Hair and Fitness Catch-Up Session and June Goals

So at the end of March, I wrote a post called April Goals and Bloglovin Love where I wrote a list of things I would like to have achieved by the end of April, then in typical me fashion, I completely forgot to come back with an update as to how things went, I just realised I never even gave a final Insanity update! Shocking behaviour really, thanks for not calling me out guys!

So let's start with the goals from April which carried all the way through till right now because honestly, life was a bit too hectic in May to think about setting any new goals! Begin with the successes shall we?

Drink at least one litre of water a day.

Yay to this one! It's weird, i now find myself actually wanting to drink water over many other things. You might not understand the severity of this because I didn't document the time i actively tried to convince one of my best friends that I was allergic to drinking water, oh dear, the silly things I've said! Overall though I find it so much easier to think of drinking 500ml two bottles of rather than half a 2 litre bottle. Weird huh?

I mean just look at how gigantic that bottle is! The 500ml is so miniature and cute in comparison!

I know I'm nowhere near the recommended daily intake but this is a massive achievement for me :)

Try a Tea Rinse/ Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Ouuu this was such fun, I must admit it felt extremely weird to pour tea over my hair and I was having one of those "You know you don't have to try everything you read" moments, but I'm glad I tried it because after dousing my hair in Twinnings Green Tea and doing my regular deep condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner, my hair felt so nice and soft, yet strong and I hardly had any shedding at all! I was amazed actually, seeing as I was at least 7 weeks post by then!

Do Two Protein Treatments

This one I did and overdid and found myself face to face with the monster that is protein overload! Lord I could have cried, I'm even a bit too embarrassed to share what I did but I would anyways. So.. here goes... don't laugh! Basically, the long and short is that after I took my weave out, I washed my hair as normal then thought to go heavy on the protein because of breakage/shedding. So I mixed two types of protein treatments. Motions Protein Reconstructor and ORS Hair Mayonnaise and then deep condition. I then spray my usual leave-in by Motions as well which contains silk amino acids, read protein. By the time my hair was dry I was almost in tears from how hard/dry/crunchy it felt. After a couple of deep conditions later that week it was back to normal-ish but I'm never doing that again! Lesson learnt.

And now the not-so-fun parts, trust me I have an excuse for each one of them but I will just take them as fails for now and try harder next time!

Apply JCBO to my edges nightly and scalp every other day

I was clearly feeling extremely optimistic when I wrote this! But the real reason it didn't happen was because I got a weave.

Have a side of veggies with lunch every day

Even more optimism! Ha!

Finish Insanity by the 7th of April

Not completing this one really hurt me but my knee was starting to act up again! I got to day 57 and could never be bothered to do the last three days after I felt better :( Here's my update on how I was doing before the setback though Insanity Month 2: It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle.

Start a new workout regime including Hip Hop Abs and Swimming

This only counts as a fail because I dont actually have a regime but I have been working out loads and training for Race for Life! (more on that soon). I started the Hip Hop abs and can I just say that as an avid Shaun T fan, it sucks! Ugh, it's so boring and you do the same video everyday for 6 days or something crazy! As soon as I saw the schedule I was bored, I think I made it to day 5 or so. Some very good information about engaging your core on there though with the "Tilt, Tuck, Tighten" method, if you like relatively low impact exercise (because everything after insanity is low impact!) and want to work your abs definitely look into it though!

Random view of the pool at my gym, taken from my favourite stretch spot. There's just something so calming about water.

Whoosh! That was a pretty long review, but I guess a lot has happened since I last posted any thing mainly hair/fitness related.

Now that all this catching up is done and there's only a teeny bit left to do, I thought it'd be a good idea to make some new goals for June.

Hair

Nothing fancy here really as I'm currently 11 weeks post but my hair has been in braids for about 2 weeks now.

• Complete 16 week stretch.
• Wash hair at least once every 2 weeks.
• Moisturise every other day.

Food/Fitness

• Run 5k at least twice a week in preparation for Race for Life on the 14th of July.
• Complete the 30 Day Squat Challenge (Day 12 today, whoop!)
• Be able to plank for 90 seconds (I'm currently on a measly average of about 45).
• Pole!
• Try a new recipe or two.
• Drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day

Others

It's summer time and bar my dissertation I intend to have as much fun as possible!

• Become a 'yes' girl! Life is nothing but the experiences we make out of it!
• Use my proper camera more, it's so much better than the iPhone 5.
• Write a story or two to go on THAHW.
• Blog more after exams are over

What are some of your goals for the next 30 days?

