Random music of the day: Phil Collins

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“Think twice, cause it’s just another day for you an me in paradise” 

- Another day in Paradise, Phil Collins

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Let’s reach out and help the less fortunate around us today.

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Happy Wednesday y’alls!

Holiday Food Survival Guide

The holidays are coming up y’all. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Office parties, Hanukkah, Emperor’s Birthday, New Years, Epiphany, Three Kings… however you do what you do, there’s a lot going on in these next couple months.

Celebrations will come to a halt when you can’t fit into your clothes after all is said and done though, or worse that less-than-covering Carnival costume that you ordered a good six months ago, that God-awful bridal party get up that you’re expected to wear, or that tropical spring vacation you already booked. Egad!

Be ahead of the game by keeping these points in mind:

1. Get moving
Lets be real, we aren’t all gymaddicts. As a matter of fact some of us haven’t even gotten started with that ’09 New Years resolution to join that gym. So hitting the gym in the next month probably ain’t gonna happen. Still there are some things we can do to keep our heart rate up and at least get misty if not build a sweat:

-  Crank up the soca/ parang/ or holiday pop/ jazz/ R&B/ country, whatever music gets your feet tapping when you are at your desk, while you clean up your space for your shindig, cook or whatever constructive people do around the house during these times. 
- Walk or bike, rather than drive, that extra block.
- Choose the stairs rather than the escalator, cause I already know that you don’t take the elevator to go up one floor… 
- Consider doing body weight exercises daily, whichever your body condition/ joints will allow. Pushups, bicep curls/ shoulder press with cans of beans, that economy/family sized laundry detergent, squat, do the plank for 15 seconds and build up to a minute, walk up the flight of steps in your apartment building and then back down, download a yoga podcast on iTunes, garden… whatever. Just get moving.

2. Consider an alternate menu
Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of social events that you will attend, most of which you have no control over what’s going to be served. You can however control the menus of the gatherings that you host.

Consider tasty recipes with a high veggie content over carb ladened ones for your entres. Also consider cutting out cream and sugar where it’s not necessary, or opting for a half/ half option, for example in that pumpkin soup. It tastes pretty good without the cream, and pumpkin is sweet enough, no need to add more sugar to the mix. 

3. Calorie bombs: Drinks

Cream based drinks like eggnog, contain more calories than some complete meals. Damn, that full fat cream and sugar in excess again. And as healthy as those cocktails that bear some exotic fruit in their names may sound, chances are that there is not one trace of real fruit in them, but more likely artificially flavored and sweetened syrup. Pop and juice, real fruit or artificially sweetened, are also guilty of packing calorie overkill.

Wherever you can, opt for wines or clear coloured alcohol like vodka with soda over these cream based cocktails or darker coloured alcohols like scotch and whiskey that contain large amounts of caramel for sweetening and colour enhancening. 

4. Choose wisely

I’ll resist the urge to say anything profound like “Skip Dessert”, because really… who does that? No-one who thought it fit to read this post I’m sure. During the  slow periods of the year maybe, but to pass on every dessert from now till next year? You can’t be serious. We don’t need one more thing to feel guilty and beat ourselves up about, life is exacting enough as it is. 

Instead I’ll say, choose wisely. Consider your daily food intake a bank account. You have, on average, a 2,500 (females) to 3,000 (males) calories in your bank account. Whatever you choose to do with it is up to you, so be sure to make it count. 

Are you going to go with the 2,000 calorie dollar designer plate and then put yourself in overdraft to get through the rest of the day?… Or are you going to go with the chic 200 calorie piece that keeps you satiated longer, allows you to caress that sweet craving you’re bound to get later and still keep the bulge in your form fitting embellished dress in check, or your belt buckle from poppin’?

So instead, grab a drink to keep your hands busy, sip and socialize/ network/ enjoy the view instead until the real meal deal comes out and exercise portion control. 

If you have a few social events to attend in one day, consider having the entre from the first event and then only choosing healthily from the appetizer menu at subsequent events. That way you have the heavier meal first, and then fueling your metabolism with lighter snacks during the rest of the night. Note, veggies that are deep fried, smoothered in cream sauce do not count as ‘healthy’.

