Work Out Wednesdays

*****WARNING*****
This is gonna be an extremely long post, so be prepared.

Today I have 2 Dr.'s appointments. I have a health screening in which I have to give blood and some other stuff for my job. This is to make sure I continue to get the discount on my health insurance. I took the wellness exam that was required for us to take prior to the screening. I scored a 44. OUT. OF. 100! :( I am so ashamed. The reasons my score was so low was due to things I already know about. Poor sleeping habits, eating habits, and exercise habits. So at least I already knew about those things and have formulated a plan on how to change them. I may tweak this plan after I talk to the health screening people. I also have my yearly girly appointment with my ob/gyn today, so I will update later on both appointments.

So far this is my get it right, get it tight plan:
     *Make myself get at least 8 hours of sleep most nights. this means I need to be in bed by 10 p.m. Even if I'm not asleep at that time, I at least want to be in the bed resting.

     *Get up at 5:45 and go to the gym for at least 30 minutes of cardio, and 15 minutes of weight lifting. I will alternate my weight lifting between upper body, lower body, and core work.

     *Stretch daily (15 minutes) to increase flexibility (possibly do yoga).

     *Cut my portion sizes in half and start limiting carbs. I need to look for a snack that I can eat to fill me up when I'm hungry, but won't pack the weight back on.

     *Start eating breakfast, and packing my lunch.
    
I know in order to do most of these things I need to be more organized. I need to have a housework schedule so that I can make sure I am done with my daily cleaning and cooking in enough time for me to be in bed by 10. I also need to make sure I keep up with my daily cooking and cleaning so that things won't pile up and get behind. I will work out a cooking and cleaning schedule in my post for tomorrow.

I also need to lay out my work clothes and exercise clothes the night before. I need to pack my lunch the night before, and find quick breakfast ideas that I can eat on the go.
My prayer and meditation time are in the afternoon after work, so that doesn't change my morning routine.

I plan on making this a life change, not just a quick lose weight scheme. So I will update weekly with my results.

I'm gonna take my measurements and progress pictures tonight and update this post tomorrow. I haven't really worked out this week, so I doubt there will be any changes.



ETA: ok I got my blood drawn and my girly check up done. I won't know the results of my blood work until September when I have a consultation. I had to get stuck with the needle TWICE! I hate needles. I was told I have rolling veins and the nurse asked me if I drink water, which I took as a sign that I need to drink more water.
The girly check up went fine, I got my birth control perscription renewed (no babies for us at the moment). and was told that I need to lose weight. Something I already knew so operation get it right, get it tight is still in effect.

Shea Butter

Like I said Shea butter is so awesome it deserves it's own post. I've researched that it has so many uses, and I'm looking forward to testing some of these uses as the opportunity arises. Shea butter is:
 a natural sunscreen
delays wrinkles
 softens skin
 can be used as an alternative treatment for eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis
 can minimize appearance of scars, stretch marks, and blemishes
 is a great hair moisturizer
has anti aging properties
anti-inflammatory properties
can help heal insect bites
muscle fatigue
rashes
sun burn
shaving cream

and I'm sure there are many more things that I have yet to discover.
Right now I'm only using it on my hair, but I have a few facial blemishes that I plan on trying it out on. I recently made my first batch of whipped Shea butter! I'm excited about it. One of the things that previously turned my off from Shea butter was that it was so hard and that you had to soften it in your hand before using. Well when you whip it with oils, then it stays soft. it's great and easy to do.
I have no idea of measurements, I was just winging it.
I took a block of Shea butter and softened it in the microwave.
I added a chunk of softened coconut oil
a few squirts of tea tree oil, jojoba oil, and sesame oil
a bought a cheap blender and mixed it all together in a bowl. (at this point everything was totally liquid)
then a put it in the freezer for like 3 minutes
then I whipped it again with the blender for a few minutes
I kept repeating this process until it was the texture that I wanted
I transferred the mix from the bowl to a container with a lid to store it in.
that's it!

I store it under my bathroom sink. I use it on my hair every time I do a wash n go, and every couple of days if I am doing a twist out.
Here's a pic of my mix:

Tresses Tuesdays

Yay I'm finally caught up! lol
Anyway Tuesdays are all about hair. I had previously decided that I would post some pic of hair from that week, but I don't have any pictures of my hair from last week, and I don't like the way my hair looks to day, so no hair pics for you!

