What Happens If We Gain Weight When Were Trying To Lose it?

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs that I am trying to lose a few kg before my wedding in February. I have been previously weighing myself daily but over the last few weeks I have been doing it weekly as it can do your head in doing it daily.
So Friday is my weigh day so in the gym I walk up to the electronic scales making sure no one is around to witness my weight and yes I take my shoes off (they are an extra 300 grams) and jump on the scales. To my absolute horror I have gained 500 grams! I weighed myself 3 times to check that the weight was right! A meathead who trains in the gym came up behind me and said I don’t think it gets lighter if you do it a few times, now if I wasn’t scared that this guy could flick me across the gym I would have been sure to smack him straight in the face. Did he know I was having a mini breakdown here!

Now a little confused I put my shoes back on and head over to do some exercise awaiting my trainer to come up as she teaches a 6am Abs, Butts and Thighs! She will talk me out of my irrational thinking and put me straight. Another lady I know comes and starts talking to me as I’m on a machine I get distracted and there walks by my trainer into class. I didn’t want to be rude and say to this lady I’m sorry I need Amanda to talk me of this emotional cliff I am standing on. To late Amanda is gone along with some of my sanity!
To my huge relief my beautiful best friend Corrine come up the stairs in her sexy gym gear, I proceed to tell her what has happened, now most people would give you a smart ass response (Joe I’m looking at you with your comment of you do number 2’s that weigh that much so maybe I need to go to the toilet) that didn’t help! Corrine looks and listens and says “You have upped your weights and downed your cardio training so it could be muscle gain, I fluctuated 500 grams a day don’t stress” These magic words pulls my head out of my butt and gets me back to rational thinking.

Now if this had happened about 4 years ago I would have probably starting starving myself and upping gym sessions to lose this 500grams cause my mind set was so messed up. I had to be very careful here not to fall into that trap again as it is very easy to do and I have seen people do it all the time. So when we’re trying to lose weight and we have a gain what do we do?

It’s very easy to fall off the wagon, go and emotional eat and throw in the towel. But it’s time like this that I feel you really strengthen yourself and take control of the situation.
As usual Corrine is completely right, yes I have change my routine for about 6 weeks now and yes I am lifting bigger weights so it could be muscle gain.
Also it hasn’t been a good week for me, I have been emotionally drained with various things in my life taking a toll and my eating has been a little out and I haven’t felt like I am worthy of having this weight loss I desire.

So I have made a list of what I need to do to help this process, when we have setbacks in life whether it be weight loss, loss of a job or a break up. It’s best to revaluate what we’re doing and make improvements. Now I know this may seem extreme over 500grams but I have recently spoken to people who have come back from holidays adding an extra 3 plus kg to their frame. So here is my advice

• Get a food diary going, write down what your putting in your mouth, you can do this in your phone on the diary. This is very confronting when we look at what we consume.

• I have been in a routine for 6 weeks now with training so I need to start mixing things up and keep my body guessing as it will get use to the same thing if I do it constantly.

• Thinking positive! This is a huge this as we need to stay positive or we will fall off the wagon.

• And finally stoping being hard on yourself as this isn’t doing anyone any favours, when we fall down we pick ourselves back up again and keep moving forward.

I hope this helps anyone who is trying to lose a little weight and are feeling a little overwhelmed by the situation.

GOSSIP!

Let’s face it we all like a little gossip on the occasion. There is very harmless gossip as in finding out your friend is getting engaged before she is or there is downright nasty gossip that can not only hurt someone but there reputation as well. And boy do I have a story for you, I was having my training session the other week when a women who is regularly at the gym at the same time most mornings walked by I notice my trainer get very quiet for a moment and looking uncomfortable. “You ok” I asked she looked perplex for a second then said “ No actually I’m a little pissed off” Then proceeded to tell me that the lady who had just walked past had started a rumour that something was going on between herself and another staff member at the gym. I was like oh honey that’s not bad don’t stress about that. She said “Oh I forgot to mention that she rang the man in questions wife” well this was a definitely a WTF moment.

I try to stay out of gym gossip as my gym is a very tight knit bunch and if you get pulled into the rubbish that goes on in there you get consumed by it. I have seen it happen before with people in the gym that they won’t go to that gym anymore they go to one of the other gyms in the area cause they now are in a uncomfortable situation.

