April Brown was once a cosmetologist, fashion designer, and working mother of two daughters.

She’s now a multiple amputee. She says hospitalizations after unlicensed cosmetic procedures led to life-threatening infections.

Professionals removed her limbs last year to save her life.

“I got the butt implants five years ago,” said Brown. “For five years, I lived in pain. Excruciating pain.”

April Brown won’t identify the unlicensed practitioner who injected her with silicone. She will only say it was somewhere near Western and Manchester. Brown tells us, her own lack of self-esteem issues are mostly to blame.

“They call it butt injections,” she says. “These things are done at pumping parties. They call it medical grade silicone but a lot of it is industrial grade silicone.”

Brown’s case recalls similar incidents in Florida.

But Brown feels she’s a survivor, empowered by the words of loved ones who feared she would die.

“We don’t validate each other,” she says. “We really don’t know how our friends feel about us, unless we have very expressive friends.”

Brown envisions a new career as a motivational speaker. Meanwhile, loving daughters Courtney and Dayne are grateful she’ll be home for Mother’s Day. [source]

The video:

Now, when I asked before, I got the following:

have you ever been on the bus and when it finally comes you dread having to stand up because you would have to stand up in front of a bus full of black folks looking at your square ass?

have you ever been at the atm and had a passerby scream at you, you aint go no asssss damn! nooooo ass!

you ever been chilling with your girls and start watching videos like, in them jeans, back that ass up, my neck my back and had a dumb look on your face because, you, a black girl, ain’t go no ass at all?

you ever been talking to your friends and one of them said, damn, yo! she got BODY!

you ever been around plus sized girls that talk about real women having curves and you are plus sized but minus ass?

you ever been reading comments on one of your favorite blogs and see a comment that reads , ”
They have different body frames then southern Black Americans, whereby their weight is sometimes distributed on top. Excerpted from Q&A Wednesday: Can We Talk About Booty Implants, Please? | A Black Girl’s Guide To Weight Loss ”

I am southern, I am black, and I don’t have an ass.
It is not a norm in the black community to have an ass.

It is one of the most horrible feelings, and worst insecurities to have as a woman. a black woman.

you cant fill out jeans. you’re constantly pulling up your pants. your constantly being dissed by other black folks.

once my best friend in the whole wide world told me that her girlfriend called people with flat asses sponge bob.

ouch.

the worst part is that people always say that white girls ain’t got no ass. i work with a lot of white folks and let me tell you. i rarely see white girls with flat asses. they may have little buts. but they at least have a round shape. it isn’t like a continuation of your back.

some days i stand in front of the mirror and slide my hands down my back and hope to feel a curve, and i never do.

black girls without asses are considered less authentic, less attractive, abnormal, weirdly shaped.

you ever go to a club & a guy friend gets behind you to dance and you feel like the world is coming down on top of you because you have nothing to toot.

dancing with no ass can be such a bad experience.

i say all of this to say that to say that people have their reasons for wanting the butt injections. and i can speak for black girls who grew up with a no ass complex.

your daily lipstick, your dove, your shampoo. all of these things have a high toxcity rate yet people use them everyday. think the fda wouldn’t put it on the market? think again and go to the skindeep website and learn that fda only test like 5% or less of most hygiene and beauty products. so while folks are criticizing folks for wanting or getting implants they do shit every day to risks there lives ( texting and driving, flying planes, sky diving)people do what they want to attain the quality of life they want to have. period. we all take risks.
some people dont want to be called and feel like
pancake ass
or white girl ass
or it looks like someone kicked your ass in

this is the kind of ass that lunges couldn’t grow or any other type of excercise. there is a lack of fat in the backside.

I think someone else said they would get butt augmentation in a heart beat. While, I always feel liek I would I dont think I wanna go under the knife. But I wish I could in a way.

It’s been a real tough rode and self confidence is hard to maintain to not have an ass. Our society puts a lot of pressure on asses and stop blaming pop culture because its not always that. sometimes its our favorite blogs that may assume all black women have ass. it could also be our best friends, or strangers on a bus.

So these are the kinds of folk who want/get implants.

…but then, I also got this:

There is no reputable doctor that could perform this procedure in the US, because as of now there are NO approved medical procedures–or rather, no approved safe injectible substances in the United States.

