Ep. 267 Summer Health & Beauty Tips From Weight Loss to Natural Hair Care

[00:00:00] is dedicated to helping women who want to analyze, apply and amplify their God-given gifts.

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[00:01:23] Summer is right around the corner and I am not exactly where I want to be health-wise,

[00:01:29] but that's okay.

[00:01:30] I'm just going to dust myself off and try again.

[00:01:34] And so in this video, I'm going to be sharing some health and beauty tips that I want

[00:01:39] to share with you because I think you're going to find them to be extremely beneficial

[00:01:43] as well.

[00:01:45] So let's go ahead and tackle the health aspect first.

[00:01:51] So in terms of my health, I do not have a horrible diet.

[00:01:55] I eat pretty healthy, but I do have a sweet tooth.

[00:02:00] I have got a sweet tooth and quite frankly, you know, and it's not like I'm terrible.

[00:02:07] I just want to be at least like 20 or 30 pounds lighter than where I currently am, to be quite

[00:02:14] honest.

[00:02:15] And I've got a sweet tooth.

[00:02:18] So that has been very interesting because I have a very healthy diet, but it seems like

[00:02:26] as I've gotten older, if I just look at something sweet, I seem to attract those

[00:02:33] pounds right away.

[00:02:36] And I don't understand because that never used to be the case for me.

[00:02:40] So at this point in my life, what I'm doing is I'm very, very intentional about looking

[00:02:46] at my sugar intake.

[00:02:48] So what I have been doing, which has been working so far, I've lost like five pounds,

[00:02:53] but I've been taking a look at my sugar intake and believe it or not, I've just been

[00:03:00] trying to have sweets on the weekend.

[00:03:02] So I have sweets, you know, I allow myself.

[00:03:04] I'm not depriving myself.

[00:03:06] So twice a week, I have dessert and I typically leave that for the weekend.

[00:03:12] So Saturday and Sunday, it's just easier for me.

[00:03:15] That's a way to celebrate the mere fact that I made it, you know, to the end of the week.

[00:03:20] You know, so that's a way for me to celebrate is to have dessert on the weekend.

[00:03:26] Something that I've noticed while I've been making sure to reduce my sugar intake

[00:03:31] is that I have been amazed by how many ingredients are in foods that shouldn't be there.

[00:03:42] Like there are ingredients that don't need to be there.

[00:03:44] OK, and I'm positive this is part of the reason why we have issues with obesity.

[00:03:50] We have issues with our health, you know, the chronic diseases, all those type of things

[00:03:56] because there are so many ingredients going inside of our food that we don't even know about.

[00:04:01] And so shout out to my Spanish teacher, Juliette, truly appreciate you for putting me on to this app.

[00:04:08] I believe it's called Yucca.

[00:04:10] Sorry, I'm going to leave it in the description, but it's a Y-U-K-A.

[00:04:14] And so I've been using this app when I go shopping to look at the food and, you know,

[00:04:23] different products that I buy, skincare, makeup, you know, they've got what else?

[00:04:28] They have like cleaning stuff as well, making sure that those products do not contain harmful chemicals

[00:04:35] and are not high in sugar.

[00:04:38] So in terms of food, I'm looking to make sure that it's, you know, the foods that I'm choosing

[00:04:43] don't have a high sugar intake, you know, I'm not trying to increase that level.

[00:04:47] But also in terms of my overall health, making sure that the cosmetics that I'm wearing

[00:04:56] and my finger, the cleaning stuff that I use are not containing chemicals that are found to have

[00:05:05] ingredients that, you know, that cause cancer.

[00:05:08] You know, it's amazing to me how many products in, yeah, products in the U.S.

[00:05:16] are okay to be sold in the U.S., but we can't sell them overseas because the folks overseas

[00:05:22] actually do a decent job in regulating what comes into their country.

[00:05:28] You know, it's amazing to me how foods that we deem okay, manufacturers know that they're

[00:05:35] not in a position to sell those foods overseas because those foods have chemicals that

[00:05:40] countries overseas have banned.

[00:05:43] You know, think about that.

[00:05:45] Food for thought, right?

