#look good

According to the calendar, spring is supposedly in the air. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I can still see my breath when I go outside every morning. My crate of flip flops is still stuck in my closet waiting to be used. And I can drive with the windows down for exactly 30 seconds before the wind gets too damn cold for me and I have to roll ‘em back up. Weak.

Even though it doesn’t feel like spring yet, it’s officially here. And if that’s the case, that means Memorial Day aka the unofficial start of summer is right around the corner! That means beaches, backyard barbecues, backpacking, and bathing suits!

Bathing suits. Ugh. If you’re like a good chunk of the population and spent Winter huddled up indoors, under mounds of blankets, avoiding the frigid temperatures any kind of attempt at shoveling, chances are you might be a little rounder around the edges. Or you might be the kinda person with a ridiculously fast metabolism that burns calories in their sleep. In which case, I hate you. Kidding. Only slightly.

But I digress. Bathing suit season is around the corner and if you’re gonna rock a one piece, or a two piece, or swim trunks for that matter, chances are you wanna look good doing it. Now if all of us were born with that perfect bathing suit bod, there’d be no point to writing this article. But since we’re not, we at Injury Duty wanted to offer you some tips to help you put your best food forward.

Now you can make like Fergie and be up in the gym, working on your fitness. That’ll certainly help you drop pounds and tone up. But a proper diet goes hand in hand with exercise when it comes to making a difference in how you look. You can choose to diet and eliminate all the high fat, high carb, processed foods and that’s a pretty solid way to shed some unwanted pounds. BUT, you can also choose to incorporate some very specific foods that help your body burn fat more efficiently. That said, we bring to you five foods and/or beverages that’ll help you kick your metabolism up a notch and burn fat.

1. Chili Peppers- The next time you’re whipping up something spicy in the kitchen, feel free to turn the heat up a notch by adding chili peppers to your dish. Although not for the faint-hearted (or the bland-tongued), chili peppers to do a lot more than set your tastebuds on fire. A study done at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition showed that chili peppers contain a compound called capsaicin which helps the body burn fat at a faster rate and may help boost metabolism. Habaneros are particularly full of the stuff. So put down the hot sauce and add the real stuff and you may be pleasantly surprised.

2. Green tea- Swap your quadruple mocha-choca-frappa-whatevertheheckitscalled-ccino at your favorite overpriced coffee chain for a venti green tea. Green tea contains a compound called EGCG which is thought to be a potent anti-oxidant and metabolism booster. Some opponents argue that green tea doesn’t do much in the way of fat burning, but even in that case, it’s a helluva lot healthier than all the sugar, caffeine, and carbs in your quadruple-ccino. Brew a pitcher of iced green tea and keep it handy. 4-6 cups a day works best.

3. Whole grains- Put down the doughy mass of goodness that is your daily bagel and reach instead for products made out of whole grains- like quinoa, brown rice, and oatmeal. Because whole grains are high in fiber and come to you in their most organic form, the body has to work harder to break them down to digest. In contrast, processed foods slow the body’s metabolism down because it doesn’t have to expend as much energy to break them down. You can eat to make your body work harder? Sounds like a win-win to me.

4. Greek yogurt- this might be the best thing to come outta Greece since the gyro. Kidding. Kinda. Greek yogurt is chock full of proteins which is great for many reasons. If you’re looking to put on some muscle for bathing suit season, increasing your protein consumption will definitely help. Furthermore, Greek yogurt has twice as much protein as other yogurts, which means you stay fuller longer after eating it. Like whole grains, the body burns off more calories when its digesting protein, making Greek yogurt an excellent choice! Bonus- it’s also full of calcium which promotes strong bone health.

5. Water on the rocks- Anyone who is trying to lose weight will always be told to drink lots and lots of water. Why? It’s simple. For one thing 2/3 of your body is comprised of water, so it’s important to constantly stay hydrated. More than that, drinking water will keep you full and less likely to reach for temptations. In fact people who frequently feel hungry and subsequently reached for food are actually encouraged to drink a tall glass of ice water first, lest the hunger pangs actually just be thirst pangs. The “ice cold” part is key because the body has to expend energy to warm the water up to your body temperature.

-Team [Woman] Injury-Duty

Outfits..

Hello my lovelies! Hope you are all well? Hope these mid-year blues haven’t attacked you - can you believe it is June already? HOW? June 2017? Anyway, I digress. 