So…again. She’s lost multiple limbs. She said, “I got the butt implants eight years ago, so for five years I lived in excruciating pain.”

She “won’t identify the unlicensed practitioner who gave her the injections?”

Help me out? Also, can you please “validate” someone you love today, before she goes to a pumping party to get validation, in the wrong way, from the object of her desire?

Woman Becomes Multiple Amputee After Botched Booty Injections is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Black Women, Our Bodies & Perceptions of Beauty: The Booty
2. How To Build A Fit Booty
3. Victoria’s Secret Models, Runway Walking and Booty Paint

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Garnishes:
1/2 to 1 ripe avocado, mediumdiced
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
3 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs. sour cream, or to taste (optional)
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Heat the 1 Tbs. oil in a medium (3-quart) saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until softened and just beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chili powder and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 15 to 30 seconds; don’t let the chili powder scorch. Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pan with the spoon to loosen any cooked-on bits. Add the cilantro sprigs and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, until the broth has reduced by about a third and is very flavorful, 20 to 30 minutes. Discard the cilantro sprigs and season to taste with salt.

While the broth reduces, bake the tortilla strips.

Divide the turkey, tomato, corn, beans, and tortilla strips between two large soup bowls. If necessary, reheat the broth until it’s piping hot. Pour the broth over the ingredients in the bowls. Garnish with the avocado, cheese, cilantro, dollops of sour cream (if using), and big squeezes of lime juice. Serve immediately.

Turkey Tortilla Soup is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Post tags: avocado, black beans, corn, soup, tortillas, turkey

Look at that ingredients list... good grief.

This is awesome. But now, I have to address something a little less than awesome. The FDA.

For those of us who are calorie counting, this is of interest to us. I, really, have no words for this just yet. But trust me.. they’re coming.

For those of you who may not be able to watch the video, the transcript (provided by The Today Show website) is pasted below. Just… wowzers.

Matt Lauer: This morning on TODAY INVESTIGATES, exposing the truth behind diet food labels. Can you really believe those fat and calorie numbers? NBC’s Jeff Rossen went to find out. And I have a feeling this is bad news, Jeff. Good morning.

JEFF ROSSEN reporting: No. And we brought them out to show you.

LAUER: All right.

ROSSEN: You know, a lot of us are on diets, including one of us on the couch right now. We’ll let you guess which one. And that’s why we buy these frozen meals. They make the hard sell right on the front. I’m sure you’ve seen it, with the low-calorie and the low-fat numbers. So we took them to a lab and did some testing of our own. This morning, we separate the fat from the fiction. IN the battle of the bulge these companies say they have the secret weapon.

ROSSEN: They brag about low fat and calories, knowing consumers eat this stuff up. How important are these numbers to you?

Unidentified Woman #1: They’re important.

Unidentified Man: And that’s all I look at. First thing, even before price.

Unidentified Woman #2: People don’t buy it because it tastes good. They buy it because the calories are there. And that’s what they’re looking for. And they’re like…

ROSSEN: So if the calories and the fat are off?

Woman #2: Yeah, then it’s what’s the point?

ROSSEN: Exactly. So we bought meals from the top diet brands: Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers’ Smart Ones and Healthy Choice. We took the meals out of the packaging and put them into specially marked baggies, then sent them here to ESL, a top food laboratory. Scientists tested each sample for fat and calories. Would the numbers really match the labels? We found it was all over the map. Some were actually lower. Healthy Choice Roasted Beef Merlot, 17 percent less fat compared to the label. Lean Cuisine’s Grilled Chicken Primavera, 19 percent fewer calories than the label. And the rosemary Chicken, 60 percent less fat. But don’t start binging yet. Our tests showed many meals were packaged with higher numbers. Smart Ones Shrimp Marinara had ten percent more calories than the label. Healthy Choice Lobster Cheese Ravioli, 17 percent more fat than the label. And that Lean Cuisine Chicken Primavera? Twenty percent more fat. But the biggest gut busted of all? Smart Ones Sweet and Sour Chicken. It advertises 210 calories and two grams of fat. We found it really had 11 percent more calories and the whopping 350 percent more fat. While the company was “skeptical” at our results, they’ve now launched an internal audit.

