This past week, I've been really present to something that I'd like to share with you today. As you may or may not know, I'm currently focusing on my fitness routine with the intention of bringing my old body back. For most of my life, I lived under the assumption that when a person enjoyed beautiful skin, a toned body, or gorgeous hair, they were naturally gifted with these fabulous results. Little did I know how wrong I was in this way of thinking.
It all became real for me when I read the fitness routine of a Victoria's Secret model prior to her runway appearance. She worked out 2 times a day for hours and went on a liquid diet a week or two before the actual event. Although her workout and diet was a little extreme, I learned that actual work was put into achieving the result she desired. My guess is that this model was a naturally thin person in general, so exercising and shifting her eating habits is a way of taking her fitness results to the next level.
Take a look at this quick video featuring Kelly Rowland.
Hideous looking wig aside, how many of us have looked at Kelly Rowland's tone figure in a bikini and thought to ourselves "I wish I looked like that." Since Kelly was a teen, she's always been on the slim side. Why would Kelly Rowland need to do 200 sit ups each night? If I looked like Kelly Rowland, would I ever do a sit up? (Could I even look like Kelly Rowland without ever doing a sit up)
Another amazing attribute of Kelly's is her gorgeous, flawless skin. I will never forget a Destiny's Child special I watched many years ago featuring the behind the scenes lives of the all-star girl group. Honestly, I can't remember hardly any of it except for one scene where Kelly was in a spa receiving a treatment. While sitting in the chair, she went on and on about how much she loves getting pampered and receiving skin treatments. Once again I ask myself, if my skin looked like Kelly's, would I feel the need to get skin treatments? One might say to themself, "she's got gorgeous skin, she doesn't need to get skin/spa treatments", but now I wonder, if her perfect skin is the result of how well she's taken care of herself for years.
Yesterday, I spent a few moments watching skin care regimen videos on YouTube. I chose which videos I would watch by selecting the thumbnail pics of the most flawless faces. Secretly, I hoped those glowing faced ladies would say something like "I don't really do much to my face, this comes naturally." Reason why I hoped to hear them say this is because it would give me an excuse to say "oh well, I wasn't born with perfect skin like her so I might as well accept my results." But instead, I listened to intricate daily and weekly regimens geared toward creating perfectly healthy skin and suddenly I was faced with the grim reality of how my inaction has lead to the results that I now experience.
Seriously, this week has been so clear to me how little effort I've been putting into getting what I say I want. It's like I think either it will happen naturally or it wasn't meant to be. Now I realize that I've been horribly mistaken. For me this reality is most obvious in the area of my physical maintenance but I could also see where this type of thinking also applies to any and every area of my life. Will Smith is likely the most highest paid African-American actor in the U.S. One could look at his acting career from the Fresh Prince days and think, "wow, he got a big break with Independence Day, he's one lucky guy." But that thinking is completely inaccurate. That man has a work ethic like you wouldn't believe.
He created his success.
So, I'm now in the creation business. One by one, I'm reviewing the goals/results I say I want and I ask myself "do I think this will magically appear for me or am I willing to put in the work to get there?" As I searched the web for inspiration, one commonality that emerged was that most folks had a daily action they took to get their results. I don't even do 200 sit ups a week, imagine how different my abs would be if I did them nightly? One thing I won't kid myself about is the fact that mastery of anything takes time. Doing anything for a couple of weeks won't create the results I want. Time is required achieve the level of mastery. It has to become a part of my life.
Even in my hair care routine I can do better. Sure, I'm willing to invest in quality products and I'm constantly tweaking my weekly deep conditioning routine to take it to the next level but I don't have a strong daily regimen to support my overall hair goals. What am I doing every day to get what I want?
More thought and planning will go into this and when I create/perfect my optimal daily hair regimen, I will certainly share.
Showing posts with label Off topic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Off topic. Show all posts
Let the Games Begin! Wanna play?
This post is a little off topic but I want to share something with you. Several weeks ago when these images of Melyssa Ford surfaced on the net, my reaction was no different than anyone else's. Her body is spectacular. That goes without saying. Even when I clicked out of the web page displaying those pics, several thoughts continued to run through my mind.
