Insanity?

John mentioned that he wanted the beachbody program Insanity the other day.
It got me thinking - if I get this program for him, we might be able to do it together.  If I had someone there to do it with me, I'd actually do it.  I hate working out alone <em>39</em>
I have been emailing back and forth with Monica Gray (Chalene Johnson's best friend, you know, the creator of Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, etc?).  Well I live near all of those beautiful, fit ladies.  Monica has been trying to get me to one of her classes at the gym.  Have I mentioned how SCARED I am of taking her class?  She is also a beachbody coach.  I am considering becoming one too so that I can get a discount on Insanity, Chalean Extreme and Shakeology.  I would love to get into better shape.  Monica offered to call me to answer any of my questions.  I very well might take her up on that.  OMG I almost feel like she's a celebrity about to call me!!!  <em>198</em>  I will keep you all posted if we decide to do this.  I need to ensure my finances are good before I purchase anything.
Tomorrow is my last day at my current job.  Bittersweet but glad it's finally come.  Monday I start my new job.  I'm thrilled!!!
I've been super tired lately and not really in the mood to workout so I have skipped a lot of yoga classes that I should have gone to.  I just don't have the energy and poop out early in the class.  I just am lacking the stamina to keep up lately.  I'm trying to rest tons!  I really need to lose some of this weight.  The fat around my hips is terrible, I hate it.  Not to mention the fat all over the rest of me too.  But lately it's been my hips that are pissing me off.  <em>101</em>
I'm feeling a little more "sparked" now that I'm considering joining beachbody as a coach and possibly meeting Monica to workout in her class one day.  How very cool!
I hope you all have a great day!

Job, Dr. Phil, Vacation and other random updates!

So much has been going on!

First and foremost, thank you for all of your support regarding the interview process for that job.  They contacted me via the temp agency last Monday and wanted to hire me.  Problem was they wanted me to start on Tuesday.  I was on vacation until Tuesday which I told them about up front.  They also forgot that I was currently employed and needed to provide a notice to my employer.  Granted, my employer typically doesn’t accept a two week notice, I was still going to give them one.  The company decided they did not want to be flexible with their training schedule and chose their second pick instead of me.  I didn’t post about it because something didn’t feel right when I got the initial call from the temp agency.  I didn’t get excited either which I took as a bad sign.  Why would I not get excited about a job that pays almost 20k more per year?  I decided that everything happens for a reason.  That job was not meant for me.  I figure if that door opened, even briefly, then other doors should open as well.

Dr. Phil’s show did not return my email inquiry from last week so I’m assuming they have no interest in having me on the show.  Oh well, I’ll keep on with the struggle.  I’ve managed to maintain my weight the last several weeks give or take a few ounces.

I am going to follow a program that my Grandma and her two sisters in laws have been doing.  They’ve had great success with it.  I will share it with you if it works for me but for now, I’m going to keep it to myself.

John and I have been regularly walking or bike riding every night the last week or so.  At least 30 minutes a night.  I have also been doing yoga for an hour once or twice a week.  I have 18 more prepaid yoga classes to use up by the end of May; I better get a move on it!  Lol

Our vacation was wonderful and long overdue.  We went to Ojai for two nights.  The day we got there, we explored town and had lunch on the patio of a Mexican Restaurant.  They had live music and it was gorgeous out.  The next day we went for a hike in the morning, (that’s when I got the call about the job) then went to the hotel to wash up.  Then we headed into town to grab lunch.  John treated me to a pedicure while he went in search of a cigar.  We also went wine tasting.  I didn’t get to explore as many shops as I would have liked which means we need to go back soon!  :)  After my pedicure, I walked a few blocks back to our hotel so that John didn’t have to come get me.  We went out to dinner that night, John wanted Chinese food.  Ojai mainly has Mexican or Italian food.  So we went to the next town over for Chinese food.  Oh man, it was terrible.  I couldn’t eat it.  The place was run down, the food was terrible! We tried, lol.  We went to Lake Casitas to walk around after dinner.  There we found some adorable puppies that were just over a month old.  The little girls let us hold them, they were adorable!  We grabbed some dessert (I also got a quesadilla since I didn’t really eat dinner) and went back to the hotel.  I will post some pictures later.

