June Review and July Goals

Oh my darling faithful cherie's! What will I do without you all? I don't know why I left you for quite so long but the days got so busy and the nights got so blurry that I really don't know where all the time went! I can't believe it's been two weeks and you see I hate leaving you so much because I hate playing catch up! But catch up we shall, because you my beauties deserve it! There is so much to tell you, so many new places I've been and people I've seen andI can't wait to churn it all out till I'm tired of rambling on about my life to you lovely people who stop by my blog! But before I get into the people I've seen and the places I've been let me first assess my June goals and set some new ones for July, I am quite behind you see! Let's start with the wins shall we?

Complete 16 week stretch

This one is a big fat win and infact the stretch is still stretching! I'm exactly 16 weeks post today and trying to decide between relaxing ASAP or carrying on and transitioning to natural... I always have this debate in my head whenever relaxer due date comes close but I also always end up relaxing! Who knows? Maybe this time will be different

Wash hair every 2 weeks

I should have stated that this was meant for while I stayed in braids, when my hair is out I usually wash every week! Wash day is currently on Mondays :)

Moisturise every other day

Yipee! Although if this was a July challenge I would have failed already!

Pole

I thought I'd finally treat you to a picture of what I've been getting up to in pole dancing, this one was taken a few months ago in March or April and I have progressed immensely since then! I now do cool upside-downy moves! :D

Try a new recipe or two

Well you read about my Skinny Shrimp Curry with Coconut Rice so yay to trying something new! There are a couple more recipes to share since I startted Mankofit's 30 day eat clean, train dirty challenge!

I did infact also become a 'yes' girl! Life is so much more fun when you let go, I used my proper camera loads while I was on holiday last week (oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that as well? Goodness I'm awful!) AND I wrote a story to go on THAHW, It's a series actually! I just need to get further along in the plot before I start posting it, so keep your peepers peeled!

And now for the sad part, womp womp!

• I didn't run 5k twice a week, it was simply too stressful I really don't enjoy running all that much!
• I failed the squat challenge because I kepy missing out days but I'm sure my backside still benefited greatly!
• I still cannot plank for 90 seconds! Sadly
• Failing to drink 1.5 litres of water a day really hurt because I did always drink at least a litre! Adding on that extra 500ml is much harder than I previously though!
• Blog more after exams, I'm not sure if I should count this as a fail or not yet but seeing as I only managed 5 posts in June and my highest was 9 in March I'm thinking it will have to count as a fail :( Sad times!

As for July I don't have too many goals you see, I mostly plan on finishing my dissertation or at least getting halfway through the beast! The main thing in July is to complete Mankofit's Eat Clean, Train Dirty 30 day challenge. There was a grocery list at the start and she posts up an exercise for us to do every day, it's been difficult but fun at the same time because I'm doing it with one of my besties and friends really do make everything better! This challenge is intense enough in itself to cover my food and fitness goals for the month! If you're curious about the challenge her instagram and twitter handles are @mankofit, it's never too late to join in on the fun!

Her grocery list is a pretty hard one to stick by so I allowed myself three small changes! I'm eating red meat because I need all the iron I can get and I added carrots to my veggies because I hate cauliflower and asparagus which were both on the list! More to come on the challenge soon.

Hair wise I think I need to just keep doing what I'm doing! I'd post an updated hair care regimen soon as it's changed quite a bit and I also need to decide if I will relax or not! I think I will... Or maybe I wont!

More on my lovely short vacay to Antalya, Turkey  soon and also my experience at the Diamonds World Tour! I think I've gotten over my writer's block now!

Speak soon lovelies!

Reni x

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

NL to BSL in 12 hours or Less!

Hey hey,

I know, I know.. I did one of my famous disappearing acts again and didn't post for over 2 weeks but life has been a little less fun these days! I had a massive deadline on Tuesday and tons and tons of work to do before I go for my Grandad's funeral so I've been a busy little bunny. But I like to think that some people miss me at least a little bit! So I'm back to give a quick little update about how I went from neck length hair to bra strap length in 12 hours! Haha, here's what happened, I started my wash process at about 10.30 pm

I pre-pooed my hair with Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO) on my scalp for 30 minutes.

Shampooed with Elasta QP's Creme Conditioning Shampoo and rinsed. (I ran out of this and had to get a new one and they seem to have a "new and improved" version, I'm so skeptical about trying "new and improved" things. I hope they haven't changed too much)

Did a green tea rinse!! I was so excited for this part, couldn't wait to see the benefits the tea rinse would have on my hair. It made it kind of hard like most people say it does but I opted to not rinse it out and put my deep conditioner on over it.

