Stir-fry!

One advantage I had going into surgery and dieting in general is that I enjoy cooking. So it really shouldn't be a surprise that I like trying out new recipes/try making things a different way, etc.. it's all a trial and error process. I cook just about every single day. I go through phases with what I make for myself every day (aside from what I make for dinner a few nights a week for my whole family...) I usually get into a pattern and eat one meal until i get sick of it for lunch like every day, and then when I get sick of it i find a new one, and repeat and repeat and repeat... with different meals every few weeks/months.

What I'm obsessed with at the moment? Stir-fry. I've been hooked on it for a few months.. Even when I've fallen off Atkins and not done as well, this was still something i ate almost every single day for lunch. Full of whatever you want to put in it, so you can make it as healthy (or unhealthy) as you wish... although, this is a difficult meal to make unhealthy.. you just have to be careful with whatever sauces you use! I personally love teriyaki sauce, but I have to be really careful with how much I use because depending on the brand, one to two table spoons can have 2-3 carbs and it's easy to go overboard with sauces accidentally... I usually just use one tablespoon for a bit of flavor, because I like it but I don't like it overpowering everything else that I'm putting into it.

It's an easy dish to make, and there are hundreds of ways to make it and it's hard to mess up, however you do it... but i figured i'd show you guys how I make mine!

I start off with plenty of chopped vegetables. They make up the bulk of the meal. Use whatever you want. There are bags of frozen vegetables at the grocery store that are already pre-cut for stir fry which I have used in the past as well.. They usually consist of what I have in the picture. I just typically choose fresh vegetables because they cook a bit quicker and honestly I enjoy cutting them up. Haha. I'll cut a bunch up in bulk and store in a drawer in our fridge for my brothers and I to snack on all week, for me to make stir fry out of, or whatever else we come up with. The trick here though is to make sure things are relatively the same size.. or, that groups of things are relatively the same size (you'll see what I mean in a bit.. some things take longer to cook than others, regardless of the size, etc...)

As previously stated, you can put whatever you want in stir fry. There are numerous times I've left it at just vegetables... however I usually try to add a protein in there and my protein of choice is, has, and always will probably be chicken. It's just fast and easy to cook, easily accessible, easy to season, etc... Sometimes I  have leftover pre-cooked chicken already in the fridge from a meal earlier in the week, or sometimes i'll pre-cook chicken in bulk as well and keep it in the fridge for lunches throughout the week and I"ll just toss it in the pan to warm it up after the vegetables are almost done cooking.... but a lot of the time I Just have a bag of frozen chicken breasts/tenderloins/cutlets/etc... in the freezer that I use. I just take out one piece and put it in the microwave on defrost for a few minutes... Cut it up and season it and set it aside (because usually fresh carrots take longer to soften up than the amount of time it takes the chicken to cook.)

So now you have all of your vegetables, cut up chicken, oil for the pan (I usually use vegetable or extra virgin olive oil.. I've been experimenting with coconut and canola oil, but I'm not sold on any others at least for stir fry just yet.) I usually sprinkle some salt and pepper (and by some I mean a LOT of pepper... black pepper and I are best friends.) over the vegetables and chicken before hand. Then your set! Time to start cooking. Put a tablespoon or so of oil in a pan of your choice (I've been known to use a giant pot when I couldn't find a pan large enough to make enough for my whole family... no judgment here. use whatever you can find that will fit all of your ingredients.) Then get cooking!

I always start with carrots because for some reason fresh carrots take even longer than frozen carrots to cook. Sometimes i even add a tablespoon of water or so to the pan and put a lid on to steam them a little bit, to try and get them cooked quicker. After a couple minutes, I add in onion and cauliflower because at least for me, cauliflower takes longer to soften up than broccoli and chicken and i like onions to get a bit caramelized.. if you don't like that, then just toss them in later because they do soften up relatively quick. After a few minutes with the lid on, I toss in the peppers, broccoli, and chicken. I add my tablespoon or two of teriyaki sauce, a little more black pepper, and stir it up... then leave the lid on for a few minutes, occasionally lifting it up to stir it until everything is cooked through and softened up some, but still has a bit of a crunch to it.

which leaves you with... 