Easter was great too.  Our church service was amazing and the Easter lilies smelled wonderful!  John and I made each other a small Easter basket.  Then John had me do an egg hunt in the house, it was fun!  We didn’t do much after that.  Homework and laundry really.  Both cats got an Easter bath which they were not happy about.  But now they are both soft and fluffy!  And clean!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!  He has risen indeed!

3 weeks Gluten Free, Dr. Phil and job interviews!

Well today marks 3 weeks of gluten free!  I've done really good and have not felt deprived at all.  I'm not feeling any better yet and heard that it could take 3-6 weeks to detox and another 3-6 weeks to feel better.  I guess we shall see.  I have been trying out some local gluten free menu's at some restaurants, and found a really cool gluten free bakery.  It was delicious!  Very moist but almost too rich!
Dr. Phil's show called me.  They are considering me for a weight loss show to help me lose weight since I have been having difficulties.  I sent them all the information they requested.  I am just waiting to hear back, I am so excited!  I hope I get on the show and can get this weight off!

Things at my office have been a bit rough.  So I began to look for a job.  Since school has been a lot of work, I haven't been looking very hard.  Last weekend I made my resume searchable online.  Monday I got a call from a temp agency.  I met with them on Wednesday.  When I walked in they told me they had been talking about me all week and they were so excited to have me there.  What a great feeling that was!  They already had a place they thought would be a great fit for me.  They scheduled me for an interview on Thursday and I met with the president of that mortgage company on Thursday.  The interview went amazing with the president.  He thought I was perfect for the job and a perfect fit with the company.  But he wanted me to do another interview with the processing supervisor.  I met with her on Friday for a quick interview.  She told me she was very tough to work for and that she expects perfection.  She understands mistakes happen but not lazy, careless mistakes.  I look at it this way- the pay is a lot more (10k-18k more per year) and things have to be an improvement compared to my current employer.  I should be finding out tomorrow if I got it.  I feel like I did and I feel like it would be a good fit.  Plus it would give me recent mortgage experience which I need for my resume.  I've been out of the industry for 4 years and a lot of companies don't like that.  So please keep your fingers crossed for me!

John and I watched a Hungry for a Change film today.  It was great and very inspiring.  We decided to attempt to do a juice detox for about 3 days.  So we bought some wheat grass powder, spirulina powder, liquid aminos and aloe vera juice.  We also bought tons of veggies and fruit to juice.  I think we are going to do it over a weekend to make sure that if we have any adverse effects, at least we are home to have them!  lol  We went to Mothers Market to buy some things and I found a Juice Fasting and Detox book to read.  It might be a week or two from now before we actually do the detox.
Next weekend is our weekend getaway to Ojai!  I'm so excited.  Two nights away with my love.  Just us, a peaceful little healthy community and an organic winery.  Sounds like heaven!  It has been extremely stressful with school but I got a B on my last final on Friday and got my five page essay submitted today.  yay!  This weekend was relaxing.  Yesterday we spent with my brother, dad and stepmom at the beach for lunch and a walk to celebrate my brother's birthday.  Then we went to my dad and stepmom's to visit.  Next thing we knew it was 9:30 and we all had skipped dinner!  haha  So my dad snuck $20 in my hand and told me to pay for dinner for John and I.  We grabbed some dinner then came home.  John wanted to go right to bed but I didn't.  I wanted to hang out so my food could digest before bed.  Today we watched a movie, had John's friend Dave over, had my mom over briefly and went shopping at the grocery store.  As I'm writing this, we just had crazy loud thunder and some bright lightening less then two miles from our house.  It was cool but scared the cats!  The rain is starting again.  It's been pouring most of the afternoon.

Well I hope you all had a great weekend!  I'm off to veg out some more.  :)

Gluten Free Day 1 and 2

Today is Day 2 being Gluten Free.

So far, other then the enormous grocery bill and the amount of time I've spent cooking, it hasn't been too hard to change over.  I don't feel any different yet.  I am extremely tired today but that could be due to my being sick and probably coughing all night in my sleep.  John was floored at how expensive our grocery bill was.  Not that I blame him one bit.  I was not planning on spending over $200.00 but things require so many different types of flours and such.  And the flours add up!  Teeny loaves of bread are $4.99 and up.  That's  a lot of money.

