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My Daily Fitness Routine & Ways I Stay Motivated

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If you are like me, finding time to workout is always difficult. I am always crammed with assignments and studying. And not being a morning person doesn’t make anything easier.

At the beginning of this school year I created a workout routine to help keep me fit and level out stress. I was self-motivated and consistent with my routine for about two months until my workload with school and work got intense.

Luckily I have found my fitness rhythm again and got back on track with my routine! I wanted to share my daily routine in case you are looking for something new to help keep you healthier and less stressed. I know from first-hand experience that keeping up with a routine is the hardest part so I’ll also share the ways I stay motivated.

I decided to have my workout session in the morning. Once I’m up for the day I am busy with classes, work, homework and preparing for exams and am usually exhausted by the time I get home. Having a morning workout routine also helps me start the day a little easier. It surprisingly motivates me to wake up in the morning because it always helps me get energy and feel refreshed. But first, coffee…

Most mornings I begin my workout routine after I’ve had my coffee, turned on CNN, checked my emails, Twitter, Snapchat, Covet and Vogue.com. Some mornings I’m finishing up the previous night’s homework or waking up for my 8am class so I just make at least 10 minutes to get a quick workout. On a normal day my routine usually takes 15-20 minutes. All the exercises I do can be done in your home. All you need is a yoga mat and dumbbells.

My workouts always begin with a 5-10 minute yoga session. I have never done yoga before until I started using the SworkIt app that my friend told me about it. SworkIt is a fitness app that guides you through multiple workouts such as strength, cardio, yoga and stretching workouts. It also allows you to customize each workout. I love the yoga exercises! You can choose from sun salutations, full sequences, yoga for runners, or pilates. My favorite is the full sequence workout. Yoga makes me feel amazingly refreshed and relaxed. It has helped me eliminate a lot of stress which as a college kid is inevitable.

The next step of my workout is crunches. I’ll start with at least 25 crunches and increase the amount of every week (at least by 5) until I get to 40 crunches. You can choose to do more or less, whatever meets your preference.

Once I finish my crunches I begin my low-weight dumbbell arm exercises. I use 5 pound dumbbells for these exercises. Be sure to pick the size that best fits you. I start off with 2 sets of 10-15 reps per arm and 1 set of 10 reps overhead. During the second week, I increase the amount of reps to 20 (25 at the most) for my arms and 15 for overhead. I usually don’t exceed past that.

The final part of my routine is squats. It is honestly my least favorite to do when I’m out of shape but once you’ve been doing them for awhile they get easier and give great results! I use my dumbbells while I do my squats. I find it easiest to do them in front of the mirror. It helps perfect your formation. You want to be sure to have feet shoulder-width apart and have your arms out directly in front of you. I recommend to start with 20 squats and work your way up. My goal is to work up to 50. The highest I ever got to so far was to 40.

As I mentioned before, maintaining motivation can be extremely hard sometimes! So here are a few tips on how to stay motivated and keep your fitness rhythm:

 1. Knowing that afterwards you will feel 100x better

Exercising is always a great way to relieve stress and get energy, especially yoga. If you struggle with always being stressed out or having a hard time with being tired in the morning I definitely recommend you try yoga! It’s life-changing, I’m telling you.

2. Create a Pinterest Motivation/Goals Board

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Pinterest has been very helpful with helping me find motivation. Create a Pinterest Motivation/Goals Board and pin things that relate to your fitness goals. This is a good way to help decide on how you want to set up your fitness plan. I found it easiest to follow fitness Pinterest Boards.

3. Instagram

I’m not sure about you but I mainly use Instagram to see what my favorite muses/celebrities/YouTube personalities are up to. If you have Instagram you are probably already following people with similar lifestyles to you or people that motivate you. If not, follow people you find motivating or that interest you.

4. YouTube

I love watching clothing hauls, stylebook videos, hair regimes, fitness routines and anything that relates to my lifestyle. Following and watching YouTube Beauty & Lifestyle gurus is another big thing that always helps keep me motivated!

What are you fitness goals?

How do you keep your fitness rhythm?

