Workin' It Out

I have been in this quest to find a workout I love, that works, for months. I know there are a million workouts that anyone could see results with, but I wanted to find something that I actually enjoy. Once working out becomes a complete chore, it just never seems worth it.

I cheered for 10 years, 9 of those years being involved with competitive cheerleading. The workouts we did during conditioning season were a lot like boot camp. It was a rigorous cycle of cardio mixed with the common push-ups, sit-ups, ect. My favorite of these workouts were done at my All-star gyms. These workouts were group focused, relay exercises. For example, one of the hardest was an indian run (a line of girls would run as fast as they could and the girl in the back of the line would have to sprint to the front of the line and it would repeat.), then followed by a crab walk to the foam pit and having to use every muscle in your body to climb out the other side. It was torture. It was, that is, until I realized the effect of all this core training had on my body. Out of no where it seemed like I was toned EVERYWHERE, and I had more energy than I had ever had.

Since my cheering days, I have yet to find anything that has given me the same satisfaction. I have tried about everything, except for the Insanity or P90X workouts. I am going to try them, but before I pour myself into that insane of a workout I want to work up to it.

My first year in college I tried Zumba, and fell in love. I love to dance, and to have a group of women in the same scenario of trying to keep up and synchronizing and getting really into it, brought me back to cheerleading. I think this is why I loved it so much. Since then, a studio opened up near my hometown that offers the classes daily for a really affordable price, along with boot camp (that kicks your ass) and yoga. If it weren't for my weird hours at work I would go more regularly, so instead I have turned to workout videos and DVD's.

YouTube, to me, is a very underrated place to find awesome workouts online for FREE. Last year I did a Brazilian Butt workout and it nearly had me in bed for two days. It was so awesome. Along with that I have become really interested in the dancer inspired workout called "Barre." There are gyms in the area that offer the classes, but for an insane $200-300. If you can afford it, go for it. I, being a broke college student, can not. However, thanks to Pinterest and YouTube I have found the workouts online, and they WORK. I did a 39 minute workout this morning and am already sore.  

Below I will include links to my favorite free workouts. What are some of yours?

XO Bree

Repunzel, Repunzel, let down your long hurr!

For anyone reading this who knows me personally knows that for over three years, my hair would not grow. It would begin to grow a few inches, but by the time I got to the hair dresser I would have to get it trimmed off due to damage.

For awhile I was clueless as to why my hair wouldn't grow back, after a terrible "just a trim" incident back in 2007. I mean, all I wanted was the blondest hair possible and for my hair to grow. Doesn't sound that hard, right? WRONG.

What I didn't realize, or care to realize because I was trying to be the hottest version of my self ever, was that the more blonde you go on your hair, the more damage it does to your cuticle. The growth of your hair doesn't always depend on the health, but it does affect maintaining of a certain length. 

Before my freshman year of college I knew I was going to have to retire my clip-in extensions. Even though they looked phenom, there was no way I was going to get away with wearing them at Miami. So, I asked my hair dresser what was up. She finally broke it down for me and was the realest any hair dresser in her 50's could be: If you want long hair, you have to stop bleaching it. She started showing me parts of my hair that had literally just broken off mid way down because it was fried. It was a huge wake up call.

So she ended up putting more lowlights of my natural color in my hair and then managed to still keep it blonde, just this time a few shades darker.

After that I wanted to know more. I was intrigued to know what else I would have to change to have Repunzel's hair.

This is what I found out:

1. Read the labels on your shampoo bottle. Sulfate products are often found in shampoos, as well as in body washes. Body wash is made to strip the skin of dirt and oil, whereas a shampoo shouldn't be stripping, but just removing buildup. You need the natural oils on your hair to keep it protected. Try using sulfate free shampoos, or just research for a more gentle shampoo. I switched from Biolage to Aussie and Garnier Fructis shampoos. They were much gentler on my hair, and I noticed much less shedding.

2. Make sure you are getting all your nutrients and vitamins. This plays a huge role on your hair, skin, and nail health. If you're healthy on the outside it will shine through. I was on a major lifestyle change and dieting like crazy my freshman and sophomore year of college (I looked damn good), but I wasn't eating enough and it was causing my hair to thin and for me to have more breakouts, so I started taking Vitamin B, and a women's multivitamin. Eating more food also helps. 

3. While I was doing research, I read a magazine article with Jessica Simpson's hair dresser giving "the scoop" on her hair. She said that Ken (her hairdresser) introduced her to a boar bristled brush, and that was the only brush she used from then on.  So, of course I ran to Target and bought a boar bristled brush too, duh. And as embarrassing as that sounds, it was one of the best decisions I could have made for my hair. It's a lot less pulling and tugging. that's for sure.

4. Do treatments on your hair at least once a week. For awhile I was only doing "deep conditioning" masks on my hair once a week, and just recently I was recommended to use the Sebastian Penetraitt mask (a good enough reason to use the word penetrate), and I am so happy I did. A repair mask is different from a general conditioning mask because you need to give the hair protein to help heal itself, instead of just adding more moisture to your hair. 

5. This kind of goes along with number 4, but use a leave-in treatment after you get out of the shower. This alone could have helped my tangled mess grow. There are tons of different options but my favorites by far are It's a 10, and Nexus Pro-Mend split end treatment. I usually just do a few spray (or one pump of product) and then work it into my hair. 

6. Use as little heat on your hair as possible. Let your hair breath by letting it air dry. Now a days there are tons of ideas on Pinterest for "no heat" styles, so there isn't an excuse to keep whipping out your hair slayer (AKA your flat iron).

7. DRINK MORE DAMN WATER. How do you make flowers grow? Water. How you make hair grow? Water. Water. WATER.

With these changes, and two years later, I now get "is you hair real?" compliments on the daily. 

Hopes this helps, betches. 

Well, Hello Darlings

You guys, I am so so excited. I just got the email last night that my template was finished. 

All of the social network buttons in the right hand corner are all connected to my personal sites and email so be sure to follow me on those.

I'm not going to be doing a huge post today. I'm just sitting in the library for a group project, which means me sitting here by myself doing extra work and drinking my Java Chip frap like I know what I'm doing. 

So, I hope you guys are ready because I'm going to be working really hard to get a few posts ready for the next few days :)

Much Love XO,

Bree