5. Pace ya’ self

The alcohol isn’t going anywhere, neither is the food. I’ve read that it takes sometime for your mind to figure out that your tummy is full, about 20 minutes. Savour the food. Enjoy it. Take a chill pill and catch up with friends and family before you head back for those seconds. 

Pace your drinking too. Have a glass of water between drinks. This not only keeps you from acting the fool and embarrassing yourself (office parties anyone?), but it saves your skin as well as it helps replace the water content in your body lost through the dehydrating effect of drinking alcohol. 

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Now, where the party at?

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Related GC Post ->
Munch stress away
Health | Best foods
E.F.A.s: Some things are better FATTY!
Don’t hate. Discriminate
Maintaining the flab  

Supernova

Clean roots, Soften ends

Dry ends?

Hair ends are the oldest part of your beautiful tresses, and as such have battled wear and tear the longest.  Naturally the longer or more processed the ends are, the more susceptible they are to damage.

Consider shampooing roots and conditioning ends to reduce stress on hair ends.

Shampoo roots

Shampoo is primarily formulated to clean hair and may involve removing oils, dirt and all other debris. Even the gentlest, daily shampoo can strip natural hair and definitely wreak havoc on processed hair; relaxed, bleached, coloured, permed and/ or frequently heat styled hair.

Proper nutrition and hydration of the human body allows the  scalp to produce oils and this mixes with sweat, hair care products and who knows what else that comes into contact with hair. Therefore it is very important to clean the scalp properly to allow it to breathe and be healthy. 

Often times we squeeze shampoo out in our palms and take a good go at our hair strands, hoping that some of this eventually makes it’s way to the scalp at some point, and wash that baby out. Focus on cleaning the scalp, where the real action happens. In the lathering and rinsing process the rest of the hair will be cleaned. 

To do this, consider these steps:

1. Purchase one of those bottles with the removable (screwed on) cone shaped top at your local beauty supply store.

There are various cone sizes, but as these bottles are usually used to apply color , which can be runny, some have a very small opening to allow more control over colour application. Do ensure that the one you get contains a hole that is big enough to allow your shampoo to flow through with ease. 

2. Fill bottle with shampoo and apply directly to dry roots.

Apply as much as is necessary to cover scalp

3. Massage dry scalp with fingertips.

Because your scalp is dirty, the shampoo would not lather as much, but continue to work shampoo in, paying special attention to any areas that have a tendency to accumulate build up, like hairline for example.

4. Rinse scalp

In shower or at rinse station, work lather into scalp and move down the hair shaft.

5. Repeat step 2-4, if necessary.

Hair is cleaner now so shampoo will lather more. Apply shampoo to scalp, lather and rinse. 

6. Apply conditioner to to ends

Condition ends

Conditioner is primarily formulated to replace moisture, oils or both, lost from the hair during the shampoo stage. It also attempts to repair the cuticle of the hair, allowing it to lay flat hereby giving shine to the hair. The conditioning agents present in conditioners can leave a residue on the hair which is often welcomed by dry hair as it allows it to appear healthier, as well as allow hair strands to slip over each other giving conditioner it’s ‘detangling’ ability .

However this residue can coat the hair scalp and form product build up, which can contribute to a dry flakey scalp. Synthetic conditioning ingredients, which are present in most commercial conditioners, cannot be absorbed by the scalp. With proper nutrition and hydration the human scalp produces it’s own oils. 

As a result it is best to concentrate on conditioning the ends and the strands of the hair,  rather than the scalp, to avoid product buildup on scalp which can lead to a dry flakey scalp, or a smothered one, depending on the type of condition you use.

Save your hair.

Shampoo scalp. Condition ends.

Consider also getting a trim.
For tips on how to deal with and prevent split ends see GC post Stragglers

Lather up!

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POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

What is it? | “Dry Scalp”
Hair | Working with natural tone and texture 
Wash mindfully
Stragglers 

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