P.S. My donation link for Race for Life is here, I'd do a separate post to give the details properly but just incase anyone already knows what is and all that and wants to donate :)

Reni x

April Goals and Bloglovin Love

Hello everybody and Happy Easter to you all!

I finally got my act together and created a brand new "About Me" page on the blog so you can see a little overview of my life also Google Reader is closing down for good soon and even though not that many of you follow me on there I thought this might be a good time to introduce you to Bloglovin. Do you hate the feeling of visiting a blog you love only to find that the writer hasn't posted anything new up? And then you keep checking back frequently till you eventually lose interest and stop? Then finally one day you go back to check and see that he/she has three new posts you have to catch up on? Annoying right? Well this is where Bloglovin comes in, it's basically ONE website where you can follow all the blogs you want at once and it's automatically updated each time one of your bloggers posts something new, I just started using it and it's the best thing to happen to my blogging experience, no more crushed dreams and false hope as I hold my breath waiting for the page to load, all my favourite blogs are just one click away! I keep adding new blogs everyday it's my one stop shop for blogs. So yeah, follow me on Bloglovin to keep up to date with LTV! Link is to the right of this page, the same picture as below

Okay now that that's over, in an effort to take my own advice in this whole healthy lifestyle thing, I've made up a "goals list" for April to start tomorrow and I'm excited to see what happens if I keep it up properly!

Hair:

• Apply Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) to edges nightly and scalp every other day to increase thickness.
• Do two protein treatments to try and combat shedding/breakage
• Try a tea rinse/ Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse one wash day for fun!

Fitness:

• Finish Insanity on time (7th of April)
• Drink at least 1 litre of water a day
• Try and have a side of vegetables with lunch every day
• Start new workout regime including Hip Hop Abs and maybe swimming (?)

What's on your list for April? Drop a comment in the box to let me know. Hope you all have a lovely long weekend!

Reni x

Insanity Month 2: It's Not A Diet, It's a Lifestyle!

Hey beautiful people,

So I thought maybe it's time for another update on Insanity and how it's all going. Well I'd start by saying month 2 is whooping my ass! My goodness, in the first week my body was so sore, I could barely move! My calf muscles ached, my thighs were burning, everything you can imagine aching, was aching... So awful! But now I'm in the third week and even though the workout is still as intense it's not so bad anymore. Two of the workouts are about an hour long so waking up early enough to do them before lectures has been a task, I start at 9am most days so that would mean waking up at 6.45 to start working out so I can be in the shower by 7.45/8.00. Anyone that knows me knows that getting out of bed before 8 is such a problem, so I do them mostly when I get home just before bed instead.

Before I started month 2 I was complaining to my friend that I wasn't seeing any differences in my body and blah blah but finally that is changing slowly but surely, I feel so much better and more confident, clothes are fitting better and I even lost 3-4 kg as well! So yeah, Insanity is doing me justice finally! Also my fit test results have really been improving (except the suicide jumps/burpees I can't do them to save my life). Basically the fit test is where you do each of the moves below in one minute and see how many you can get while maintaining good form! I have only 1 more left, hopefully there will be even more improvement!

Move	Fit Test 1	Fit Test 2	Fit Test 3	Fit Test 4
1. Switch Kicks	52	94	100	102
2. Power Jacks	31	38	46	53
3. Power Knees	45	78	87	108
4. Power Jumps	7	17	28	43
5. Globe Jumps	5	6	7	8
6. Suicide Jumps	9	9	9	10
7. Push-Up Jacks	8	14	19	27
8. Low Plank Oblique	29	24	35	45

I've learnt so much about correct form with exercise and I've been modifying some moves so there's less impact on my knees. Anyways, enough with the bragging and trumpet blowing (but if I don't do it then who will?!) here's some stuff that I've found has helped me so far in my journey to a healthier body.

• Eating breakfast; usually people don't eat because they aren't hungry or there isn't enough time but the longer you take to eat after you wake up, the more likely it is that your body will go into starvation mode and start holding on to fat, obviously a big no-no. So I've been trying to get out of bed 10 minutes earlier so I have enough time to make a Quick Smoothie or have some cereal before uni.

• Eating 3-4 times a day; same sort of theory as before, it's better to keep your metabolism running through the day than have long periods of no/junk food then one massive meal to compensate. When I was being really good, which has been so much more difficult of late, I'd have a smoothie around 9, 'light lunch' at 12.30, lunch again at 3/4 and then dinner at 7, 8 at the very latest and try not to eat anything really carb heavy like rice/pasta after 4.

