From the category archives:

Weight Loss

Don’t want sweat drenched hair? I’ve got the workout for you!

by kcurly on June 10, 2011

in Body and Mind,Fitness,Tips,Uncategorized,Weight Loss

If you’ve been around enough African American females, then you’ve probably heard the dismay expressed over sweating too much and ruining one’s hair. In fact, you may have been the one to share this particular sentiment ( I know I have!).

No, it’s no secret that many of us avoid swimming and working out because of our hair. Most people would associate this with just relaxed heads but I’ve heard many a natural lady complain about a twistout going awry because of an intense workout.

Though I still think everyone should get out there and workout even if you’ve got freshly a freshly flat ironed ‘do, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that it’s easy to maintain such a style when you’re sweating like a hog.

Having said that, there’s no reason to sit there like a lump on  log either. So, here are a few ways to keep active with less possibility of ruining your ‘do.

Yoga


Downward Dog…Crane…Frog…Cobra…

No, not a trip to the zoo. It’s a trip to a relaxed and toned body!

Yoga can be for anyone. Whether you’re old or young, healthy or sick, yoga can be incorporated to fit your needs. No, you don’t have to look like old dude in the picture above. There are some very simple poses that don’t require you to turn into a human pretzel.

Here are some benefits of yoga:

  • In some individuals,it improves blood circulation, heart rate, respiratory rate, and cardiac endurance.
  • It can improve your posture
  • More vigorous forms of yoga can improve muscle tone

Even though yoga has seeds in Buddhism and Hinduism, many other religions have found it to expand prayer and meditation as well. If you’ve never tried mediation, please do. On a stressful day, it really helps me to pull things together.

Most gyms that I’ve been to usually offer yoga classes, but you can do it at home. There are plenty of resources online and at the bookstore.

Tai Chi



Have you ever wanted to say that you are practiced in martial arts? Well, ta chi might be for you! (Do I sound like an informercial?)

It’s a soft martial art but still good for your body. I’ll admit, that most people I see doing it are older but I’ve tried it and found it to be very relaxing as well as a good stretch for my body. You basically perform a series of poses while moving gracefully…I’m not graceful, but even I felt my gracefulness boost a bit :)

Even though you usually see people moving slowly when doing these poses, there are some faster paced forms of tai chi as well.

Potential benefits:

  • Reducing anxiety and depression
  • Improving balance, flexibility and muscle strength
  • Reducing falls in older adults
  • Improving sleep quality
  • Lowering blood pressure
  • Improving cardiovascular fitness in older adult
  • Relieving chronic pain
  • Increasing energy, endurance and agility
  • Improving overall feelings of well-being

Strength Training

We all know that there is a big difference between being flabby skinny:

and being toned skinny:

Even if you do have a lot of fat still, having some toned muscle under it can make it appear firmer. Other benefits of strength training:

  • Improves muscle tone (for both appearance and functional reasons like posture)
  • Protects bone health
  • Disease prevention (strength training can be as helpful as medication for arthritis)
  • Improves mood
  • Boost energy levels
  • Burns calories both during and after (you burn more calories at rest)

This site is so cool because it not only shows you different strength training exercises, but it gives you a video short (some with both male and female versions) of each exercise. I love it!

Other suggestions

If the above ideas don’t work for you, you can try:

  • toning down your usual workout. Take a stroll outside for pleasure.
  • working out indoors
  • For  other tips on working out while wearing your hair straight, click here. There you will find how I keep up my natural flat ironed hair and still stay in my workout routine.

I want to add that this is one reason I could never go back to relaxers or wearing my hair pressed all the time. Even though I understand the sentiment, I think it’s ridiculous to lose the benefits of exercise simply for hair.

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My Weight Loss Update

by kcurly on December 15, 2009

in Fitness,Hair Accessories,Weight Loss

So here are my weight loss update pictures. This year I think I’ve lost about 10-13 pounds. Not a big deal , I suppose, but better than gaining or not losing at all. I’ve also gained muscle tone and am probably more physically fit than I have ever been.

I am a bit ashamed to report that I did not complete my half marathon that was scheduled this past Saturday. I had been sick and missed a lot of runs, along with a few other excuses I won’t go into. The point is that I did not do it. It’s not often that I set my eyes on a race and don’t do it.

Hair related: I’m upset that I didn’t get to wear my newest Tomoka’s Twist that the owner Carmen was kind enough to send to me just for my race. (Thank you!) I will wear it, this I promise you!