So you’re probably wondering how this woman came to this conclusion and it’s quite simple my trainer and this guy train together on the occasion. That’s right people they trained together. Now if this is the case I am having it on with a lot of guys in the gym and a few girls for that matter, I’m not a huge girl and I need to have people assist me if I’m on the chest press. I do try to assist people too but as I said to a guy in the gym the other day who was pressing 100kg that if this falls on you the best I can do is call for help and watch you struggle. Back to my trainer, she said that she will train with anyone boy or girl if they are training at the same time as her as sometimes having a buddy will push you harder. The thing that really gets me is that, firstly this woman has a set to ring this man’s wife and say this. Apart from the fact this is highly inappropriate but this poor woman was sitting at home wondering what was going on with her husband. I don’t care what your relationship is like if you got a phone call from someone saying your partner was getting it on with someone else you would be upset as well. Obviously when he got home he was confronted with what was said to her, he handled it really well and explained the same thing as I said if I was sleeping with everyone I trained with I would never have time for my fiancé.

I feel terrible for my trainer as she has to be very professional at work and it isn’t in her best interest to confront this lady, I suggested hitting the emergancy stop on the treadmill when she was on it and watch her fly off, I even offered to do it for her. Anyone who knows my trainer knows she is an amazing lady who is completely professional and has never had a a bad word to say about anyone. The thing is that if this gossip had esculated my trainers reputation would be tarnished, I live in the Sutherland Shire and everyone knows everyone business so this could have been very damaging not just personally but professionally.

So if anyone who read this blog is in the business of starting rumors or getting involved in them. Think about the reprecussions of your actions, this isn’t high school anymore it’s not just reputations that can be at stake.

Hair Treatments!

So following up from my shampoo blog yesterday I wanted to blog on the best treatments for your hair. Here is a great list of treatments for all hair types.

Extremely Dry Hair - Redken All Soft, this treatment is expensive but is thick and rich and will nourish your hair.

Broken and Brittle Hair - Redken Cat Treatment, this product cab repair the hair but 100% if used correctly, 3 back to back treatment will improve the hair by 100% anymore than that protein will reverse on itself and start to damage the hair. This product has been around for years and is still a best seller

Quickie Treatments - GKMBJ One Minute Mask, this will moisturise and nourish hair in 1 minute. Perfect for people who don't have time to wait around for a 15 minute treatment.

Fine Hair - Fudge One Shot treatment is a spray leave in treatment is full of protein and moisture and has no weight to it. Great for a leave in treatment as well for people with thick hair.

Normal Treatment - GKMBJ Intensive Treatment, this is great for all hair types it's not heavy and is very moisturising on the hair.

These all have fairly reasonable price points, I will admit Redken is a little expensive but worth the money. Remember to treat your hair once a week for the best results.

Can’t Find A Shampoo To Suit Your Hair? I have The Answers Here For You!

Finding good products for our hair is always a bit of a challenge, you buy something that you figure will be amazing on your hair only to find out it makes it oily, dry or sticky. So this week I’m going to put a list together of my picks of products that will work best for your hair starting with shampoo.

DRY HAIR- I highly recommend GKMBJ Latic Shampoo, this product is reasonably priced and is amazing on dry hair it really smoothes the cuticle out and isn’t heavy and can be used on most hair.

TORTURED HAIR- I love Fudge Tortured Tonic this shampoo is light weight and very repairing on damaged hair. It can be used on all hair types.

BLONDE HAIR- If you don’[t want any brassiness in your hair I highly recommend De Lorenzo Nova Colour Shampoo in Silver, this product is very strong and eliminates all yellow from hair (Beware not to overuse as you will get a silver effect on your hair)

COLOURED HAIR- I think PPS Colour Ware shampoo is great if you just want to lock your colour in and want something that will moisturise your hair without making it heavy.

OILY HAIR- I highly recommend PPS Pure Cleanse, this is a great product for people who need to wash their hair daily and want something to strip oil from the hair.

DANDRUFF- You can’t go past GKMBJ Dandruff shampoo, it is light weight and still moisturised the hair without stripping any extra natural oils.

BODY BUILDER – I swear by TIGI Rock Star shampoo, this adds loads of volume and it very cleansing.

CURLY HAIR- I love CURLY SEXY HAIR, this shampoo define curls beautifully and isn’t super heavy so people with fine hair can use it as well.

STRAIGHT HAIR- I think a great product for straight hair is CONTROL FREAK by TIGI, it really smooths the hair straight and reduces the need for products on the hair


If you have combination hair please don’t hesitate to give me a email and I will help you diagnose your hair and find the best product for you.

Can A Blog Change Your Life?

The answer is apparently YES! As I mentioned when I started to blog I did this cause I felt that I had things to say and it may be of interest to people and off I went. I have not held back on any of my blogs I have given my opinion whether it be good or bad. I have opened up about things that I hold near and dear and share stories from my family. This has been a really great experience for me and my creative side, I was always scared I thought I loss that when I gave up hairdressing full time.

I didn’t really know how many people read my little blog as I only officially have 4 followers (Please join up to follow me) but I started getting a huge amount of private messages through Facebook, email and texts. Some people don’t always feel like commenting on a wall post especially some that have been as personal as mine. I have had people who I have known for years that I had no idea had gone through things that I had. I also had a message that a person went and used the Botox place I recommended and loved it. My best friend told me they loved me after my blog about them and Corrine has been at the gym 2 days this week so we can see each other.

