You Grow Girl Mini Challenge: 90 Days of Protective Styling

The You Grow Girl (YGG) hair growth challenge has been underway for one month now and I want to challenge you growers to step up your protective styling tenfold. The challenge details calls for protective styling 50% of the time and guess what? Most of the participants are failing miserably in this critical area for growth. The expectation based on a 50% protective styling standard is that your hair will be up for at least three or four days a week. Now be honest, have you been upholding that standard?


You see, I have the pleasure of being in contact with many of the YGG challengers via Facebook, Instagram, the hair community or work. I see you all posting pictures, some more often than others, of your smiling faces and exposed ends on a regular basis. I'm expecting to see your ends tucked at least three days a week and I've got to be honest, it's not happening. For the month of November I let my hair down a total of five days max, that's it. If I can do it trust me so can you. My go to styles for November were a curly half wig and a bun. I've faithfully applied Jamaican Black Castor oil every other night and I'm not sure about the rest of you but my new growth is incredibly THICK! I know I'm working to get the best results from the YGG challenge because my hair is staying moisturized, oiled and tucked 95% of the time. With two more months to go I'm sure to experience great results because I'm working the challenge to the best of my ability.

My protective styles for November a half wig and a classic bun

Now YGG gals it's your turn to step it up, for the next thirty days I challenge you to protective style  every single day. If that seems impossible to you because it's the holiday season and you have to flaunt your locks I'll grant you five days of freedom max as a Christmas gift from me to you, no need to thank me. If your serious about the level of growth you want to achieve don't skip on this important step. Once the 90 day challenge is up don't be disappointed in the work you didn't do if your not taking the steps to really build and environment for growth by consistently applying your JBCO and protective styling.

So start planning your next steps to ensure your prepared to be successful. You can begin by investing in a great wig or half wig, I just walked into a beauty supply store and began trying them on until I found a couple that worked for me. Or schedule a sew in, braids or crochet braid install. My favorite options is to check out some YouTube videos for a few easy protective styles and start experimenting, the sky is the limit but you've got to commit!

So You Grow Girl contestants are you up for challenge?

Holiday Fit Tips| How to stay on track and enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday.

The smell of Thanksgiving is in the air! Today was day #1 of my turkey day meal prep. This Thanksgiving I'm beyond bless that our daughter is home from the Air Force to join us around the dinner table. So you know what that means....momma's preparing a spread! 

On the menu this Black Friday eve:

Succulent brined turkey (World Market has the best brine for a moist flavorful turkey)
Turkey Ham (hubby loves a Jenn-O turkey marinated in brown sugar, honey, fresh juices & cloves)
Deep fried turkey (fried under the watchful eye of my sis)
Green beans and Southern Collard greens...soul food style
Deep dish cornbread dressing with shredded chicken
Four Cheese Baked Mac & Cheese
Candied Sweet potato soufflé
Delicious deviled eggs
Roast turkey pan gravy
Cloverleaf dinner rolls (I cheated and bought these from Resch's bakery)

And for dessert my deep dish Sweet potato cheesecake....so good! If I'm feeling up to it I may throw in a homemade peach cobbler to add to the dessert selection. All this food already has my taste buds in overdrive and I want to enjoy it guilt free so here's my plan to stay on track as I indulge in Thanksgiving delights:

1. Make exercise a priority everyday! In fact, right after my turkey goes into the oven on Thanksgiving morning I'm off to an A.M. boot camp offered by my gym to blast some calories.
2. Eat a small balanced breakfast after boot camp like egg whites and toast and a protein shake for lunch, no snacking. I'll indulge in a complete turkey day meal with all the trimmings. My meal  will include a half cup portion of sides (yes I will measure a half cup), plenty of turkey, green veggies and one small slice of cheesecake (or wine)- that's it. One decadent meal, eaten slowly, relishing every bite will more than satisfy.
3. In the past my Thanksgiving leftovers were eaten for lunch and dinner daily until gone, that's a lot of food over three days! To be sure I don't allow a cheat meat (or two) to turn into a four day binge I will encourage to-go plates to avoid temptation. I'll also save at least one more full turkey day meal for lunch the following day to ensure I get my carbs in before 1pm. For dinner I'll limit my portions to turkey and greens and skip the calorie laden carbs.
4. Drink lots of water, dehydration often leads to over eating.

