Natural Girl Journey

A New Challenge

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:34:51 -0400

I told you I might be back!! I have decided to join the Shrink, Grow, and Learn Challenge that CharyJay of ShrinkGrowLearn has decided to sponsor. I’m entering in all 3 categories seeing as how each one is already a challenge I’m doing. Let me break it down for you.

Shrink-this portion of the challenge is dedicated to weight loss. Those of you that have been keeping up with this blog already know that I have been dieting for the last almost 2 months now and I have lost 14 lbs. (Yay!!). As of Sep. 26th my weight is 150 lbs. My goal during this challenge is to lose another 15 lbs. My weight loss regimen will be the same as before and I will update weekly on my weight loss progression.

Grow-this portion of the challenge is dedicated to hair growth. Once again those for you who follow/read the blog know that I am doing protective styling for the next 3 months in order to allow my hair a chance to grow with little manipulation from me. I will wear a sew-in for 3 weeks and then allow my hair a week to breathe and then put a new sew-in in. I will post updates on my hair monthly.

Learn-this portion is a challenge to do something positive with your life. I am taking some prerequisites that I need for grad school so my goal for this part of the challenge is to get at least a 3.0 for this semester (crossing fingers). There really is no update that I can do for this…maybe I can talk about what my grades are looking like around midterms and then again at the end of the semester.

The challenge ends on Dec. 9th so I have until then to get it together. I can only win on the ShrinkGrowLearn challenge in one category, but for me that is just a perk. I need to win in all 3 categories for myself and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that it happens. Support from all is always welcome so until next time, TTYL.

3 Months Natural

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:44:40 -0400

Sep. 15th was my natural hair anniversary. It’s been 3 months and it couldn’t be going any better. I get so many compliments from men and women. I really don’t know why I was so afraid to cut my hair in the first place. The only down side that I have experienced was boredom with my hair. First off I was never the one that was really creative or good at doing my own hair so for me, to attempt to recreate the different styles I saw on youtube was difficult and usually ended in frustration. I was and still am excited about getting my sew-in, but I find myself missing my natural hair terribly. My next hair goal that I’m setting for myself is a growth challenge. It’s getting cold up north so I have decided to hide my hair under a sew-in for the next three months. I will be getting a sew-in once a month until Dec. 3rd. This will keep my hands out of my hair and let my hair grow on it’s on with no manipulation from me. By the end of this I would like for my hair to be…well I can’t really give an amount in inches because I have never measured my hair with a ruler…I’ll just say I would like my hair in the back to touch my shoulder when stretched and my hair in the front to hit below my eyebrows. Below are some pics of my last length check which was about 2-3 weeks ago. I will try to sneak in some pics of length checks throughout the next 3 months but they may be few and far in between, until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-The Final Week(Sep 5-11)

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:15:00 -0400

This is the last week in my challenge and I have met my original goal of losing 10 lbs. *Pats self on back* Now as for my extended goal of losing 5 more lbs. I didn’t quite make that. I only lost 2 lbs. which brings me to a total of 12 lbs. in 6 weeks. Now I have to admit I was a bit reckless w/my eating habits towards the end of the week and I also slacked on the pilates towards the end of the week. I only did 4 out of 7 days this week, which is about normal for me. Friday I got my hair done. I finally got my sew-in and I definitely have mixed feelings about it. I definitely miss my already :-(. But I know that this is better for my hair than me messing with it all the time so I’m going to stick it out. I’ve set up hair appts. once a month until December. When December gets here I will have reached my 6 month anniversary and I’m going to straighten my hair and see the length :-). I’m know that my hair has grown at least 1” in the past 6 weeks. I have taken pics of my length around my 2 month anniversary and it has definitely grown since I’ve started this challenge. I have met and exceeded, in some cases, my goals and I’m very proud of myself. Especially when it comes to the weight loss. I usually only stick to a diet for a week, maybe 2 at the most, but I made it 6 weeks and plan to continue losing until I’m back to a weight that works for me. I may come up with another challenge for myself, but as of now I’m just going to keep tracking my progress on my phone, until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-Week 5 Update(Aug 29-Sep 2)

