Healthy Hair- Growing healthy hair

This may not apply to everyone out there, but it can definitely help someone out in their personal journey. I found this on blackhairinformation.com website and I wanted to share this with everyone! :) Enjoy and also check out their website as well!

Healthy Hair- Washing Braids and Twists

I saw this on blackhairinformation.com as well and I wanted to share with everyone how I wash my hair when it is in braids or twists. It's really easy to do this opposed to washing my afro without the twists and braids. This also helps me keep my hair stretched and untangled, minimizing detangling. I can't sit all day and do my hair anymore especially with a newborn so I decided to take it upon myself and change up my routine. Hopefully this can help someone out!

Healthy Body- My post-partum weight loss journey

I am trying to lose this stomach and get fit again. Although my stomach doesn't look big when I am wearing my clothes, but by next year, I want to be bikini ready so my belly needs to go. If anyone is looking to lose or gain weight, you are not alone. I have been on the end where I've wanted to gain weight and now I am on the other end. My goal is to have a nice and healthy fit body, inside and out.

My belly the day before giving birth.

I didn't know that my baby looked like this. I was so shocked when I saw this picture.

My little baby girl was growing inside there.

My belly now.

Don't ever think that you cannot do it. You definitely can!

I am staying focused and grounded. I can do this!

Since I'm also doing my squats, I've decided to capture my legs and my butt. 

Never give up!

I am determined to lose it.

I threw in a picture of the water that I drink daily. I am almost done with this gallon.

Healthy Body- Post-Partum working out and breastfeeding

Can you really work out right after having your baby?

Absolutely! This is something that I've heard people say for a while now and after doing some research, I've found out that you really can work out after having a baby. And does it affect your breast milk production? I have to say that it should not affect it, but then again, everyone is different so please try and see what will work for you and your baby. I exclusively breastfeed and I just started back working out and my baby is eating fine. Before I had my daughter, I worked out during my pregnancy. After I had her, my stomach went back down and I went back to my pre-pregnancy size, sort of...my stomach wasn't as flat, but at least I could fit back into my jeans. Since I want to start living a more healthy life now, I need to get back to working out. I have done some zumba, squats, and stomach exercises. I will post some videos that I have done and maybe this can help you as well. Even if you haven't had a baby before or if you have, you can still do these exercises and get fit. Let's get it!

Healthy Foods- Starting from the inside and working my way out

Today, I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's with my family and we grabbed some things to eat. We have talked about eating healthy and now we are doing it. During my pregnancy, I ate a lot of healthy food and I didn't want us to just stop simply because I'm not pregnant anymore. We grabbed some fruits, vegetables, and some more natural hair products. I am very excited to officially

Drinking my water and eating my fruit!

start and complete this healthy eating journey. It starts from the inside. You can't focus on your outer appearance and forget about what goes on inside of your body. Let's start living healthy everyone!

Healthy Hair- A few pictures of my hair growth this past year. (the pictures go in order)

freshly shaved

6 months of hair growth picked out

9 months of hair growth on an old twist out. I didn't have my hair colored in the third picture, it was the lighting

My hair in August. This was 1 year and 8 months of hair growth. My hair is in a fluffy picked out afro. I took this picture after having my daughter during my post-partum shedding period. I wanted to see how my hair was growing since I didn't really do length checks during my pregnancy. It goes past my shoulders when it's stretched out.

Healthy Body- Post-Partum Shedding

I thought that it wouldn't happen to me….

WELLLLL

I was totally wrong, BUT I am not going to get upset about it. I went and got some Jamaican Black Castor Oil and now my hair is growing back around my edges. 

On another note: after the first 6 months of pregnancy, do not get your hair braided. I literally kept them braids in for one week. All I have to say about that is:

Braids + Post-Partum = Tears for days

That is all.

Healthy Hair- Winter Regimen

So it’s fall and winter time now. I went to Walgreens and Sallys and picked up my winter staples. I normally spray my hair with water everyday, but it’s too cold for that now and I hate having wet hair in the cold (idc if I don’t get a cold..it just feels nasty to me) so I am setting my winter regimen now until March, when spring starts. Since I am a wahm with a newborn, I just need something simple that I can still do that way I’m not taking all day to do my hair. So here is my regimen:

-Put braids in my head with my own hair and keep them in for 4-6 weeks. I will show my hair in December when it marks 2 years of growing my hair

-Wash hair every Monday (shampoo and conditioner) and Thursday (co-wash) like normal

-Change my water based moisturizer spray to cream based moisturizer and moisturize every day (1x)

-Seal with Jamaican Castor Oil after moisturizing 

-Deep condition after every single wash for 30 mins 

-Take my vitamins daily (it works for my hair and for post-partum)

Once a month:

Protein treatment

Hot Oil Treatment

Henna

Healthy Hair- A/W 13 Hair Regimen

The time has come for us to put away our cute summer clothes and bring in some nice, warm and cozy fall and winter clothes. I also believe that now it is the time to change up my hair regimen. As it continues to grow, I am sitting here asking myself "What are you going to do to your hair now?". Tonight, I did my first henna and although I didn't see much of a change (it is said that you will start noticing a change after a couple of times of applying henna) I liked the results. I can slightly see some color in the light, but then again my natural hair color has some tints of red and brown in it, so what henna will do for me is just keep my hair basically the same color. After washing my hair, I put some leave in conditioner, my oil mixture and I put some of my gel in my hands and I did a wash and fro, wash n go. I am currently letting it dry about 80%, which it is almost there, but after it is dry, I am going to twist it up. I find this easier for me than trying to do protective styles and twists/braid outs on my head. I have learned over the years and especially during this journey of growing my hair out that my hair simply does not like protective styles and twist outs and braid outs do not look good on my head.

The point of the healthy hair journey is to take proper care of your head and if something doesn't work for you at the moment, simply don't do it. I'm not saying to never try the style again, but give it some time and then try it again. Last week when my significant other was oiling my scalp, he stretched my hair (we normally do this every do often to see how long my hair has grown) and it is basically armpit length now! Armpit length! My hair does shrink up so much that it looks like a twa, but I am learning to embrace my shrinkage. I do not want to alter it. I believe it is good because although my hair is getting longer, when I do wash it, it appears shorter and it stays off of my neck.When I do my wash n fro, I am simply fluffing it to show my afro. My goal is to have a nice curly afro or simply curls that hit armpit/mid-back length. That would mean that my hair in it's stretched state would be really long, past my tailbone of course.

So for my autumn/winter regimen, I am going to stick with this wash n fro method. I will wash my hair one time every week and do my henna treatment every month. Also, I will deep condition after every wash and do a hot oil treatment every 2 weeks. Since I am a stay at home/work at home new mother to my first child, I am okay with washing my hair and fro-ing it out. At night until my curls get long enough to pineapple it, I will do 6 big twists going the way my fro will be after it's been at least 80% air dried. I only plan to use heat 1 time a year, which is in December since that is the month I decided to stop rocking my fade that I had been wearing for years and wanting to grow my hair. This year will mark #2 of actually growing out my hair so I am excited to see the length straightened. I keep my regimen simply and my products to a minimum. I believe that keeping everything simple will help me keep retaining length even in the winter months. I am so excited to share this healthy hair journey with everyone and I hope that everyone has a great rest of the summer!

What is your current regimen? Do you change your regimen according to the changing of seasons as well?