Enjoying a moment with my U.S Airman...priceless!

Will I still ingest tons of calories, you bet! I can't count the number of sticks of butter I use to create this feast and I don't want to, the most important thing I'm doing to stay on track is making sure I measure my portions and move my body. I never wanted to be the gal that stopped enjoying life while pursuing my weight loss goals, it may take me a bit longer to reach them but that's not the end of the world for me. The key to this journey is balance. My balance comes by creating soul filled dishes for those I love, being surrounded by our children, laughter, good health and giving. Just the thought of having my entire family under one roof brings a smile to my face and a deep feeling of contentment that I wish for all of you this holiday season. Embrace the little things, forgive the crazy relative and above all take time out for you! Wishing you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

Low Maintenance VS Protective Styles: What you need to know!

In terms of healthy hair care there are two primary styling strategies that often get confused and that's the difference between protective styling and low maintenance styles. As stated in my prior post on protective styling, these are styles in which the ends of your hair are tucked; styles that require little to no maintenance on a weekly or long term basis and styles that allow you to retain moisture easily. Some examples of protective styles include buns, braids with or without extensions sewn-in weave, etc.  Low maintenance styles on the other hand are styles that require a minimum amount of manipulation and care on a day to day basis. Unlike protective styles low maintenance styles often require some attention on a daily basis in order to maintain the style and often do not require brushing or combing. Examples of low maintenance styles include: braid and twist outs, rollersets, flexirod sets, curlformer sets, etc. The idea behind low maintenance is they require a minimum amount of manipulation to maintain these hairstyles.

Both protective styling and low manipulation styles can aid in hair growth because your limiting heat, combs and styling appliances. One of the ways I began growing my hair at the start of my hair journey was doing braid outs, thus the "braidout" in the title of my blog. It's been a staple style throughout my hair journey as I found it was also easier to maintain my workout routine by braiding my hair during my work out and finger combing it out into nice and easy style the following morning. The idea behind low maintenance styling is it allows us to style our hair with little to no heat, you can set under a hooded dryer if you choose but you can also air dry these styles and avoid heat all together. Also, as in protective styling these styles require less manipulation so you don't have to comb or brush your hair in order to style. I tend to finger these styles into place and avoid styling appliances all together.

Low maintenance styles including: braid outs, curlformer sets and flexirod sets

 In regards to my hair care routine I'm more of a protective style gal during the winter months when the cold air, neck scarves and dry indoor climate has more of a tendency to cause breakage. I won't go into the details of protective styling because I dedicated an entire post to the subject but it's definitely contributing factor in maintaining healthy hair based on my hair journey. With the onset of spring and summer I literally get the chance to "let my hair down" so to speak.  I transition to low maintenance styles during the warmer seasons and allow myself to enjoy a juicy braid out or bouncy curls thanks to flexirods or curlformers. I tend to air dry my low maintenance styles on hair that is 80% dry. In some instances, such as when I'm doing my hair late at night and I know it won't dry before the morning I'll also blow dry my hair on cool.

Protective styles including: buns, crown braids and a half wig

Due to the fact that the precious ends of our hair are not protected when we low maintenance style I may find myself moisturizing and sealing once in the AM and again at night if necessary. In order to maintain these styles to last for a week or so there are a few options. Those options include: the pineapple method, pin curling your style into place, wrapping or cross wrapping your hair and there's also the option of restyling at night. I tend to restyle in the evening because I workout and I sweat profusely therefore my hair must be touched up more often than not.

To finalize low maintenance vs protective styling I'd like for you to keep in mind that because your handling your hair in some form or the other that low maintenance styles can be a healthy alternative to remove direct heat from your regime but it requires more manipulation of your hair whereas protective styling calls for little to no handling of your strands, kapish? If your really gunning for growth protective styling is the way to go however low maintenance styles offers you the option to experiment with cute styles. Also, I personally still experienced a good amount of growth with LM styles because I was no longer subjecting my strands to heat and I was moisturizing and sealing daily as well as following a healthy hair regimen overall. I hope this article helps you to understand more about your styling alternatives and why I do what I do to maintain and grow my hair. I welcome your feedback on how experimenting with styles aids in you hair journey.