I made large meals that would carry us throughout the week.  I made pot roast in the crock pot and I made a huge lasagna also.  Plus some gluten free orange cupcakes that were amazing!  I ruined my salad at lunch today, I put dressing on it that had gluten in it.  Thankfully I caught it before I ate it.  I hope I didn't make the same mistake yesterday too.  :(

I am giving this 3-4 weeks to see if there's any improvement on how I am feeling.  If I don't see any improvement, I will safely assume I do not have a gluten sensitivity.

I have been doing  a lot of strength training and not very much cardio to see how my results are.  I take new measurements in one week.  Since I've been sick, I haven't really done any cardio except a bike ride and some light walking.

Last night was hard.  John made toast with some peanut butter and jelly on it.  I wanted it so bad.  I almost asked for a bite.  Instead, I got up and made my own with gluten free bread!  Yay!  I can do this :)

I will keep you posted as to how I'm feeling.

Gluten Free plus workout realizations!

My symptoms have started to return.  I'm tired all the time, I'm foggy brained, can't focus, lack energy.  I was feeling good there for awhile.  Dr. Iris told me a couple of years ago to go gluten free for 30 days to see if it would alleviate these symptoms.  I didn't do it because I didn't know how and to be honest, it seemed like too much work.  I've taken a few tests on various gluten free sites and they all tell me I seem to have a sensitivity to it.  I can have a blood test done but gluten is in more than just wheat products.  It's in rye and barley, etc.  When buying other grains like quinoa, I have to ensure they are certified gluten free because they can be contaminated if processed near gluten.  I found out that if I go entirely gluten free, I will need separate everything.  Cooking utensils, toaster, etc.  It reduces the contamination from gluten products.  It takes a teeny amount to make the symptoms return.  Although I have no plans to buy a whole new kitchen at this point, I will start slowly.  I bought a gluten free cookbook that has many of my favorite meals in it.  I look forward to trying some out!  Especially the lasagna!  :)  I need to prepare a list of the basic essentials I need in the kitchen and start there.  Any gluten free stuff in the fridge, freezer or pantry must be stored above the gluten stuff (again with that contamination concerns!).  So that it my goal this weekend along with homework, midterms, etc.  haha!  I also want to try and come up with a few meals and such that I can make for next week in advance.

I've also been trying to figure out this whole working out thing.  Yes I know how to do it and I know that it's good for me but I realized that I have been focusing on cardio knowing that I should do more ST.  Well let's be real, cardio is getting me nowhere fast.  I remembered that several years ago when I was probably 50 pounds lighter, I lost 20 pounds working out with a trainer one day a week.  Do you know what we did?  Kettlebell stuff before it was popular.  Squats, lunges, bands, rollers and anything that used my body as the weight.  No gym equipment (except the bell, bands and roller).  No treadmill, no ST machines.  They were forbidden.  The only time I could go near one was to put my band around for my next workout.  That was it.  I would hurt for days.  I couldn't sit down to pee without wanting to cry.  But you know what?  It was effective and it WORKED!  So last night instead of running on the treadmill like I was planning, I printed up my sparkpeople.com ST plan.  I went home, started laundry then started my workout.  I'm sore in places I forgot about today!  Not crazy sore but a good sore to remind myself of the good things I did last night.  I am going to try and get a 30 minute walk in tonight but hit the ST tomorrow again!  That will be my focus at this point.  It makes your body look so amazing!

I am trying to get back on the food tracking wagon, just to give myself an idea of what I'm eating.  I have a root canal coming up in a few weeks so I need to be prepared for that.  Then I have the appt for my crown the week after.  Then John and I have a two night getaway just us the following weekend (The very beginning of April).  I'm very much looking forward to it!

Random updates :)

Well let's start with the No 'Poo Experiment.  After about 3 weeks, I gave up with the baking soda.  I moved on to a couple of websites and their gluten free soaps and shampoo's.  I tried the prairie soap and did not like the way my hair felt.  It felt awful!  It made my skin feel dry but I used some lotion after and was just fine.  The deodorant was good but it's not an antiperspirant so all it did was make my armpits smell good for awhile.  haha  I bought some more shampoo and soaps to try, they just came in today.  I will keep you posted.