This! 

I consciously make more than I know my stomach can hold because I have three little brothers, and one parent (depending on which house I'm at) that always like to steal bites of my food which doesn't always leave me with very much. ;) But I don't think that looks too bad! (Spoiler: it was actually really good. Although I wish I had added more broccoli. That's my favorite bit.)

***

What do you all put in your stir-fry? Have you ever made it? Do you like it? What are your go-to quick meals for lunch or dinner? Let me know! Comment or let me know on Facebook! 

Also! Random, but I have a question for anyone who reads this blog.. and please answer it, because I need some input! --- Videos? Yes or no? If I made youtube videos talking about things I blog about, or cooking things I reference in blog posts... (Have I told you all about the sugar free low carb mini lemon cheesecakes I made the other day? No? Because those might be in my next food-related post... They were so good!) Would anyone be interested? Do you think there's a place for that? Let me know!

I hope you all are having an amazing day and I'll be back soon! Off to make some stir fry for lunch now...  :P

-Ashley<3

What is today, but yesterday's tomorrow?

I need to get out of the mindset that small choices/mistakes/decisions don't matter, because they do.

Sure, if you miss taking  a medication every once in awhile, or cheat on your diet and get ice cream occasionally, or something along those lines... That's relatively normal and as long as it's an occasional/accidental thing it's fine. But there are times I'll realize it's midnight, and I haven't taken my Metformin yet... even though I know I should, and I could without an issue seeing as I'd probably be awake for another hour or two and taking it a few hours off schedule is better than not taking it at all, I don't. I'll tell myself that it's too late, and I'll start up taking it regularly again the next day and that one missed dose won't kill me... And maybe it won't kill me, but it certainly hurts me. Because then I get into the habit if not taking it, and then when I do get back on it again the side effects take a few weeks to go away and it's discouraging.

Same applies to my low-carb diet. There are times I'm amazing with it, and other times where I'm like "Screw it, having a sandwich won't affect it.." but my body is really sensitive to carbs, and deep down I know the bread will. I guess I just am always hoping that suddenly things will be okay on their own, without medication, without excessive diet changes... but that's not going to happen. So yeah. I do need to pay attention to these decisions that I'm consciously making and just neglecting to acknowledge.

I became aware of this the other day. I spent like all day with my brother and mom at the Verizon store getting our phones upgraded (iPhone 6! Wooh!) but none of us had eaten much that day since we got up and basically went straight to the store, and my brother really wanted to go to waffle house... so we did. I actually hadn't been there since I was like 8 so I didn't know what they had (other than waffles, obviously.) But I almost ordered eggs and hash browns, or an egg and bacon sandwich, or something along those lines.. potatoes and bread are a no-go for me. And i realized i was trying to justify it to myself by saying that I had messed up the day before, and hadn't eaten anything that day already so TECHNICALLY if i only ate half the sandwich my carbs would still be under however many a day, or that I could eat whatever and just "start back up again tomorrow."

"Start back up again tomorrow." seems to be a pretty common phrase in my inner dialogue, here.

The problem with that is, that there's nothing to stop you from continuing to say that phrase. Once you get into a cycle of saying that to yourself there is no going back.

I would like to point out that I ended up getting a grilled chicken salad which was actually really good. (I've always been a fan of salads. I get them all the time. I'm not entirely sure why I was even leaning towards the sandwich or the hash browns in the first place? Subconsciously wanting what you know you can't/shouldn't have? Who knows.) But that's only because I had become increasingly aware over the past couple weeks that I was playing this mind-game with myself to somehow justify stupid decisions I knew I was making.

