Check It Out!

Hey guys! Check out the NEW look of ShapelyAlterations.com!!! Doesn't it look awesome!!??!!  I can't even explain how happy I am :-)  In the next few days I'll be working out some of the kinks and will also introduce the lovely young designer who made all of this possible.  Stay tuned and tell me what you think.

Tunes To Keep You Moving: Icona Pop - I Love It

Hey guys!

Check out my latest FAVORITE song by Icona Pop, "I Love It"!  

This song definitely helps me with those morning cardio sessions when all I wanna do is just head back home. But once I'm at the track or on the treadmill this jam is always put on repeat, which makes my runs and walks more enjoyable.

What are some tunes that help keep you guys moving?

Coming Soon: A New ShapelyAlterations.com!

{Source}

Hey guys!
I am sooooo excited to announce that the unveiling of the NEW ShapelyAlterations.com is just days away!  I saw the 1st draft of the template this morning and I LOVE IT.  I'm sure you guys will too.  I can not wait to share the new site and the brilliant designer putting it all together with all of you.  Stay tuned! ~ Icela

Fitness Update: June 2013

Hey guys,
Once again, I wanted to stop by and give you all a quick update on what my Fitness Regimen has been since the start of June.  I wanted to keep things simple and decided on 4 days of weights and at least 3 days of cardio.  

Here's what a typical week has been looking like:                                                               
SUNDAY: REST
MONDAY: Upper Body + Cardio
TUESDAY: Lower Body
WEDNESDAY: Cardio
THURSDAY: Upper Body + Cardio
FRIDAY: Lower Body
SATURDAY: Cardio

These shots were taken over this past weekend.  Yeesh!  Notice the lack of definition in my abs.  That's about change, so brace yourselves :-) 

Also, here are my latest measurements:                                                                                
Weight: 142.8 lbs
Neck: 13 inches
Arm: 11 1/2 inches
Chest: 35 1/4 inches
Waist: 28 1/2 inches
Hips: 36 inches
Butt: 38 inches
Thigh: 24 inches
Calf: 14 inches

I'm incredibly happy to point out that if you compare these numbers to my last update in October 2012, you'll notice that a lot of these numbers have gone down :-)  First off, I'm 9 lbs lighter!!  That's an accomplishment in itself, but the changes don't stop there.  I also lost 2 inches in my chest, 1/4 inch in my arms, 1/4 inch in my waist, 1 inch on my hips, 2 inches on my butt, 1 inch on my thighs and 1/4 inch off my calves!!!  This is very exciting for me to see.  FINALLY results!!!!!!

At first I was pretty bummed because lately I haven't felt any real changes in my clothing.  I mean I had been wearing roomy blouses and sweatshirts for the last few months and I just thought the seat of my jeans were starting to sag because they were getting old since I wear jeans practically every day, lol.  I'm so motivated now to stay on course!

As far as my weight though, I've been able to maintain it at or around 143 lbs.  The lowest I've been able to go is 140 lbs and for those of you who've been reading my blog for a while know, my problem has always been consistency.  I can eat right and work out for about 2 weeks and then I'll just fall off the wagon and have cravings for burgers and pizzas that I can't fight.  Then after that, I'll feel guilty and not work out at all until I see a number on the scale that I don't like and start the cycle ALL OVER AGAIN.  

Realizing this just made me picture how many more inches I could have lost had I just kept better track of the progress I didn't know I was making.  That's a bit disappointing but I am determined to lose weight and get healthy again. This time around I'm just going to take baby steps and set weekly goals and post my results on the blog.  Words of encouragement from you guys would also be great so feel free to leave them in the comments sections :-)

Here are my goals for the week (June 10th, 2013):                                                             
1. Complete all four weight routines
2. Do at least 3 days of Cardio
3. Lose 1 pound
4. Post results by next Monday (6/17/13)

Wish me luck and stay tuned everyone!

Minute Meals: Tilapia and Pasta

Hey guys!
Here's a quick and healthy meal I whipped together in about 9 minutes: left over Tilapia & Pasta.

Ingredients:                                                                                                                                     
Cooked Tilapia
Any type of Whole Wheat Pasta
Peeled Tomatoes
Coconut Oil
Garlic
Oregano
Basil 
Italian Seasoning
Parmesan Cheese

What To Do:                                                                                                                                      
1. Boil a pot of water with Coconut Oil
2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta
3. While the pasta cooks, add some coconut oil to a frying pan and heat.  Add the cooked Tilapia, peeled tomatoes and garlic.
4.  Stir the Tilapia and peeled tomatoes
5.  When the pasta is at the desired tenderness, drain and add to the Tilapia and peeled tomatoes.  
6.  Mix the pasta, Tilapia and peeled tomatoes. 
7.  Add the Oregano, Basil and Italian Seasoning, and mix some more.
8. Cover the pan, lower the heat and let it sit.
9. After a couple minutes serve yourself, sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese on top and enjoy!

Movie Monday: The Factory (2012)

Hey guys!
Between Netflix and RedBox I seriously don't know how Phil and I get as much work as we do done.  It's actually pretty crazy how many movies we watch in a given week. What's even more interesting is that we haven't even gone to the movies in a while.  

