STRAIGHT HAIR PICS

Hey now SC family...how ya doing? Me, recovering from my over seas vacay...it was great.

As promised, I am posting pics of my hair after it was straightened for my trip. Please note, it has been over two years (well very close) since I have straightened my coils. Hair was longer than I thought...but I will let you all decided. Tell me what you think:

(wanna be side swoop....lol)

(back view.....hard to see the layering..bad lighting)


To maintain this style, I have been wrapping my hair at night with a satin scarf and applying Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixir once a day to keep it soft and to reset it. I loved how my natural layers fell!

Pics from my trip are forthcoming. Until then, the orAKAle has spoken......

Handbook 2010

Hey Family,

I received this from a Soror of mine and thought I would share. While you don't have to forward/pass it along, I thought it would get you all thinking a bit today.......hope your having a blessed Happy New Year!

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28.. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

Fasting to Clear My Body

For those of you who have been following my weight loss journey on my "Weighing In On Healhty" blog, the Get Fit 4 Christ program is coming to a close. To keep up with the progress I've made with my health and specifically eating, I've decided to do a food fast for the next 4 days. I actually have a few individuals who are doing it with me and others interested specifically on what it entails. I've included the plan below:

+ Grilled chicken or tuna (this is totally plain protein. NO SEASONING OR SAUCES)

+ Cucumber (eat it how ever you want as long as its NOT SEASONED)

+ Water (of course)

+ 1-2 teaspoon of ACV (if you find yourself getting light headed, reduce it even more)

Thanks to one of my lovely Sorors for passing on this plan to me. She use to be an NFL cheerleader and use to do this type of fast to drop water weight quick and to jump start her body to eating CLEAN foods.

I plan to do this fasting plan until Wednesday, October 14th at noon. After that, I will be pushing the protein, veggies and fruit and limiting my carbohydrate intake to 40 grams/day. The ultimate goal is to reduce that number to 30 grams/day but I must take baby steps. Lol. Whose going to join us? Remember, you can ONLY EAT the foods above for the next 4 days (for I started today). You can eat as much as you want as well family....so chow down.

As for exercise (and yes you still have to get moving), the work out plan can be of your choice, but for me I plan to walk/jog at least 3 days of the 4 day fast. I know my body and how I work, and limiting myself to only these foods will be tough initially on me. I can't over exert myself to much for my body won't have enough food essentials to burn. BUT I do plan to keep moving. Lol.

What am I trying to accomplish....dropping 5lbs by this coming Friday, clearing out my system and restarting my eating plan. I'm excited for Paris is winding down and its time to get serious.

Be blessed family!!!

Healthy Living Habits

For those of you who have been following me for some time now, know that I have been threw several transformations in my life. Whether it be professionally, personally, spiritually, mentally and physically, all have been for the greater good of me and the purpose God has instore for me.

I get many comments and questions about "what am I doing" to feel so great DAILY, to look so healthy or "good" and to stay motivated even in trying times (in life, at work, etc). Every time I run off a list (sometimes the same, sometimes different) of different things I"ve done in my life to become more positive productive in my daily life. Due to this, I present to you the orAKAle's list of healthy living habits (please note that these are not in any order what so ever):

Man in the Mirror - you need to first and foremost look at that person in your mirror (that's you) and have a heart to heart talk. We are our worst critics, so if you are not on YOUR TEAM...who will be....

God Has First Place - As a Christian, I believe that God and his teachings (the bible) is my foundation. Therefore he gets all glory everyday and all day. I start my day off with mediation and prayer and end my day the same.

Daily Bible Study - the current program that I am on now involved reading and study at least 30 minutes a day. This is now habit for me, to the point that if I don't give God his time, I feel incomplete. It helps to keep me grounded and focused.

6-8 Hours of Sleep/DAY - I am a firm believer in getting your daily rest. While I don't think you need 8 hours (because I get between 7-7.5 hrs a night) daily to get the job done, I do think you need more than 6. Use your discretion on this one.

PUSH THE WATER - Family, I get OVER 64 ounces of water a day...yes that is over 8 servings of water that enters my body on a regular basis. I'm constantly getting compliments on how physically fit I look, how well rested my eyes look and how clear and smooth my skin looks....and my answer is ALWAYS (first) how much water I drink. For more information on how water contributes to healthy living, take a look at my former posts to the left.

Baggage No More - Like most of us, we are caring around baggage from the past or even the present. I decided to get rid of the baggage (or fat) in my life. I reevaluated my friendships, my daily relationships, the way I viewed myself and all other aspects of my life.

Speak It Into Existence - One of my good friends taught me that if you are not cheering for yourself, then how can you expect anyone else to. As simple as it sounds, I was speaking negatives words over me. While we make jokes here and there, I was doing it way to often, and actually had those around me call me out on it. See I believe that we have to speak positive words over our lives. The tongue is a powerful thing and the bible talks about being careful of what you say over yourself also how your thoughts can manifest into words and then reality.

Get Up, Get Out and Get Moving - While it took me awhile to get here, I work out between 4-6 days a week. My weekly work out regimen depends on the waves of my life. As someone who travels a lot, its hard to stick to a particular work out regimen. So, I get creative to get moving daily/weekly. I believe exerting energy helps with stress level and helps to put you in a positive mood to tackle the world.

Vitamins and Supplements - I take a daily multivitamin twice a day to make sure that I get all the necessary nutrients my body type needs. Also, I take B12 to help with stress and a Biotin tablet that assist in hair, nail and skin development. I also drink 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar a day to help with daily digestion with my body.

To read more about my weight loss journey and tips for daily health advice, take a look at my blog "Weighing In On Health" here on blogspot.


The orAKAle has spoken........