Same thing with my medications happened this morning. I woke up to get my brothers off to school at 7.. but then went back to bed and didn't really get up and consider myself "awake" until about 11. I figured it was almost lunch time, I'm supposed to take Metformin with breakfast, maybe I should just wait till dinner-- but I caught myself. I knew I'd be up till after midnight. There was absolutely no reason why I couldn't take it with my breakfast that I had at 11, and then again at 11 tonight with my "fourth meal" so to speak, since my schedule is later and I have to eat more frequently because of the size of my stomach to get enough food in, regardless of what diet I'm on. So I took it. I didn't like it, but I took it. And I felt better after I did.

There was a quote that stuck with me from Spongebob Squarepants, of all places. The dialogue was something along these lines:

Squidward: Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?
Mr. Krabs: What is today, but yesterdays tomorrow?

Obviously that's referring to work procrastination and tasks you need to get done and what not, but that also applies with what I'm dealing with here. I'm an awful procrastinator, and that's running over into my health too. I need to stop letting it.

It's something I think I've always known. Most of my life it was just second nature to make the right choice as far as food goes, and to take my medication because I had other people dictating it for me. I had parents who were relentless with having me take my blood sugar and take my Metformin when I was 8 years old. I need to be relentless with myself now. I don't know why I've suddenly stopped caring as much as I did even when I was 16/17. Maybe I'm just being really discouraged from this weight gain lately and I'm feeling like giving up, like what's the point.

Side note: I have awful anxiety issues. I went to psychologists and psychiatrists for years when I was younger and they only addressed what they thought was my depression. They did diagnose me with generalized anxiety disorder, but they never did anything to help me treat it. I don't think I was ever depressed back in middle/high school. I think I was just so anxious that it was easier to shut down and not think about doing anything... which resulted in me doing nothing, which is why it gave off the impression that I was depressed... but I'm not a psychologist, obviously, I don't know their specific diagnosis criteria. I'm just saying that I'm a ridiculously anxious person and I have a habit of shutting down as opposed to over-thinking everything because there is no middle ground with me. I either shut down and pretend something doesn't exist, or i over-think and over-analyze every possible detail and scenario until it drives me insane. So to act like that doesn't play a part in this would be stupid. It definitely does, I'm just not sure what or how and I get irritated with any doctor that I've tried to talk to about it in recent years so I'm having trouble getting to the bottom of it. 

Bottom line is... I'm working on consciously making these decisions, things I've always done that have just been harder to do in the past year or so... I'm trying to stop justifying things that have no justification, things that I'm fully aware are going to hurt me in the long run. Taking my medication every day no matter how much I hate doing it as often as I have to, not "taking a bite" of one of my brothers snacks or meals that don't fit my diet plan... That one bite, or that one missed pill... Whatever I think it offers me in the short term is nothing compared to what doing the opposite will offer me in the long term, and I need to keep that in mind.

***

I hope you all are having a good day, and I'll be sure to check back in soon!

-Ashley<3(:

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Hey there! Ashley here. It's been awhile since I updated. I've received a few emails and messages on Facebook lately about this blog, and it resulted in me logging back on to realize it's been ten months since I've updated! Wow. Time flies.

I was always motivated to update this blog when I was doing well. This blog was also a motivation for me to do well (and I define doing well by losing weight, which may not be the healthiest way of looking at it, but that's debatable.) But as far as that goes, I'm not doing well. Which is probably a huge part as to why I haven't updated lately.

I've gained 30 pounds in the six to eight months or so. I went from around 175 to 205. Which, in the grand scheme of things... I'm still closer to my goal than where I started, which is good and when I look at the situation objectively, I can see that. However, I'm still not pleased with myself even though it's not 100% in my control at the moment...

A combination of the holidays, and money issues making it difficult to stick to the low carbohydrate high protein diet I had been doing (which worked REALLY well)  were a huge part of my weight gain. Also I switched insurance companies, and there was an overlap of time I wasn't able to get 2 of my medications. I've also been having trouble stomaching one of my medications, which is better now that I've got the prescription changed.. But these are all excuses.