These really made me feel good about my blog, but there is 2 people I was to talk about who have meant the most to me by sending me a email. It wasn’t until yesterday I received an email from an American lady (Yes I have gone International) she had gotten onto my blog through a friend of hers who was put onto it by someone else. The one thing with my blog I have no idea who reads it as I don’t have a tracker or who looks at it or not. Anyway back to this amazing girl, she said she has been reading my blog daily and has really touched her. She suffered an eating disorder for years trying to get to a place that she was happy, that place never happen which is a common with people with severe eating disorders. She confessed that she was so bad that she use to stand in the shower and run on the spot to burn calories. She has had Botox to feel younger and to break my heart a little further she and he now husband are on their 4th round of IVF trying to get pregnant the years of damage she did to herself. She goes in and out of depression and beats herself up on how she could have stopped this. Responding to this email was such a hard thing as I’m not a councillor or am able to give her any type of advice. I won’t go into what I responded to her with but it was full of positive information and have told her to email me when she want if she needs to talk.

The second person I wanted to talk about is a lady I actually know! I met this lovely lady through a mutual friend and she sent me a message that she has been trying to lose weight since having her 2nd child and is getting nowhere and feels terrible about talking to people as she feels like a broken record. She needed someone like I needed when I started on my downward spiral into a mild eating disorder. She read my blog and was hoping for some advice on eating and exercise and support. I referred her to read my best friends Lizzie’s FIT blog (You can find this on blog spot) I have been clear that I am no expert on losing weight but am more than happy to give her tips on what works for me and email and text her regularly letting her know that I am here for her and she can call me when she feels like chucking it in. I am more than happy to do this for anyone that needs this.

Everyone’s posts, comments, emails and texts mean the world to me and make writing this blog worth wild. If people can walk away from any of my blogs feeling better about themselves then my job is done.

I would like to end this blog with a quote from the beautiful Emma Pilcher, Believe in yourself (cause I sure do)

Note: Both women who I have written about in this blog have approve of me writing about them. I would like to dedicate this to them as they inspired this blog from me. Xxxx

No Fear!

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday my 2 year old niece Ava has no fear of anything at the moment. I have never seen a child run at things with such little concern for her own safety. I must admit this is one of the things I love so much about Ava, all my nieces and nephew are so different to one another and all have their own little traits. But at the moment this is a the top of my list for Ava. You could not find a more chalk and cheese pair then Ava and her sister Elise, Lisi as she is known is more reserved and cautious and has been for her whole life. When we got our first pug Roxy, Elise was completely freaked out by Roxy even though she was a 100 times bigger than her, Lisi is warming to Roxy now that she is older and a little calmer.
Ava has always been cautious of Roxy as long as she can remember Roxy has been full size and I full size pug is scary to any 2 year old. But now we have added a new edition to the family in the name of a little black pug name Elvis, I am very cautious that the girls know Elvis from a early age so as he grows they are ok with him and he is obviously not threatening at his grand old weight of 850 grams.

So when I called my sister on Saturday and asked to pop round to introduce Elvis to Lisi and Ava I knew we would have to be careful not to freak both of them out. When I walked is Lisi was intrigued by him but didn’t want to hold him as I know this was time thing for Lisi she would hold him in her own time. Ava went running from the room screaming. Where did my no fear girl go I got scared that she was losing that quality all ready, she came running back in 1 minute later to find me sitting on the floor with Elvis and Lisi having a play then all of a sudden plonking herself right next to me pulling Elvis out of my hands and putting him on his lap and turning to me and saying “puppy!” No concern for her safety or if Elvis may hurt her she was wrapped in this little puppy in front of her and I lost my puppy from that moment on had to pry him back out of her hands when it was time to go.

So this got me thinking when did we all become such big scaredy cats! Really we get to an age where we become so cautious of most things and stop taking chances. Now I don’t mean jumping out of planes or playing chicken on a busy road (Well actually I do that most days trying to get across the road to get my coffee) but we don’t take as many chance in life we do things the safe way. I don’t know if it’s cause we become complacent or if it’s because we can’t be bothered. For example I was speaking with a girl in my Attack class who hates her job but is scared to leave. When I asked why she said it’s all I know and I’m secure there. Me any job I have hated I have left, one cause I figure that I spend 40 plus hours there a week and I need to like what I do and the people I work with. But with saying this about this lady in my attack class she goes bungee jumping all the time, now me I will never do bungee jumping I like my spine in place thank you very much. So how are we so fearless in some things but not in others, I know every time I’m called to my big bosses office I run through my head of what could I be getting in trouble and sit nervously until I find out the reason I have been summonsed there. Usually it’s to give an update on what I’m working on.

