Relaxed Hair

I vaguely remember when I decided to grow out, and then cut off the remainder of my chemically relaxed hair. But I can certainly remember why I went back to using a relaxer.

The first time I began relaxing my hair was so long ago I can’t remember how I began relaxing my mother’s hair too. Nevertheless, I spent about an hour several times each year to retouch my kinky roots making my hair silky and smooth, as well as aesthetically appealing when I got it wet. In other words, my relaxed hair retained a style I preferred, and it is easier to maintain than when my hair  was in its natural state.

Non relaxed hair required lots of care--I spent hours each day trying to keep it from tangling, and becoming matted.  Furthermore, my hair style rarely lasted through the day. And, even though some believe natural hair is manageable in hot, and humid weather, it is not. My twist out became puffy and styless. And even when I paid a stylist to straighten my hair without using a chemical, the pressed hair style deteriorated in a day or two causing me much angst and more.

My lifestyle of fitness changed the day I quit relaxing my hair. I stopped swimming, playing tennis, and cycling too. Because sweating is a natural part of execise, immediate hair care is required.

With a relaxer, it’s simply washing, drying, and then styling my hair—easily accomplished in an hour, or less, and without having to pay and wait for an appointment with a hair stylist.

Weight Management

Every now and then someone will ask me, “How do you stay so slim?”  I tell them, it’s not always easy, but I’ve learned to eat less than I used to when I was in my thirties. That’s about the age I noticed that I could no longer eat the entire pint of ice cream every evening for dessert and still fit into a size 2 pencil skirt. And even after cutting back on the ice cream, I began noticing that same skirt got snug around my hips.

Everyone kept telling me, “You’re filling in finally—you’re becoming a woman—it’s natural for women to put on weight.” I was in my thirties and just becoming a woman I thought to myself.  Could that be true—women have no means to control, and manage weight? I didn’t want to settle for that. I didn’t want to believe that putting on extra weight was just a simple fact of life. So I sought to challenge the so-called fact of life.

Call it an obsession, but I learned that managing my weight is entirely within my control. As a matter of fact, it’s one of few things in life that is…

So instead of accepting what many others have, I began paying attention to my scale—I weighed myself every morning. Depending on what I ate the scale tilted up or down beneath my weight.  I learned right away which foods caused me to weigh more. It was just that simple. So in order to control my weight—I ate according to the numbers on my scale.  

Nowadays— I eat most of my meals from a salad plate.  Instead of cutting out all the delicious foods I had grown accustomed to eating on a regular basis, I eat macaroni and cheese, pasta, meatballs and red sauce, chicken pot pie, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, rice pudding, and other desserts such as chocolate mousse on occasion. Sensible foods, like vegetables, and fruits, I eat everyday.

Summer time dining is the best time of the year for me. I love the outdoors and I adore sunshine—As a result, I am relaxed and much calmer than at any other time of the year. My appetite is somewhat suppressed.

Still, no matter the time of year, winter, spring, summer, or fall, I eat when I am hungry, not because of the hour of the day.  

Generally, I enjoy a bowl of soup—I like lentil, tomato, or split pea (nothing creamy) and a few slices of pepper jack cheese, avocado, and tomato between a couple slices of rye bread with mustard.

But more often than not, I choose and actually prefer wild salmon, shrimp, or tuna to red meat. I add grilled fish to a mixture of salad greens, or have a side order of fresh vegetables. Satiety is met with a plate of grilled fish atop mixed greens, tomatoes and olives. Sometimes, usually in cool weather, I have brown rice, Trader Joe's has a delicious jasmine brown rice.  Yams, like beans offer a tremendous amount of nutrients, and lucky for me, I love them both.  

Like most everyone, I crave sweets. But, instead of eating a substitue, I fulfill my craving. Otherwise, I'll eat more than I would have. There are those days when I have to have ice cream; and if I buy it  from the super market,  it has got to be Haagen Dazs' vanilla Swiss almond ice cream. Along with the entire pint, I eat half of a  10 ounce bag of Lay's sea salt and cracked pepper potato chips, my favorite.

I have found, too, that managing my weight is doable because I don't buy my favorite junk foods (ice cream and potatoe chips), unless they are on sale. I mean really, why pay $4 for a pint of ice cream every week?

If you're interested to know how I manage to keep my weight down even during the harsh winter, that time of  year I practically hibernate--I'll be posting again soon. So please come back--I'll let you in on how my weight stays below 116lbs. even with my clunky boots and winter sweater on.