Its just one thing after another honestly and it knocks down your motivation real quick, you know?

I feel like whenever I get my medications under control I'll start to lose again, it's just a matter of getting in the routine of taking them the way I had for years which is something I've been out of practice of for the past few months.  I've never "fallen off" my diet necessarily, I just didn't follow it as strictly as I did in 2013, which is what I need to do again. I had so much more energy and felt so much better about myself when I stuck to Atkins. I hadn't felt that healthy in a long time, and I'm working my way back into it.

As far as the surgery goes.. I'm three and a half years out now, to the day. February 19th, 2015. I had surgery on August 19th 2011. I really don't feel like the sleeve has done much for me other than the lack of appetite and the restriction, which wasn't really much of a problem to begin with.. Not to say it's not a good dieting tool, because it's fantastic. But it certainly hasn't done for me what I've seen it do for other people within the Teen WLS program I went through, you know? And sure I can attribute that to all of my metabolic problems that are somewhat separate from anything the surgery could touch. I don't know the science behind it all, but I know things have certainly worked differently for me than anyone I've met in these support groups on Facebook or the few I've gone to in person at the hospital. I could make guesses, but they wouldn't be educated outside of what I've researched on my own. Obviously everyone's body is different, but when I look at my issues pre and post op, they are nothing like anyone I know. So... Who knows!

I'm sure once I get back into a routine I'll do better, and I do still want to get down to my goal weight. I just need to find the motivation again, so I'm hoping getting back into blogging will help with that!

So if there are any topics anyone wants me to write about, or any suggestions.. feel free to let me know. I have 120+ posts on this site and I feel like I've written the subject(s) dry, but yet I still feel like there's more I could say... So let me know! Message me on FB or e-mail me!

Here's to hoping I get things under control soon. :) Hope you all have a lovely day. Talk to you soon.

-Ashley<3

What is this blog about?

Some people ask me what my blog is about.. If it's just me updating everyone on how WLS went for me, or a place to rant about all of my metabolic problems, or if it's informational, etc..

Truth is, it's a combination of it all.

When I was looking into surgery, I wanted to see how the whole process was from a (teenage) patients perspective. Not doctors. Not adults journeys. Someone near my age, that had been through similar things.. But because this is such a new thing, there isn't much documentation or anything like that online.. (not to mention not much research done at all long-term yet.)

Then I realized how nice it would have been if I could have found information online with kids dealing with Insulin Resistance, Hypothyroidism, PCOS, etc.. But again, there isn't much out there.

When I was first diagnosed with IR when I was 6 years old, that was kind of unheard of back in 2000/2001.  It was damn near a miracle that the doctor we found at the time was there, because no one even hardly knew what IR was in adults, much less young children/teenagers. There weren't really support groups for this kind of stuff (there still really isn't.) and I had no way of meeting other people with it, or talking to anyone, or knowing what it was like for anyone else.

So no. This isn't just about the weight loss surgery I had in August 2011. That was originally why I started the blog, but it's spread to a lot more than that.

I do informational posts, because through talking to people that have had surgery.. I've realized how privileged I am to have the knowledge I do about certain health-related topics. How lucky I was to see a dietitian at such a young age, and understand how your body processes food, what you need to stay healthy, what to eat to lose/maintain weight, etc.. I knew how to read labels when I was 8 years old. I learned portion sizes, etc... all before I was 10.

Not just diet, but exercise too. And the whole biological side of things? Through doctors explaining things to me, and doing my own research because I'm interested in my health, I understand a lot more than your average person about these kind of topics.. And to be honest? I enjoy researching and learning more, and sharing what I learn with other people. Writing has always been something I'm passionate about, and so has my health. Being able to mix those two things is kind of amazing. Education is a huge part of this whole process of trying to get healthy. Everyone is constantly learning, that's kind of just how this works.. and some times it's easier to learn things in plain English (given, if that's your primary language) rather than the technical terms a lot of doctors use.. Which is what I try to translate, in a sense.