My thoughts went beyond just what has happening in those pictures at that moment. I pondered on how amazing Melyssa felt about herself because of her level of fitness and the body that was a result of it. Think about it, every time she puts on clothes, or takes them off, she's probably holding a positive internal conversation with herself. How do I know? Simply because all of us are constantly holding internal conversations whereby we make comments, good or bad, about what we are experiencing at the moment or what we experienced in the past or what we think we might experience in the future. I reckon, that her internal talk about her body is empowering. And by creating those empowering conversations, she produces positive emotions, which, in turn, help her take inspiring actions.
Then I got to thinking about myself and my lady gut. I flashed back to how I felt the other night when my husband started rubbing it in his sleep as if he were rubbing a lucky buddha. Memories of back in the day, when he used to give me props for my abs flooded my mind. That's when I decided at that my belly has to go. No more excuses. Next came the million dollar question. How?
I've decided to make a game of it. Remember as children when we would craft games out of thin air and our vast imaginations? Games relieved us of boredom and brought excitement to our day. Games made our lives fun. Let me tell you more about this new game I created.
The object of the game: To create a flat stomach, toned legs, thighs and arms.
My winning strategy: Engage in physical activity daily, adjust eating habits, improve digestion.
The Rules:
My thoughts went beyond just what has happening in those pictures at that moment. I pondered on how amazing Melyssa felt about herself because of her level of fitness and the body that was a result of it. Think about it, every time she puts on clothes, or takes them off, she's probably holding a positive internal conversation with herself. How do I know? Simply because all of us are constantly holding internal conversations whereby we make comments, good or bad, about what we are experiencing at the moment or what we experienced in the past or what we think we might experience in the future. I reckon, that her internal talk about her body is empowering. And by creating those empowering conversations, she produces positive emotions, which, in turn, help her take inspiring actions.
Then I got to thinking about myself and my lady gut. I flashed back to how I felt the other night when my husband started rubbing it in his sleep as if he were rubbing a lucky buddha. Memories of back in the day, when he used to give me props for my abs flooded my mind. That's when I decided at that my belly has to go. No more excuses. Next came the million dollar question. How?
I've decided to make a game of it. Remember as children when we would craft games out of thin air and our vast imaginations? Games relieved us of boredom and brought excitement to our day. Games made our lives fun. Let me tell you more about this new game I created.
The object of the game: To create a flat stomach, toned legs, thighs and arms.
My winning strategy: Engage in physical activity daily, adjust eating habits, improve digestion.
The Rules:
No less than 15 minutes of daily exercise in the morning. Otherwise, no shower.
An apple a day. 1.5 liters of H20 daily.
Transverse abdominal exercises.
An apple a day. 1.5 liters of H20 daily.
Transverse abdominal exercises.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
My membership to 24 Hour Fitness.
There's a large park near my neighborhood.
Access to hotel gyms while traveling.
There's a large park near my neighborhood.
Access to hotel gyms while traveling.
Weaknesses:
My travel schedule which makes difficult to plan meals, exercise regularly and promotes unhealthy eating.
Work related dinners with co-workers occurring after a long day's work.
On the weekend of December 3rd, 2011. My husband and I are planning to head down to Miami for a mini-vacay. I have every intention of having won the game by then. The last thing I want to do is walk around South Beach feeling down about myself. Not when I have a choice. And I do have a choice.
I can already see it now. The warm, low humidity air feeling divine on my skin as I stand in the Miami sun. For the first time in months, I feel spectacular. Maybe my body doesn't look exactly like Melyssa's but I feel as good a she did when on that faithful day when the above pictures were taken. By making a game out of it, I essentially change my outlook on creating my new body. In the past, I viewed making these changes as something difficult and unpleasant. Now that it's a game. I plan to have fun and I plan to win.
Work related dinners with co-workers occurring after a long day's work.
On the weekend of December 3rd, 2011. My husband and I are planning to head down to Miami for a mini-vacay. I have every intention of having won the game by then. The last thing I want to do is walk around South Beach feeling down about myself. Not when I have a choice. And I do have a choice.