But anywho, on one of our RedBox nights we saw this little gem starring John Cusack and Jennifer Carpenter, and decided to give it a shot . . . .    

Director: Morgan O'Neil

Starring:

John Cusack ("Say Anything" "The Raven" & "2012"), plays Mike

Jennifer Carpenter ("Quarantine" & "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" ), plays Kelsey

Dallas Roberts ("3:10 to Yuma" & "The Grey" ), plays Carl

What It's About: An obsessed Detective must track down a serial killer before his daughter ends up being the next victim. 

Why I Watched It: It's a serial murder case based on a true story.  How can you pass that up?  We also picked this up because John Cusack was in it.  Phil and I loved him in "The Raven" and we'll pretty much watch anything he's in now.  We also love Jennifer Carpenter.  I think she's a weird looking chick and just enjoy watching her. She always plays interesting characters, this film was no exception.

Why This Film Rocks: Besides for the acting being good and the plot being interesting, the ending was AWESOME!  I like movies that have clever twists and this flick definitely had one.  Just watch it and you'll see what I mean.  That's all I'm going to say, lol.

Why This Film Sucks: I can't really think of a negative other than NOT being a fan of cop thriller films.

Would I Recommend It: Absolutely!  Watching a suspenseful cop thriller is a great way to spend an evening!

My Hair: An Update (Summer Protective Styling)

Hey guys!
I just wanted to stop by and share a Hair Update with all of you.  Like I said in this post and this post, I decided on doing some protective styling for the summer.  The main reason was to allow my hair an opportunity to breathe since I had gone a bit overboard with wearing wigs for most of 2012.  As a result, my hairline suffered greatly.  I experienced further breakage, my hair didn't look as healthy as it did compared to when I first started my natural hair journey and I wasn't retaining much length.

Given all of that, on April 17th I went on down to Queen of the Wink Salon and opted to get a weave in a short and simple style.  Take a look:  

Now when I walked out of the salon I was completely in love with this style.  But after about 3 days, I quickly realized this was not the best style to get for me.  As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to styling my hair.  I like getting up and just going . . . AND I don't want to have to spend more than a few minutes on my hair.  Although it doesn't look it, this is a very high maintenance style.

For starters, it's cut into layers on the sides and even more layers in the back.  Layers = curling irons and flat irons so every day I had to spend at least 10-15 minutes curling and/or flat ironing the numerous layers so that the style continued to look full and bouncy and not flat and limp.  Uuuuum, no...not for me at all!  

The only other problem with the style was the length.  When I previously got a short weave style it was a chin length bob with blunt cut bangs.  This style was ridiculously easy to maintain.  I usually only had to take care of my bangs every morning.  Since the style I ended up getting this time is at that in between length, it usually ends up in my face a lot  because it's too long to just tuck behind my ears and too short to put into a ponytail.  The funny thing about all of this is I actually intended on getting that same bob-style when I decided to get my hair done but had an itch to try something different when I took a seat in the stylist's chair, lol.  Big mistake on my part, but oh well. 

Regardless of my two complaints I will continue protective styling with weave for the rest of the summer.  I'm obviously just going to get a different style.  Until then, here are a few pictures I've taken in the last few weeks. . . . 

Week #2

Week #4

Bed Hair: Week #6 - The shot above is what my hair looks like after rolling out of bed and deciding NOT to style it.  You can kinda get an idea of the cut layers in the back.

Currently: Week #7 - This was taken this past Saturday, 6/9/13

For those of you interested in how I've been caring for my hair, here's a look at my washing, styling and maintenance routine.

WASHING:                                                                                                                                                                                       

I washed my hair on a as needed basis, which ended up being almost every other Saturday or Sunday with diluted SheaMoisture Moisture Retention Shampoo and Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration Condition.  Diluting the product made it a breeze to rinse out and placing them into application bottles ensured that only my natural hair was coated with the product.  

Styling:                                                                                                                                                 

As mentioned above, I styled my hair practically every day.  When I did, I curled and/or flat ironed my hair using Jane Carter's Natural Hold Locking Spray.  This stuff is awesome and worked like liquid mouse.  I'd grab a piece a hair, spritz some of the locking spray,  ran the curling iron or flat iron through it and my curls would stay all day.

My second product of choice was Curls' Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste.  Again, another awesome product!  I would use the paste on my edges and  . . . well . . . the pictures speak for themselves. . .

As soon as I smoothed the product over my edges they were immediately slicked down.  I followed that up by placing a satin scarf over the edges while I applied my make up and 5 minutes later . . . wha-la!

Maintenance:                                                                                                                                       

In between washes I use ORS Herbal Cleanser and Aveeno's Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo.  The Herbal Cleanser is used when I get home after working out and the Dry Shampoo is used on weekends when I don't wash my hair.

So there you have it folks!  A quick look at my hair regimen with weave installed.  Now like I said before, I will continue using weave as my protective style of choice for the remainder of the summer.  I should be changing up my look by the end of the month so stay tuned.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section.  I love hearing from all of you.  Have a great week!