Today's hair is in a wash n go, since it's very humid and rainy in my area today, and probably will be for the rest of the week. I am not really a fan of my wash n gos because my hair shrinks sooooo much when I let it air dry. Maybe when it get longer, I will like it more. I am starting to like my wash n go puffs, but I don't want to get in the habit of pulling my hair back too much, because I'm in the process of trying to fill in my edges more. I do that by putting Castor oil on my edges whenever I remember. Ideally that should be nightly, but I'm working on being more consistent with that.

I don't really have a solid regimen right now, I'm trying to get on a schedule to be more consistent. I should be co-washing (washing my hair with conditioner only) every 3 to 4 days and clarifying and deep conditioning weekly. Right now it's more like, co wash when my hair feels dirty or twist outs aren't holding well, deep conditioning and clarifying when I feel like it. I know, I know that's really bad. I co wash with suave conditioner, I like to clarify with baking soda and water but when i don't have any I use suave shampoo. I have some apple cider vinegar that I want to try on my hair, and I want to try using castille soap to wash my hair. I deep condition with whatever I have on hand. Usually it's two ORS conditioning packs, some suave conditioner, a scoop or two of cholesterol, honey, and some oils (jojoba, olive, tea tree, etc....). I have never done a protein treatment but I plan on trying one day. My hair looooooves coconut oil, I usually put that on as a sealant after I have moisturized my hair. I usually on moisturize my hair when wet or when it is in twists, the night before a twist out.

My new moisturizing love is Shea butter. Shea butter is so awesome it deserves it's own post lol.

Marriage Mondays

Something nice my husband did this weekend: My nephew spent the night with us this weekend (he's 3) and since we didn't buy an air mattress this weekend, he and I 'camped' out on the living room floor (with a lot of blankets and pillows of course). I tried to have all of us sleep in our bed, but the way that child sleeps we would need a California king in order to be comfortable. lol. So my hubby decides to sleep on the floor with us, for no other reason except he didn't want to be away from his wife for the night. It's the little things that man does that makes me smile.

We really need a vacation. We haven't been anywhere at all this year. We have a week already paid for at a resort in Florida so we may take that. I really want to go to Disney World since my hubby (let's just call him D) has never been there. But maybe we will just go and relax and spend the week in the room spending time and reconnecting with each other. It's just a matter of figuring out when we can both take the time off to go. There is also a 7 day cruise that I want to take next year for our anniversary, so I'm working on getting him to ok that so that I can start planning it and we can start paying for it.

Random

I know I owe you guys a Monday post and a Tuesday post, but I just have a brain dump that  I wanna get out.

I'm sleepy
I want to start my own business
I love God
I love my husband
I love my church
I need new contacts
I really need glasses, but can't find any I like
The last time I wore glasses was 14 years ago
I have no idea what I'm gonna cook for dinner
I need to do laundry
I am a sucker for reality shows
True Blood is awesome
I can't wait until my hair gets long enough to put into a bun
I need to lose weight, but have been too lazy to go to the gym. Maybe I should start with cutting carbs and portion control.
I want a baby. sigh........
I'm gonna jump my hubby when I get home....... giggle.
I'm really sleepy
I like the song 'Motivation', but I'm sick of hearing it on the radio
I want an i-phone
my phone contract is up in October, so I plan on making that a reality
I had chocolate ice cream for lunch, bad but so yummy
I'm ready for dance class to start back for the fall.

Spiritual Sundays

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3: 5-6

‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.’

Actually I love the entire book of Proverbs. It’s full of wisdom, and instructions on how God wants his people to live. But this scripture speaks to me because it reminds me that God knows what he is doing and I should have total faith and trust in that.

There is another scripture (Isaiah 55:8), that says ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.’ It’s not up to me to try to understand God. If I was on the same level as God then he wouldn’t be God. I can only trust that my Father has my best interests at heart and wants what’s best for me. In actuality isn’t that what faith truly is? Relying on God to be God.

And the second verse that says to acknowledge him in all your ways, which refers to surrendering all unto him. God wants us to give up our free will and obey his will. In 1 Samuel 15:22 it states ‘Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice’. That is the only way we can serve him and prove to him that we truly love him.