So what I would like to ask the people who read this is to do something fearless in the next week, it can be as simple as trying some random food or book a trip to a destination that you want to go to but have been holding back on or to approach your boss about a pay rise or a new role that is being advertised internally. I think sometimes we need to take an Ava approach to life and go in no holds bar and give it a go. Remember in life where not here for a long time but a good one so make everyday count.

Things That Make Me Happy!

I was speaking to a girl that I work with and she was saying that when she has a bad day she makes a list of what makes her happy. This acts as a distraction to what is going on in her day and brings her back to reality.
So here is my list.

• My Fiancé, he puts me in my place when I need it and loves me unconditionally
• My puppies, Roxy and Elvis make me laugh and I always have someone to come home to who is happy to see me
• My family, as much as we can drive each other up the wall we love each other non the less
• My nieces and nephew laugh, they all have this crazy cackle and it keeps me in stitches
• My friends, they are always there for me and always fun to have a party with
• Balloons, I have a slightly weird obsession with them I always think people are lucky who get given balloons
• The singing Barista, across the road from my work is this amazing coffee shop and they have a barista that sings while he makes your coffee. I always have a giggle at this
• A good cup of coffee
• My niece Ava has no fear and dives into everything head first. I love watching this as I know that she will grow out of it one day
• Fresh Flowers, there is nothing like fresh flowers I think they can brighten your day and a room
• Running, I love that it clears my head and I am at the point now I can run for an hour and a half and not stop
• New music on my ipod, anyone who runs know that it makes a difference when running
• Trashy TV, Joe hates it but my favourite is The Housewives of NYC, The Kardashians, Pineapple Dance Studio and The Hills just to name a few
• Gelato, any flavour and I will eat it at anytime of the year
• Personal training, I for some dumb reason like getting my ass kicked
• Dancing, I don’t care where there is nothing like shaking what your mother gave you

I would love you all to comment on one or more things that make you happy. You would be amazed what makes people happy sometimes.

What Classifies A Real Friend?

I am very fortunate in life that I have 3 best female friends, I have met all of them in different ways. My oldest friend Kristen I met as school, we had a crush on the same boy at school. Now most girls would see this as competition not Kristen and I we saw it as way to spy on him and report back to one another. Tragic I know but if you think this is bad you should have seen the notes we wrote to one another. I then have Corrine, I met Rin at the gym, I use to see her every morning then one day while I was in the process of getting change up walks Corrine and say “Oh wow you have hair extensions, I just got mine last week” now if most people walked up to me while I was half naked and started to talk to me about my hair they would have copped the most dirty of looks but I remember looking at Corrine and thinking I can’t help but like you and that is how our friendship was born. And lastly Lizzie, I must admit I was a little wary of Lizzie when I met her, she had not long started dating my best male friend and like most friends would be prepared to scratch her eyes out if she did anything to hurt him. Over time I realised that Lizzie and I have a lot in common and this girl has come to my rescue on a few occasions, especially when I’m writing work reports, resumes and assignments for Tafe. These are 3 people who are truly special to me hence why they will walk down the aisle with me when it comes to my wedding day.

So you may be wondering why am I writing about these 3 wonderful girls and their friendships to me? Well that’s simple, I received a text from Corrine last week that said “I’m so sorry I haven’t had time for you lately”. Corrine and I have had a huge amount going on in our lives in the last few months and we went from seeing each other every day at the gym to once every 2-3 weeks as Corrine running every morning near home so she can get to work early and while I’m still at the gym. I smiled at this message as it is a very Corrine thing to say and I would probably say it to her as well if she hadn’t beaten me to the punch. Now the reason that this makes me smile as I have a different relationship with all these girls but still very much the same. I regularly can go a few weeks with Corrine and Kristen and not speak to them. Not that I don’t want to but cause were all so busy, this doesn’t mean I love them any less or that they love me any less but that’s our life at the moment. Kristen and I didn’t speak to each other for 2 years after I left high school. This didn’t mean I loved her any less but we needed to do our own things for a while. But I know it is as simple as picking up the phone and saying hi what’s doing and everything is the same. There is no arguments that you haven’t called or that I’m a bad friend, this to me is a great friends. Now you may be wondering here about Lizzie, well she is in own group all together. As I said Lizzie started dating my best male friend and they are still together 5 years on, I see Lizzie every weekend and email and text nearly every day. This is as we are in the same group of friends spend a lot of time together. I know if the situation ever changed if we didn’t speak for a week or so the same rules apply, there would be no arguments that we weren’t in contact with one another, it would just pick up where it had left off.