• Setting weekly/monthly goals; for me this is such a great motivator, just trying to reach the goals always motivates me to continue, and finding people; friends or otherwise, to hold you accountable when you slip up is always a good way to ensure you at least try and stay on track. I have a really good buddy system going on right now with two friends, we hold each other accountable for working out and also clean eating without being judgemental.

• Having a cheat day or two; nothing much to say on this one except we are human beings with weaknesses and sometimes we just want that little bit extra love to come from our food!

Just look at these bad boys from Home Sweet Home! "Sweet Carolina" burger with fully loaded fries on top and the massive Chilli Dog with sweet potato fries below! Amazing!

It's not a diet or a phase, it's a lifestyle! Trying to change your lifestyle and incorporate some form of clean eating/regular exercise into it now means not having to do it at 40! For some more tips look up the Anti Diet by the Londoner, she has some really good advice on there and even though I just found it I'm already addicted! It's charm is in the simplicity. Here's to conquering the last week and a half of Insanity! How are you guys doing with working out and eating good? Any other helpful tips for me? Let me know in the comments box. 

Blisters, Chips and Creamy Crack!

Wow, where the heck is March going?? And how on earth was the last time I posted on the 1st of March, I really hate when life gets in the way of my blog lovin. Now I don't even know where to start... Last time I was here it was the day of the Manchester Bogle, well those of you that have me on Facebook know by now that after approximately 13 hours of walking I had only completed 35 of the 55 miles and ended up with blistered feet and a swollen ankle for the better part of the next week! It was crazy intense, I used to think Oxford Road was long but my goodness has anyone tried walking the length of Oldham Road? Of course you haven't, you're not crazy. If anything can break a mans' spirit it's walking down a never ending road, I was going straight for about 2 hours or more! I almost cried! Lol. It was such an experience, a part of me still regrets not finishing but hey! Better luck next time.

Tomi & Super Saiyen Afam

Bogle Survival Kit! Check all the food!

Now on to Insanity, well because of the stupid Bogle! (Only stupid because I didn't finish) I didn't do any insanity the week before the Bogle like I was meant to because we were told not to do any intense exercising and then after the Bogle my ankle was so sore that if I even so much as attempted a jumping jack I would have probably broken it! So that was yet another week off Insanity! I'm so annoyed because I should be starting my final week now but here I am, just about to start Month 2, Week 2. The second month of Insanity is crazy intense, with 60 minute workouts instead of 45 minutes, those extra 15 minutes can really do some damage! I'd put up the results of my last fit test soon! Unfortunately during my 2 week break before month 2 I was really bad with my diet and ate a whole lot of junk, McDonalds and Portland Chippy and the like, I felt so gross! But it wasn't my fault, blame it on engineering! I was basically living at university, going home to sleep for just 4 hours if not less to try and meet a massive deadline. Life was soo messed up at that point, I remember trying to attend a 3 hour lecture after sleeping about 3 hours the night before, ha! Joke of life, I pretty much slept through the whole thing! The worst part is the lecturer is my dissertation supervisor. So awkward! Anyways yesterday I finally went to Asda and stocked up on some REAL food! Abs are made in the kitchen after all! So now I'm meal prepping like a boss!

Last but not least, on Friday after almost 21 weeks, I finally texturised my hair, during the stretch I really really considered going natural! I had already made up my mind to go natural actually but in the last week my hair was frustrating me so much and making me go crazy so I just whipped out the creamy crack and got to texturising. I also air dried my hair for the first time! It didn't turn out half as frizzy as I expected it to be, and I really like that my curl pattern is still defined, I didn't have time to do a length check yet but I'd straighten my hair soon and also update y'all on that. Okay so that's just a quick update on the last 2 weeks. I'd probably go into some more detail on Insanity and my hair status soon but I was tired of missing you guys so I wanted to get this all out.

Ta ta for now,

Reni x

Cheating Foodie

I’ve been cheating… On Insanity that is! After successfully completing the first three weeks as well! I was a bit disappointed but it didn’t happen entirely by choice! After Friday’s workout I noticed some pain in my right leg around my knee and knew that it wasn’t a sign of a good workout.  I figured it's probably from all the jumping and squatting especially in the plyometric workouts. For those who don’t know me I get really paranoid about certain things and damaging my knee is no different! I already know I have weak knees, the kind that hurt from sitting in one position for too long (Hello aisle seats and extra leg room on the plane!) I also can’t stand in one position for too long, especially in heels! (One of the reasons med school was just never for me! Not that they wear heels to med school… You catch my drift… lol) I got one of those knee brace things to wear during my workout and that seemed to help but by the next day the pain hadn’t gone away and to be honest I was too scared of doing permanent damage to try again! (In case you’re wondering I’m really not that tall. Taller than average for a girl I guess but still only 5’9”.)