I can already see it now. The warm, low humidity air feeling divine on my skin as I stand in the Miami sun. For the first time in months, I feel spectacular. Maybe my body doesn't look exactly like Melyssa's but I feel as good a she did when on that faithful day when the above pictures were taken. By making a game out of it, I essentially change my outlook on creating my new body. In the past, I viewed making these changes as something difficult and unpleasant. Now that it's a game. I plan to have fun and I plan to win.
#winning
Cleaning out my product closet: My way of achieving waist length hair
It all started when I decided to do a quick protein treatment one day via Aphogee's 2 Minute Reconstructor. I rarely do protein treatments but since I recently touched up my hair, I figured now would be a great time to break out my bottle. So there I am standing in front of my hair product closet scanning the contents over and over again in search of the Aphogee. Nothing. I move a few bottles around, take some and put on the floor for easier viewing, and still I can't find it. Weary from looking, I decide to move on with another protein heavy conditioner that I'm able to easily locate. I know that I haven't ran out of my Aphogee. Which makes this experience that much more frustrating. It's in there buried among years worth of collected hair products stemming from various crazes and numerous product junky relapses. Fed up with the collosal mess I've created, I decided to take an action to clear out this massive clutter disguising itself as my hair product closet.
For a while now, whenever I visited the closet on wash day, I would stand there staring at it blankly as my eyes glazed over. After several moments I'd collect various products into my arms not knowing if there was another, more appropriate, product I should be using that was lurking just behind my 1 liter bottle of conditioner.
I'm a strong believer that if one wants results they've never experienced before, they must take an action (or a series of actions) that signify the belief and desire to get there. I call this "building the ark." When Noah was told that a flood would appear and he began to act on it years before the rains came down. When I wanted to land a job where I could work from home, I decided to create a home office space to symbolize my strong intentions to work from home. That, coupled with other actions, led me to realizing this intention. For me this idea of "building the ark" could also apply to my goal of reaching waist length. Waist length hair is a lofty goal for a constant manipulator like myself. And if I continue to maintain the same habits I have today, waist length may elude me or take much longer than it would otherwise. So I wanted to take an action to signify my desire for longer lengths. My hair product closet was in disarray. Could this chaos also be leaking into my hair regimen and routine?
So I went to work, pulling out years worth of products and laying them on the floor before me. Then I grouped them in order by their similarities. Oils were together in one area, conditioners in another, shampoos in another. When I pulled everything out, wouldn't you know it, my Aphogee 2 minute reconstructer was lurking in the background waiting to be discovered once again. I also found some "oldie but goodies" like my Biolage Cera Repair Pro, my pH strips, and various leave-in products that I haven't used in quite a while.
In the end, I threw away numerous bottles of product, both full and empty, that I knew I'd never use again. My end in mind was to create space so I could organize what I would keep. An organized closet gives off a different kind of energy than an over-cluttered, disorganized one. That energy will translate to good feelings for me. Every time I stood in front of my overstuffed closet, I would zone out. Now, when I open the closet, I feel good. I am now present when I'm standing there and I'm making better choices of which products I'll be using. By organizing my closet, and throwing out unproductive hair products, I'm creating a butterfly effect that will hopefully lead to a series of events leading to waist length length tresses.
Since writing this post, I've stumbled on a couple sites that talk of the minimalist lifestyle. I love the idea of everything in my home having a purpose. This way of living is so contrary to who I've been in the past. I'm one of those people who buys 3 of something if I like it. The result of such actions is a plethora of stuff. Don't get me wrong, with the exception of my hair product closet, my house doesn't look like an episode of hoarders, but I would love to deplete my belongs to really owning things that I know I will use.
Test
For a while now, whenever I visited the closet on wash day, I would stand there staring at it blankly as my eyes glazed over. After several moments I'd collect various products into my arms not knowing if there was another, more appropriate, product I should be using that was lurking just behind my 1 liter bottle of conditioner.
So I went to work, pulling out years worth of products and laying them on the floor before me. Then I grouped them in order by their similarities. Oils were together in one area, conditioners in another, shampoos in another. When I pulled everything out, wouldn't you know it, my Aphogee 2 minute reconstructer was lurking in the background waiting to be discovered once again. I also found some "oldie but goodies" like my Biolage Cera Repair Pro, my pH strips, and various leave-in products that I haven't used in quite a while.