Now I know that isn’t what always defines friends but for me when it come down to it I would prefer to have a handful of friends like these than a mountain of friends who come and go through my life. I think if you can count you true friends on your hand then you are doing very well for yourself in life. I made the decision many years ago that I didn’t want toxic friends in my life and that for a simple reason. I can do a pretty good job of making myself feel bad on occasion, I don’t need the people around me doing it for me. So I did a bit of a clean out of friends, I also along with half my group got cleaned out from 2 friends that I thought where our good friends. Amazing what a boob job can do for a friendship (not mine, obviously for anyone who knows me) I also think that this has been a great thing as I don’t miss these friends and if they can’t be honest with you about something very obvious then what kind of friends are they right? I also don’t miss the way they made me feel, I was made to feel that I was bellow them, whether this was intentional or not I don’t now but I know I don’t miss it. So I hope this blog make you take a little look at your “friends” and if any of them are making you feel bad about yourself then maybe it’s time to have a clean out. It will guarantee that you will feel better about yourself and I promise that you will be better off without them.

The Blue Parrot

I never thought that I would do a restaurant review but I went to a restaurant on Saturday night that was so good it was hard to not write about it. The restaurant is called The Blue Parrot at its on Surf Rd at Cronulla. My fiancé and I were catching up with another couple and I haven’t been out to dinner with them before but Joe has known Steve since high school. So we wanted to go somewhere really nice and I really wanted to get to know both of them better as Joe speaks so highly of Steve and we are invited to their wedding in January.

Now I left it in Joe and Steve to organise where to go to dinner and being typical boys it was 2pm on Saturday and nowhere had been booked. So I was down at Cronulla and went and had a look around for somewhere for dinner. We had seen some great reviews for the Cooks Table but it was booked out so walking back I walked past The Blue Parrot and saw they had 3 courses of $37.50 so I thought that’s well this is reasonable and they were able to fit us in so it worked out perfect. I have been to the Blue Parrot about 8 years ago and the food was lovely from memory and my parents go there on occasion so I knew it had to be ok.

So we had an early reservation and when we arrived the restaurant was half full which was surprising for 6:30pm, we were seated in at a beautiful table. One of the first things I noticed was it is a really beautiful restaurant, the lighting is really nice it wasn’t to dark and it wasn’t blaring light either. They had a great menu with a really nice mix; they had beautiful salads and light meals for entrées. I had the tempura prawns with lemon aioli; Joe had the prawn and scallop wontons for entrees, both these dishes were amazing and very light. The serves for these were very generous.

For mains I had lamb shanks with vegetables, I can sometimes be very wary of lamb shanks, as they can be a very heavy dish. This wasn’t at all. Joe had the duck, which was great and cooked really well. I’m not a huge duck person but I really enjoyed it. Laura had a stuffed chicken, which looked amazing and she said was great too.

We were tossing up on desert should we or shouldn’t we, Laura and I made the call that the desert was the way to go. I am a bandit for a good gelato, so they have a trio of gelatos. It was fig, pistachio and chocolate. I have to say these were AMAZING! Joe got the fruit platter and Steve and Laura got the sticky date pudding. The fruit platter was really good and had really nice cheeses. Both Steve and Laura said there sticky date pudding was great as well. Only complaint was the ratio of ice cream to pudding wasn’t quiet right but delicious none the less.

So apart from the food there was other things that made the meal so great. The waiters were very attentive and were always there but not in an over annoying way. The meals were all bought out together and were all hot so we knew nothing had been sitting there for a while.

I really recommend this restaurant to anyone as the food is amazing and so was the service. It is also BYO so you can take your favourite bottle wine to have with your meal. Definitely give this place a go as it is not a huge restaurant a go if you like good food and want somewhere you can go and talk to your friends. Phone number is (02) 9523 9109.

Wedding Guests

As I have mentioned in previous blogs I am get married in 7 months time. And who ever said that getting married is the happiest time in your life clearly lied!
Well actually it’s not as bad as that but a wedding is a lot of stress and money. Now I am very lucky both my parents and my fiancés parents have been kind enough to help out with paying for the wedding so that has take a lot of stress of us financially.

Now like most couples we have an idea of what our dream wedding is. I am very lucky Joe and I have very simular tastes in things and when we found our wedding reception we both knew that this was it and that neither one of us had to talk the other into a place we didn’t want. The other big thing is the venue is a great size but realistically it also limits our numbers to about a 100 at the most. So when it came time to sit down and go through who would be there this was a very tough call. I have a very large family and extended family my extended family are family friends who have been in my life since birth and have welcome Joe into their family with welcome arms. Joe on the other hand does not. He has his 5 brothers and sisters 2 of which have partners and his parents and Nanna. (May I say I love Nanna McGloin so much I have never seen such a small woman consume so much champagne but I guess that’s the Irish in her)
So once we put our family down we then had to move onto friends, this is always tricky. You have people that are in your group of friends that you only see when there is an event or your have friends who go through girlfriend or boyfriends faster than I do underwear. So where do you draw the line at people you invite to the wedding.

