100 Day Challenge: Vitamin/ Supplement Regimen

These are the vitamins and supplements I will be taking.

• Puritans Pride Ultra Woman Time Release Multivitamin : 1 tablet per day


• Vitamin C 1000mg : 2 tablets per day


• Biotin 5000mcg : 1 tablet per day


• MSM 1000mg : I will begin with 1 capsule per day for the first 30 days then bump up to 2


• Vitamin D 2000IU : 1 soft gel per day


• Flaxseed Oil : 1 Tablespoon per day (or 3 Fish Oil Caplets 1200mg)


• Whey Protein Powder 24g : 5-7x per week with 1 cup of soy milk

100 Day Hair & Health Challenge!!!

Wow it's been about a year and half since I last posted on this blog. Shame on me, because I actually really like doing it.

So honestly my hair is not were I would like it to be right now. My hair has grown but I have had to trim away the majority of my growth over the last 1.5 years. On top of that the left side of my hair has thinned out a lot. I Think this is the result of heat damage and just overall neglect of my hair. My hair is resilient but heat is it's worst enemy and I am convinced that even just a couple uses of a flat iron greatly weakens my hair and causes severe breakage. My hair also definitely needs daily moisture which I have always neglected. I would moisturize maybe every three days or less.

So for the next 100 days I have chosen to challenge myself and use the combination of healthy hair practices, nutrition, and exercise so that I can get some serious progress with my hair.

I just ordered some MSM and Biotin supplements and I will begin the 100 days once they arrive.

Hair Practices:

• NO HEAT!!! (Blow out or flat iron roots only when needed) I will be doing braid outs, and air drying.





• Wash and deep condition every 5-7 days





• Moisturize daily





• I'll post my full regimen plan later

Vitamins/ Supplements:

• Women's Multi





• Vitamin C





• Biotin





• MSM





• Fish Oil/ Flaxseed Oil





• Vitamin D




• Whey Protein Shake

Nurtion:

• Avoid added sugar





• 80-100 grams of protein per day





• More Info Later

Exercise:

• Carido 30 mins 5x/week





• I also want to incorporate weight training ( but I won't commit to that just yet. lol)

I will post more info on my plan for each of these four categories later

Also I will be posting mini updates here every 10 days during my challenge.

May 23, 2010 (Air-dried)

The Wardrobe: Cute n' Cheap Purses

I got these at JCPenney. Both were under $20 after all my discounts so my total with tax was $44.22!!! Very good deal! I had my new boots in mind when I bought these, but I'm sure they will got with most of what I already have. You can't really tell from the pics, but the bags aren't huge nor or they small. The first one hangs a little past my belly button and the second a little past my hip.

My Black Friday Nightmare...

So... I got a part-time seasonal position a JCPenney for the holidays, and well of course I had to work black Friday. Which I wasn't to happy about, because I don't even like to shop on that day... never have. So I spent thanksgiving with my fam, and got home at about 11:30pm Thursday night, keep in mind that I had to be at work at 4am (ridiculous those people need to staying in there damn beds!!!). Buy anyways I got less than 2 hours of sleep, and to say the least my day was miserable. First off they put me in a department I never worked in a knew nothing about so I couldn't really help the customers as best as I'd of liked. Secondly about a hour into working I got very sick I felt like I might pass out and Like I might throw up too. I asked for a 10 minute break and tried to get it together. I'm proud of myself because I did make it through the day 4am-12pm. I can't even explain how I felt afterwards I had to called my mother to come a drive me home because I was that worn out. I took me about a day and a half to recover. My body just couldn't handle it. I had not sleep and barely anything to eat. It was definitely a "black" Friday for me.

On a brighter note I had my own little faux black Friday shopping spree Monday evening. Employee's got 35% off! I got two purses and some clothes for work. Also I got my mom a new toaster cause we needed one. All great deals!

The Wardrobe: Black Knee High Boots

This is actually me wearing the boots. lol. I got these from Belk for $32.99 which was a great deal considering the original price tag was for $79.99. I am also wearing the purple zip mini dress that I ordered about a week ago. Pics of that later. What do you think? I need to buy a pair or two of boot cut jeans cause I don't have any at the moment.

Nutrition: The Five Food Groups

Most women need to consume 1,600-1,800 calories per day. Below is a link to a calculator that tells you how many calories you need each day to maintain your current weight.

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm

Fats, Sweets, and Oils (Added): Sugar intake should be limited to 22-33 grams; Total fat intake should be limited to 53-63 grams.

Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese: 2-3 Servings per day.

• Milk - 8oz.


• Yogurt - 6oz.


• Cheese - 1-2oz.

Meat, Poultry, Fish, Beans, Eggs, and Nuts: 2-3 Servings per day.

• Meat, Poultry, & Fish - 3oz.


• Eggs - One Large Egg


• Beans - 1/2 cup


• Nuts - 1oz.

Vegetables: 3-5 Servings per day.

• Leafy - 1 cup


• Juice - 6oz.


• Chopped uncooked (ex. broccoli) - 1/2 cup

Fruits: 2-4 Servings per day.

• One medium sized fruit


• Juice - 6oz.


• Other (ex. strawberries) - 1/2 cup

Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta: 6-11 Servings per day.

• 1 slice of bread


• 1 cup of breakfast cereal


• 1/2 cooked rice or Pasta

Sample Day for Me:

Breakfast: 8oz of V8 fusion, two slices of bread, 1-2 eggs.

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich, salad, yogurt.

Snack: 1/2 cup of strawberries.

Dinner: Chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of broccoli.

Im only missing a serving of dairy. My diet in the past has usually consisted of mostly fats, starches, protien, and sugar. My goal is to have a balance diet where I am getting adequate nutrition. I in no way would like to lose weight ( I am 5'3'' 113lbs). I only want to tone my body and develop lean muscle.

My Hair: August 6th - Nov 10th Comparison

I am very happy with my progress. I think I gain a good 1.5 inches, but I also got a .25 inch trim. My hair is now longer than it was before I cut it when I got my relaxer back in August. What has help me in retaining length is roller setting and air drying. I only blowdried and flatiorned my hair twice this quater. Also I only used minimal heat 3-4 to bump my ends. In the past I would flat iron my hair 3-5 times a month and I would touch up with heat everyday to every other day. I have very strong and resilent hair I am amazed that it is this long even with all the abuse I have done to it in the past. However I think that the thickness... or the lack there of shows the damage. I believe my hair should/can be 25-30% thicker than it is now. Of course my goals for thickness will take a couple years longer than my goals for length. I recently started taking Puritans pride womans Mega Multi-Vitamin and I definetly noticed a boost in growth when I started taking them. I was complaining at 11 weeks post about how I didn't even have a solid inch of growth... three weeks later I have a good 1.5 inches. I will post an entry on my vitamin regimen later. For this quater my goal is to use NO DIRECT HEAT except for touching up my roots when need after a roller set. I do know that emergencies will happen and I migth have to cheat in order to look fly for a last minute hot date or party with my friends. lol. But I am going to try my best!!!

Above Is my starting point picture for this quater I hope to be past the top of this bra strap by my next touch up... crossing my fingers.