Daily Natural Hair Regimen

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Ever since I began college I began to wear my hair natural a lot more. Although it’s healthier for my hair and I’ve began to like the style more, my daily hair regime tends to be a little more time consuming and pricy. After trying out endless different products I found that these products work best for my hair and if you have thick, curly, coarse, moisture-seeking hair like mine these products should work great for you too!

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I begin my process by hopping in the shower, rinsing out all product and residue from the previous day. Also, since I am biracial and have very complex hair I found it easiest to style my hair while it is wet. After fully rinsing out all product and combing out my hair with my fingers (using an actually comb ruins my curls) I use one of the two conditions that you see above. I enjoy using the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Moist Deep Conditioning Treatment because it is very cheap and gives my hair the moisture it needs. I’ve tried other department store conditioner like Tresemme, L’oreal, and Pantene but I’ve found that Aussie does the best job at providing and maintaining moisture. It also smells amazing! I typically buy it from either Target or Walmart where you can buy the 8 oz. bottle for $2.97 – $2.99+tax. I usually chose to use it one days that I plan to wear my hair slicked back or up. On days that I plan to where my hair down I use the DevaCurl One Condition Ultra Creamy Daily Conditioner. It doesn’t smell that great but it does an amazing job at defining my curls! Not too many stores sell it but you can buy it online from DevaCurl.com or eBay where I bought mine for just $12.13 plus shipping for a 12 oz. bottle. I only use the As I Am Coconut Cowash Cleaning Conditioner about once a week when my hair is due for a wash. When having thick, coarse hair it is not good to wash your hair more than one a week because it will dry out your hair and make it brittle. I bought my 16 oz. cowash for $8.99+tax at Sally’s. Since I have A LOT of hair I tend to go through each bottle as fast as two weeks to a month. That is always why I like alternating between them.

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Once I make sure all of my hair is conditioned and fully rinsed out I then begin to style it. This process can take me anywhere between 10-20 minutes depending on how well my hair behaves. I DO NOT dry my hair or wrap it with a towel. While my hair is still fairly damp I add the Granier Frustis Sleek & Shine Intensely Smooth Leave-In Conditioning Cream. I bought my 10.2 oz. bottle from Walmart for just 2.96+tax. I love this product because it is also very cheap and helps tame my frizz really well! It also smells amazing so much so that people think I’m wearing perfume. Once I spread out the conditioning cream throughout my hair evenly, I apply the Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner. This is my favorite product out of all of them. It gives my hair shine, and keeps my curls in tact without leaving my hair hard or sticky! I’ve realized that when I don’t use it my curls don’t stay as well. The only thing that I don’t like about it is that it costs $19.99+tax. You can also buy this product online but I personally by mine from Target. On days that I feel my scalp is dry I apply a little bit of coconut oil down the middle of my scalp. There are coconut oil products sold in the beauty aisle at majority of stores but I’ve found a cheap $5.99 16 oz. jar at Trader Joe’s that does the job just as good. I also use the coconut oil when I straighten my hair along with a heat protecting spray because it keeps my hair sleek and moisturized. I initially bought the Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Creme from Sally’s (for $8.29+tax) to use as a leave-in conditioner but I found it to be really thick and sticky so I mainly use it to slick my hair back and for edge control when my hair is down. This product out of all the ones I use smells the best! Sooooooo good that you will just want to smell it all day! My actual edge control, ORS Olive Oil Edge Control Hair Gel also smells really good and works great at keeping my edges laid. The only thing about it though is if you don’t rub it in well or use too much it will turn white. So every time I use it I go over the applied area with a bristle brush. I bought mine from Walmart for just $3.24+tax. And my last product, Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Volume Hairspray is what I only use on very humid days. I don’t typically like to put hairspray in my hair for the simple fact that it makes my hair hard and sticky but it is very useful on hot, humid days when I just can’t tame my frizz. I also bought this product from Walmart for just $3.97+tax for a 14 oz can.

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The finished result! Sleek, shiny, moisturized, and tamed. And not to mention that you can smell my hair from a mile away! I hope my daily regime was useful to a lot of you. Feel free to ask me an further questions.