So yeah. The informational posts certainly drive a lot of traffic to my blog. So do the pictures I post. And that's kind of my goal.. I want to drive people here. I want something to catch someones eye, and they spend a time reading even just one of my other posts.

I want people to learn more about these issues, how they affect younger people differently than adults, and the toll it takes on them.

I want to be able to have people to talk to, or that I know understand what I'm going through.. no matter what stage they're in. If they were just diagnosed with IR, if they've had it 10 years, if they were born with it, if they were looking into surgery, if they've already had surgery, if they're struggling with weight loss and maybe they don't understand why... all of it! There needs to be some sort of support network for these kind of things.. It affects so much more than just your physical health. and I know from experience it means/helps so much more, coming from someone who has gone through it.. compared to a doctor who has only studied it, or an adult who developed these issues/had surgery later on in life, etc..

I want people who have no clue what the hell any of this is, or who don't understand why the hell a surgeon would remove 85% of a 15 year old's stomach, to learn something.. to become more aware of these issues.

I want someone who is overweight looking for answers to stumble across this and be like "oh. maybe this is what's wrong." and even if it isn't, it may have given them the motivation to go to a doctor and get tested, and then even if absolutely nothing is wrong.. They went to see a doctor who could help guide them and get them on the right track to losing weight in a healthy way.

In all honesty, I was that desperate 13 year old looking for starvation-style diets online and going to pro-ana (pro-anorexia)  websites when I was frustrated with everything doctors and dietitians had told me before, not working..This was before I got a grip and switched doctors, and got on the right medications, and looked into surgery. I knew I was IR.. I ate healthy, i exercised.. But I didn't know about everything else I had developed that was contributing to all of my excess weight. I wish I had come across something like this a few years ago.. it probably could have helped me a lot. But I didn't. Now I'm in a position where I've learned so much, it feels kind of selfish not to share it with anyone.. you know?

So yeah. That's it. I'm in the process of going through every single post I have and editing them, updating information, etc.. Because a lot of them haven't been updated since 2011 and a lot has changed. I never used to really pay much attention to my spelling/grammar errors simply because I never thought anyone would ever see this site. Which isn't true anymore. It's kind of embarrassing going back and seeing how many times I misspelled 'exercise' or 'vertical'. :P

I just wanted to post this.. More and more people are looking at this site now, and I figured I should mention what it's all about.

Bottom line is.. There is no support network for people who have all of these problems. Not just in-person support groups, because there usually aren't enough people in an area to start a support group. Everything these days is online, and I think if there was more information out there a lot of people would be a lot better off. I want to share everything I'm going through, because surgery-wise I want people to know what they're getting themselves into to make sure they're prepared, and metabolic-wise I want everyone to know they aren't crazy, these diseases are real, and with proper diet/exercise/medication combo they can be treated, or at least dealt with. People need to understand their options, and know what's out there. I'm a strong believer in doing your own research and getting more than 1 opinion from doctors. If you see something on here that catches your eye, google it, ask your doctors.. Clearly, I'm not a doctor, nor do I aspire to be one. I'm just a girl sharing what she learns with other people, hoping in some way it could potentially help someone, or make someone more aware.

Lastly, I just want people to know they're not alone.. I've felt alone my entire life, and sometimes still do, dealing with this. No one should have to feel like they're alone going through all of this, because you aren't. I promise.

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I hope you're all having a good day, and I'll update again soon! (:

-Ashley<3

Surgery Update! 18 months post-op.

Okay... I've been really bad at updating this lately. I'll try to get back into it, I promise! Haha.

I'll be 18 months post-op (VSG) in a week or two. I have my 18month follow-up appointment on February 21st. It's been a crazy year and a half... things are constantly changing.