New Month New Fit Goals

I'll be the first to admit I get pretty bored with my fitness routine, so bored in fact that the only constant in my workout routine is zumba on Wednesdays with my co-workers. I'm constantly searching for new ways to challenge myself and combing through research on the most effective workouts for weight loss.

During my personal training sessions we woke up a sleeping giant so to speak in the form of a knee injury that hasn't bothered me in ages. As a result I took a week off from my personal training sessions and began experimenting with a variety of workouts while nursing my knee. Through a combination of weight training along with both high intensity and steady state cardio I lost three pounds over the course of a week by changing nothing other than my workout routine.

After workout pic & grilled chicken covered in artichoke dip-YUM!

My daily workouts were broken down as such: 10-20 minutes of high intensity cardio to begin (Zumba Fitness, ploymetric routines or a high intensity cardio DVD) followed by 20 to 30 minutes of strength training and ending with twenty to thirty minutes of steady state cardio on the elliptical or stationary bike. Finally I committed to at least three sets of one abdominal exercise per day.

I came up with this plan of attack based on my not-so-scientific research on how different forms of exercise impact your weight loss and body in general. Starting with high intensity cardio such as running sprints, it's said to improve endurance, burn more fat than muscle, increase metabolism and HIIT cardio can be done without equipment. On the other hand steady state cardio like walking, jogging and utilizing stationary equipment tends to burn more calories, may be a better option for exercise novices and helps your body stay in a fat burning zone. Finally, my favorite exercise of all, weight training. Not only should we as women be lifting more weight in order to maintain muscle mass that we lose yearly as we age but weight training also improves bone density, boost confidence, continues burning fat long after the workout is complete and makes me feel like a real bad ass!

I decided to combine all three forms of exercise, modified to some degree based on my knee, to see what happened and now I'm two pounds away from where the magic happens. You see, I've been lingering in the 180's for quite some time. Part of that is because although I stayed true to exercise and a modified eating plan I also wanted to enjoy the summer, our vacation and time with friends and family without making weight loss rule my lifestyle. Now I'm bound and determined to break out of this weight loss lull and began dropping pounds again. The reason goes way beyond just a number on the scale, as a 5'4 curvy gal my body becomes much more proportionate as the scale goes down. My clothes fit better and I really know I'm feeling good when I can fit comfortably into the jeans I met my husband in, right now I can get them on and buttoned but sitting down isn't an option.

I'm definitely going to continue my hybrid workout routines, in my opinion it's giving me the best of all three forms of exercise. I'm strength training different body parts daily, I'm maintaining the fat burning zone with steady state cardio and I'm increasing my agility and endurance with high intensity cardio. The added bonus is that I'm pushing myself just enough as not to injure my knee, it feels much better but I'm still very aware of my limits. Finally, in regards to weight loss I'm really attempting to focus on indulging less as the holidays approach. I pick and choose my treats be sure to tune in next week to find out how I plan to balance my weight loss and Thanksgiving indulgences.

Special Request: Growing and caring for African American babies hair...

I've actually had more than a few moms of newborn girls or toddlers inquire on the best method of growing their babies hair. Honestly, in my opinion if you do little to nothing the hair will grow but knowing what I know now there are a few changes I would make had I known better when my baby girl was an infant. Without further ado, let's dive right in!

Just as our hair requires moisture to grow so does an infants. With that said avoid washing their little heads daily, infants don't require that much washing. You may want to reserve washing for once a week with an all natural baby shampoo, adult shampoos contain harsh sulfates and a different pH balance, so steer clear of those. Also there is no need to work the shampoo into a massive lather of bubbles, the key here is gently washing the babes hair and following with an all natural conditioner. I've heard good things about Cara B Naturally, which host a full line including shampoo, conditioner and a leave in. Shea Moistures Olive and Marula Head to Toe shampoo and lotion host a list of yummy ingredients and without getting into too much detail on products let's not forget the most moisturizing (and free) ingredient of all - water. Lightly spraying water onto your babies hair and sealing with a light oil such as coconut is a great alternative to experimenting with products. You may want to try this route and progress to adding products as your babies hair changes, if necessary of course. Finally please remember moisture is not grease! Moisture is found it water or the use of water based leave in conditioners, see my post on moisturizing and sealing for more details on the subject. You can apply moisture by spraying water before your style then sealing with a natural butters or coconut oil. Also as your baby grows begin to seek a water based all natural leave in such as the products mentioned above but that option can be reserved for further down the road when you get into really styling your toddlers hair.