Well apart from cheating on Insanity, I’ve also been cheating on my ‘clean’ diet. Four days in a row of Chinese food cannot be good for anyone! Although the one I had on Friday night was particularly delicious! It was at Princess Garden of Mayfair, London for one of my best friends 21^st birthday, the food there was soo good! Although as usual the waitresses were snappy and tried to rush us. Poor women, everyone knows you cannot rush Nigerians; we do things at our own time to our own taste. We are done when and only when WE decide to be done! Some of the other staff were lovely though; especially the guy who wouldn’t stop topping up everyone’s wine glass, he was determined to show us a good time! LOL. It was a really great evening with a chilled house party to end it all. OMG I got introduced to the best cherry liqueur ever! Does anyone know where I can get some??!! (Any brand! I’m desperate).

As of today though my knee feels a lot better and I’ve looked up some stretches to add to the end of my workouts to strengthen that area so I’m jumping back on the Insanity wagon, and heck no I’m not starting again! I’d rather die! LOL. I’d start from the beginning of Week 4 and hopefully by my next fit test in about 2 weeks there’d be even more improvement! Wish me luck guys… Also, I found one partner! Anyone else care to join us?? Leave a comment below!

Outfit of Friday Night

With love,

Reni x

Insanityyyyyyy!: Dig Deeper!

I decided to work out more! Haha, I'm sure most of us did at the beginning of the year! You see the thing is, for the longest time I used to think I wanted to lose weight but I was never committed enough to any form of diet to really see any results! In fact, I had negative results! The worst! I blame that on the stresses and pressure that a final year student endures. Anyways, so I realised I don’t want to lose weight! Well, only a little bit! But not in the typical sense of the saying, I no longer have the desire to be super skinny, what I DO want is to have one of those super curvaceous but ridiculously toned bodies. So bye bye Kelly Row and hello Kaylin Garcia!

I still love her body!

Kaylin Garcia aka Young Ratchet!

I mean seriously, does this girl have an ounce of fat on her body?? My goodness!  Her body is the truth! Lmao.

I always complain to my bf about how I go to the gym tirelessly and never see results so over Christmas when he told me he has a new 2 month workout plan for me that would change my life (He knows how to get me gingered! lol) I was excited! On the 10^th of January I found out the workout plan was INSANITY! Eeeeek, lol! I should have said no then and there but no, I saw it as a challenge and decided to go for it! Starting that very day!

For those of you who don’t know “Insanity” is a series of workout DVD’s by fitness trainer and expert, Shaun T. And might I say that it is titled quite aptly! I’m halfway through my third week now and it’s ridiculous! But I love it! I can feel myself getting fitter no joke! A little bit about Insanity, it’s a 6 day a week program, 45 minutes or so everyday. Each workout has a warm up and two stretches (1 in the beginning and 1 to cool down) and the rest of the time is spent doing max interval training, basically 3 minutes or so of high intensity work out then 30 seconds to rest and grab water. I’m to shy to put up my height and weight here! Maybe when I do my official weigh in at the end of month 1 I’d do a before and after type thing!

My only qualm, which probably only relates to me is that I’m a bit bored. There are 14 videos in total, but after almost 3 weeks I’ve only covered 6 or so, that’s a lot of repetition! Not like they are getting so much easier or anything but hey… I feel like a change! My favourite thing about it is the Fit Test, which you have to do at the beginning of the plan and then at approximately 2-week intervals. You do a set of exercises for a minute each and try and do as many as you can in that minute. It’s such good motivation because you always want to push and beat your last Fit Test score, that’s what keeps me going every day! I’ve decided to keep pushing through and as Shaun T would say “Dig deeper!”

These are the results from my first two Fit Tests:

Move	Fit Test 1	Fit Test 2
1. Switch Kicks	52	94
2. Power Jacks	31	38
3. Power Knees	45	78
4. Power Jumps	7	17
5. Globe Jumps	5	6
6. Suicide Jumps	9	9
7. Push-Up Jacks	8	14
8. Low Plank Oblique	29	24

Improvement right?!?! I was so chuffed! Also I might add, I can’t do push up jacks! LOL. I just do lady push-ups instead; I’m working my way up. Well that’s it for now! Let me know if I missed out anything or if you want any more details! Also I’m looking for a workout buddy! Comment if you’re interested!