Stylin' Saturdays

Saturday's are supposed to be about fashion, nails, make-up etc.....
Well I meant to take pics of my outfit from this weekend (super cute). But I forgot my camera and my phone died, so oh well. Oh wait! I can show you a pic of this new lipstick I bought. I bought it from Victoria's Secret and it's called 'Be Mine' It's a really pretty hot pink that looks really good on brown skin.

Yes I am taking pictures with the lipstick on top of my printer at work. My desk is too cluttered right now (don't judge me. lol)

I'm not wearing the lipstick today but I will take a picture of me wearing it, so you can see what it looks like on me. This is my first time wearing lipstick so if you see anything i am doing wrong or if you have any tips to make my application better, please let me know.
The only downside is that it seems to be very drying. Like my lips feel dry like an hour or so after I put it on, even though I put a lip balm on underneath and a gloss on top. Is there something different that I should be doing?

My toes are hot pink today too. I didn't have time to do my fingernails too. It's by Sinful Colors, but idk the name of the color. I'll check when I get home and update this post.

Financial Fridays

Ok, so my post for Friday would have been about finances. Right now we are working on our budget. This is our budget break down:
Rent: 25%
Utilities: 7%
Cars: 19% (this includes car payments, insurance, and maintenance for 2 cars)
Debt: 22%
Church: 13%
Misc.: 8%
Food: 7%
Savings: 0%
What do you think? Right now we have some debt to pay off that cannot be lowered or put off. So that's why there is no money going into the savings. We have a little cushion in our savings currently so in case of a small emergency we should be okay. This budget is only for the next 3 months, and then I will revamp it, due to a significant amount of debt being paid off, so we will be able to put money in our savings account. This budget is only based off of our base pay, when my husband works overtime, or I get money from my side gig, that money is our fun money to do whatever we want with it.

Speaking of side gigs, I am in the process of researching a profitable home business. I can't sell Mary Kay because a close relative is doing that and has already sold to all my potential clients. So if you have any ideas please let me know.

I am also trying to get things in order for my beauty supply boutique that I plan on opening in the next year or so. At this point I'm researching costs, licensing, and potential locations. Just trying to see what all I need to get together in order to make this dream of mine a reality. I want my boutique to not be like your typical beauty supply, with any and everything clammed on the shelves. Old products that are covered in dust and full of ingredients that are not good for your hair. I want a classy, sophisticated shop where the owner is knowledgeable of hair products and different hair types, and where all the products in the store are proven to be good for your hair. Due to the fact that there are new African American product lines starting u every day, I also what to showcase up and coming lines in my store. I also what to eventually expand my store to include a natural hair salon. In my area there are not may salons that cater to natural hair or women considering natural hair. To be honest, there aren't many that cater to the health of a woman's hair either.

But one of the things I have to do before I make this a reality is we have to be able to live off one income. Because you never expect a bug profit in at least the first year of starting a business. So I'm focusing on us paying off debt, downsizing where possible and having as many side gigs as possible so that the loss of my income won't hurt us.

So that's it about finances, I will update what's going on with our budget, and what steps  I am working on in my side gigs and opening my store. Let me know if you have any ideas!

I'm Sorry :(

WOW. I haven't been here since Thursday. I'm so so sorry. I had a family situation out of town that I needed to take care of, and there was no intene tto be found in the area that I was in. I know I owe posts for Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday, so I promise I will try to get to those today as soon as I can. Bye! :)

Domestic Thursdays

So I decided that Thursdays will be all about things dealing with my home. Whether it's decorating, cleaning, cooking, or organizing. Right now we are living in a 2 bedroom apartment that we moved in a few months ago. I'm used to more storage space, so I'm trying to find a place to store everything, and have everything look pretty at the same time. My focus right now is on the living room, and dining area. Next will be the kitchen, but there is not much to be done there, and then our bedroom and the spare room and bathrooms. I love my apartment, I love the crown molding, I love that it is more of a townhouse style so it doesn't feel like an apartment.