Ms. SUSAN ROBERTS, PHD (Tufts University): It’s enough to make you cry. I mean, these – this is disgraceful.

ROSSEN: Susan Roberts should know. As a leading food scientist, she did similar testing in her lab and, like us, found lying labels.

Ms. ROBERTS: We hear all the time that people are not losing weight. They’re plateauing. They can’t understand why they’re eating almost nothing and not losing weight. Here’s one explanation.

ROSSEN: You may be outraged by this, but the government isn’t. In many cases, under the law it’s perfectly OK. Believe it or not, FDA regulations allow food companies to be as much as 20 percent off on their labels.

Unidentified Woman #3: That’s unfortunate, and especially at the same time when they’re preaching to us about obesity.

ROSSEN: The government allows these companies to be 20 percent off on their label.

Unidentified Woman #3: Why?

ROSSEN: Good question. The FDA declined our request for an interview, so we went to the group representing the food companies. Isn’t this deceptive?

Mr. ROBERT BRACKETT (Grocery Manufacturers Association): No, it’s not at all deceptive. It may be something that the consumers don’t necessarily understand. And this is a great to explain them.

ROSSEN: He says these labels are merely an average. Companies come up with the numbers by testing a dozen or so meals then taking the average. Portions vary so they say no one meal can be exact. Why not be more transparent on the label and say this isn’t necessarily 230 calories, it’s an average? It’s 230-ish calories.

Mr. BRACKETT: Well, you could but it really wouldn’t help consumers. The idea here is that if you see 230 calories, that that’s a food that you normally eat, some are going to be more and some are going to be less.

ROSSEN: So you’re saying it’s OK for one particular sample to be three times higher than it says, another sample to be three times lower, as long as it averages out?

Mr. BRACKETT: Well, it’s — a better way to say this is not it’s OK, is that it’s a fact of nature. It’s a matter of being practical.

ROSSEN: Tell that to the poor customer who ends up with our Sweet and Sour Chicken, packed with three and a half times more fat than the label claims.

Woman #2: That’s scary, actually, because I eat those a lot, like very often, and now I’m wondering maybe that’s why I am — my weight hasn’t budged.

ROSSEN: No, she still looks good. In fact, scientists say these variations could cause you to gain weight over time. We shared our results with the food companies. They told us their labels and their testing procedures follow all FDA regulations. And, Matt, the big question is if these are made on a production line, why can’t they be more exact? The food companies say we’re dealing with real food here…

Can We Really Trust Nutrition Labels? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Are The Fat Free Labels Lying To You?
2. How To Dine With Nutrition In Mind
3. Supermarket Swindle: Two Things To Avoid On Your Food Labels

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Post tags: calorie counting, FDA, government, healthy foods, myths, nutrition labels

My daughter's dinner dish... how'd I convince her to eat cauliflower? I told her "It's just white broccoli, honey!"

One of my dilemmas is how to eat healthy AND prepare meals for a picky 3 year old son.  I hate preparing two meals however I have not mastered the art of cooking for one, let along cooking for a picky eater as my child.  So I always end up preparing enough food for 4 and to boot it is always something that he will eat since I one have no money to be wasting food and two I really never mastered the art of cooking for one.

My doctor says I have to lose a lot of weught — in one year I have gained 90lbs. I am heavier than when I was pregnant with my child!!  My son is not obese he is a tall string bean, actually a foot taller than the average 3 year old (does not shock me since I am tall and his dad is very tall).  I really need help in this…I have googled almost all the internet searching for recipes for single moms and then I even tried to just get kid friendly meals and cook them for two.  But I am not all about dino mac & cheese and farm shaped chicken nuggets. O_O

HELP!

I’m always intrigued by the food they market to kids. The portion sizes for your average kids’ meal at your average fast food joint… is actually the appropriate portion size for your average adult. Pace the aisles – yes, leave the perimeter of the store, for once, and pace the aisles – and almost instantaneously, you’ll see the kids food. Know how you’ll spot it? Because it is the brightest crap in the aisle.

