Love comes in many forms...

Okay, ya'll. I am SO excited about my most recent find and I absolutely cannot WAIT to let you in on it!  

Let me explain two situations that sound totally unrelated, but will make sense the further down you read.

Situation #1:  As of the past couple of months, I have been having some extreme hair loss.  Now, I'm not talking about "oh, look, I've shed and got some hair on my black shirt. Shoot!"  No, no. I'm talking like, I go to smooth my hair with my hands, and wads come out in my hand. I'm talking cleaning my comb out 4-5 times following my shower and wet head. I'm talking rolling my windows down and my hair flying all around my vehicle.  It's been bad.  It's made me want to cry at times. I've been through hair loss once before after my car accident. My third degree burns were pulling protein from my hair and using that protein to heal and form scars. Ergo, I lost so much hair, scalp was very, very visible. That was a very traumatic experience, and really shook my confidence.  This is not an experience I want to repeat.  (Just to not leave you hanging, my doctor found I am Zinc deficient and we have begun to take measures to fix that.)

Situation #2: My little girl, who is about to turn 7 next month, is 1) extremely dramatic and 2) extremely tender headed.  So when you combine these two things, combing her hair, any time of day, wet or dry, is a task neither of us look forward to. It involves a lot of yelling "ouch!" and "please stop!" and on occasion, tears.  Last week, she was diagnosed with bronchitis. This entailed 2 missed days of school. And instead of brushing her hair in those 2 days, I avoided it by just throwing her tangled mess into a ponytail to deal with later.

Now, finally, the product.

Last week, I made a trip to my hair stylist and a really close friend from high school, Jackie.  She was going to help me mask my hair loss with some of her coloring magic.  Beforehand, she had told me about these new Wet Brushes the shop had gotten in.  They were supposed to not pull as much hair as say, a comb or a regular brush, would.  After she colored and washed my hair, the dreaded time came of combing it.  I asked her to just go ahead and open a wet brush, use it and I would buy it.  I was desperate.  Using brushes on wet hair was always a big no-no, I thought. Especially on my fine hair which tangles easily.  Jackie ran this through my hair and it was just smooth and enjoyable. Barely any hair came out, and not once did I feel a tug of a tangle.  When she used a blow dryer on my hair, and continued using this brush...the end result was my hair was incredibly shiny, soft, and smooth.  I was beyond impressed.  And, still, only a few strands of hair in the brush.  I was shocked.

So I get home and the time has come that my child needs to shower and wash her hair.  Before getting in, I tell her to let me brush her hair so hopefully it wont be as tangled when she gets out and its wet.  I could see the knots in her hair. I took a deep breath......

And nothing. It was as smooth and gentle as it had been on my wet hair earlier.

No ouch, no tug, nothing. And completely tangle free when I finished.  She gasped when I was done and said "Mommy, can I have that?!"

I'm telling you guys, I don't know how its as wonderful as it is. I have no idea how it works so great. But it does!  You probably aren't having hair loss, but if you are, or if you or someone you know is tender headed..please get this product or tell someone else about it.  It was only $14- I expected more!- (yet, believe me, that's the MOST I have ever spent on a brush, but it was worth every penny!) and I got mine at Profiles in Jamestown, Ky (Across from Lee's). This thing is too good to keep secret!

I will end this blog with what the back of the packing says just so you know more about the science behind it:

IntelliFlex Bristles- For healthier, more beautiful hair.

Thin and strong yet flexible, our exclusive Intelliflex bristles are firm on one stroke but give on the next. You brush out tangles easily, with no more pulling, tugging or pain. The result: healthier hair, with no tangles, no split ends or hair loss.

SoftTips- for gentle styling, stroke after stroke

SoftTips, our exclusive, ultra poly tips, are "twice dipped" to stay soft, full and permanent. Combined with the adaptive flexibility of our IntelliFlex bristles, they help protect hair and are ideal for sensitve scalps.

Designed for Stylists

Wet Brush makes detangling a lot more comfortable- for your hair and for your hand. Our specially rubberized handle provides stylists with a soft, sure grip that makes this brush a stylist's best friend.

Featuring AquaVents TM

new shower friendly design

Great for use in the shower and back bar to comb through conditioner and treatments for even and thorough distribution.  

If you get one, comment and let me know how totally in love with it you are!!!!

Every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top.

