Changing the face of the blog

I have changed the look of my blog. I will probably do this often. If I could change the paint colors and decor of my house this often I would. I get bored with the same decoration easily. Changing my blog makes me think of how bad I want to redecorate my home. I have wanted to change my the color of my living room since....well since it was painted. I think I just want a richer color. Obviously there are some things that I cannot change (lack of finances). So, I have chocolate furniture. So whatever I do must coordinate with that. I do have accessories in my living room, a painting, vases, not so much that it couldn't change though. I just want something different. I also want to repaint my bedroom. Also a color I have wanted to change for a while. I think most of the problem is I let the hubs pick the colors, so it was never what I wanted. Why, oh why did I do that? Then we also need to paint our guest bedroom. I think we are going to do something in the green family. That way if we have a child (cannot believe I am even thinking about this), the color could apply for a babies room. Never would have thought that changing the color of my blog would lead to so many thoughts.

Obama's School Speech

Today President Obama is giving a speech for school age children. This speech is supposed to inspire children to stay in school, do well, and stress the importance of school. Think this is a great idea, you know, the first Black president explaining to children that you can accomplish anything if you work hard and do well? NOOOOO! This is the biggest controversy since his health care plan. So what is the issue. Some parents and law makers are afraid Obama is trying to push his political agenda. Yes, push his political agenda on kids that cannot even vote. Yes, because they are going to go home and tell their parents..... I cannot even finish that statement because I don't know what negative impact this speech could possibly have on children. Many of them may not even listen, but for the ones that do I don't think it would be anything but inspirational.

There was this woman on the news last night crying about the effect this speech would have on her child if they were forced to listen to it by the school district. She said she would have to keep her kid out of school to avoid it. And there are district that are refusing to play his speech in school. I will not even get into how this is public school and really in my opinion they should not have a say or send your child to private school. So what do you think it is? Is it ignorance, is it racism, is it complete lunacy? I really do not know. I just hope that after the speech is made and the true contents of the speech are out for the public that these naysayers will admit that they were wrong and maybe even decide to show the speech later. But they will never admit they were wrong. God forbid Obama actually have something inspirational to say that could really affect the way children look at school. God forbid this is positive for our nation. I know if I had a child they would definitely be watching this speech. I would probably record it so they could watch it at the beginning of each school year. Just to see a black man make it to president is inspiring to me. Makes me feel like I could achieve anything and I am in my 20's. What kind of impact could that have on a child?!

Read the speech here.

From the Couch to a 5K

So....I am trying to lose weight and get fit. So my friend on the ND told me about this program "from the couch to a 5K" and I am doing it. I started on week 4 of the program since week 1-3 were more walking than running and I had already been running. Well, it was hard. So I did week 4 for 2 weeks. So 3x a week this was my routine.

Walk for 5 min
Jog 1/4 mile (3 min) - that means going at 6.0 on the treadmill, which for me is running

Walk 1/8 mile (90 sec) - i think this is at 4.0 on treadmill
Jog 1/2 mile (5 min)
Walk 1/4 mile (2.5 min)
Jog 1/4 mile (3 min)
Walk 1/8 mile
Jog 1/2 mile

You can run for time or distance. I do for distance. In the beginning I can do the jog at 6.0 but then the further I go the slower I get. So I did that for 2 weeks.

This week I am starting week 5.

3x a week

walk for 5 min
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile
Jog 1/2 mile

I will let you know how I do. Might be another 2 week program.

When I complete the program I plan on finding a 5K in my area and running in it. So that is my plan. Now if I could just get myself to do the strength training portion consistently.

i wish...

i wish i was not an adult sometimes. that i did not have to worry about getting the bills paid, saving for the future, etc.

i wish i did not have to think about what was for dinner.

i wish i had enough money to not have to think about it. not rich (though that would be nice) but enough to do what i want.

i wish i had a job that i loved. something that i would want to do no matter what the pay was.

i wish i had the energy i did when i was in college.

i wish i could lose 20 pounds without doing anything.