My medications have changed a lot, a bunch of different times, after surgery. Weight wise, I go through stalls like every month.. but then i drop five pounds then i go through another stall.. Which I guess I'm okay with. It's better than nothing. I'm glad i'm still losing, because for awhile right after surgery I didn't lose anything because of medication issues.

Highest weight ever: 285lbs in 2010.
Weight on day of surgery: (08-19-2011) 250lbs
Weight today: (2-7-13) 185lbs.

So, I've lost 100lbs. Some of that pre-surgery, some post-op.. I'm not at my goal weight yet. I still have 40 pounds or so to go. I really hope I get there, asap. I've been working for this so long, I just really want to be there.

I don't want my life to focus around the number on the scale, so I try not to focus on that too much anymore.. Because I am healthier than I have been in a long time. But it's hard not to, when my entire life up until this point has been focused around my weight.

I'm having more issues eating lately, than I did originally post-op. I typically always avoid sugar/fat. Or I try to. I've never liked it. I was never allowed much sugar when I was younger, so I've always been in this mental state that sugar is bad. So the idea of even taking a sip of a regular coke, or a bite of a cookie, makes me sick to my stomach.. Therefor I never actually want to do that.

The only things that go over well 100% are fruits and vegetables, which sucks, because those don't have much protein. I have greek yogurt a lot, different cheeses.. skim milk (1% & 2% make me feel sick). Dairy is okay.. sometimes. But there are sometimes it doesn't sit well with me either. Meat-wise, shrimp usually goes over okay.. Deli meat can, like, sliced turkey or ham or chicken? Salami is okay usually. but more dense things don't anymore. It's hard for me to eat steak or a roast or something... Pork has never gone over well. At all. I can't go near pork anymore, haha.

So, I manage. It's just hard, because some days I can eat more than others, and some days certain foods sit well when the next day those same foods won't. So a lot of the time I end up feeling sick, because it's constantly changing.

One day I could eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, greek yogurt and fruit for a snack, a couple oz of deli meat and carrots and ranch dressing for lunch, string cheese and some turkey pepperoni for a snack, and then have a small, or half of a burger (no bun, lean meat, homemade) with cheese and a small salad for dinner.. (total volume never reaching over 8-12oz for the most part)

Where the next day I'd feel absolutely terrible if I tried greek yogurt, or a bowl of cereal. Where I don't want to go near a burger, and the only thing I'm able to get down is a cup or two of vegetable soup and a few pieces of pineapple. One or two slices of deli-meat, if I'm lucky... That's all day.

It's confusing, and I don't know why it's like that. No one can seem to explain it. I asked my endocrinologist yesterday when I went for a follow-up, and she gave me a prescription for Prevacid to see if that may help.. So we'll see. But if it doesn't I'll probably end up with a referral to GI (actually, I think she ordered one anyway.... I'm not sure. I'll have to double check that.)

But regardless, I've been doing my best. Some days I don't get enough protein because of it. But I'm doing what I can. I really don't like eating though...

My hunger still hasn't returned since surgery. None. I have to remind myself to eat. I guess there could be worse situations to be in....

Medication wise, I'm on 75mcg Synthroid for my thyroid.. 1000mg Metformin 2x day for Insulin Resistance, and 50mg Aldactone 2x a day for hormones/blood pressure/diuretic purposes. and Ogestrel birth control for PCOS. I take a Multivitamin 2x a day, and Calcium citrate twice a day as well. I'm terrible with taking a separate vitamin D, but there is 800ui of Vitamin D in the calcium citrate i take, and my blood work seems to consistently come back just great vitamin-wise, so I'm not too worried about that...

Exercise wise, I'm doing good. (: In the post I made about motivation a couple weeks (months?) ago I mentioned a Tumblr I made for motivation, and I've found a lot of great exercise ideas on there. Different routines people have came up with, songs to exercise to, etc.. That are much more interesting to try than doing the same thing over and over again each day.

