Na Rice Again?

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See Geri. 

See Geri eat rice.

On Monday and Tuesday...

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday...

Eat Geri, eat!

Here and there, you might’ve run across my thoughts on eating well and on having a regular exercise regimen.  Truthfully, I haven’t always been health conscious.  There are times where I won't work out for days.  I also go through spells when I scarf down all things confectionery (mainly cupcakes and Wholefoods carrot cake) like a savage, yep- just like a savage.

:(

I’ve since forced myself to seriously curb my sugary binges, and I’m still working on working out.  More on exercise later.  However, this post will be about my not so secret love affair with rice.  There are weeks when I eat it almost daily.  During my freshman year in college (former Xavierite), I think I went through major rice withdrawal- we weren’t allowed to cook in our dorms, and it was absolutely torturous.  How the heck was I supposed to manage not having any of it for an entire semester??  I remember the puzzled look on a friend’s face once, as she remarked, "What?  Geri get a grip. It's just rice."  

Bless her.  She clearly had not been exposed to the wondrously satisfying experience of joloff rice... or of coconut rice...or of red beans and rice... or of rice and stew with a side of chicken and plantain... or of paella with tomatoes, shrimp, scallops, mussels, chicken, sausage... 

ahem, so yes.  I eat rice.  A lot.

But, what does being a rice junkie have to do with growing your hair?  Well, here's the thing:  If you want healthy hair, you need a combination of three things- a healthy diet, regular exercise, and good hair maintenance.  Those are the key secrets to this hair growing stuff.  Your body will push out follicles of hair, as long as you are alive, with no serious health issues.  However, if you want to increase your growth rate, then you will have to encourage your body to work at its optimal capacity.  Hair growth is a by product of a healthy body.  
Towards the end of last year, I started seriously working out.  I made sure to include vegetables with every meal, and I set a four (500mL) bottled water per day minimum for myself.  I don't believe in topical hair growth aids of any sort, but I will attest to the fact that my hair growth seemingly sky rocketed after I began to take better care of my body.  

Source

Honestly, I had a healthy body goal then.  I wanted to get into the best shape of my life.  I'm still in that process.  I slowed down with obsessing about my hair growth because I had mastered a solid hair routine, but ironically, hair growth also became part of my reward.  

A lot of us want the easy life routes- the short cuts.  We favor weaves because we want to be able to "get up and go" and we want our workouts to be "fun" and "exciting".  But, the reality is that a lot of worthwhile things in our lives are hard fought achievements.  Working out is neither fun nor easy for me.  In fact, I hate it.  Lol.  But, I push myself to view the bigger picture- this is good for you Geraldine, so just be like Nike.

The best fish I've ever had in my life! 

 An awareness for a healthier body is usually a manifestation of becoming natural.  It might not click right away -hey, it took over two years post BC and the appearance of more back rolls before I got real with myself.  But, hopefully and eventually, we realize that putting natural products on our hair should really become putting healthy foods into our bodies. 

 Why not let being natural be the gateway that allows you to consider other things outside of your realm?

Back to my rice passion; these days, I try to substitute more brown rice into my recipes.  Whenever I eat it, I apportion out a fistful, and I supplement with two fist sized portions of vegetables.  I flavor the heck out of all my meals with loads of onions, tomatoes, peppers, and whatever spices that I scavenge from my pantry.  I also guzzle water like a camel. 

So, what about you?

Has your healthy hair journey turned into a healthy body lifestyle yet?