Happy Valentines Day!  I hope you are having a great day.  I am.  I was remembering just now that when I was a little girl, my dad used to bring me home a gift when he brought my mom home one.  I used to love it and look forward to it.  It made me feel special.  I sent my dad a text to remind him and thank him for doing that for me growing up.  It's the little things that count.  haha!  John surprised me this morning with a brand new laptop.  I cried, a lot.  hahaha  Mine is five years old and has been dying on me.  It has become quite a chore to do homework on it.  He knew I couldn't afford to buy a new one so he got me one.  It means so much to me!  Then shortly after I get to work, 13 long stem red roses appear on my desk from the florist.  They are stunning and smell amazing!  I am so spoiled and so blessed!

John's younger sister was in town from Kauai the last week or so.  She flew back yesterday.  Out of the three sisters, she was the only one that I wasn't sure liked me.  It always felt awkward and I always felt guarded with her.  For the first time, we got to really sit and chat.  We got to know each other and really enjoy ourselves.  For the first time, I felt like myself around her and felt comfortable.  It was really nice and I'm glad that we got to know each other better.  She flew into town to surprise their older sister with a surprise 50th birthday party.

This weekend we went shopping at Kohl's.  Their clearance items were like 80% off the clearance price.  Clearly worth it!  Well I bought a really nice, comfortable pair of cotton trousers.  They were like $8.00.  Well they were also a size 18W.  I am mortified to admit that.  I am so tired of how tight my other pants are right now.  Thankfully after washing and wearing them this weekend, I found that they were too big for me.  But not much bigger.  This cannot continue.  I did the Sparkpeople Boot Camp DVD yesterday and did a 50 minute walk/run on Sunday.  I saw some pictures of myself from John's sisters surprise party and was disgusted.  I looked awful.  Enough is enough.  I plan to start the 17 Day Diet next week.  It's clean eating with lean proteins and lots of veggies.  Some friends are also doing that program right now.  I may do a combination of Tosca's Clean Eating Diet with the 17 Day Diet.  They are very similar.  Although I do prefer to try and go gluten free as well.  I will keep you posted.

Back to work I go!  Have a great day!

Half Marathon and Dietary Changes - advice welcomed!

A co-worker popped over to my desk and said, "Dee, do you want to run a half marathon with me in May?"  I looked at her and blinked my eyes.  Then I said, "I can't even run a mile, how would I run 13.1?"  She said we had three months to train.  Please keep in mind, I would love to run but always seem to do stupid stuff to myself.  For instance, I somehow managed to mess up my right foot and get weird stabbing sensations in it when I walk sometimes or go on my tiptoes for something.  Goodness me!  Although the idea of a half marathon does intrigue me, I think I need to be real with myself.  I'm in school plus working full time.  School is a heavy set of classes with tons of reading and assignments.  I was considering saying yes but am now second guessing myself.  I'm afraid it will be too much to take on.  Trying to teach myself how to run and be able to run enough of those 13.1 miles.  John thinks I should wait too and do a few 5k's before attempting a half.  What do you think?

Also, I've been thinking about the foods that John and I have been eating.  I'm not perfect, nor do I claim to be.  But I'm seriously tired of being overweight and I have no one to blame but myself.  I'm trying to decide what a good way for us to eat would be.  I do like the clean style of eating although they do remove some things I like to eat.  I've been cutting out dairy for some time.  I use cheese and cottage cheese but don't use real milk anymore.  I refuse to use fake butter but do have raw organic butter in the freezer and real butter in the fridge.  I try to use olive oil, coconut oil and grapeseed oil for all my cooking needs.  I think Paleo is too much for me to maintain for life.

I was reading information on the 17 Day Diet plan and it totally makes sense.  (No, I'm not doing the plan but I do like to know about these things so I'm informed)  It's basically clean eating rotating things in and out every cycle.  The author states that once you are on a diet, you will always be on a diet because you cannot go back to the way you ate before.  I do have to agree with that in some way.  It shouldn't feel like a diet, it should be a lifestyle change.

I also am considering going gluten free.  All the things I like to eat are now made gluten free.  And wheat is bad for you.  It's not a super wonderful diet grain like they say.  Our bodies have a hard time digesting it and many people have sensitivities to it even if they do not have Celiac's Disease.

How do you eat?  What are your preferences?  I would really love to get some feedback or advice.