[00:05:47] So that's one way that I have been trying to increase my health,

[00:05:53] my ability to be healthier.

[00:05:55] Another way, I'm taking a look at my list because I don't want to forget anything,

[00:05:58] another way is that I've been taking more frequent breaks during the day.

[00:06:03] So I work from home and to be quite honest, it can get a little daunting if I'm working

[00:06:11] and found in the middle of working on a project.

[00:06:13] I am one of those people that likes to work straight through, so I have to force myself to

[00:06:18] take breaks.

[00:06:20] I don't know why I'm just one of those people.

[00:06:22] I guess I'm afraid, oh, I'm not going to forget where I was.

[00:06:25] But anyway, I've been very good about taking breaks.

[00:06:29] You know, my little Apple watch has been reminding me when to get up, take a break.

[00:06:34] I also have an app installed that reminds me too, when I get up and take those breaks,

[00:06:44] I make sure that I go get water as well because water, taking those breaks,

[00:06:50] making sure that you reduce your sugar intake, all of that works together in order to make

[00:06:56] sure that you are healthier.

[00:06:57] So that's something that I'm really, really been trying to be consistent about doing.

[00:07:04] Another thing that I've been focused on is making sure that I'm consistent with my exercise.

[00:07:09] Oh my goodness, that has been so hard lately.

[00:07:13] It seems like every time I get ready to go exercise, something happens or quite frankly,

[00:07:19] I just don't feel up to it.

[00:07:21] Like I'm just very sluggish.

[00:07:22] So I realize how important it is for me to exercise.

[00:07:26] So I do my best if I'm not able to exercise in the morning.

[00:07:32] Immediately after work, I make sure quite frankly, since I work from home that I'm already dressed

[00:07:39] around like 345 to make sure that I'm in a position to be able to exercise immediately

[00:07:49] right after work.

[00:07:49] So I don't get into a rut where I feel like if I've got that space in between,

[00:07:54] most likely I'm not going to do it.

[00:07:55] I'm just not.

[00:07:57] So I've gotten into that habit of getting dressed in my workout clothes right before

[00:08:03] I get off of work so I can just immediately go straight to exercising.

[00:08:07] And so the type of exercises that I have been doing lately are extreme hip hop with Phil,

[00:08:14] extreme, the extreme compound.

[00:08:17] I'm going to leave all this information in the description if you guys have not tried

[00:08:21] extreme hip hop with Phil.

[00:08:23] I don't know where y'all have been because that is one of the best exercises.

[00:08:27] I thoroughly enjoy the stepper robics that he has to offer.

[00:08:33] And I also love it so much that I signed up for the extreme compound, which is a virtual

[00:08:42] program that enables you to actually take different classes with all the other coaches

[00:08:48] that teach at the extreme compound.

[00:08:50] So that's something I highly suggest you check out, thoroughly enjoy it.

[00:08:54] And I think you will too.

[00:08:56] Another thing that I've been working on is weightlifting.

[00:09:00] As you get older, you're going to want to increase your muscle mass, okay?

[00:09:07] Especially as women and please don't buy into the notion of thinking,

[00:09:13] oh, I don't want to get too bulky.

[00:09:14] Trust me.

[00:09:16] Unless you're doing like something crazy, you're not going to be in a position where

[00:09:20] you're going to get bulky.

[00:09:22] If anything, you're going to gain that, you're going to end up having like that

[00:09:27] gain that athletic tone look.

[00:09:30] So I make sure that I am incorporating weightlifting into my routine.

[00:09:36] And then last but not least, in this one, I'm a little embarrassed to share,

[00:09:41] but I'm going to do it anyway is that I have been incorporating swimming into my routine.

[00:09:49] And you're probably wondering, okay, why are you embarrassed to share that?

[00:09:51] And the reason I'm embarrassed to share that is because recently I decided to cross

[00:09:59] learning how to swim off of my bucket list.

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[00:10:41] Back to the show. And the reason it was on my bucket list to begin with is because,

[00:10:49] you know, we just didn't grow up and we didn't have the ability to take additional,

[00:10:55] like, have money for classes, like for swim classes. So I never knew how to swim.