We made a common rule of no plus ones or no people who we hadn’t seen in 5 years or that each of us hadn’t met. This seems ok in theory but not so? Do we invite bosses? Do we invite work friends? Oh we went to that person wedding but I haven’t seen them in 3 years and only chat occasionally on Facebook. Well as you can imagine when we did the first draft we were at 130 people, this was way too much and we wouldn’t be able to fit. So when we went through the list both Joe and I were saying to each other who is this? And we would then have to decide can we have them or not. It is really hard cutting people off a list as you don’t want to offend anyone but you also need to be realist are they going to be in your life in 5 years time. This is sadly a hard task as you do start thinking about what kind of friendships these are and it sad to think about friends this way too.

I know plenty of people who have invited everyone to their wedding and within 12 months have never seen them again and have paid $150 a head for them to be at the wedding. That’s the last thing we want, weddings and engagements are a very personal thing and I do believe that you have the people you love there. We had the great experience of a girl who Joe and I are not close with and we know has an issue with us show up at our engagement party, as you can imagine it went down really well with me when she comes into your parents home and helps herself to food and alcohol you have paid for. Not cool!

So for anyone who is planning a wedding take the time to think about who you want to invite to your wedding, this day is about you and you fiancé. And sharing it with the people you love. People should understand that weddings are expensive and that sometimes there just isn’t enough space or money to have everyone.

Moroccanoil

So today I thought I would give a review of Moroccan oil for all the people who are a little curious about this product. Well when I say all of you I mean the ladies not so much the men.

The luxury brand, Moroccanoil®, is the originator and leading manufacturer of professional Argan Oil in recent years there has been many competitors come out releasing their own version of this product.

A powerful antioxidant and UV protector, Moroccanoil’s proprietary Argan oil blend is rich in vitamins and natural elements that fortify the hair, including Vitamin F (Omega 6), Vitamin A to improve elasticity, Vitamin E to protect against free-radicals, and Phenols to shield against environmental stressors.

Moroccanoil® products have a strong following among leading runway, film, television and celebrity stylists who search for the very finest for their A-list clients. Moroccanoil® is a backstage fixture frequently used to create hair for major magazine covers, fashion editorial spreads, as well as for award shows.
There is many Moroccanoil®’s Argan oil is harvested under a fair trade program which provides substantial socio-economic support to thousands of families in the Souss-Massa region of Morocco. Revenue from this project provides income to families and helps improve the working conditions of rural women. It is also used for reading, writing and management classes, as well as for modern infrastructure and technology that help make harvesting easier and more efficient, ensuring long-term management of the Argan forest.

First of all I liked what the company stands for any company that is under the fair trade program I am will to give sometime to. So I bought a small bottle to try out on not just myself but on my clients as well. The usual thing with a product is that it will work great on some hair but not others. I have extensions in my hair and being human hair I need to treat them like normal hair. I find the ends of my extensions can sometimes get a little dry so I make sure that I use good shampoo’s and conditioner, I also find most oils work well on the end of them as well. So I wash and conditioned my hair and added a small amount to the ends. Firstly this stuff smells amazing! Secondly it glided on my hair and when I combed my hair it detangled and I could feel the smoothness where I had placed the oil.

So I did two tests, one letting my hair dry naturally into a curl and blow dried straight. Like most hair when dried naturally it is frizz central, not with the oil. My girls were very defined and smooth and not sticky or felt like I rubbed a bottle of oil in my head.

Next the blow dry test. I find most of my clients can dry their roots to mid lengths really well but they can’t seem to smooth out their ends. So I decided to give my hair a very unprofessional blow dry. Not drying in sections and just a shake, brush, dry. Thanks Sue for her description of how she dries her hair. Even at my most rubbish attempt at a blow dry my hair look really reasonable, can you imagine what it would look like if I did it properly.

So I then moved onto my next test my mum anyone who has seen my mum knows she has a huge amount of hair and the texture is coarse. When I used the oil it was so smooth and felt amazing nice and smooth and took the very coarse feeling off it.

I have now been using this on all my clients with amazing results. Moroccanoil is not a cheap product a large on will set you back about $45 or a small $25. This product does last a long period of time and a little goes a long way. I recommend that if you would like to purchase SA hair and Beauty suppliers on level 7 the Gowing Building sell this product a reasonable cost or you can go online and order from http://www.hairbodyskin.com.au/hair1/moroccan-oil/?gclid=CKmyvrLAraMCFQMjbgodBF4K3w

Babies, don't take them for granted!

