Thank you to everyone for the comments, tweets and emails in the last couple of weeks, they really meant so much to me and made my lip quiver a couple of times. I have spent my first week of summer relaxing and doing anything and everything to get back to normal. It's been really lovely. It's been nice to spend some time blog planning again after such a long break; with luck normal blogging should resume next week. I'm pretty excited to start again, I've missed it way too much. But for now here are some photos.
My first few days were mainly bed based. I've been making more of an effort to read this year and I'm really enjoying having a source of entertainment which isn't screen based! Of course I have hobbies and the like but they seem much more active and less relaxed than watching the telly or browsing pinterest, so it's nice to get into a routine of passive entertainment which I don't have to feel too guilty about. Also green tea. I've had a lot of green tea. I bought some with a shiver purely because I knew it was healthy for me. I've tried to drink it before in the mornings to kickstart my metabolism, but could barely get through the cup on account of it mainly tasting like liquidised hamster bedding (I can't be the only one who thinks that right!?). Basically to make the whole ordeal better I bought the fanciest Clipper tea I could get my hands on and it's actually nice! I've been constantly surprising myself by choosing to drink it.
My main task has been to get my room in order. I've had the same room literally all my life and so it still felt like a child's room. As I'm now a grown-up (age-wise) I thought it needed a bit of an update and so I've spent the last couple of weeks putting up shelves, sorting things out and generally re-jigging it all. The above freshly-framed picture is a paper bag which I stole from Macy's in New York a few years ago. I saw it under the counter and fell in loooove so I asked the lady if I could have one, she very snootily replied "No, they are for our gift bags for our VIP shopping event." I then waited until she left and swiped one. Snootiness never wins.
I've also got a new shelving system for my make up and jewellery which gave me an opportunity to tip everything out on my bed and sort it into exciting piles. It's odd because I've never reeeaally thought of myself as a make up girl but when faced with this pile I sort of have to admit that I am. I need to start using some of it. Also my jewellery collection just makes me smile like crazy. I think I feel a whole jewellery based post coming on.
I'm particularly loving the little corner of my room where my desk is. It's so light and colourful.
I also took the plunge today and went to the hairdressers. It's been something I've needed to do for a while and I have been dreading it. Due to stress my hair has been falling out. It's been really worrying and I hate the feeling of a thinner pony tail than I'm used to. Has anyone out there ever had the same problem? Did it grow back when you were no longer stressed? I'd be really interested to know. Anyway today I went to the hairdressers, took a deep breath and told her to cut off as much as she needed to to make it healthy. It ended up not being too much but gosh half an inch off your hair feels like a mile! It feels good to have a fresh start though. I'm hoping with my new healthy, chilled out lifestyle it'll be shiny in no time!
Terry Pratchett and a cup of tea sounds like a wonderful combination to me :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Ally! I love your hair color, fits in your personality :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel that I'm way tooooo much in front of the screen as well so I try to avoid it exploring outdoors. A weekend without internet is perfect! I'm also trying to read more, my goal is 20 for this year but the last one I didn't like (MAKTUB by Paulo Coelho) so now I need to find the motivation again... although I have like 10 books to read at home none is calling my name and I don't want to fail again in the book choise.
Understand the trauma of having your mane tamed. Biotin promotes hair and nail growth. Check with the Dr. First, but I'm talking 5000 mcg daily and can tell the difference. Love the room redo!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the advice! I ordered some from Amazon and so I'm hoping I'll have my lion's mane back in no time!
DeleteI had some of my hair come out, like a square centimetre, which the doctors put down to a combination of stress and illness. It was all fucked at the top near the hair root! I didn't even realised I was so stressed but I've had loads of random physical things happen before and it's always put down to stress (I imagine we are quite similar in being workaholics and stressing ourselves out just based on when we've spoken before but no worries if you don't think so!) but anyway I think it's grown back. Although I have a stupid amount of hair anyway and it's very thick (as discussed in recent blog post) and actually nobody could tell when the hair came out and it didn't feel any less thick or anything. x
ReplyDeleteOk ignore that, I just went to check and I should have been able to find a patch of hair where it was all noticeably shorter than the rest and I couldn't, which makes me think it hasn't actually grown back. But I also couldn't find a bald patch so who knows!! My hair is a law unto itself. I think if the roots weren't screwed up it will probably be ok. E-mail me if you want to discuss more though as I've totally been there done that :) xx
ReplyDeleteHeehee! Those comments really made me giggle as I imagined you furiously searching through your hair. From speaking to people with similar temprements I would seem that hair loss is quite a common thing as far as stress is involved. It's been quite encouraging though because most people's stories usually end with "it's all fine now." I'm pretty sure it'll be the same for me now I'm out of my stressful situation.
DeleteI'm glad you're feeling better :) That little corner of your room is adorable! I really need to sort out my desk/work space, it's so cluttered and unloved at the moment haha :p
ReplyDeletex
Hi Ally!! I'm so glad to read you here, and see all those bright pictures, this is great :D good job!
ReplyDeleteI have had bad hair loss problems due to depression (and eating disorder). It will grow back but it will take time (I'm still getting there after two years). The main thing is to find a way to reduce stress (duh xD) sports, meditation (I know you're a hyper energetic person so meditation can be difficult but it's seriously the BEST in terms of health benefits)
Second step is to give your body the fuel it needs :) even if it means eating a bit more calories, try adding a few nuts to your diet (hazels, almonds, brazil nuts... just a few every other day or so) and what made the biggest difference for me was adding red meat back in my diet. Clean beef works wonders on tired hair (it's the iron). Eggs are also your friends of course, but eggs are just wonderful for everything, except for people with high cholesterol ^_^ and generally a diet high in protein is a good idea because severe hair loss usually means tired body and low immune system.
That's what worked for me anyway. There are some super efficient pills out there, but the effects are short lived and they unfortunately stimulate the growth of ALL hair, so better start with the diet right away, hehe!
Good luck rebuilding your health! xxx
Hey Nol, thank you so much for that super long comment. The last couple of weeks I have cleaned up my diet crazy amounts which I'm sure will do wonders in the long term. The doctor told me hair loss from stress usually occurs a few months after the stressful event due to the follicle life cycle, which is a little dispiriting because it sort of seemed like the minute I started eating healthily my hair all fell out. But that was just bad timing.
DeleteThanks so much for sharing! Your hair looked really healthy when I last saw you so it's encouraging to see it can return to that! I'll try and incorporate a bit more iron in my diet and work up to meditation if I can sit still. :)