[00:11:01] And I remember twice in my life being invited to go to a pool parties with my friends

[00:11:08] and almost drowned twice, right? Because I still wanted to like think in my mind that I could do

[00:11:14] it but I didn't have the skills, man. I didn't have the skills. So I finally decided to sign up

[00:11:18] for swim classes, shout out to Lakeside Swim School because they are so blessed to have one

[00:11:27] of the best instructors, Matthew Sharp, I call him Matt. He is one of the most patient people you

[00:11:35] will ever meet. He loves teaching adults and kids how to swim and he's just an amazing person,

[00:11:43] very kind, very patient. Let me stress patient because boy, we had some struggles, all right?

[00:11:51] We had some struggles to get past my fear of being in the water but I am happy to report

[00:12:00] that this girl can swim. I mean, I'm like no Michael Phelps but you know, I'm okay and I know

[00:12:08] that I'll get even stronger by continuing my classes with Matt. So shout out to Matt. Thank

[00:12:13] you so much for your patience and just being so dedicated to your craft because I literally

[00:12:22] thought this dude was a fish because I mean he can swim back and forth without like taking a breath.

[00:12:31] I mean it's just crazy, it's crazy. So anyway, these are the ways that I have been focusing

[00:12:37] on my physical health and oh, one more that I want to add to this list is making sure that I get a

[00:12:45] decent amount of sleep. So that's one thing that has been very difficult for me to maintain lately.

[00:12:52] I've just had a lot of things on my mind and it's been difficult for me to get to sleep lately

[00:12:59] because of all these things on my mind and I have to remind myself, whoa, you know, when

[00:13:04] I start to worry, the Bible says do not worry right but it's easier said than done. So when I

[00:13:11] catch myself slipping into the fact that I'm starting to worry and I'm trying to drift off the

[00:13:16] sleep, that reminds me that I need to increase my daily intake of the word. So that's last but

[00:13:25] not least in my health part of the segment of this video is that I need to make sure

[00:13:32] that I'm careful about the information that I'm consuming. So I mean you don't need me to tell you

[00:13:37] there's a lot of chaos and destruction happening in this world, right? And I've just had so many

[00:13:42] other personal things that have been causing me to be concerned and upset about and it brings

[00:13:49] me great joy when I'm able to take a break and listen to some of my favorite podcasts. So

[00:13:57] some of my favorite podcasts that help encourage me and make sure that I stay on this,

[00:14:03] you know, the straight and narrow path if you will. I love Tony Evans. I've been listening to

[00:14:10] Charles F. Stanley unlocking greatness with Zinja Glass. She's just amazing. Love her. And

[00:14:17] Lewis Howes in Brown Ambition. So those podcasts have literally been kind of on rotate

[00:14:25] within my little podcast directory. Again, I'm really big on always continuing to learn. I am a

[00:14:32] lifelong learner. Love that so much. And I noticed when I listened to these podcasts, it calms me

[00:14:41] down. It really does. What you put inside of you is what comes out, right? So when I'm

[00:14:50] stressed or whatever, I can go to a particular sermon or if I'm confused about or want to just

[00:14:57] learn curious about a particular subject, I can just go to one of those podcasts and I know

[00:15:01] that they're going to have the information that I need. And so now I want to move on to the

[00:15:07] beauty part, right? So the beauty part. One of them right now is I'm getting into the habit

[00:15:18] of embracing different versatility when it comes to my hair. So normally, I am a natural

[00:15:25] hair girl, all right? So most of the time you will see my hair in like a little pro or you'll

[00:15:31] see it straighten. But again, no chemicals are in my hair. But lately, I have the opportunity

[00:15:40] to experience what it was like wearing a wig with love me hair and that's what this is right

[00:15:46] now. Yes. With love me hair, they have amazing, amazing wigs that look very natural. Again, I'm

[00:15:55] a newbie when it comes to wigs, but this was just so simple to pull off. I really love the wig

[00:16:02] that they send. It's very lightweight. It's very sturdy. I mean, like, it looks good. I think

