Sunday, August 19, 2012

Update. Medical School, Weight loss and Hair

I wanted to drop an update about life and other things going on.
I'm finished with my Masters Program, YAY! 
I'm re-applying to medical this cycle, Boo...

I planned on taking the MCAT this September, but due to time constraints I have to push it back to January 2013. Since I paid for a Kaplan course, I'll be starting that up again pretty soon to prepare. That's gives me a butt-load of time to prepare and room to fall behind a-little.

I got a job as a Tech in a local Operating Room and lost 15 pounds so far since starting that position, YAY! Thank goodness,  this past year was full of taking medical school courses that required being in class for 2-6 hours and studying for at least 6 hours additionally, everyday. That's ALOT of sitting. Before that I spent about 4 months prepping for the MCAT in 2011. So in total I gained 25-35 lbs in the past 18 months. :( From this experience I learned that I cannot push exercise off because of studying, I need to stay active and watch what I eat especially when I get accepted in to med school next year (crosses fingers) 2 years of non-stop studying. I want to plan my food and exercise. Hopefully I can lose this last 20 lbs of extra weight and get to my starting weight at least and lose more from there.   I have Jillian Michael's Body Revolution that I want to restart very soon. I love that with Jillian's routines I build muscle pretty fast.

Apparently there's a rumor out there that 4b/c naturals cannot grow long hair unless it's heat trained. I have a good mix of 4a/b/c (mostly b/c). I know it's NOT true because I can think of 2-3 naturals with 4bc hair that have long hair.
I figured out more things about my hair that help me ALOT in retaining length and moisture. 
1) My hair is VERY porous aka high porosity. (my hair soaks up and loses water very fast)
2) Quite a few products that I tried and tossed aside have other uses my hair likes.

To address my porosity issue, I've been using the Roux porosity control conditioner after every wash/condition it helps.  I wash/rinse and condition my hair  in twisted sections rubber-banded at the end. It helps alot with my hair staying untangled during wash sessions.
I can use hair milks. I've tried Carol's daughter hair milk and pudding, Shea Moisture's Curl smoothie, Karen's body beautiful hair milk and nectar and none of these worked so I assumed hair milk wasn't for me at all. For moisture, I found that for me it seems to be better to let my hair get damp or dry completely then apply a moisturizer. I realized one day when my hair was extra dry, I could just apply certain hair milks and it added moisture back to my hair. There are only two hair milks that really work for my hair Oyin's hair dew and Pura Body Naturals Murumuru hair milk.

I was really surprised to figure out that yes even though I have thick, tightly curled, non-silky, dry hair my hair reallly likes the lighter hair moisturizers. Oyin's Hair dew and PBN's Murumuru milk are light moisturizers that really soak into my hair and make it feel more pliable. The heavier milks don't work for me at all like PBN's Sapote Hair Milk or KBB hair nectar, what does work for me is sealing with shea/evoo/coconut the absolute best sealer is Oyin's sugar pomades! I set them aside thinking they were just finishing pomades. 

Oh was I wrong, those sugar pomades are the best for holding moisture in after a moisture and seal session. My hair felt so moisturized and soft for the first time, ever. I found my staple products hiding out in my closet. I've honestly been telling everyone I possibly can for the past week about it..lol.
With all this info I've found about my hair it really helps me with the new products I try. For example, in this months curlbox I got two full sized moisture products the Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Pudding and Cantu coconut curling cream. CD did nothing for my wet/damp hair , I still have to try it on dry hair. Cantu CCC worked better for me on wet/damp hair. If these products don't work better then my staples then I'll be swapping them.

Staples:
DIY water/glycerin mix
DIY hair butter (with shea, tacuma, coconut oil, argan, beeswax, evoo and castor) *
* I may leave the castor oil out since the oyin products have alot of castor
Oyin hair Juices ( I use sparingly 3 bottles last me over one year)
Sta-Sof-Fro Spray
PuraBody Naturals Murumuru Hair Milk/ Oyin Hair Dew
Oyin Sugar Pomades (sealant)

2 comments:

Ashe said...

Ooh, girl, I feel you on gaining weight while in grad school. Over the course of my 2 year program, I think I put on about 50 pounds. It was due to non-stop classes and work programs, and it's hard to find time to eat healthy and move. Congrats on the recent success and going into medical school with a plan to eat healthy & keep moving!

Kemi said...

Thanks for visiting my little blog :) That weight gain was the worst, because you feel so stretched for time already. Hopefully, I'll hear some good news soon about the med schools I've applied to so far.

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