3 year anniversary of quitting smoking!

3 years ago today was Day 1 of my quitting smoking.

I had my last Camel No. 9 cigarette on Feb. 5, 2009.

It has not always been easy but I get through it.

My taste buds didn't seem to change like people said.

But my sense of smell is amazing now.  lol  I am very sensitive to smells now.

Everyone else in my family still smokes.  My sister told me today she wishes she could quit.  I told her she could quit, once she truly was ready.  I was unsuccessful two or three other times because I wasn't fully ready to give it up.

It's almost surreal.  It almost feels like I was never a smoker at all.  It seems like it was an eternity ago.

But here I am, smoke free for 3 years!  Woohoo!!!

No 'Poo Experiment update

So I have continued to wash my hair with the baking soda/water mixture and conditioning with the ACV/water mixture.  My hair has been feeling terrible!  haha  Almost greasy like.  It wasn't feeling clean.  For our date night Friday night, I needed to watch my hair because it felt and looked horrible!  I broke down and used regular shampoo because I didn't want to go out to dinner smelling like vinegar.  That would've been terrible!  I didn't have time to blow dry/style my hair.

I decided to purchase a natural, gluten free bar soap called Prairie soap.  You can use it for your hair and body.  It's all natural as well.  I'm going to try this in lieu of the baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
The website for these natural products is http://dakotafree.com/.  I heard they also have great natural baby care items for any little babies you have in your life!

I will keep you posted on my shampoo or lack there of experiment!

As for my diet and exercise, the diet still needs more work but the exercise is doing much better!  I'm on a streak of 30 minutes a day.  Today is Day 4!  I've been doing at least a 30 minute walk during my lunch break but I'm attempting to do at least another 30 minutes at home in the evenings.  School started yesterday so that makes my evenings filled with homework and lots of reading.  I plan to work on improving my diet ASAP.  I just need better meal preparation at this time.

I lost 1.3% body fat in the last few weeks and was up a few pounds from two weeks ago but dropped two of those pounds from yesterday to today.  Stinky water retention!  Good thing I stepped up my hydration and drank over 100 oz of water yesterday.

I hope you are all having a great day!

Putting it all out there... reality check time

I weighed this morning.

I was up about 2 pounds from last Tuesday.  Granted I know this is not all a real fat gain, I didn't eat that much.  But I did do a lot of things that I should not have.

1. I did not track all of my food to the best of my ability every day.
2. I did not drink as much water for the last 3 days as I normally do.
3. I did not really exercise like I "planned" on.  Other things seemed to take priority.

Basically I did not make myself a priority.  I let myself down.  I have a bodybugg.  I know all out calories in vs. calories out.
When is the time to make myself and my health the most important focus in my life?  Yes I have a full plate with full time work, 3/4 time school, John, cats and family.  But my health matters too.  I keep complaining that I'm overweight and my clothes aren't fitting.  Whose fault is that?  MINE.

I need to take ownership of my laziness.  I need to accept my procrastination.  I need to CHANGE these things for myself.  I cannot depend on anyone else kicking me in the a$$ to get moving.

I need to better plan my meals so that I consume fewer calories.  I do supplement at one of my snacks with a sugar free protein shake that I mix with water or almond milk.  I just purchased some greens as well so I can start drinking my greens too.  I bought Vibrant Health Green Vibrance.  It was highly recommended at the store and I just read many great things about the drink.  I look forward to the health perks I may receive from this powder.

I want to lose this weight but it appears I'm too lazy to want to do the work.  I didn't gain this weight overnight and I don't expect to lose it that quickly either.  Since my PCOS diagnosis, I've done fairly good.  The first week my brain kept acting like I was on a diet and starving.  I couldn't get satisfied with the foods I was eating and felt hungry nonstop.  Now I know this was a whole mind trick thing and that I was perfectly fine but good lord.  That was a tough week.

I guess I just need to ask myself if I really want to lose this weight.  Am I scared of being thinner like I used to be?  Am I worried John may not find me as attractive?  Am I just downright lazy?  Probably all of these have some ring of truth.  Losing weight is not just about physical changes.  There is so much emotional work that goes on behind the scenes as well.