[00:16:09] it looks good. They have a lot of blueless lace lace front wigs. And so it just allows me the ability to

[00:16:16] have some versatility to my hairstyle. And I'm thinking too, I just want to let you guys know

[00:16:23] this too, like, I'm probably in that I don't know, I feel so weird saying this one probably like the

[00:16:29] only black woman my age and I'm going to be 42 in July, but I'm probably the only black woman

[00:16:35] this age. I am so excited. I have never had braids before, and I am getting braids done

[00:16:43] next week. So I'm really excited to feel like, you know, get a chance to experience that. So

[00:16:52] again, I've just always been kind of nervous to kind of go outside my comfort zone. So

[00:16:59] from a beauty aspect, this is what I've been embracing, right?

[00:17:02] And then in terms of just trying to keep stuff simple in terms of beauty, I also thoroughly,

[00:17:10] thoroughly, thoroughly am totally enamored with the fact that there are this this brand, I believe

[00:17:18] it's called Hero. I really love these like little pimples, these little invisible pimple

[00:17:24] things that they have. You could wear them overnight. And all of a sudden,

[00:17:28] nothing's there in the morning. Like it's crazy, it's magic. And I love them so much. So that's

[00:17:34] something that you might want to check out again all of this is going to be in the description.

[00:17:38] When it comes to cosmetics, I love minty cosmetics. Now, with that said, minty cosmetics

[00:17:47] has been acquired by another company, which I'm very sad to hear about because

[00:17:52] they were a black owned company. And now that they've been acquired, I'm truly hoping that they

[00:17:59] don't change their formula because that was one of the best makeup brands that I've ever had the

[00:18:07] ability to wear very lightweight doesn't break you out. And I don't wear a lot of makeup to

[00:18:13] begin with. So I just have like makeup underneath my eyes. And then I have my eye shadow and

[00:18:19] lipstick I'd always I switch between that. I mean, normally it's minted but minted and

[00:18:28] fenty if I'm not mistaken for the lipsticks. So I but for the most part I wear minted and

[00:18:36] I'm truly hoping that they don't change because it's just really annoying when you

[00:18:41] go out of your way to support like the black owned brands and then they you know,

[00:18:46] they get acquired and then they change the formula and then it's like, I'm off to hunt for a new

[00:18:51] makeup brand again. So truly hoping that that this is not the case.

[00:18:57] But they're one of my favorite term brands when it comes to makeup. And then

[00:19:03] because it's summer, some of us are under the impression that we don't need sunscreen.

[00:19:10] We do. And so that's why I love wearing the Black Girl sunscreen. I'll leave that in the

[00:19:16] description as well. You can get it at Target. I love that sunscreen because it is the only

[00:19:22] sunscreen that is formulated for us and it is by us as well. And let me tell you,

[00:19:27] it is the one sunscreen that does not leave your skin looking ashy because that was one of

[00:19:32] the major reasons why I actually did not wear sunscreen for a very long time because I'm like,

[00:19:37] I mean, do I need it? Need it? You know, because I got a lot of melanin already. So I'm kind of

[00:19:42] like, I'm good with it. But I got smarter. I realized that's not, you know, that really

[00:19:49] shouldn't have been doing that. But I really didn't have any products to help aid in my quest to

[00:19:54] want to be better. Right. So when I found out about that sunscreen, I started wearing that

[00:19:59] and I love it. It's very lightweight. It's awesome. So these are some of the tips and tricks that I have

[00:20:09] come across. I'll be sure to do some more in the future as I encounter more and more products.

[00:20:15] But again, these are some of the major things that I thoroughly love and hope you will too.

[00:20:22] Let me know in the comments if you have any additional products or services that you think

[00:20:26] that I should check out health or beauty related, especially since summer is around the corner. So

[00:20:32] if you've got something, let me know. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. If you

[00:20:42] enjoyed listening to Hustling Faith and would like to support the show, please consider sharing it

[00:20:46] with your friends, rate or leave a review, donate or make a purchase at our shop starring

[00:20:52] you crew. Remember, if you're everything to everyone, the risk be no one. You never

[00:20:58] know who you will inspire. See you in the next episode.