ACV And Daily Stretches

Morning, guys! I have been doing so well with drinking my ACV in the mornings. I am on day 15 as of today. I have been noticing some changes already and I'm stoked! I made a video the day before I began doing this.
I will soon make another video explaining more about it soon, but it's wonderful! Of course, you guys know, this stuff is disgusting. But putting a little of into a cup first thing in the morning with some honey really isn't so bad. It's kind of sour, with a sting to it. Like tart lemonade, in a way. It's drinkable. You want to use the most natural honey you could possibly get, though. The cheapest honeys out there are full of nothing but sugar and NOT real honey properties.

I have been incorporating this into my new health routine lately, while doing stretches daily before my exercise. Stretches are really important for blood flow, which is what I am having issues with. Circulation is a big issue for me, but I am fixing that right now. When I stretch, I stretch my entire body. DAILY. It really helps me feel so much better, and I've been having increased energy without drinking coffee! Yay for progress!

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Health Goals For The WIN! | Curls of Innocence

Hey guys! I want to talk a bit about my health goals, because I think I haven't talked about them since literally last year. Blah.
So, as you guys know, I had baby #5 on August 20th. I was about 185 prior to having her, and then I dropped back down to 175. And the rest of that weight is just stuck to me like freaking glue. -___-
I know I don't seem like I'm that heavy, but I am! It's mostly belly as usual. My belly is still 40 inches in diameter.
My belly is very saggy and fat, along with my diastasis recti issue. Having a lot of kids and never losing the weight will do that to you.
If you've been following me for any amount of time and also reading here, you remember the last time I spoke on my health goals and how I used to be. I was very much into health years ago before marriage, watching what I ate and writing everything I ate. I was so dedicated on staying healthy, back when I was mega skinny. But between battling PTSD and depression, I fell off the wagon after having all of my kids and remaining sedentary.
I also made a video last year about when I found out about my muscle separation and what I was doing to fix it.
I'm finally 100% ready to change my habits. I am sick and tired of being, well, sick and tired.
I'm never literally sick, as in always having colds. I'm talking about my body pains, back pains, headaches, migraines, stomach issues, dizzyness, insomnia, foot pain, heart pain, unexplained fatigue, heart palpitations, and whatever else I happen to be struggling with at the moment. I have circulation issues, especially in my legs. And you know that's not good. From my research, it's a problem that a lot of pisces develop. We tend to have circulation issues for some reason. Ugh.
But anyway, I am ready to change that.  I can get to a gym, BUT I can't afford the gym, and neither is my current neighborhood the best or safest in the world to go for a walk or a run. However, I will make a way to do something with no equipment. I do at home workouts right now, including jump roping. That's the best way I can get some cardio in.
I am changing my eating habits to the best of my ability. As you can imagine, with five kids and also homeschooling them, it can be a hassle. Hubby and I have no help with them, so it's just us planning and preparing their meals, making sure they're getting their nutrition, making sure their weight is up to par, and making sure that they actually eat instead of sneakily dumping their plates in the trash trying to avoid broccoli.
I may attempt to do meal planning, but omg. Lots of work! I am not sure if I can successfully do it, but I will work on it. There are little things I am doing to change my habits and lose this fat, like drinking apple cider vinegar every morning. I will have a video about that very soon.
If you have some tips for me or any encouraging words, I sure could use them! Starting before the new year starts so I won't care about sticking to a resolution or not. Haha!

What are your health goals? How do you plan to attain them?

~Curls of Innocence~

First ACV Rinse and LENGTH CHECK!

Heya, curlies! Today is Halloween, but I don't really celebrate that, so sorry; I don't have any Halloween hair ideas or anything. lol
I want to talk about my first ACV rinse that I did in my hair, and my length check!
Video is self explanatory... wish I could embed the YouTube one here but for some reason, that never works out for me in blogger... no clue why. Enjoy, though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc2lVD8IzvY

ACV is an abbreviation for apple cider vinegar, commonly used by naturals for cleansing the hair of everything in a natural way. ACV also balances the pH of your hair, which in turn makes your curls 'pop'. It closes your cuticles as well... I'm honestly not sure how good that is for your scalp, but that's one of the attributes. ACV is gaining popularity because of the extremely clean feeling it leaves your hair with.
Now don't get me wrong, the stuff stinks to high heavens. When I first heard of it, I was like, apple cider vinegar? I didn't think vinegar belonged in hair! But there are studies that say that vinegar itself is awesome for a total clean.
So I went to Walmart and found the cheapest bottle of ACV I could find. I don't remember the price (I bought it last month), but it was between 5-7 bucks in the salad dressing aisle. I just used it for the first time this Sunday, and it was amazing!
First, I washed my hair with a cheap (VO5) sulfate shampoo to get the last two weeks of gunk out of my hair. I did this over the kitchen sink because I didn't feel like hopping in the shower at the time. Then I mixed the ACV in a small dispenser bottle with less ACV than water, then shook it up. I hated the smell; it smelled like rotten apples that had been sitting in a dumpster for months! >_< Then little by little, I squirted the mixture onto my my whole head, scalp and all. I massaged it in for about five minutes, then rinsed it out. The smell was barely there anymore after rinsing, and my hair felt amazing!

The curls were seriously popping, and I was able to see every hair texture in my head! I have several hair textures. My new red color was popping, too. My scalp felt a little dry, but overall super CLEAN! I love the feeling that the ACV left me with.

Now of course, I wasn't going to leave my hair like this, so I applied my oil mixture to my hair (EVOO, peppermint oil, castor oil) rubbed that in, then applied my Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque. I love this stuff; it's so buttery and soft. I like to use it as a leave in. My hair stays incredibly soft when I do that. SO I just twisted and did bantu knots around my head, de-tangling each section while doing so.

Hardly NO hair came out in the detangling process. I was amazed! My hair shed way more than this last week when I washed. I don't know if it was the ACV that prevented the shedding or what, but it's now part of my monthly routine. Probably instead of using a sulfate shampoo monthly to cleanse my hair, I'll use the ACV instead. Hooray for more discoveries! ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! What are your experiences with ACV? How does your hair like it? Tell meh here or on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918?ref=hl

Until next time, curly mamas! Peace!

~Epic Realist~