(The picture below doesn't show all the products I owned at the time of the closet cleaning).
In the end, I threw away numerous bottles of product, both full and empty, that I knew I'd never use again. My end in mind was to create space so I could organize what I would keep. An organized closet gives off a different kind of energy than an over-cluttered, disorganized one. That energy will translate to good feelings for me. Every time I stood in front of my overstuffed closet, I would zone out. Now, when I open the closet, I feel good. I am now present when I'm standing there and I'm making better choices of which products I'll be using. By organizing my closet, and throwing out unproductive hair products, I'm creating a butterfly effect that will hopefully lead to a series of events leading to waist length length tresses.
Test
Bronner Brothers Hair Show: COLOR
Continuing with my photo journal of the event. Below are some snap shots I took of some of the most colorful hair styles I observed while casually people watching. Color was definitely a theme in this year's hair show.
Stay tuned for more pics including natural hair, celebrities, shoes, and some of the most creative styles entered into the hair competition.
Bronner Brothers Hair Show 2011
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta. Since it was my first time attending, I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I would describe the experience as " visually stimulating." If you're a people watcher like I am, you're going to love my upcoming posts. So join me as I present my photo diary of the Bronner Brothers hair show 2011.
After arriving on day one, I walked the expo floor where the vendors were located. They were mostly selling weaves, feathered "Basketball Wives" type earrings, styling tools and such. Since none of that really interested me, I decided to take a step back from all of the festivities, break out my camera, and capture the moments...
There's plenty more where that came from. I also shot some video as well so hopefully I can edit and get that posted on the youtube page. I can't wait to share the show with you from my perspective.
After arriving on day one, I walked the expo floor where the vendors were located. They were mostly selling weaves, feathered "Basketball Wives" type earrings, styling tools and such. Since none of that really interested me, I decided to take a step back from all of the festivities, break out my camera, and capture the moments...
There's plenty more where that came from. I also shot some video as well so hopefully I can edit and get that posted on the youtube page. I can't wait to share the show with you from my perspective.
Living my life like it's Golden!
The other day a thought came to me suddenly while I was pumping gas. There I was doing something that was routine and mundane when all of the sudden, some young guy pulls up in his flashy car with music blaring. I observed him from my pump and as I watched him complete his transaction I thought to myself, "this guy is probably in his 20's and I'm sure he's living his life like he wants." Would I do anything different if I were able to go back to my early 20's?"
The answer to that question is YES! There are quite a few things I would do differently. I'm not one who likes to dwell in the past so I immediately turned the question into my present experience and asked myself. "When I'm in my 40's & 50's, is there anything about my life now that I would have wished I'd done differently?"
Once again the answer to that question is YES! So immediately I began to rattle off a list of things that I have total control over that I would have wished I done if I looked back 10-15 years from now. We only have 1 life to live and it would be a shame to live under our fullest potential. Especially if we have a choice not to. With that said, I thought I'd share some of these "do differently" things with you all. I'm gonna pretend that it's 15 years into the future and I'm looking back to my life as it is today. What would I wish I had done?
- Looking back I would wish that I took more pride in my appearance. I'm sure that as the signs of aging begin to show I will look back at the days when my face was wrinkle free and would have regretted not taking better care of it.
- I would wish that I was more diligent in my work out regimen and focused on creating more muscle tone.
- I would have regretted not spending more time with my friends and family.
- I'd wonder why I wasn't obsessed with growing my business.
- I would kick myself for continuing to trade hours for dollars.
- I would go back in time and operate with a fearless attitude.
- I'd wonder why I didn't make the effort to make sure my hair looked beautiful every day.
- If I could go back, I'd be more creative with my fashion choices.
- I'd wished I bought by dream car.
- I'd be purposeful in not living the same day twice.
- I would wish I traveled much, much more.
- I would be punishing myself for not expressing more creativity in my daily life.
- I would have wished that I prayed and meditated daily.
- I would kick myself for spending so much time mindlessly surfing the internet.
- I'd wonder why I haven't given more to others.