Ok, let me start this by saying that I realize
that I'm not a size 2. Heck, I'm not even in the single digits.
My goal isn't to be skinny.
It is to be healthy and to say at the end of the day that I've done everything possible
that day to be as healthy as I can.
So, when I give advice on eats or exercise,
I am no way endorsing *points self up and down*
"all of this."

With that out of the way, I would like to tell you about a recent way of eating that I have found to be very beneficial in health AND numbers.  I've had a family member take on the lifestyle of less carbs, high protein (LCHP). This particular family member has been seeing good results in weight loss. Watching her go through this transformation, not only mind, but body--I started getting interested.  Now don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those fanatical cut-out-all-carbs people. In fact, when she showed me her "DO NOT EAT" list, I blew it off because everything on that list was my FAVORITE FOOD EVER. No way Jose was I giving that stuff up.

But then I watched this video on youtube...look it up: it's called "Butter Makes My Pants Fall Off."...and it just all kind of clicked.  To sum up this 26 minute video...eating high fat, low carb food makes sense because when one exercises, what's being burnt is FAT...not CARBS.  This helped me understand why I was attending a very high intense exercise class an hour a day, 4 days a week and I hadn't lost a single pound! Although I was eating everything labeled Fat Free, Reduced Fat, and I counted every blasted calorie.  I started examining my day and it often looked like this: Breakfast....Waffle (carbs!) with Jif Peanut Butter (carbs!) and banana slices (MAJOR CARBS!). Lunch...baked potato (carbs!), mini corn on the cob (carbs!), and usually boneless, skinless, chicken (GOOD CHOICE!).  Supper... Healthy Life 35 Calorie Bread to make a Peanut Butter sandwich (carbs, carbs!)  Typically, one soda a day (carbs!) and snack usually consisted of a Kind or Granola Bar (carbs, carbs!)

As you can see, my meals were by no means high in calories or quantity. But check out those carbs! I was definitely made aware of it. Did you know carbs immediately turn into sugar once it enters your body?  I thought NO WAY will I ever get Diabetes like what runs in my family. I don't eat sweets!  Well friends, I can tell you this: I've been going insanely over on carbs and sugars for a loooong time because I was not aware of all the facts.   And now I'm in the process of learning and I'm excited to let you all in on the secrets too!  One thing that scared me was "what in the world am I going to eat?!" I LOVE potatoes, breads, popcorn, bananas, chips, pasta, soda!  I've found sites on facebook that often share recipes and ideas. Plus you can find lots of carb free recipes online. Here's a few of my recent screenshots, that I plan on trying ASAP.

I'm so excited to try the buffalo chicken stuffed with cheese!  AND hard boiled eggs have become one of my favorite breakfasts! And snacks!  I still get to enjoy my caramel coffee. Now let me tell you about my typical eating day:  Breakfast...either 2 hard boiled eggs or Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt.  Lunch: A meat (chicken or beef usually) and one carb favorite. I usually pick a potato or corn but never both the same day now.  Gotta pick and choose!  I have been pairing this with another green veggie, whether that be brussel sprouts, grilled asparagus or green beans.  Supper: I'm liking breakfast for supper currently...bacon, hard boiled egg, a slice of toast with butter and a slice of cheese.

A lot of people who are really strict on their carbs will keep their carb intake around 20 g a day, or 5% of their day..they also do 20% protein and 75% fats. . I try to do 25% carbs (or 75 g--recently ive been shooting for 50 g), 20% protein (55-60 g) and 55% fats.  When I look at past food tracking on MyFitnessPal...my carbs used to be, on average, 56-58%.

My first week in upping my water intake and little to no soda (6 oz or less if I were to slip) and carb watching...I lost 3 pounds.  And I was only able to fit in a workout 2 days that week.

The only downfall I've seen is my calorie intake.  Carb watchers don't typically pay attention to calorie intake.  However, I've been conditioned the past 10 years to do that so I still take a peek.  I've been averaging around 800-900 cals. I push really hard for 1000. But I stay satisfied and full and I really have little to no desire to snack.  I will be talking to my dietician tomorrow and try to learn how to balance all this stuff out.  Until then though, look at your own daily menu.  Start tracking on the free app called MyFitnessPal (hey, add me: tiffanykeaton) and see where you are. Watch that youtube video. There's also an interesting view on Netflix called Fed Up.

Get passionate about your health!  YOLO, right? :)