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:48:36 -0400

Let me start by saying that I have truly learned portion control. There is no need to eat a bunch of food just because. Another thing that I have learned is that I crave water. I haven’t had a soda in a little over 2 weeks and I don’t really miss it. Now for this week’s update I lost another 2 lbs!! I’m able to fit comfortably into most of my jeans and I definitely see minor differences in my body. I have one more week til my challenge is over and 3 more lbs. to lose. Hopefully I can make it happen and I know I say this every week but I am REALLY planning on focusing on exercising this week. I’m mostly going to focus on getting in an hour of pilates daily. Pilates has definitely helped in changing my shape. My thighs are slimming and everyone who knows me knows the challenge I have with my legs. So needless to say I am seeing results with it some I’m going to continue doing it. I rocked a wash n go fro all week and that was pretty fun, until it was only 60 degrees friday and I was freezing my ass off. So since the wash n go’s won’t be able to continue for long I spent all day yesterday 2 strand twisting my hair and I did a couple flat twists in the front (I’m not sure if I like the style though, may have to adjust it a bit). I did make an appt to get a sew-in this coming friday and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it, so until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-Week 4 Update(Aug 22-28)

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:32:02 -0400

*Doing my happy dance* I just lost 2 more lbs. which brings me to a grand total of 10 lbs. lost in 4 weeks!!! I met my goal and have decided to extend my goal and see if I can lose 15 lbs. by my birthday. That gives me 2 more weeks to lose 5 lbs. I think I can do it. Even though I have lost the weight I don’t really feel a difference in my appearance. My clothes don’t seem to fit any looser and I haven’t noticed any other changes, but that just serves as more motivation to keep losing weight. I wasn’t able to work out like I wanted to due to my ankle being sprained at the beginning of the week and then having to deal with my allergies towards the end of the week, but hopefully in the next 2 weeks I’ll be able to get back on my work out plan. As far as my hair goes I’m just really tired of doing it (Lazy!). So I’ve been contemplating what kind of protective styling I can put it in where I won’t have to mess with it. I’ve been thinking about either buying a wig or getting a sew-in. The wig is an easier alternative but I would still have to mess with it on a regular basis so I’m leaning more towards getting a sew-in. That way all my hair will be put away and protected for about a good month I won’t have to worry about my hair at all. I’m going to have to deal with my hair for about 2 more weeks before I can get the sew-in because I want it to be fresh for my birthday, so I’ll be counting down the days until my appointment, until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-Week 3 Update(Aug 15-21)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:30:07 -0400

Alright so week 3 was a great week. I dropped 3 more pounds (Yay!!). This brings me to only 2 lbs. away from my goal with 3 weeks left to go. I’m contributing this loss to exercise. I burned a little over 3,000 cals. this week. My goal was to burn 3,500 cals. but I twisted my ankle friday night :( and was unable to burn the last 500 cals. saturday. I’m going to wrap my ankle and hopefully I’ll be able to work out for week 4, but with school starting this week the only exercise I may be able to get may be from walking around campus. Once again there is no true update on my hair. I’m still keeping it in protective styles and hopefully I’ll be really surprised by the growth when I do my next length check at the 3 mos. mark. Until next time, TTYL.

Two Months Natural

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 23:18:16 -0400

My 2nd natural hair anniversary was on the 15th of August and I didn’t realize it until it had already passed. I have spent the majority of this month putting my hair in twists. I think that they are coming out better and better every time I do them and I really enjoy rocking my twist out. The growth I’m experiencing surprises me every time I do my twists. I will definitely post some pics probably later on this week of the length, but until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-Week 2 Update(Aug 8-14)

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:40:19 -0400

Okay so week 2 was an okay week. I went on a mini vacay to Milwaukee and spent some time with my mom. I went to my first pro baseball game (Brewers v. Diamondbacks)! We had great seats and a great time. I’m definitely game to go to another baseball game. I did go over my calorie limit a couple times this week which probably contributed to my only 1 lb. loss (still not mad at it at least I lost and didn’t gain). This brings me to a grand total of 5 lbs. lost. I’m sure that since I’ll be back on top of my game I should start seeing results again. I do need to step up in the exercise department though. I didn’t exercise at all last week so I’m really going to jump back into it this week. I really don’t have an update for my hair besides keeping in twists. I deep condition and retwist my hair once about every 10 days and that seems to be going well. I guess that’s about it until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge-Week 1 Update(Aug1-7)