I have written and rewritten this particular blog numerous times so I figure I would just get to the point. I recently offered my girlfriend my eggs. Not your run of the mill chicken eggs, no my reproductive eggs. So some of you might be thinking what the? One of my very close girlfriend has been trying to have a baby by IVF for 3 years now with no success. She was 40 when she started her first round of IVF and unfortunately it has never taken. There is nothing physically wrong with her or her partner, her body produces eggs normally and her partner is a perfectly healthy strapping man. But the only thing that they can conclude is that there age means that their eggs and sperm isn’t as strong as they would like it to be. This has not only been heartbreaking to watch but makes you really think about your own life and puts things in perspective.



I am lucky to have 3 amazing nieces and 1 spunky young nephew who I love unconditionally and would do anything for. Now all 4 of these little angels (their parents may say different) coming into this world hasn’t been easy on either them or my sisters. I have lost a niece, I have had to sit with the fact that they thought my sister had a brain tumour in her second pregnancy and had to watch my other sister be so violently ill though her pregnancy and birth that it makes me wonder why I even want kids. But the simple answer to that is the enjoyment that these little ones give not just their parents but my whole family. I love that my nephew thinks my name is Roxy as he has managed to confuse my name with my dog. I love that when they have all learnt my name and say it repeatedly, I love that all my nieces have a crush my fiancé as they always run to him before me. And most of all I love how during really difficult times in my family’s life they make you realise how important family is. When my grandfather died it was unexpected and sudden but 4 months later the beautiful Ava Mackenzie came into the world and was able to take away some of the pain we all felt. I see my sisters with my nieces and nephew and see the joy they give them and the sacrifices they make for them. I’ve seen Kate sit in front of a dryer with Jack watching clothes spin around as that was the only way she could calm Jack down. I have seen Jacqui dances around to wiggles to make her girls smile when their having a moment.



These are the things that make me want to be a parent and I except I could face the problems my sisters face during their pregnancies but I’m willing to do this for a baby of my own. So to sit and watch my closes friends go through this I realise that this is something I can help with. So it doesn’t seen bazaar to me to off someone my eggs as if this means that my girlfriend has a chance at having a child then why not. Now I asked a few people what there thoughts were on this. A few people had said that they would find it hard as to do it for various reasons and these were a few I got. Firstly what if I gave up some of my eggs and my friend has a perfectly healthy child and it came time for me to conceive and I couldn't or I had a child with a deformity. Well that can happen regardless if I have given some of my eggs away or not.

Secondly wouldn't I feel like the baby was mine? Now I don't know if anyone has seen the size of an egg but it's the size of a pin prick I shed hair and eyelashes that are bigger. Yes these don't resolve in a child but it's a very small part of me.

My thoughts on this is once I have given the eggs to my friend and they no longer belong to me. They are hers and her partners and it will grow inside of her, she will nourish it and keep it safe and deliver it when the time comes. This is 10 months worth of work, (The 9 month thing is rubbish 40 weeks equals 10 months) I only participate for a 1/4 of a percent of that and what better gift could I give but the gift of life to them.


Now after some research into me donating my eggs we located a few dramas. Firstly I would have to register that I was a Donor and when the child was 18 years old the child could register on line and find out that I was what they would call the biological mother. So keeping this a secret was out of the question as my friend would have to tell the child. Strange you can adopt a child and never tell them but using donor eggs and sperm mean't you have too! This is something we all didn't feel comfortable about, as the child may never find out that I played a part in their existence but they could and it was a risk that we weren't happy with. Can you imagine if this child found out on their 18th birthday "Oh you are our child but you know your Aunt Dannii it was her eggs that helped us conceive you". Apart of what the physiological damage could be to them I would be in this child's life and it would feel betrayed my not just their parents but by me as well. My strong thoughts are that these laws need to change as parents who go through IVF have the option to donate their eggs for the reproductively challenged. They are doing something for people who have been in the same boat as themselves and can understand it from a point of view a lot of us may not be able to.


So I guess for me to sign off on this blog is Yes I would definitely give my eggs to my girlfriend if were able to do it in a way that we were both comfortable. Cause at the end of the day any of us could be in that situation one day and I would hope that I would have a friend put that offer on the table as a choice I could have. Being a parent is the most selfless thing you can do in your life and I think we should all have the option no matter our age or race.So for all the mothers and fathers out there whenever your child is being a pain and your ready to sell them on ebay, remember there are people out there who aren't as fortunate as you are.

Personal Training, Is It Worth The Cost?