I hope that today’s post is helpful to you out there - whether you are in school or working or just trying to figure life out in general. Sometimes we find ourselves in extremely stressful situations - exam time, work deadlines etc etc but I think it is important to keep your outer cool no matter what. That being said, I thought I would share with you some tips on how to look like you have everything under control, even on the days when you actually don’t. The idea is to look like nothing phases you - you stay fly no matter what. 

These tips are mainly focused on your outward appearance, I will write a post on how to keep calm inside your head when you feel like you are drowning in life. 

Hair

No matter what style you are rocking - natural hair, braids, weaves, relaxed hair, wigs always always always make sure it looks fresh! It might require some extra effort eg. styling your hair before bed (something I used to do when I was natural) to save time in the morning, or wrapping your hair before bed or braiding your weave before bed or even wearing clip in extensions on bad hair days. You need to invest a little time into this schbang (that’s if you care) or else you will always look like you are trying to catch up with yourself. Rocking 3 month old braids with visible dandruff is not a good look - neither for the academic nor the corporate world. If you notice that you don’t have time to get your braids redone in good time, get some dry shampoo or braid spray and do a little DIY at least once a week. For more haircare tips, click here 

Me rocking some braids - I keep em looking fresh by laying my edges daily and scarfing them at night 

Eyebrows

Girl! Even if you do not fill in your eyebrows everyday, trimming or plucking or waxing or tweezing them is all you need! There is nothing like a clean brow and you will notice a difference in your face instantly! Keep your brows neat and tidy - they give the illusion of you wearing makeup (see the difference below)

Clothing 

In general stay away from overly casual clothing (depending on the occasion of course).  I generally stay away from t-shirts, mini skirts, shorts, ripped jeans (unless that is the look I am going for ). Combining these items with flip flops makes you look like you just rolled out of bed and didn’t put in any effort - we are trying to look like we are on top of things. Also if you do want to wear jeans and a tshirt and flip flops, make sure you consider your accessories so you look like you tried (see Riri below)

I am not saying you cannot look fly in ripped jeans and a t-shirt however, I think to look more put together, overly casual clothing doesn’t make the cut without being properly styled. 

I try to avoid wearing flip flops and stick with sandals or heels - I particularly like a low heeled sandal or if I am wearing ‘slippers’ they have to have a twist to them ;) Keep your sandals stylin’ so that even if you don’t rock heels, you stay cute. (I feel a blog post coming on?)

Jewellery & Accessories 

This is a major major key for me! I loovveee jewellery and accessories. At any given time you will catch me wearing my watch, earrings and at least one necklace. If you cash me on a less simple day, we will throw in a couple of rings and bracelets to the mix. Accessories (doesn’t have to be loud or make a statement) always elevate your look and make you look like you tried. The trick is to invest in at least one gold necklace (if you can) and just wear it all the time - that is if you are the type of person who doesn’t like to take off their jewels.Get a cute watch - doesn’t have to be expensive and keep it cute! You can get very affordable watches on ASOS, H&M and even Amazon. 

I have a discount code for the #odaraonline website - http://myodara.com/ so you don’t really have an excuse. Use my code #SHARMSONLINE2K17 to get 10% off whichever jewels you decide to buy, some of my faves are their dainty necklaces and their simple stud earrings

Light Makeup 

Dab your face at least once a day with some blotting paper (I use regular tissue if I am honest) to get rid of the grease and shine. I carry a bag of lipsticks with me so I am spoilt for choice when it comes to re-applying after lunch or after work. I know not everyone wears makeup to work my current product list for work includes transluscent powder, mascara and lipstick (of course with my eyebrows drawn on - I never leave those at home). A touch of lipstick or even lip balm makes you look like at least you tried

Does anyone have anyother tips they use to look put together at all times? Cos I see some of you ladies and you look forever beat! Share the love, comment below! 

Until next time, make sure you are subscribed to my beauty blog and my YouTube Channel so you don’t miss a thing!

#hairstyle #afro #naturalhair #relaxedhair #hairstyles #hair #haircut #haircolor #haircuts #hairextensions #hairstylist #hairgoals #hairstyling #haironfleek #longhair #hairfashion #hairideas #hairdresser #hairdye #hairporn #haircare #beautyblog #beautyblogger #beautyinfluencer #ghana #ghanablogs

xx

Sharms