Sure, the adults will have the nuanced colors, pretty gradients and ultra-boring names… but the kids? They get the SUPER CRUNCHY EXTRA AWESOME-Os! They get the cool bright neon colors… both on the box, and in their bowls. Good grief.

Kids get the “cool shapes.” They get the “bright colors.” They get the syrupy sweet, the gooey and the downright deplorable. If you want to know what most food manufacturers think of their consumers… take a look at how they market to children. Why? Kids are little more than their very base desires – they want, but they don’t know why. They just know how it makes them feel, and they chase that feeling. We, as adults, know why they get “that feeling” – sugar, fat, salt anyone? – and we know why that feeling can be problematic. So… we’ve got to intervene.
Personally, I don’t make two meals in my household. I cook what I desire to eat (more often than not), and my daughter simply has to get in where she fits in. I mean, I love the little girl, but c’mon. You pay no bills, earn no money, buy no groceries and cook no food – exactly how much of a say in what I cook is she supposed to have? Not much.

I think, sometimes, that we forget a few things about cooking for kids. For one, they’re little future adults. They don’t need their tastes dumbed down for them, and that’s what we do when we buy them little flavorless chicken giblets cut into the shape of hearts, stars and little jungle creatures.

You also have to remember that what you do for your children today, sets the tone for what they will desire tomorrow. What you continue to feed your child today almost certainly solidifies the likelihood that they’ll want that same thing tomorrow.. and makes it even harder to break that chain. So what we feed our toddlers… our teens will have grown to expect… and our college students will pig out on when they’re not under your watchful eye… and our young adult children may be facing problems we didn’t face at that age because of this. That’s not overexaggerating. That’s realistic.

That’s also concerning… because considering the amount of sugar in our processed foods, it only breeds our children to want more and more of the sweet stuff until it gets to a point where they only want the sweet stuff. We can thank the prevalence of high fructose corn syrup for that. Seriously.

The last point – and this is a big one – is to realize that children will not let themselves starve. I can specifically remember a time where I was trying to cook everything under the sun, and as someone who cooks every dinner from scratch… I would have a “fail meal” at least once a week. (Don’t act like you don’t know what a “fail meal” is…) I could tell it was a fail meal because the little one would bite into it once… bite into it twice… then dryly say to me “Mommom, I can’t do it.” I’d laugh, let her get up from the table and – presuming that it was a dish I liked – put her bowl in the fridge. I’d give her a drink of water, let her go on, and make sure I gave her a sizeable breakfast the next morning. If you have a “fail meal” of your own, there is nothing wrong with letting the little one skip a night. As much as that goes against a parent’s nurturing nature… they will not wake up emaciated.

Not knowing how to cook for two, well.. that’s easy enough to fix – whatever you pull out to eat, divide in half before you cook it. That’s another learned technique, too – being able to eyeball values. Remember… if you don’t cook enough, you can always eat something else after dinner. [insert sounds of shock and awe] That’s not as tough as this kids vs veggies issue, though.

My mini-me knows her veggies from artichokes to zucchini, and enjoys them all… except mushrooms. Something about that meaty texture just doesn’t sit well with her. Speaking of which, she doesn’t like meat. And has no love for any milk that isn’t her vanilla almond milk. She just… can’t do it.It wasn’t always this easy, and it’s definitely been a process… but I do have a few tips that I don’t mind sharing:

1) All kids have a favorite spice. Figure out yours. Mini-me loves dill weed, for some reason. There’s a sweet tang to it that, for her, can brighten up almost any dish. She’ll eat up anything just so that she can eat that flavor. Same with ginger, cilantro and now cinnamon. All kids have one.

2) Make sure you have some sweet add-ins that your kid will enjoy. Pineapples, tomatoes (the oven roasted ones work pretty well with Mini-me), apple slices, pear slices, carmelized onions.. anything that you can sneak into the dish to sweeten the flavor. The kid will keep eating just to chase that sweet taste.

3) Avoid spicy at first… but dabble in it a bit. If I’m making a dish that I know will be a bit spicy, I take out Mini-me’s portion first, then finish cooking. I’ll let her taste the food with spices, and if she likes it… I’ll give her the whole deal and a glass of water. If it’s a no-go, then I’ll prep her dish with the parts I took out before seasoning, and add some of her favorites to the pot. No biggie.