If growth is really the goal avoid brushing and always use a soft baby brush when doing so, just as less manipulation helps promote growth with our hair the same holds true for babies. Also avoid rubber bands, those adorable headbands and pulling your babies hair into a tight ponytail for styling. In fact unless you have a special occasion or pictures daily brushing and styling should be avoided.

I want to take a small time out to give some attention to a condition that must be handled differently in most cases with black babies. In terms of cradle cap washing daily with a treatment shampoo is typically not a good option on black hair, no matter the age. I've read great reviews on Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Treatment. The ingredients in Gentle Naturals definitely look appealing and moisturizing. Also, applying coconut oil before shampooing your infants head and again after washing has also had positive effects in curing cradle cap based on my research. I am not a physician of course, not even a licensed cosmetologist but because African American hair requires different elements for growth that's what I research and that is what I encourage you to do also.

As your baby grows into a toddler the same principles hold true, weekly washing, conditioning and moisturizing and sealing. As you become more tempted to style try experimenting with styles that don't stress their tiny hair follicles, I've seen a plethora of adorable styles that revolve around different variations of two strand twist. I've also seen a great deal of women in the hair community grow their toddlers hair to waist length and beyond by remaining gentle and holding true to utilizing the same principles we utilize on our hair on a smaller, gentler scale. The primary takeaway to keep at the fore front of your mind is African American hair must have moisture to thrive, also less manipulation and avoiding tight styles encourage growth. I hope this tidbit of information is helpful in caring for your babies hair, it's really quite simple when it comes down to it, less is more in hair growth!

You Grow Girl Challengers & Updates...

The YGG challenge is under way and I'm thrilled at the feedback and questions I'm getting from this diverse group of challengers. The #yougrowgirl15 challengers are a unique blend of different textures, lengths and growth goal oriented natural and relaxed haired ladies, all on a mission to grow healthy hair.

There are understandably some women who didn't want to be identified but here's a glimpse behind some of our YGG gals!

As for myself I couldn't bring myself to flat iron or silk wrap my hair in order to take a "proper" starting pic. What I did do was stretch my week old braid out to the best of my ability and place markers at my arm pit (APL) and waist (WL) to act as a guide as to where my hair stands in terms of length.

Finally, my protective style of choice for the first weeks of the YGG challenge is a half wig. Here I am rocking the Vanessa Express Half Wig La Fasta. As you can see I leave a small section of the front of my hair out that I curl with a flexirod in order to blend with my wig. Stay tuned for details on why half wigs are my protective style of choice.

One week down in the YGG challenge, I'd love to know how you beauties are doing. Please don't be timid if you have questions regarding the health of you hair, I'm at your service. Until next time beauties, you grow!

Who can resist a women with a red pout?

There is something about Sundays that just renews my spirit. Not only does it enable the hubby and I to take advantage of lazy Sunday mornings to brunch and connect but Sundays also allow us to explore quaint little restaurants and cozy bakeries in the German Village section of town.

Well last Sunday I was in the mood to explore in a way that was pretty bold for me by sporting a matte red lip and let me tell you I was really feeling this color. Beso by Stila liquid lipstick didn't have me at hello, I've been holding onto this tube for months now but something was in the air on this particular day that caused me to reach for this punch of color and it did not disappoint.

I'm typically a sheer to nude gloss kind of girl but I think it's safe to say those days are behind me. Daring, fierce, pretty and feminine all come to mind when I wear this lip color. Ladies this is the start of something new and I think I'm going to like exploring what these lips can do! I can't tell you how many new beginnings I've had since crossing over forty, all I can say is watch out world!

 

Have your stepped out your comfort zone lately? I'd love to hear the details....