I really want to build up more muscle that I'm sure I lost. I used to be an athlete. I played a bunch of sports, danced, and had a lot of muscle.. My legs still do. but I'm not nearly as strong anywhere else, so I've been doing a lot with my resistance band. I only have 1 & 3lb weights right now. I want to get 5lb & 10lb weights. When I get some more money, we'll see. (:

I also made a playlist on YouTube of videos I found that have exercise routines.. The Livestrong YouTube channel has a ton!!

Overall, I think everything is going alright. I know it goes a lot worse for some people, so I'm okay with all of this. Nothing is easy. I'm used to this. It feels better knowing I'm working harder for the weight loss.. The chances are better that it will stay off because it's coming off slower, and I feel better about it... Because it has not been an easy fix like a lot of people say. I don't even like the word fix. Because it didn't fix anything. It's helped. But nothings fixed entirely. but I'm okay with that.

I just have to accept the fact that nothing comes easy, and I need to keep working harder and harder as time goes on, to get to where I want to get to.

I hope every one's having a great day, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Talk to me on Facebook or Twitter or Email me or something!!!! I'd love to talk to some more people. (:

Bye<3
-Ashley(:

How To: Keep Long hair post-op.

A lot of people (girls, specifically) feel like they have to cut most their hair off post-op.. Given, some do it because your life changes so much and its kind of like a 'new beginning'.. It's symbolic, I guess. But it's also partially because you lose a lot of hair.. Hormone changes, not enough protein, the body's shock from weight loss, whatever the reason.. hair is lost. Typically, it stops after awhile. But if you continually have medication changes like I do, you never know when it'll start back up again/stop.

Personally, I'd prefer to keep my long hair. I've always wanted to grow it out for a program called Pantene Beautiful lengths, which I eventually want to do. It's similar to Locks of Love.. But yeah - anyways, I think I look terrible with short hair anyway. Just my face shape, I've never liked it (even though most my life I had short hair.)

So yeah. My hair is fairly long... Difficult enough to take care of in itself, but when you're constantly losing hair and hair is re-growing... It can become a mess and it becomes a million times more horrific. However, I've managed to do pretty well so far. My hair has thinned out a lot. I'm disturbed by it half the time, but I've found ways to hide it for people so half the time they don't even notice I've lost any.

Here is how I take care of my hair. (Disclaimer: The products I use change every few months, but they're typically very similar. Except the heat protectant I list.I just tried it out a couple months ago and I'm in love with it and never want to use anything else ever again.. Haha.) (Also, I apologize in advance for this long post. The pictures make it a lot longer than the word-content would otherwise.)

These are the shampoo/conditioner I'm currently using. Most people say it isn't good to wash your hair every day, but sometimes you can't avoid it. With all the hormone changes, your hair can either get really dry and brittle or really greasy & nasty. So just do what you're comfortable with. Currently I'm going every other day, but that changes depending on how my hair is. - and despite if your hair is greasy, use conditioner on your roots. Sometimes excess grease is because your roots aren't getting enough moisture and are stripped of everything good for them. Just make sure you rinse your hair well! With cold water, if you can. It helps prevent frizzy-ness.

The big circle is about how much shampoo I use for how long my hair is. But the small circle is about how much conditioner I use. 

(I apologize for the hideous flash. I had just gotten out of the shower when I took these and had no makeup on and the flash isn't helping the picture quality or how my skin looks, at all.. haha.)  anyways - never brush your hair with like.. a normal brush, when it's wet or damp. always use a wide tooth comb, to prevent further damage or breakage with your hair. (Yes, that is all my hair pulled forward. you can really see how little there is when it's wet, lol.) - ALSO. I don't blowdry my hair typically. I use as little heat as possible (and since I typically have to always either straighten or curl my hair, because i have a different texture growing in as re-growth than the rest of my hair, i avoid excess heat at all costs unless i'm really in a hurry.

