Hair for the Holidays (flat iron curls)

I have fine hairs and lots of them. I have always had a ton of hair, and learning to manage it has been a challenge. There is always the option of wearing it pin straight, but I really hate the idea of flat ironing all of it more than a few times a month. This is what my hair looks like out of the shower. Note: this is before I stepped out my front door into the humid swamp. 

Thanks to grunge making a comeback, the days of thin eyebrows, flat hair and hip-huggers have fallen to the wayside. Today, I can create a few beachy curls with my straightener and get on the road. Easy and stylish- that’s my kind of trend.

Using a flat iron to make curls came pretty easy to me (unlike liquid eyeliner), but I know for some ladies out there it is a challenge.

This post is designed to give you almostenough information so you can have easy breezy hair for the holidays. 

Start out by getting any moisture out of your hair. I’m not sure about the science of it, but sizzling hair clasped between hot irons doesn’t seem right to me.

Next, give that baby some volume. Use downward strokes with a comb to create a knot. If your hair is clean and fine, you may want to add some dry shampoo first. Once you’ve got a good rat’s nest, spray it with some hairspray and brush the top part (what people can see) gently so it looks smooth. Remember ladies, the higher the hair, the closer to God (or your deity of choice).

Heres the tough part. Grab a chunk (about 2 or 3 inches, we’re not trying to look like Shirley Temple here) and clasp your straightener about two inches from the scalp. On each piece you will switch off between rolling your iron forward or back, in the photos below, I am rolling it back. Either way, you will simultaniously move the straightener down the lock of hair and twist it- don’t un-clasp until the end. Spray each piece with hairspray after you release it. If you’re still confused, glance over the images below. If you’re stillllll confused, bless your heart.

 

Clasp

Turn

Twist

All the way to the end

Next, after you’re curled and sprayed, mess up all of your hard work with your fingers. You don’t want to look like you tried too hard. If you’re like me, you can just not try at all five days a week to really drive the point home.

Teeth?

…or no teeth?

All the way to the end

Tada! Easy peasy, now you’re ready to drink egg nog and open your gifts in style!

Great luck- if you have any more tips, leave them in the comments!

Wondering about Weight

I remember the first time I became aware of my weight. Around seven or eight, as I sat in my cute bikini at summer camp, a thinner girl told me that the number of rolls on her stomach times three equaled the amount of weight she had to lose to be skinny. That is sad, maybe it’s even more sad that I still remember that moment.

A year ago, almost to the day, I sat in a doctor’s office with tears in my eyes after realizing I had gained 45 pounds in the past four years. So began my journey back home to a healthy weight.

I have been blessed with long legs that work, a brain that thinks and dreams and countless other gifts, this I know. I also know that I was becoming unhealthy- my weight loss journey has not been about aesthetics, but about treating my body like the temple it is. Full disclosure, I am obsessed with my wardrobe and the fact that my clothing didn’t fit anymore was pretty heartbreaking for me too.

Today, I am thirty pounds lighter and I want to provide y’all with almostenough insight to become healthy again, or healthy for the first time or simply healthier than you already are.

I am writing this not because I am a doctor, not because I am an expert, not because my personal weight loss goal is reached and NOT because I want people who read this to dislike their bodies.

I am writing today as someone who has tried the fad diets, the expensive diets and the starving diets all to find out what my Mom and Dad have been telling me all along. There is no magic, there is no easy way and there is no quick fix.

Losing weight is hard and, a lot of the time, it isn’t fun. We have to stop paying money to huge businesses who make their living off of convincing us that skinny is the only way to be pretty and selling us pills and shakes that do nothing at all.

---

Here is what I know: Less in, more out. Make sure what you’re putting in your body is fresh and not full of chemicals and words you cannot pronounce. You’ll be surprised how much broccoli you can munch on for 150 calories!

Fruits and Veggies are your best diet friends

---

I read somewhere that sometimes when you believe you are hungry, you are actually thirsty. I have found this to be true. Keep drinking water. Your skin will look better, you will be less bloated and you’ll have more energy. Just those reasons are convincing enough for me, but I also hear enough agua makes your body’s metabolism work better.

Sixty-four ounces a day!

---

Try for thirty minutes of sweat a day. It doesn’t matter if it is moving boxes at work, chasing your kid around or enjoying a walk after dinner- just make some time. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Two things that help me get out for my walk are cute work out outfits and a great soundtrack. I’ve noticed even Walmart has some sassy stuff to sweat in lately!

Inspire a work out with some great gear

---

Finally, I want to remind you to give yourself time to succeed and allow yourself to slip up. Enjoy vacations and birthdays-  by the way you’re allowed to have drinks and girl talk with your friends. Below, you will find a year of my weight loss tracked with the Fitbit app. There are ups and downs. That is SO okay. You are only a human and there are so many more beautiful things about you than the number on a scale.

Don’t feel defeated

---

I hope that I have inspired everyone to take the stairs, eat your veggies and believe in yourself as you become a healthier version of already-amazing-you.

If you have any healthy or inspirational tips for those of us working on our fitness, please comment below.

Happy sweating,

Mary Kate