Easy Game Day/Weeknight Meal...Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

If you happened upon my fajita chicken recipe your going to begin to think I'm obsessed with fajitas! Well what I am obsessed with is food that packs a lot of flavor without all the calories. Not only do I have to fool myself but my husband also has to have good eats, especially on game day Saturday. So this week were enjoying crockpot chicken fajitas, easy and delicious!

Here's what you dolls will need to cook up this game day fare:

3 chicken breast (about 2lbs)
One large onion
One red and one yellow bell pepper
One pack of fajita or taco seasoning
Two tablespoons of lime juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
Seasoning salt
Pepper
Garlic Salt
Tortillas

I began by cleaning my chicken breast and lightly seasoning them with both pepper and both seasoning and garlic salt. I prefer to lightly sear both sides before I toss my chicken into the crock pot but your more than welcome to throw them in there raw. I thinly slice my onion and bell peppers and toss half of the onion/pepper combination into a crockpot that I've lightly sprayed with cooking oil. I then layer the chicken breast side by side on top of the peppers and onions and pour in the chicken stock and two tablespoons of lime juice over the chicken. I then sprinkle the entire pack of taco seasoning mix on top chicken and layer on the other half of my peppers and onions. Another option that I've tried in the past that adds an extra punch of flavor is tossing in a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies.  This combination of flavors is very forgiving. I've made this a zillion times with less ingredients and sometimes more thrown in the crockpot and it's been delicious every time. That's why I love fajitas they're so versatile you almost can't go wrong.

Cook on high for three hours or on medium for six to eight hours. Remove the lid and allow to cool slightly then use two forks to shred your chicken. Combine the peppers and chicken well and serve on warm tortillas with toppings of your choice (light sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa) easy and filling!

You Grow Girl 1st Mini Challenge, take your vitamins!!

You Grow Girl challengers!! Let me start by saying I've got lots of pictures, primarily via my Facebook inbox, but there are tons of "ghost challengers" that I welcome all the same. If you'd like to connect with your fellow challengers look up the hash tag #yougrowgirl15 on Instagram or "Post to this Page" link on  Braidouts & Barbells Facebook page.  Now onto the good stuff it's time for our first challenge and this weeks challenge is to take your vitamins!

By now you should be protective styling and using your castor oil. So let's take our growing to the next level by nourishing our hair from the inside out! Early this year I suffered a setback in my hair journey after the unexpected death of my father. Once I realized the amount of damage I experienced I begin to implement several options that I knew I could depend on to care for my damaged hair. In researching my options I found myself also reaching for something new- MSM. For those of you that don't know MSM stands for methyl sulfonyl methane which is also known as a nutritional form of sulfur. Sulfur is critical to many functions of our bodies and is primarily known as a joint supplement. We've seen it in hair care products before from Sulfur 8 to a few hair growth oils that contain sulfur. Also, there is a well known vitamin that declares MSM as one of it's primary growth stimulators.  Once I got into the benefits of sulfur I was convinced, in addition to hair growth it's also said that sulfur could benefit in the treatment of acne, dandruff and eczema.

For those of you who don't know our hair has three cycles: growing, resting and shedding. In terms of hair growth MSM is rumored to be beneficial in hair growth because it's said to increase the anagen or growth phase of our hair. For example if your growth phase is three to five years, with the use of MSM it could be extended to four or six years. Both numbers are hypothetical but one thing is for sure, we all experience the same three phases in the life cycle of our hair. Luckily because we have thousands of hairs on our precious heads those cycles are all in a different rotation. Can you imagine if all our hair was in the shedding phase at the same time? Yikes!! That's scary stuff, moving on!

There's also a certain hair growth guru I follow that has stated she gained three inches in three months opposed to her normal growth rate of 1/4 inch per month with the use of MSM. I decided to use MSM in conjunction with a Hair and Nail vitamin I found at Walgreens. The Hair and Nail Vitamin by AppliedNutrition contained "superior levels" of biotin and silica. I chose this combination due to biotins benefits in strengthening hair and nails. Silica on the other hand is a component of collagen which helps repair skin, hair and nails. Combined my "vitamin cocktail" is a lot less pricey than the popular hair vitamins that promise longer hair and personally I like the nutrient levels of my little cocktail. There can be too much of a good thing, read on to discuss more about that. For those of you interested in purchasing MSM it's on BOGO at CVS this week, you can thank me later.