Here is some of my living room:

  It looks exactly like that right now, except the boxes have been unpacked. I have pictures of the other half of the living room, but I can't find them right now. anyway the walls are this dark grey color that we painted when we moved in, the throw pillows are shades of brown and grey, and the coach is off white. We definitely need table lamps and I want to hang artwork. I ordered this 16 x 20 canvas picture of us that should be arriving soon, I want to hang it on the wall in the first picture. I also want to get more framed pictures to hang on that wall. I'm trying to think of an accent color for that room to give it a punch of color. Do you have any color ideas? Oh there is a huge picture window on the other side of the room, I want to hang airy floor length white curtains on that window, and have them doing sort of a dramatic swoop on either side.

Here is my Dining Area:

The fake apples in the bowl are green, and the plates on the table are green and white. I know I want curtains on those windows, but I don't know if I should do white, or try to match the green of the apples, or a combination of both? and they have to be floor length, I adore floor length curtains. other than that, this area is pretty much done.

Once I complete these two areas then I will focus on the rest of the house.

Work Out Wednesdays

Ok so even though today is Thursday I owe you a daily post from Wednesday also, so I decided to do both.
Every Wednesday i am going to do a post with my stats that week and with pictures so that I can document my weight loss. Some of the areas I am measuring are not the traditional measurement places but there are some other parts of my body that I am monitoring also. SO here are the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Height: 5'2
Weight: 159
Chest:40 1/2 in.
Ribcage: 32 1/2 in.
Right Bicep: 13 in.
Left Bicep: 12 1/2 in.
Natural Waist:32 in.
Lower Stomach (Pooch area): 34 in.
Hips: 41 1/2 in.
Right Thigh: 25 1/2 in.
Left Thigh: 24 1/2 in.

UGH!!!!!!!!! The measurements are what freaks me out. I knew that I gained weight but I had no idea that equated to this on paper. Well, I know what I have to do to get in check.

I went to the gym last night for about an hour and did cardio on the treadmill. I plan on going back tomorrow and doing cardio and weights. I want to go to the gym at least 3 times a week, and I want to go in the mornings before work, but I am NOT a morning person, so we will see how that goes. The hardest part for me will be cutting back on carbs. I LOVE carbs, rice, pasta, bread, all of it. But I know if I want to get back to a size I am comfortable with, then I have to let some of my beloved carbs go (notice I didn't say ALL. lol).

my goals are to lose 20-30 pounds. That number depends on how I feel about how I look when I get to 20 pound weight loss. I may be good at that number. We will see.
I want to reduce inches on my waist (4 inches on natural, and 6 inches on lower, to get to a 28 inch waist), chest (4 1/2, to get to a 36) I would also like to reduce my cup size (I've grown to a DD!, but I don't know if that will be possible), arms (I have no idea what size, I guess just when the look good), and my thighs (I just want to tone them up, size doesn't matter). I also want to get rid of my back fat.  Whew! that's alot.

Those are my overall goals, I think for the moment I will focus on losing 20 pounds and reducing inches on my waistline. So next Wednesday, I will be back with my stats to see if what I am doing is working.

Who am I?

Hi! My name is T. I'm 27, married to a wonderful man, and live in Georgia. I have never done the blogging/ online diary thing before so I'm a little nervous about putting information on the web. I'm unsure if I will post full pictures of my face and the people in my life, but I am considering it. This blog is a jumble of things going on in my life. I will be blogging about God, my marriage, domestic duties, my job, decorating my home, my hair, fashion, health, finances, and anything else that comes to my mind. This is a collection of everything that makes me who I am. 

The name for this blog came from a t-shirt that I own. It's a brown shirt that says "chocolate makes me smile" DUH! lol. I bought it because it reminds me of my husband. I call him my chocolate. He's so dark and yummy! :) He calls me his caramel, so together we make a snicker bar. lol. (yes we are corny like that). Anyway, he is my chocolate and he makes me smile so hence, the name of the blog. I wanted my feelings about him to be involved in the blog because he is the 2nd most important aspect of my life (1st being God), so therefore his presence will be a big part of this blog. He is the love of my life, my true soul mate, and he makes my heart smile. :)

Hopefully my blog will be interesting enough for you to want to read about my life. Even if it isn't it will help me by putting my goals out there to help me keep track of what I have going on now, and what I plan to do in the future. I plan on doing at least one post per day on the topic for that specific day of the week, and if I feel the need to blog about anything else that day I will. Thanks for reading!