Cassia Treatment

I have heard so many natural hair folks talking about henna and cassia treatments for their hair. So finally, I decided to do a cassia treatment. Cassia makes your hair stronger, healthier, shinier, and it is the best conditioner on earth. (If you want to learn more about henna or cassia go to http://www.hennaforhair.com/, it is not just for black people haha).

So my cassia recipe consisted of 150g of cassia, honey, castor oil, jojoba oil, and enough filtered water to give it a yogurt consistency.



I know the color looks funky, but it is worth it. And it is completely natural, no chemicals. Which is important to me.

Then i smooshed it all in my hair and covered it with a plastic cap. I left it in my hair for about an hour and a half.





I used about half a bottle of cheap conditioner to wash it out. Washed, conditioned, and detangled my hair as usual.



So the results...my hair has never felt so soft. Also, my usual no shine hair actually has some. I love this stuff. I will definitely be using it again. And I will unleash the inner mixtress in me and come up with different recipes. My goal is to increase the shine in my hair. If I can accomplish that I will be ecstatic.

Unfortunately, because of my crazy work schedule last week I did nothing to my hair so I have no pics just yet of the wonderful results. But when I get some I will update.

Weight Loss

So it has been 2 weeks since I have started my weight loss plan.

How have I done??? OK I guess. I definitely have been working out more and I think I am starting to notice a difference. My endurance has definitely improved.

I have been reviewing the goals for Phase I of my plan:
I have not weighed myself since the initial weigh in. That is hard for me, but I am sticking to it.
Increase activity level - doing
Stop eating at least 2 hours before sleep - doing 99% of time
Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks - doing
Drink more water - trying to do, but makes me have to go to the bathroom to frequently
Eliminate alcohol - AHR and AC trip are done. I will start the no alcohol now
Take daily supplements - still have not started doing this, need to

Working out is still very hard for me. Even though I can see some progress it is still a battle. It is so frustrating. I see these people who love going to the gym. Why can't I be one of these people. I tried doing this workout program P90X, but I am not in good enough shape to do it as you are supposed to. I do try to incorporate the program into the workout. I would love to take some dancing lessons. I think this is a workout I would love. Like salsa. But because I work nights that might be a little hard, but I am going to try to see what I can find.

At least 2 more weeks of Phase I so let's see how I do.

Getting in Shape

Being in shape has been a constant battle for me my entire life. I was a big kid and lost weight in my teens, but starting my senior year of college I started putting on weight. So I am trying to set a goal to lose 20 pounds. The problem...I hate working out. I have not found a workout that I will stick with for life or something that I enjoy doing. Every time I go to the gym it is a battle. The entire time leading up to it all I think about is how I do not want to do it. When I get there it is not that bad, but that constant battle is frustrating and I think it is why it is never long lasting.

One of the plans I tried before was the Best Life Diet. It is a plan by the guy who works with Oprah. I tried this a while ago but like everything else I eventually quit. So I am going to try again. It isn't really a diet, but a life change. You know, eating better and working out more. My eating habits are pretty good, but it is the working out where I really need help. Also I probably do not eat enough calories in a day. So while I am eating healthy foods, I am not eating enough. I have to work on that too.

So here are the Phase I objectives:
Duration: a minimum of 4 weeks
You weigh in once at the beginning and not again for 4 weeks (that is gonna be hard for me)

Increase activity level
Stop eating at least 2 hours before sleep
Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks (you have to eat breakfast, which I do everyday)
Drink more water
Eliminate alcohol (I will start this part in 2 weeks after my AHR and my trip to AC)
Take daily supplements (I have never been good at this, but I will try)
(I love in this phase that you do not have to change what you eat just yet, but I am going to try to eat as healthy as possible)

So this is my plan for the next 4 weeks. I am going to start including more strength training in my workouts and I can do that in the house. And I will go to the gym more. I think I am going to try to find we some classes to take to (break up the monotony). I also have my 2 fitness buddies that will keep me on track.

I am going to to this! I will have to keep repeating it to myself. Wish me luck.