Which... this morning I was in a hurry. so I let my hair air-dry halfway then blewdry the rest of the way pointing DOWN. do NOT try to add volume to your hair by blowing your hair up or turning your head upside down and blowdrying.. the re-growth will just become a pain in the ass and get all tangled. 

AND USE A HEAT PROTECTANT. 

This is about what my hair was before i blew-dry it the rest of the way. still a little damp. you can see the weird texture.. and the re-growth in the front. all of my hair is supposed to be one length, the way I've gotten it cut... anything that is shorter than the over-all length of my hair, is re-growth from over the past few years. (Medication changes pre-op, etc..)

The amazing heat protectant I use. I got it at CVS for like 5 dollars after seeing some guy I watch on youtube, reccomend it.. It's so good. It smells amazing. & yeah. Just spray it over the bottom half of your hair, and your bangs/etc in the front. don't spray your roots directly.  Then blowdry if you're going to do that, if not, just run your fingers through it and get ready to flat iron or curl or whatever you're going to do. I almost always flat iron first, even if I'm going to curl.. just to tame all the re-growth. So I'll show you how I do that, typically.

I seperate my hair into sections.. I'll do the lower section, then middle section, then top sections.. then my bangs (that aren't cut intentionally.. thanks re-growth.) It still looks damp because after I blow-dry my hair, i add a little more heat protectant towards the ends so I don't fry them.

Make sure you get close to the root.. all over your head, so you get all the re-growth. In the front I've lost a lot of hair.. almost like my hairline was receding, but it's growing back. It has a weird curl to it. If you don't straighten it right, it looks like this.. almost a backwards upside down nike sign.. haha.

So make sure you straighten it like this, curving it downwards. (pretend my fingers are a flat iron for the pictures purposes..)

For dealing with the top section, the most important part that people see, I use a rat-tail comb to section off small areas and get really close to the root to get every possible cm of hair I can.

Never, & I repeat NEVER try to tease your hair. Forget about volume while you're going through this. It's not important. You'll get over having flat hair. It's not a big deal.. But if you do tease it, this is what happens. All re-growth. I don't care how careful you are when you do it, it will look like absolute crap. 

It's only okay to use an actual brush for your hair once it's completely dry and flat. If it's curly, no. If it's damp, no. Only if it's straight/wavy and completely dry. And actually good to brush a few times a day to get all the hair that falls out, out.. So it doesn't end up in your shower drain.

After it's all straight/curly/however I want it, even though this says curl sculpting gel, i use it every day no matter what my hair looks like. Almost as a finishing cream. it smoothes everything down without looking hard like gel or hairspray and you can still run your fingers through your hair, etc..

You only need about this much.

Last tip: If you're going to put your hair up, make sure whatever your using wether it's bobby pins, clips, clamps, hair elastics, etc.. that they don't have sharp or little pieces of metal. My bobby pins are plastic-coated and no metal pieces of hair elastics, because hair can get caught on them and break off.. That's the last thing you need.

So yeah. Final product: 

(From the back...)

(From the side...)

& finally from the front. (: (again.. terrible picture. Obviously if you've ever been to this site before you've probably seen better pictures of me. :P)

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So, I hope this helps someone see that it IS possible to keep your hair... People have said in the past when I complain about my hair thinning out just to cut it off but.. I look terrible with short hair. I've considered maybe cutting it a little past my collar bone and adding some layers in... But not until i'm reading to donate it to locks of love. Only then would I cut it that short... haha. I need a few more inches first. (:

Oh. & this is what my hair looks like when it's curled, which I've been doing a lot lately because it makes my hair look thicker than it really is.. Haha. 

Oh, & that picture is from a photoshoot/videoshoot/interview thing I did for CCHMC a month or so ago!!! The photographer sent me all the pictures she took and I'm kind of in love with them. (Instead of getting senior pictures I'm just using these.. Haha.) [http://www.tmphotography.net/]

So that's it!!! Hope this helped some of you and have a great day. (:

-ashley