• Shampoo
• Protein treatment (Step 1 ApHogee)
• Balancing moisturizer (Step 2 ApHogee)
• Kimmaytube leave in
• Twists

Debate/Discussion: TV makes you fat

Googleimages

"Nearly two-thirds of Americans watch over 3 hours of TV per day"

The article where this handy statistic came from had nothing to do with the health and fitness aspect of this trend. But it got me thinking. This is an issue that I see around a lot on health and fitness sites and in magazines. 

All of the experts SWEAR that TV makes Americans fat.

My opinion is this: TV doesn't make Americans or anyone else fat. Consuming more calories than you burn, being too sedentary, not having a balanced diet, thyroid problems...those are some of the things I believe make people fat.

I do, however, also think that the people who tend to watch the most TV are those that tend to be more sedentary than others. 

I make this conclusion based simply on those that I observe around me. If you are in superb health, can run circles around olympic athletes, watch tons of TV, and sit on your butt all day, then good for you. Oh, and please share how you do it!

That's probably not the case though. We all have shows that we like to watch. But there's a difference between watching something now and again and sitting on your butt all weekend long. Or sitting on your butt during the week as well, after a job where you sit on your butt all day, and then sitting on your butt until it's time for bed.

Mix that with eating horribly and engaging in other bad for you habits. Yes, there is a great chance that you will gain weight and maybe even suffer from other ailments.

Statistics like these sound sexy. They get people outraged and poised to act. That's fine, in my personal opinion. Most Americans don't eat right or do enough exercise. If they then spend all their free time watching TV, it will start to have an adverse effect on their health. I mean, that's strictly common sense.

 

With all that said I guess my opinion is not that TV makes people fat, It's simply that bad choices make people fat (or hormonal problems etc). 

Then again, there are a lot of people who are so tempted by TV like they're tempted by fried foods, chocolate, or smoking. Why? What is it about TV that makes the best of us forget about exercising and gobble up a bag of chips without realizing it?

Well, commercials are quite tempting. Most commercials are about food or toys (for kids and adults alike). Is that what makes us keep the TV on and eat and eat and eat?  

I don't have all the answers. Honestly, I'm not a fan of TV. There's no show that I watch every week or even everyday. When I was in high school I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer (still do!) and X-Files. 

The people in my family...they can't go a day without turning on the TV. Actually my mom and older sister sleep with it on. I don't know how they do it. I need it to be pitch black and absolutely silent before I enter my REM cycle.

For all those out there who can't live without TV I say be smart about it. 

• Don't eat while sitting in front of it because you will eat more.
• Put a limit on it. Watch only one show a day. Instead of having the TV on all night when you get home from work.
• If you're really adventurous, do some exercises between commercials. I always read this in fitness magazines. It sounds like good advice but I'm not sure how realistic it is. But try it!
• BE MORE ACTIVE! Duh!
• Eat better
• Go out more

 

What do you readers think? Is TV the devil or do we just not care about our health in general? How can we change this? Will it ever change?

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

One of my delicious vegan recipes I made for Thanksgiving. So good and so easy. Even you non-vegan people will love it!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 cup soy milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 Tbsp. molasses

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves

Plus a vegan pie crust

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Pour into unbaked pie crust and place in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour. Take out and let it set overnight before serving.

How easy is that!!! I mean, dessert doesn't get any easier than that. I'm not much of a baker but these pies came out perfect. I went the frozen crust path and bought two vegan ones from Whole Foods.

They were absolutely delicious. There are a few options if you don't fancy a whole wheat one. Try this recipe!