Hi everyone,

I am stoked for starting this new challenge. First off I want to thank those who have supported me on my journey through out my real food challenge. I have looked and felt amazing for this past month. I am not sure about the exact amount of pounds that I have loss, but some of my jeans do not require me to suck in my stomach and jump around to put them on anymore. They fit comfortably. I have also had a significant decrease in my stomach size. The best part is when people in my daily life are able to notice the change. Every compliment I received encouraged and motivated me. Whenever I think about the great results that have come from a month of changing my habits, I think about what would happen if I made this my lifestyle. I will be treating myself to a good ol’ American bacon cheeseburger this evening to celebrate the end of a successful challenge. However, afterwards I am sure my body will hate me for a little while after not having anything processed especially meat for a month. I’ve decided that after my mini splurge this weekend, I will be implementing a lot of this challenge into my actual lifestyle. I want to live a life with minimum processed foods. My body is so much happier and energized when I do. Now moving on from the body chapter to hair.

Last week I posted a few facts about castor oil, and I hope that the benefits encouraged you to go out and purchase some! Tomorrow I will be starting this new challenge. I did a test run this week and diluted it with a concoction of oils that I made consisting of olive, coconut, tea tree, and grape seed oil. Every day this week I moisturized my hair and sealed it in with diluted castor oil. My hair loves moisture and because castor oil is so good at holding moisture in my hair loved it. I focused on putting it on my ends and some days I massaged my scalp with it. As you can imagine, by the end of the week my hair was pretty oily. I washed it last night and it was so soft and already conditioned before I even put conditioner inside! I will try to use the oil every other day, since it is pretty good at holding moisture. You can alternate the challenge based on your preferences, but below are the general guidelines.

• Use diluted/pure castor oil on hair scalp/ends

• Use it at least three times a week for 60 days (ending April 15th)

• Use oil AFTER moisturizing (if your hair is in its natural state)
  • Oils are sealants and seal in moisture. Therefore if you do not put in any moisture in your hair, by putting oil in you will not be sealing in moisture.
  • Moisturizing can consist of anything from just spritzing water in your hair or using a good moisturizer that is water based. I use Cantu Leave-In conditioner.

Below is my before picture:

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