So long gone are the days that personal trainers are just for celebrities. I am lucky that I have a second job that allows me to afford to splash out on a trainer once a week. I have been really lucky that I have had some amazing trainers in my time but I have 2 that stick out in my mind. My first one is the amazing Emma Pilcher, I started to train with Emma at the beginning of the year who I absolutely loved. Emma would work me hard and have a good giggle, Emma is very inspiring and has achieved a lot in her life and has 2 very amazing children. Her husband and her run an amazing personal training business and would highly recommend her and her husband Glen to anyone. I unfortunately had to stop my training in May with Emma as I had lost my job and had to make some cut backs and my personal training was one of them. I still remain close with Emma and love being able to hear about her adventures. So when I started working again I wanted to get back to training, the only thing I needed to go train in the mornings before work and nights no longer suit. I am also unable to train on Saturdays as I work then, as Emma has her little ones I don't want her to be asked to get up for me at 5:30am. So I was thinking who would be able to do this for me? Then I realised there is someone who I know can kick my butt as she does it 2 mornings a week. And that’s the beautiful Amanda Kelly, a couple of reasons I made the decision to go with Amanda is for starters she is the same shape as me, so I know that she will know how my body works. Amanda like Emma has a killer body so that’s a big plus. I also like the way Amanda's teaches classes, I'm always tired and feel like I have had an amazing workout afterwards. So I have now been working with Amanda for about a month now and I'm already seeing a huge difference in my body. I also have come to find myself a new friend in Amanda. She has been very supportive of my goals and hasn’t shied away from me for wanting to achieve them. The thing I also love is she continually kicks my butt and tells me I can do something even when I think I can’t. Especially when I told her I was allergic to chin ups! That excuse hasn’t work and I know I will be doing them soon.

So my question is, is personal trainers worth all the hype. My answer is Yes but the is a but at the end of that. Finding the right trainer is the key, as they are not all the same and some are downright terrible. For example there is a trainer in my gym to bitched to a client that I was going to get a big bum from doing a particular exercise as he saw me do it regularly, problem is she is one of my clients and told me. Now as far as I’m concerned this guy can get stuffed but the problem for our mutual client is that she doesn’t want to go in the weight areas anymore in fear that this trainer will bitch about her. So here are some tips that might help. Look for referrals from people who have them, watch PT’s around your gym and see if you like the way they are training their clients and never be scared to say it’s not working if you have done a few sessions and it doesn’t work or they start bitching about other clients.
Map out the reason you want a trainer and so you can be forward with them when you start, whether it is weight loss, muscle definition or just to mix things up.

So on my second day of cleanse and I am still not well. I am eating food and incorporating my juices through the day, for example I had a light breakfast of some gluten free toast and a small salad for lunch. I drank a juice mid morning and will drink my juices this afternoon and tonight. While this is not ideal for a proper cleanse it’s what I need to do until I start to get better. I find the juices do make me feel full and give me energy as well I will keep doing this through the week and see what kind of weight loss I have on Friday. If I don’t lose the 3kg that was recommended that I would lose I won’t be upset as I know I have done the right thing by my body.

For reccomendations for amazing personal trainers please email me on danielle.banister@gmail.com

Urban Remedy Cleanse

So as I mentioned in last weeks blogs I am doing the Urban Remedy Cleanse this week to help me loose a bit of weight prior to the wedding. I actually got recommended to this product by a few people who have done it and had great success. So I had seen a lot of positive feedback from the Facebook page and so I posted on the walls what I would like to achieve by doing the cleanse. I got a a prompt response by the beautiful Emma who gave me some info and was even kind enough to come meet with me and discuss what my plans are for weight loss. Emma sat down with me and explained how the cleanses works. What effectively we do on this cleanse is give your digestive system a break for a few days.
Your body is designed to detoxify naturally. Cleansing helps to accelerate this natural process of neutralising or eliminating toxins from your body for optimum health. An Urban Remedy Cleanse is particularly efficient and effective because it does two things at once:

It floods the body with easily-assimilated nutrients, vitamins and minerals – energizing and stimulating your body's natural healing abilities.

By giving your digestive system a rest, vital energy normally used to digest food is freed up, allowing that energy to become available for other uses, like cleansing and detoxifying. With all this “free time’, your body will begin to scour for dead cells, toxins, damaged tissues, fatty deposits, etc, all of which are then burned for fuel.

So my cleanse was delivered on Sunday night and they all looked great. As I have signed up for a 5 day cleanse I received my first 2 day cleanses and will receive my last 3 days on Tuesday.
So when I wake up on Monday morning I am feeling really unwell and I think this isn't a great way to start my cleanse. I drank juice one on the way to work on the train. It smells like a fresh salad in a juice, it takes my about an hour to drink it as my body is taking a while to get my head around a salad in a bottle. I am also not a huge fan of cucumber so as this was in my first juice it was a little harder for me to drink.
I got to work and was not well so I had to come home. Not a great start to my cleanse! i had some starch and felt a lot better and have slowly started drinking the rest of my juices. I feel a little weak but not too bad, I know I have food options if I need them and I can stop at any time if it gets to much. The most surprising part is my fiance is looking at the juices and really wants some as he thinks they look really good. So when I do my daily blog I will write at the end and let you know how I'm feeling.