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:07:49 -0400

So here is my first week update on my 6 week challenge. Getting used to the “diet” was a little difficult at first. I went over my calorie limit the first 2 days, but I got it under control for the rest of the week. During the middle of he week I was able to get in a little exercise via ONDEMAND, but since Comcast is so unreliable right now I’m going to make sure I go get my gym membership so that I can always have some way to exercise. I have also become an avid water drinker, usually getting in 56-64 oz. a day. Soda, which used to be my best friend, has become an old friend that I visit maybe twice a week (Yay!!). I started this week weighing 164 lbs. and by the end of the first week 160 lbs. (4 lb. loss Woot!! Woot!!). So I have definitely been motivated to continue monitoring what I’m eating. As far as hair goes I wore wash n go’s for most of the week and finally put my hair up in twists by the end of the week so I can rock a twist out later on this week. I plan on keeping my hair in twists for the majority of the month of August. I will definitely post another update at the end of week 2 so until next time, TTYL.

6 Week Challenge

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:26:00 -0400

Now that my life has some semblance of being normal again I have finally decided that now would be a good time to get back on some of my summer goals. My challenge started yesterday (Aug 1st) and will end right before my birthday (Sept 11th). One of my goals was to drop 20 lbs. in 8 weeks. Well I have altered that goal a little bit, since my 25th birthday is in 6 weeks. I have decided to try to lose at least 10 lbs. by then. In order to accomplish this goal I will still be doing what I planned for this summer, drinking plenty of water, and paying attention to what I am eating. I also plan on hitting the gym hard at least 4 times a week. I have also downloaded an app on my iPhone to help me track my progress. Another one of my goals had to do with my hair. I’m hoping to grow at least an inch of hair during the next 6 weeks. I’m glad that I am finally able to get back to these goals and I’m looking forward to how this turns out. I will definitely (as always) keep you all posted on how my challenge is going so until next time, TTYL.

My Twist Out

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:51:28 -0400

First I would like to congratulate my cousin and his new wife. I attended their wedding yesterday and they had a beautiful ceremony followed by a wonderful reception. Now onto my hair, as you all know from my last post I put my hair in 2 strand twists on thursday and I took them down saturday night so I could wear my hair in a 2 strand twist out for the wedding. I am quite pleased with the results, with it being my first time and all. It was a little fuzzy in some areas and I didn’t realize that I didn’t get all the twists down so there are a few still left in my hair that continued to find throughout the day. I ended up taking more pics of the bride and groom, but here’s one of me on the way to the wedding.

I’ll definitely wear the twist out for a couple days then co-wash and twist my hair again. Once I learn how to flat twist I’ll stat introducing those into my hairstyles, but hopefully as I keep repeating this style it will get better and better, until next time, TTYL.

One Month Natural

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:09:00 -0400

I’m so happy because today I am celebrating being natural for one month. So far my journey has been uneventful. I rock my TWA with confidence and enjoy the dramatic decrease in time it takes to do my hair. I have noticed some definite growth in my hair, maybe a half an inch, but I won’t be doing an “official” length check until I hit my 3 month anniversary. As my hair gets longer I am going to be trying different hairstyles. The first style that I am trying is 2 strand twists and twist out. Here are a few pics of my first 2 strand twist. It took me 4 hours to do it, but I am very proud of them…

Hopefully these will last for a couple days and then I will be able to take them down and wear a twist out for a couple days. I’ll post pics sometime next week of the twist out so until next time, TTYL.

