I'm a slave....
...to my hair. I hang my head in shame. Since I began my quest to be fit and fab in 2011 I've exercised 4-5 sometimes 6 times in one week. Some days I worked out twice. I have never been more prouder of myself. I've felt good and I've been eating better. My digestive system seems to be functioning better. I no longer get painful bloating that I used to get daily that left me looking like I was 5 months pregnant. My body is getting more toned and I'm 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight! That means I've lost a total of 17 pounds in the last 6 months. Go me!
But then something happened this weekend that put a halt to all exercise. I got my hair done. Now for those of you not familiar to the black experience of getting your hair relaxed/straightened let me walk you through it. First you call up your hairdresser and ask if she has any spots. Of course she'll tell you yes and gives you a time to come in only to find that she has about 4 other clients sitting there waiting for the same stylist. So you wait. Luckily for me I brought my laptop and was able to work on a few things while I waited. It didn't take her long to get started on my hair, she applied the relaxer then I let it sit for about ten minutes then it's time to rinse.
Unfortunately that day I happened to put oil on my hair and apparently that's a no-no because the relaxer bonds with the oil and makes it impossible to wash out. So it took the woman almost 15 minutes to shampoo it out. Then she put in a deep conditioner and she said to sit 10 minutes but I ended up sitting for 20. Then after she rinsed I had to wait for my hairdresser to finish with like 3 people ahead of me so I ended up waiting another 30 minutes just to get rollers set in my hair. After that it takes an hour for my hair to dry and about 15 minutes for her to style it. If you're keeping track of the time it was a total of 4 hours I spent in there.
So 4 hours and $65 later, I leave the place with my head held high and my hair bouncing in the wind.
I get home and my husband loves it even my 2 year old notices something is different about mommy's hair. I go out to dinner with hubby to celebrate Valentine's Day. I get home wrap it up and do up again the next day. And then reality suddenly hits me when I realized that I haven't worked out since Thursday!
Gasp that's 3 whole days without working out!!! I immediately start thinking about fitting in some time to work out but then I walk past a mirror and see my bouncy hair and stop.
"I can't work out" I tell myself. "My hair will get all sweaty and won't be bouncy anymore." I kick myself for being so vain about my hair and try to tell myself that your hair might not be bouncy but you'll have nice strong muscles to offset it.
My hair isn't not pleased. It automatically goes to battle with my mind. It reminds me how much time and money and effort it took to look this good. Surely working out can wait a day or two or 7 so that you can share your new found pretty hair with the world before you ruin it with sweat. And I'm on the side of my hair here so I go another day without working out. I go to work on Monday and show off my pretty hair and a new scarf I bought over the weekend. Some notice, most don't but that's okay I feel pretty and that's all that matters.
But finally my mind finally takes control of my hair and decided that enough is enough, it's been 5 days since my last work out. I've set goals here. I want to be fit and fab this year and rock a bikini on the beach. So Tuesday morning I wake up early and I work out and just like I thought I sweated a lot and by the time I was off to work my hair was no longer bouncing but a big puff ball. Sigh....
Those of you not African-American are probably wondering what's the big deal? Just wash and go. Well our hair isn't wash and go ready. We can't wash our hair everyday or else it would be extremely dry and the National Forestry Association would have to slap "Fire hazard" warning signs on all our backs for fear we might start a forest fire.
And for me it's doubly worse because one I HATE washing my hair, two I HATE blow drying my hair because it's so thick and takes forever to blow dry. And three I'm so bad at blow drying that my hair looks like a big puff ball when I'm done. Nothing like the nice sleek bouncy tresses my hairdresser can do. I guess that's why she's the professional.
I'm trying to get over my hair to start my rigorous workouts again but it truly is a psychological process. I can see now why black athletes always have some type of weave, braids or straight jacked up hair. You can't have pretty hair and work out everyday. You're going to have to sacrifice one or the other. It's probably why you never see a lot of sistas at the gym.That darn hair will get them every time. You can't look good and get a hard workout at the same time. You're going to have to get down and dirty. I think I just need one more day and I'll be over my hair and start working out again. LOL
Unfortunately that day I happened to put oil on my hair and apparently that's a no-no because the relaxer bonds with the oil and makes it impossible to wash out. So it took the woman almost 15 minutes to shampoo it out. Then she put in a deep conditioner and she said to sit 10 minutes but I ended up sitting for 20. Then after she rinsed I had to wait for my hairdresser to finish with like 3 people ahead of me so I ended up waiting another 30 minutes just to get rollers set in my hair. After that it takes an hour for my hair to dry and about 15 minutes for her to style it. If you're keeping track of the time it was a total of 4 hours I spent in there.
So 4 hours and $65 later, I leave the place with my head held high and my hair bouncing in the wind.
I get home and my husband loves it even my 2 year old notices something is different about mommy's hair. I go out to dinner with hubby to celebrate Valentine's Day. I get home wrap it up and do up again the next day. And then reality suddenly hits me when I realized that I haven't worked out since Thursday!
Gasp that's 3 whole days without working out!!! I immediately start thinking about fitting in some time to work out but then I walk past a mirror and see my bouncy hair and stop.
"I can't work out" I tell myself. "My hair will get all sweaty and won't be bouncy anymore." I kick myself for being so vain about my hair and try to tell myself that your hair might not be bouncy but you'll have nice strong muscles to offset it.
My hair isn't not pleased. It automatically goes to battle with my mind. It reminds me how much time and money and effort it took to look this good. Surely working out can wait a day or two or 7 so that you can share your new found pretty hair with the world before you ruin it with sweat. And I'm on the side of my hair here so I go another day without working out. I go to work on Monday and show off my pretty hair and a new scarf I bought over the weekend. Some notice, most don't but that's okay I feel pretty and that's all that matters.
But finally my mind finally takes control of my hair and decided that enough is enough, it's been 5 days since my last work out. I've set goals here. I want to be fit and fab this year and rock a bikini on the beach. So Tuesday morning I wake up early and I work out and just like I thought I sweated a lot and by the time I was off to work my hair was no longer bouncing but a big puff ball. Sigh....
And for me it's doubly worse because one I HATE washing my hair, two I HATE blow drying my hair because it's so thick and takes forever to blow dry. And three I'm so bad at blow drying that my hair looks like a big puff ball when I'm done. Nothing like the nice sleek bouncy tresses my hairdresser can do. I guess that's why she's the professional.
I'm trying to get over my hair to start my rigorous workouts again but it truly is a psychological process. I can see now why black athletes always have some type of weave, braids or straight jacked up hair. You can't have pretty hair and work out everyday. You're going to have to sacrifice one or the other. It's probably why you never see a lot of sistas at the gym.That darn hair will get them every time. You can't look good and get a hard workout at the same time. You're going to have to get down and dirty. I think I just need one more day and I'll be over my hair and start working out again. LOL
LOL, may I suggest a lacefront to avoid being a slave to the hair.
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