Healthy Body || Stephanie's Back - Summer Bodies Are Made in the Winter!

By Stephanie of Infinite Life Fitness

 

After a looooong delay I AM BACK! What have I been busy doing? Completing my Masters AND opening my own health and fitness personal training studio! Yes...that should tell you how busy I have been over the past few months!! But things are going well, I have managed to FINALLY find a good balance and now I am BACK!

   

THIS is the time that you should start to think of how you would like to feel AND also LOOK when the summer gets here.

If you start working NOW you will look and feel great when you have to wear those cute summer outfits (or bathing suits!)

So I bet you are now wondering what YOU can do now to help you shed the extra pounds before it gets warm:

1. You can set a REALISTIC goal. You have to be real with yourself and realize that you can lose 1-3 lbs a week. Any more than that usually is an indication of something is wrong.
2. You then set a REALISTIC time frame. So if you want to lose 15 pounds that should take you about 15 weeks. (And I ALWAYS over shoot the date with my clients so they will not get discouraged if they have not quite reached their goal by that date, BUT it will be more motivation if you are losing weight at a faster speed to help you reach your goal before that date).
3. Set a P.O.A. This is what I call a Plan Of Action. This is when you will sit down and plan out your menus for the week, plan what days you will dedicate to workout, and the workouts that you will do. The more prepared you are the easier it will be for you to follow this plan and to stay on track! Yes, everyone has a busy life! And even with my own busy schedule I personally do not have time to workout....but I MAKE TIME to workout. So you have to MAKE TIME to get your food ready, to get your workouts done, and anything else that is needed to help you reach your goals.
4. You have to find what is motivating you and find ways to keep you motivated. You can do this by placing quotes, images, scriptures, or whatever you like in places that you will see them. I personally have written messages on my bathroom mirror with a white board marker, I place quotes on sticky notes and have them in the kitchen, in my car, and at my fitness studio. I have constant reminders around me to help me stay motivated and on track even on the days that i am not feeling up to sticking with my routine.
5. Lastly, you have to WORK HARD! Stay consistent with your workouts and eating healthy and you will reach your goals. YOU HAVE TO STAY CONSISTENT! And another rule is your diet is MORE important than your workouts. You have to fuel your body with the proper foods in order for you to start losing the extra weight to reach your goals.

Reaching your goals can be done in these easy steps! You have to get up and do something about it! No one else can do it for you! YOU have to want to make the changes in your lifestyle! Try to get your family to adopt to these changes as well OR get a friend to do it with you as well. This will also allow you to have an accountability partner to help keep you on track. The more support you have around you the better it will be! DO NOT put it off another day! Get up and do something about your health TODAY! You have the tools to reach your goals! So why not start NOW so you can flaunt your confidence and new body this summer. This is Stephanie from Infinite Life Fitness. Please feel free to stop by my blog for more health and fitness tips!

Chunky Twist Obsession Begins ...

So I have about a week left in my current twists (photos later), and I'm itching to do a set of chunky twists for the month of March.  Since these sort of twists age faster, I just have to figure out how not to redo them too often.  My current thoughts include 1) doing witch hazel scalp cleanses to lessen the amount of times I have to wash my hair and 2) wearing a headwrap for some days when/if my twists start looking rough.  I want to attempt to only have to redo them once in March.  We'll shall see ....

In the mean time, here are some of my favorite chunky twist styles I found online:

Mixology || Making Your Own Aloe Butter at Home

Ingredients:
aloe vera juice
coconut oil
vitamin E oil
beeswax
preservative

For the instructions, check out the video below: 

Protective Style Lookbook || Rolled Updo on Twists

By popular demand, this is a series showcasing various protective hair styles.  Protective styling does not have to be boring. :o)

Model: Anneka

Difficulty level: 2/5

Description: Rolled updo on chunky twists.

Healthy Recipes || Mashed Cauliflower - Low Carb Alternative to "Mashed Potatoes"

Mashed cauliflower that looks and tastes like mashed potatoes ... except with much less starch. Have you tried it?  In an effort to eat more vegetables and less carbs, I decided to give the dish a try.  What's the verdict?  Yo, this dish is DELICIOUS!

Various forms of the mashed cauliflower recipe have been floating around the Web.  Some contain butter while some use olive oil ... some use romano cheese while some use mozzarella.  It really depends on what you want to add to your mashed cauliflower, though I will say a bit of salt and pepper is a must and cheese certainly enhances the flavor.  (I personally use salt, pepper, sharp cheddar, and organic butter.)

Without further ado, here is what you will need at the minimum: 

Ingredients:

1 cup of mashed cauliflower

a bit of salt

a bit of black pepper

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted butter

Optional ingredients:

cheese of your choice (e.g., Parmesan, Mozzarella, Romano ... as much or as little as you want)

garlic powder

etc.

Directions:

1. Steam the cauliflower until it is "mash-able" (i.e., soft but not too soft).
2. Use a food processor to mash the cauliflower.  (If you don't have a food processor, using a blender on pulse is okay or mash with a utensil.)
3. Mix all the other ingredients into the mashed cauliflower.
4. You're done!  Enjoy!

Healthy Hair on Youtube: Megan

If my hair was relaxed, this lady would be one of my biggest hair crushes.  (Okay, well she already is even though I am natural.)  Anyway, her regimen is on point and her hair looks healthy and bangin'!  If you're texlaxed or relaxed and looking for a new hair inspiration or hair care tips, check out her channel.  In the mean time, here are a couple of videos demonstrating her air drying and detangling technique.

 

Study || Palm Oil + Conditioning Damaged Hair

Damaged hair has a higher degree of swelling in water than relatively healthy hair.  Because of this increase in swelling, damaged hair will experience even more damage.  According to a 2012 study, hydrogenated palm oil is effective at preventing water-induced swelling of damaged hair, possibly because it can "penetrate into the cuticle and outer cortex" of said hair.

SOURCE:
"Distribution Analysis of Triglyceride Having Repair Effect on Damaged Human Hair by TOF-SIMS." Toru Kojima, Shiho Tsuji, Masanao Niwa, Kaori Saito, Yasuyuki Matsushita, Kazuhiko Fukushima.  International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization. Vol. 17, Iss. 1, 2012.