Big Chop

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:22:00 -0400

I finally found the time to talk about my BC in more detail and posts some pics. It has been a little over a week since I cut my hair and it gets better everyday. The day I went and cut my hair there was no premeditated thought to it. As you know I had been transitioning for 3 months and I woke up that morning went to the gym and decided that I was going to cut my hair. I go to school in Southern Illinois and everybody who lives there knows it is unbearably hot in the summertime so I thought why not rock a TWA during the summer. So that day I called my friends and asked them to go with me and thankfully they agreed. We went to a barbershop and I walked in and the asked the barber to cut my hair. He looked at me kind of funny then said have a seat. I hopped in the chair and haven’t looked back since. I definitely have developed a bad case of HIH (hand in hair) syndrome. My hair is going through this part of it wants to curl and part of it wants to be a fro phase that I’m still working on pulling together but I love theease of being able to get up and go. My hair care regimen is wetting my hair, moisturizing it, putting some oil in it and going on with my day, what used to be an overnight process is more like a 5-10 min breeze. I often forget that I chopped my hair off until someone tells me that they like my haircut or someone asks me “What happened to your hair?” (I usually get this from acquaintances that I haven’t seen in a while). A difference that I’ve noticed is that when I meet other naturals we automatically smile and acknowledge one another and, I feel, bond over our natural hair. Another difference I’ve noticed is that I definitely gethit on by more guys, I’m not sure if this is because of my hair or because of this new found confidence that I exude ;-).Here’s a few pics from my first week being fully natural and a few pics of how long my hair is. I will post monthly pics of length checks leading up to my one year natural anniversary (June 15, 2011). So enjoy the pics and until next time, TTYL.

My hair (wet) right before I cut it

Fresh BC (no product)

Fresh BC (with water)

Length Check (Front)

Side

Back

Random Pics Throughout The Week

Summer Goals

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:20:58 -0400

So this summer hasn’t turned out the way I thought it would. My goals have to be changed and postponed. As u already know I BC’d so my hair goal has turned into more of a growth challenge, which I will continue. I ended up having to drop my class and move home during my second week of class so that goal has been eliminated. My final goal of losing weight has to be postponed until I finish my transitioning phase of moving. I am continuing to watch what I eat though and will hopefully be able to return to the gym soon. So much has been going on and I jus wanted to give a quick update so until next time, TTYL.

Hair

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:45:51 -0400

Quick update I know I just posted that I was going to wait until September to chop my hair, but it is way too hot down here so I just went ahead and cut it on June 15th. I’ve gotten so many compliments and tons of support from the natural hair community. I must admit that I LOVE it!!! It is so nice to just get up in the morning wet your hair and go. I will be sure to keep you updated on how my hair is growing and I will still be posting on my other summer goals weekly. Here’s a few pics and until next time, TTYL.
Right After Haircut(no product)

Later w/Leave-in Conditioner

Summer Goals

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:37:11 -0400

So I am giving myself an 8 week challenge this summer starting today and ending on August 7, 2010. I have decided to take this opportunity to focus on becoming a healthier me. Why you may ask… Well I have gained a good 20+ pounds during my last year of college and I would like to be a little slimmer by my birthday, hopefully dropping those 20 pounds or as close to it as possible. Another goal that I have this summer is to get a 4.0 GPA this summer semester. My 3rd and final goal for the summer is to focus on taking care of my hair. I would like to have about 4” of new growth by the end of this challenge (I currently have about 2”). I plan to go about these goals by drinking more water (water is not only good for the body but it also contributes to the moisture in your hair). I’m also going to hit the gym at least 5 times a week (I finally won’t have to worry about sweating my hair out :)). Of course I plan to eat healthier, not necessarily a diet but just be more conscious of what I am putting in my body. By doing these things I am hoping I can achieve my goals and create a healthier me. I will be keeping you posted weekly on how things are going, until next time, TTYL.

Hair

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:40:54 -0400

I will reach my 3 months transitioning anniversary tomorrow and I couldn’t be happier. If I was still on the creamy crack I would be having a fit right about now but I am loving seeing my natural hair grow. Most people have said that one should expect about 1/2” of growth each month, but I seem to be averaging about 3/4” of growth a month. My hair in the back is a lot shorter than the hair in the front and it’s making me extremely anxious to BC because my hair in the back in majority natural, but I’m going to wait until I reach 6 months which will be in September. Well I was just giving a quick update on me so until next time, TTYL.