My vitamin cocktail!

Now back to having too much of a good thing. Let me forewarn you that there are many, many ladies out there that have complained of breakouts, severe breakouts when taking biotin and some have complained with the use of MSM as well. I have never experienced that, but boy have I seen the side effects of too much. I drink a ton of water and highly recommend you do the same if you decide to try vitamins as part of your hair journey. There are some ladies that reach straight for the 10,000 mcg of biotin with the hopes that their hair growth will increase tenfold, I'm not saying it won't but you really want to increase your dosage slowly don't be that girl with a case of severely bad acne for an extra inch of growth. Secondly, once your hair begins growing from taking more vitamins, the growth rate of your hair increases everywhere, so stock up on razors while your picking up those vitamins! Here's what I did noticed about taking MSM, and I'm speaking on that specifically because I've taken various other vitamins, although not consistently, in my growth journey. I noticed my new growth was incredibly soft. It may sound weird to some but being a person that is constantly caring for my own hair I'm very aware of changes and my new growth tends to be a bit on the rough side. I honestly thought I was imaging it until along comes an article in Black Hair Information that confirms my suspicion. Also, another bonus to having MSM around the house is my husband started taking them to help with an aching knee (remember the primary use is a joint supplement) and it greatly reduced his symptoms. One last word on the use of vitamins is consistency, I find that I do a good job of taking vitamins daily when I keep them in the bathroom and take them every morning just like brushing my teeth.

Finally during my time taking MSM and vitamins my hair definitely grew, but let's be real our hair is going to grow regardless, retaining that growth is what's important. I don't have great pictures because I did some major trimming but you can bet now that we've created an environment for growth (protective styling, castor oil) I'm definitely tracking my progress. So ladies, do you accept this mini challenge? We're doing everything in our power to promote growth externally, lets increase our chances by nourishing our hair from the inside out!

Are you up for the challenge?

10 Minutes a day Fitness

If your hoping that I'm going to feed you a magic pill that will get you super fit in ten minutes or less, think again. What I do hope to do is give those of  you that want to start a workout routine a way to begin with small increments and those of you that are already active an idea to stay focused on fitness. Ten minutes a day fitness has been a lifesaver for keeping me on track with my fit goals.

On a day to day basis I average a half hour to an hour and a half of exercise. On the days that I perform two exercise sessions a day I'm pushing the hour and a half mark. Now we're not talking about those days, we're talking about the days that I don't feel like exercising; the days in which every core of my being is rebelling at the thought of working out. The days when you'd rather go to dentist, to bed..I'd rather do anything that doesn't involve breaking a sweat. On those days I implement my ten minutes of fitness to push through my mental barrier and commit to a workout.

I have to tell you that I've implemented this strategy even on occasion when I was sick or hung over and surprisingly I've felt better once my ten minutes were up. Also, I maintained this standard while we were on our vacation recently and upon returning home I didn't miss a beat! There was no "I have to get back into the swing of things" mentality because I never quit! Even better you can almost bet that once your engine gets running you'll bypass that ten minutes easily and actually get in a workout state of mind. Once that happens I've easily performed a solid full body workout when my goal was a flimsy time minutes, how sweet is that? That's one of my secrets to working out and losing weight all the way around.

Benefits of a short, intense workout

Coming up with the techniques to trick yourself into moving, pushing and overcoming your mental roadblocks is what it's all about. Some of my favorite ten minute workouts include: YouTube queen Tiffany Rothe's  Mountain Climber and Booty Shaking Waist workouts. I also enjoy The Firm DVD Target Toning Zero in Ten workout which is a collage of fitness routines that combine cardio and strength training. Finally when I'm really in a rut, I'll simply jump on my elliptical or stationary bike and start moving. I'll be there first to admit that there have been occasions when I forced myself to do the bare minimum of ten minutes and that was it for the day. The key here isn't perfection it's persistence.

I'd love to know your tricks to get moving when your motivation is down, here's to a week of wellness, make it a good one!