The list would go on. This is a huge wake up call for me. I could be doing so much more. I don't want any regrets 10 years from now so I'm committed to doing what I can to make some of these things a reality for me. Talking about it is only half the battle. Now I'm ready to put some of these wishes into real action. I learned from one of my co-workers that whenever there is a list of things to tackle, I should look for "levers." Levers are things that I can do that make an impact on several other things on my list. Glancing back over my list of "should haves" I would say that levers include having a fearless attitude and creating passive income steams. This will allow me more time to travel, spend time with my family, become more creative, give more, etc.
Now that I've thought this out. I can now create my next set of goals. I believe that this is the first step to something big. I have a choice in how I want my life to be and I chose to live without regrets. I know what I need to do and I know what my focus should be. There's a clarity that I'm feeling that I haven't had in a while. I will continue to ask myself this question of what would I regret doing (or not doing) 5 or 10 years from now. This will help me keep my priorities in order and keep me focused on living the life I want to live. So now the work begins. Most gurus who tell you about achieving your goals will ask you to start with your why. I've had my why's in the past but somehow I feel like it wasn't strong enough to compel me into consistent action. Knowing that I could possibly regret the choices I am making today is a strong enough WHY to get me into real action.
I know that this entry is a bit off-topic but I felt some strongly about this revelation that I felt I had to share. My intention is that the levers I pull are powerful enough to also make a great impact on this blog as well.
Take a moment to identify you'd do differently in your life if you were looking back. It's not too late to make a difference. Now's the time! No regrets.
Show off your fabulous mane & become a Pantene Hair Model
If any of you ladies plan to attend the upcoming Essence Music Festival, go visit the folks from Pantene as they host a casting call for their next round of hair models. You guys may remember Brooke, who won a chance to represent Pantene in their previous champaign. Now it's your turn!
MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: PANTENE PRO-V CASTING CALL AT ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL
Pantene, known for providing women with healthy, beautiful hair for more than 60 years, is seeking five African-American women to star in its upcoming 2012 print advertising. The search will take place at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
WHEN: FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JULY 1-2, 2011, 11:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Sign-ups begin at 10:00 A.M. and are limited to the first 200 people
Callbacks will be held on Sunday, July 3, 2011
WHERE: MORIAL CONVENTION CENTER
2ND FLOOR- ROOM 226
900 CONVENTION CENTER BLVD
WHY: Pantene aims to provide women with healthy, beautiful hair and offers a variety of products for every hair structure, including the Pantene Pro-V Relaxed and Natural collection, designed to help keep African-American hair strong against damage, shiny and moisturized. As part of “My Black is Beautiful,” a campaign that celebrates African-American beauty, Pantene hopes to encourage African-American women to let their beauty shine inside and out. To find out more, women can visit www.pantene.com/womenofcolor.
MORE: Women with relaxed and/or natural hair are able to participate, however those with extensions or weave will not be considered. The winners will be featured in Pantene’s print advertisements beginning in 2012 and will receive an all expense paid trip to the print shoot location. Winners will be announced at a later date.
*If anyone needs more info. Contact me and I can get your questions over to the folks in charge of the event.*
Curly Nikki Mizani Meet Up event Part Deux
I got there a little late. When I wandered in the place was pretty much packed. The folks from Mizani and Michelle, from naturallycurly.com were on stage educating the audience on Mizani's new line of products made for curly textures.
At that moment, I looked around and realized that pretty much everyone in the room had a cute little gift back containing samples and product information. Since I was running behind schedule, there were no gift bags left.
That's when my pouting session began. I was like "how come I didn't get a gift bag?" How am I going to sample these potentially amazing products?"
Just then Michelle began announcing winners and lo and behold, my name was announced! Instead of itty bitty samples, I won full sized bottles of the entire line!
Once my taste for hair products had been satisfied, that's when I decided to do what I do best....hair stalking.
Nikki was such a gracious hostess! She made time to take pics and chat with the fabulous ladies in attendance. 
For the remainder of the night, I pretty much worked the room asking perfect strangers if I could take pics of their hair. So now I'll step back and allow you to indulge in the barrage of beautiful natural hair porn. Enjoy!
Yeah! Someone recognized me from the blog! She also won a full sized gift back (and so did her mom).
Now back to the glorious hair gazing........
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