Product Review

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:50:00 -0400

Okay so before I go into the product review I wanted to briefly let you know about my first rollerset and how that turned out. It was a complete bust :-( It turned out horribly…my hair was extremely poofy. I think there are two places where I went wrong, first I don’t think that my sections were small enough, if I had broken down the sections more I think I could have gotten the natural part of my hair to straighten out more. Secondly I think if I would have actually used a dryer instead of allowing my hair to airdry it may have come out a little better. Oh well, maybe next time, but on to the product review. I finally broke down and purchased Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. Majority of the naturals who blog and make YT videos use this product and seem to be pleased with the results so I figured I’d give it a try. My take on this product is that it is great. I love being able to use a shampoo that doesn’t leave my hair feeling stripped or dry and the conditioner leaves my hair feeling soft and moisturized. Another thing that I like is that the phrase a little goes a long way holds very true with these products. You don’t need to use a lot of the product for it to completely saturate your hair. I also noticed that the conditioner makes detangling a breeze. I put it in and left it for a few minutes and when I went to come through it there was hardly and tangles in it…LOVE IT!!!! I used it before I did my 2 strand twist/bantu knots and when I took them out my curls were very well defined and soft. I am completely pleased with my Giovanni experience and will continue to keep you posted on what’s going on with me, until next time TTYL.

Hair

Sun, 30 May 2010 00:55:02 -0400

I know it’s been awhile since I have posted anything but I have been so busy these last couple weeks. I finally graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with my Bachelor’s degree so I have been busy with finishing up classes and celebrating, first off, and secondly, I have been wearing a sew-in in my hair so I really didn’t have much to say about my natural hair because I hadn’t seen it or been messing with it. Today I couldn’t take it anymore I found myself missing my natural hair. This really shocked me because I thought I would have no problem rocking the sew-in for a month and not having to deal with my hair but I couldn’t wait to take it out. I was so happy to have my hair back I went on a shopping spree. I finally went ahead and purchased Giovanni Smooth As Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner (Yay Me!!). I have watched a lot of videos and read a ton of blogs where a lot of natural hair women use these products so I’m really excited to try them and see how they work for me (A product review will be coming on these products shortly). I also bought some magnetic rollers and I am attempting my first roller set now (definitely let y’all know how that goes). I bought some new hair accessories and a new paddle brush. I’m just really excited to get back in my hair and experiment with different styles and products and see what happens. I will definitely try to update more often but until next time TTYL.

Product Review

Sun, 02 May 2010 15:42:39 -0400

Okay I have only been transitioning for almost two months now but I have found a leave-in conditioner and a deep conditioner that I absolutely love. First up is the leave-in conditioner, I use Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream. It’s supposed to help with hair breakage which is critical when dealing with two different textures of hair. The most fragile part of your hair while transitioning is the point where your natural hair stops and the relaxed hair begins. If your hair breaks it will break at this point (the point of demarcation). But back to the leave-in, it’s not a real thick cream and it doesn’t weigh down your hair. I use it pretty much every night to help set my two strand twists/bantu knots and it comes out so pretty in the morning. It cost me about $4.99 but I am in the middle of nowhere in a really small college town so you may be able to find it cheaper. It’s definitely a great product.

Now onto the deep conditioner. It is by Elasta QP and it is called DPR-11+ Deep Penetrating Remoisturizing Conditioner. I absolutely love this product. My hair comes out soooo soft after using this that I can’t keep my hands out of my hair, not to mention it smells great. It has organic oils in it as well as olive oil which is great for your hair. I usually deep condition my hair about once a week, I don’t own a dryer so I usually just put a shower cap on it and let it sit in my hair for at least an hour, and I love the results I get from using this. It cost me about $6.99 but like I said I’m in the middle of nowhere so you may be able to find it cheaper. Well that’s about it for these products I will be sure to keep you updated on what I’m using and what does and doesn’t work for me and feel free to leave comments letting me know what works for you. I believe I’m becoming a product junkie lol! Until next time TTYL