I hate seeing myself in pictures.  I hate squeezing into my clothes because I refuse to buy a different size.  I'm tired of struggling to bend over to tie my tennis shoes.  I always say that you are in charge of your own happiness.  Don't misunderstand, I am so happy and blessed in my life.  But I am not happy about my weight.

The first step is admission I guess right?  Question is, what will my second step be?

I guess first and foremost, I need to better plan my meals for the week and cook ahead if possible.  I also need to start exercising regularly at lunch.  I burn so many more calories a day when I was somewhere at lunch.  Standing in line is not walking.  :)  So here's my plan of attack for this week:

1. Meal plan!  - I actually did meal plan this week so I'm covered.  I just need to be consistent about this.
2. Drink my water - I'm usually very good about this but the weekends mess me up sometimes and I end up chugging a ton of water before bed and having to tinkle all night.
3. Exercise - go use the complex gym, walk around the block with John, use a workout DVD, use the exercise bike.  Just do it!  I do not want to say that I will do it 5x a week for 45 minutes because I am obviously not consistent and do not want to feel like I failed because that just leads to more not working out days.  I am aiming for consistency at this point.

I will keep a record of how I am doing.

Last update for today is for the No 'Poo Experiment!

I washed my hair last night and I notice that the next day, my scalp itches like crazy.  The dermatitis is acting up.  But the day after, (which is hair washing day again, lol) it's fine.  Last night after "washing" and "conditioning" my hair, it felt odd.  Almost like I had too much stuff in it.  I'm not sure if I'm still in an adjustment period or if I'm still trying to get that hair product out of my hair from last week.

It looked okay this morning but it feels "dirty" or like I have too much hair product in or something.  haha I hope I adjust soon!

No 'Poo update!

My hair is finally acting up.  I don't think it's acting up in terms of the No 'Poo but I think that when I used my baking soda mixture to wash my hair this morning, I did not rub it in enough in other parts of my hair.  Plus I had to use some hair product the other day so I think I didn't get all that out too.  It just doesn't feel as clean as normal, it almost feels like I have something in it that I forgot to wash out.

Ahhh you live and learn!

Bought some more baking soda today to have on hand.  John is becoming more curious about the routine and really wants to try it for himself.  I told him how to do it but am sure I'll get the question a few hundred more times!!

We picked up John a Pillo1 pillow today at the mattress store.  It's supposed to help snoring, reaching REM, etc.  He took a nap on it this afternoon.  The snoring was much better but he still snored at times.  I laughed when I woke him and said that only he would snore on a no snoring pillow.  :)  I want to get one too when I get my tax return back.  They are not cheap by any means.  They are $199.00 plus tax which makes them about $214.00.  I've done a lot of research on them and they are supposed to be the best.  I did enjoy laying on one in the store.

We didn't hike today but did run some errands and walked.  I had a low calorie burn.  Yesterday was a good burn day since we ran around playing arcade games and walking around the outdoor mall here last night for our date.  We had a great time!

I will keep you posted on the No 'Poo Experiment!  So far so good, I'm quite pleased with the progress.

No 'Poo third wash and a splurge dinner!

My hair is doing surprisingly well so far.  Even with the minor frizz.  My curls are very defined, my hair seems to be very shiny and healthy.

I did 2 tbsp's of both baking soda and the apple cider vinegar this last wash.  I prefer it more than the 1 tbsp that I tried the previous time.

I am due to wash my hair again this evening, will most likely do it tomorrow.

Wednesday night, John and I planned a splurge date night.  I had a $100.00 gift card to Morton's Steakhouse.  It's a high end, extremely expensive steakhouse.  We each ordered a glass of wine.  Then we had some type of fresh garlic bread, huge side salads then for our meals we had filet mignon (I had 8 oz's and John had 12 oz's), I had two pieces of breaded chicken breast in a white wine sauce and John had bacon wrapped scallops.  Then we shared a huge (seriously like a foot long) twice baked potato and brussel sprouts cooked in butter and sprinkled with bacon.  For dessert, we each had our own chocolate lava cake topped with fresh raspberries and mint served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  OMG it was to die for!  I did really well with my food though.  I ate only a small amount of bread, ate only a part of my salad (wasn't a fan of their caesar dressing) and ate my steak and potato.  I ate a few brussel sprouts and half of my dessert.  It was so good!  Our bill was over $160.00 before tip was added.  We have never eaten at a restaurant that cost this much.  I did feel out of place a bit although I was dressed up and fit in just fine.  The gentleman who sat us pulled out my hair and placed my napkin in my lap.  I've been to places who have done that before.  After dinner, our waiter pulled out this little scraper to scrap the crumbs off the table.  I started to giggle.  John asked me why and I said it was so cute because I have never seen that or had someone do that before.  I loved it!  John kept telling me how beautiful I looked which meant a lot to me.  It's nice to have those compliments after being together over 2 1/2 years.  Our waiter was fantastic and made sure we were taken care of.  I told John I should get another $100 gift card next year so we can go again!  haha  It's not somewhere we would eat frequently but was worth every penny while we were there.