In other health related news, I had an appointment with my gyno yesterday and she was very happy with my weight loss since last year. She’s a big proponent of losing weight slowly. She says that the slower one loses weight, the more likely one is to keep it off.

This is true, I’ve read it time and time again. Therefore, I am trying to look at my slower weight loss in a more positive light.

Here’s something I’d like to get everyone’s input on…I am thinking about starting a weight loss/fitness/racing blog. I would love to know if there’d be any interest in it.

Triathlon season is starting up in a few months and I’d like to do a few in addition to more runs. I don’t want to overwhelm Newly Natural with fitness posts, though I know that many of you enjoy the combination. That’s not to say that I would never have health/fitness related posts on NN since hair care often ties into fitness.

If you don’t want to comment, you can leave an anonymous post or email me at kcurly@newlynatural.com. I always appreciate honesty, even if it’s not something I agree with.

Thanks for reading! I’ve got some more giveaways coming up in the next few weeks, stay tuned!

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Procrastination Station

by kcurly on November 23, 2009

in Fitness,Weight Loss

I’m a big procrastinator.

I admit, but I’m not either proud or ashamed of it. I try to keep myself on task for most things (you know, important things like hair) but a lot of things I tend to put off until “later”. This undisclosed time of “later” can be several hours or several weeks. But I’m realizing that sometimes, things don’t need to wait until “later”.

Weight loss and getting healthy is one of those things. The fall is a crucial time of year for people. The holidays start coming and with it, a lot of stress, a lot of get-togethers, and a lot of food! People just tend to eat more around the holidays. Personally, I know that there have already been a ton of treats and candy that I’ve had to say no to. If  I thought Halloween was bad before, Halloween with a child has been murder. Everything involving children is like a magnet for terrible (and delicious) foods.

So what do we do during this crucial time? All summer we worried about losing weight to look good in that swim suit or summer dress. But with the holidays coming, a lot of people toss that to the side. They eat and eat and eat because “It’s Christmas”, “It’s thanksgiving” , “It’s Kwanza”.  “I’ll do better in the new year”.

It’s a vicious cycle…one that I have been through a few times. After the guilt of all the holiday eating, everyone runs to join the gym and starts a super strict diet of celery sticks and baked chicken. For about a month, the gym is packed to the brim. The usual memebers take in all in stride. They may grumble a bit, but they wait it out.

Because they know what I know: Only a small percentage of these newly hardcore gym goers will be there in a month. Eventually, they fall back into their old ways, maybe pick up the exercise a bit for the summer, hit the holidays again, and the cycle continues.

So you might say, what’s the big deal? You may have read in the media that the average person gains seven pounds during the holidays. It turns out that the truth is closer to one pound a year for the average person. For the person who is already overweight, the weight gain is closer to five pounds.

The results of this study:

The prevalence of obesity continues to rise and controversy remains regarding the underlying specific causes of this trend. Recently, the magnitude of holiday weight gain and its contribution to annual weight gain were examined in a convenience sample of 195 adults. On average, weight gain during the 6-week winter period from Thanksgiving through New Year averaged only 0.37 kg. However, weight gain was greater among individuals who were overweight or obese, and 14% gained >2.3 kg (5 lb). In addition, among the entire population, weight gain during the 6-week holiday season explained 51% of annual weight gain. These results suggest that holiday weight gain may be an important contributor to the rising prevalence of obesity, even though absolute values for weight gain in this study were less than anticipated. Further studies using representative populations are needed to confirm these findings.

One pound a year still not a big deal? This article written by the National Institute of Health says that the problem lies in the fact that most people don’t lose that one pound. So in ten years, you have an extra ten pounds.

Of course holiday eating isn’t the sole reason people are overweight,but every little bit hurts when you’re trying to get healthy.

I am facing a lot of temptation right now and there’s more around the corner. I do have a treat now and then, and I know I’ll have more this season. But I’m still exercising and I’m stopping when I’m full. I also say “No thanks” to a lot of sweets that I would’ve gobbled up in the past.

But somehow I have persevered. I am losing this weight slowly but this fall I am  down 3 pounds thus far. That may not be a lot to some people, but slow and steady wins the race I’m told.

So, my point to this article?

You can still enjoy holiday food in moderation. You can still keep up your exercise through the holiday season. Make it a family activity after the Thanksgiving meal and take a walk around the neighborhood. Or play with your new Wii fit after Christmas dinner.

Whatever you do, don’t say “What the hell, it’s Christmas, I can just work this off in January”, eat two more pieces of pie, and then go veg out on the couch.

Know that I’m right there with you trying to keep myself in check!

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