So I deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing Conditioner while doing an Insanity workout video so like an hour. I figured since I don't have a steamer I might as well use some body heat to 'steam' my hair! Then when I'm done I wash my hair and shower at the same time! Although I'll have to admit, it does feel quite silly sometimes jumping around with a shower cap on your head!

My hair felt really nice and soft but strong after the deep condition so my thinking is that the tea rinse worked some magic! I was then convinced by my aunt to go with her to the salon the next day, you see she sells weave and was trying out a new seller and needed a guinea pig ( a willing me!) for quality control but seeing as I really really wanted to do a length check on my next wash day I had to speed up the process and do it then instead! Side note: someone really needs to tell me what order moisturiser and heat protectant need to go on your head! It makes sense with blow drying because you just moisturise after! But with the flat iron do you moisturise, then seal, then heat protect?? Anyways that's what I did but my hair felt pretty weighed down even though I tried to be light handed... it was weird! Tips appreciated! So anyway after painstakingly flat ironing my hair, I did a length check! It's grown! I think I'm slowly graduating from neck to shoulder length! Do you think I can get a length check t-shirt now?? The bf always teases me that I'd need a special turtle neck edition :( but now I might be upgrading! Whoop whoop!

Top left: Before my hair cut in Jan '13. Bottom left: After Jan '13 hair cut. Right: March '13. 

Up close: I guess wearing a black t-shirt wasn't the smartest thing but I was just tryna rep DRB!

Now here's where the real magic happened! After waking up the next morning at the crack of dawn so we could get to the salon first, my aunt, cousin and I had a nice little stake out of the salon to make sure no-one could claim to have gotten there before us. Being first to an african salon is very important! There are no appointments, it's a girl eat girl world out there, especially at the weekend! We waited, bored and kind of hungry for over an hour before the hairdresser finally arrived at 10.30 when the shop was meant to open at 9! Bloody Africans.

Her shop is the blue one in the middle. Real professionals we were, sitting in the car and staring at every girl that passed by!

But we forgave her when she was done installing our sew-ins! I'm now full BSL *yipeeee* and my cousin got some really cute bangs! No pictures of my Aunty who was transformed into a modern day Goldilocks! (literally, her hair was blonde) but all in all it was a successful trip to the salon!

I have NO idea what I'm doing with my face. It felt natural at the time! Haha, I love the side swept bangs.

Crazy cousin! I'm not sure she likes this picture but I love it! Really shows off her personality! Hehe.

So that's it! How I went from NL to BSL! And a random little update on one of the things I've been up to these past two weeks.

Love, Reni x

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

Journey to Healthy Hair!

Hey guys!

This is a repost from my other blog, I feel like it's a bit too personal to be there! No idea why though, anyways... Enjoy!

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to take better care of my hair. Yes, I jumped on the healthy hair journey (HHJ) bandwagon, to be honest I started my journey this time last year but I can’t say I really stuck with it for long enough. I DID start to incorporate little things like moisturising and sealing as well as using less heat but that’s about all that stuck. Sometimes it’s just so much easier to throw all you know out the window and put your hair in a weave, not even so much as moisturising it for 6 weeks! But enough is enough! I think this decision came from the fact that my hair actually did grow! It also became much thicker and everyone who has known me all my life with my short, wispy hair was pretty impressed! My mum especially! I think she might be joining me on this journey, whoop whoop.

So here are a few facts about my hair:

I believe I’m a type 4b, but really and truly, I’m not sure. I just know I have ‘regular’ afro kinky hair.

I don’t relax my hair anymore, only texturise. BUT as a result my hair currently has three textures; relaxed ends (which I’m chopping off inch by inch), texturised in the middle, and then fully natural new growth. It’s a mess really!

I’ve done a big chop (B.C) before; it was after an AWFUL relaxer experience at the salon. More details on that later, trust me; the experience is worthy of a whole post to itself.

Hmmm, what else can I add... Oh yeah! Pictures of my hair since I started my journey:

 December 2011:

December 2011

December 2012:

December 2012

Although there was growth, I went from neck to almost shoulder length, the ends of my hair are in pretty bad shape. Truthfully I know exactly what happened, this picture is the reason why I will never again take out a weave, texturise my hair then install a new weave in the space of three days again! I’ve had some bad experiences with chemicals in my hair, one would think I’d just go natural, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m not giving up on my texturised hair yet! So anyways I had to go to the salon and get a cut/trim to tidy up my ends a little bit. Looking at the picture below I wonder if i should have let the hairdresser take off a bit more maybe? I'd decide on my next texturiser.

So January 2013, we are resuming the hair journey, this time actively taking care of my hair! And my main goal is thickness!

January 2013

Who else is on a journey for healthier, longer, thicker hair? Join me! Join me! Join me! Hehe.

P.S: I apologise for the poor quality of some of the pictures, they were not taken with the intention of being part of a hair journey portfolio!

Reni x