No 'Poo Experiment continued!

I tend to wash my hair every other day.  Every day makes it too oily.  So with this no 'poo experiment, I planned to continue every couple of days.  By the end of that second day, I needed a shampoo.  Unfortunately, we got home from bible studies so late that I did not have time to let my hair dry before bed.  With the ACV, you really need to let your hair dry so the smell will dissipate.  So for an adjustment period, I did use regular shampoo.  I thought maybe alternating it a couple of times would help the adjustment time.  So tonight, I prepped my no 'poo for my shower!  I only did 1 tbsp of both ACV and baking soda.  I noticed immediately that I changed the amount.  Although my hair is clean, it didn't feel as squeaky clean as it did for day 1.  I plan to go back to my 2 tbsp for each in a couple of days.

I've noticed that my hair is drying quite curly (I do have natural curls) although there is a little frizz.  This is typical and the frizz actually seems less then usual.  The curls also seem more defined then they have in a long time.  I took a couple of snap shots for you!

Since I actually measured out the ACV and used only 1 tbsp, the smell was less then before.  It was almost overwhelming before.  haha opps!

We had a great and active weekend.  We went hiking at Malibu Creek State Park, went exploring at Paramount Ranch where they used to film a bunch of movies and got a lot of chores done at home.  I will have to post some pictures from our hikes at Malibu Creek.  We have such a great time there.  We met a few docents this weekend that let us raise the flag at the visitors center and shared so much information with us.  Bill became my new friend, he loved the fact that I'm a history major.  We will be going back to visit Bill and the other docents soon.

No 'Poo Experiment!

I decided to try a No 'Poo experiment!  That is no shampoo for at least 30 days.  As I've gotten older, I've developed dermatitis and the doctor said to constantly change shampoos to keep my scalp guessing and keep the itching at bay.  Well this doesn't work well for me.  I watch the foods I cook and eat, why am I not looking at ingredients I put onto my body as well?

I've learned that shampoo actually contains wheat (aka gluten!).  I read there is an adjustment phase you go through.  Your hair has to learn how to rebalance all the natural oils it produces.

I mixed two tablespoons of baking soda with 1 cup of water water.  I gently poured this all over my hair while gently rubbing it in.  Baking soda is abrasive so I was very gentle and did not rub too much.  I let it sit for a minute before rinsing it out.  The baking soda mixture is considered your "shampoo".  I then mixed two tablespoons of Braggs RAW apple cider vinegar with 1 cup of warm water.  I poured this over my head to coat my hair.  I let it soak in for a few minutes while I completed my other regular shower tasks.  I rinsed the vinegar out with cool/warm water.  The vinegar acts like a conditioner of sorts.  Your hair does feel very dry almost like straw after the baking soda.  The vinegar soothes it like a conditioner.  Your hair will still smell like vinegar until it fully dries.  You can blow dry it to speed it up or let it air dry.

I read that you could add some essential oils to make it smell better but I opted to not do that.  Why add another type of oil from the regular oil my scalp produces?  Once my hair dried, there was no smell.  I also read that your hair will go through an adjustment phase.  You may need to wear your hair up or use lots of bobby pins!

Yesterday was Day 1.  I won't be washing my hair tonight as this way of cleaning it too abrasive to do daily.  I will be blogging about my No 'Poo experiment along with the other things going on in my little world.  Let's see how I do for the next 30 days with no shampoo!  I'm hoping that by removing those chemicals from my regular program that the dermatitis won't be so bad or maybe even go away?  A girl can hope!