4) Figure out which veggies your kids love, and make regular use of them. Mini-me loves her broccoli – I mean, loves it… eats it raw as a snack and I don’t even do that – so I try to sneak a little into a dish I think she might dislike, just because it becomes more likely that she’ll enjoy the dish.

5) Let them see you snacking on raw veggies, and let them sit with you and try one or two. If you’re biting something that you’re preparing to put in a dish… bite it, go “Mmmm… this is good. Mini-me, do you want to taste this? It’s really good!” and see how they respond. Even if they say they don’t like it, keep trying the veggie on them. And even if they don’t want to taste it, tell ‘em “Aw, open your mouth and taste it.” Short of throwing a temper tantrum, make them taste it and ask them if they like it. Do that often. And I mean often.

6) Lastly, don’t be afraid to involve the little one in the cooking process! Cooking is an enjoyable time for Mini-me and I. She tastes every dough I whip up, every spice I use on our food before I use it (“Mommom, can I smell pleeeeease?”), and asks and identifies every food I use before I use it (in fact, I think this is the reason why she’s not fond of meat.) Getting her involved in the process means she is that much more interested in the finished product.

It gets easier for you and for Mini-you. Just remember – don’t dumb down your dishes, introduce new things to your child safely, involve them in the cooking process… and if all else fails, don’t be afraid to just plan on a bigger breakfast in the morning. It won’t hurt… I promise. Otherwise, there’d be no hope for my Mini-me by now!

Do you have any tips for picky little eaters? Let’s hear it!

Q&A Wednesday: Cooking For Picky Little Eaters is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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2. Paula Deen Planning To “Lighten Up” Her Cooking
3. Weekend WTF: Man Arrested For Cooking His Own Burger & Fries At Denny’s

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Post tags: children, clean eating for children, clean eating for kids, cooking, kids, picky eaters, veggies

Hip Raises is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Q: I keep seeing this BMI thing everywhere, and I know that my girls aren’t overweight, but their doctors tell them they are and they need to lose weight. If they don’t look overweight, why does it matter if the BMI says they are?

If the question is whether or not the body mass index (or BMI) matters… the simple answer is that in reality, it doesn’t.

No, really.

But before you go writing off your physician’s advice, let me explain it a little clearer.

The BMI is merely a calculation based on your height in correlation to your weight. It is a ratio of what one’s frame is carrying in weight, and used as an estimation of one’s health. Not necessarily their health today, but their health tomorrow.

The idea is that there is a likely height-to-weight ratio that estimates just how much weight a particular frame can manage. Anything beneath that weight can imply that your organs aren’t being supported, you might be suffering an illness or you might be malnourished. Anything above that weight can imply that you have too much fat crowding your organs, you might be suffering an illness or you are “over-nourished,” so to speak.

Look at that paragraph – see all the uncertainty? “Likely,” “can imply,” “might,” “might”… c’mon.

The BMI was invented sometime between 1830 and 1850... before slaves were freed. Think about that.

The BMI wasn’t paid much attention until approximately the 1970s (over 100 years later… think about that, too) when a guy named Ancel (An-sill) Keys created a study titled “Indices of Relative Weight and Obesity” which used the BMI, gave it its “body mass index” name and popularized the simple ratio. Calling it an adequate measure of body fat percentage in the human body, and because it was a cheaper and quicker measure than what most researchers were using at the time, the BMI spread like wildfire. Flaws and all.

I already have a problem with Ancel Keys because he’s the reason why we swear that fat is the reason we’re fat, even though we’ve now suffered through two decades of “fat free/low fat” products and are fatter than we’ve ever been. The details of his Indices study are basically that he studied approximately 7,400 men in five countries. Women? Meh, y’all and your little bodily differences weren’t needed for such a study.

In the 1980s, when the National Institute of Health began advocating the BMI for regular use in treating patients, there were differing values for men and women.. and the marking number for being “overweight” rested somewhere around 27. Once the late ’90s hit, both men and women were now to share the same standard scale, and the marker for being “overweight” was moved down to 25.

Why, you ask? If you ask this guy, he’ll tell you the NIH and the CDC were in cahoots with one another so that they could create an obesity epidemic… thus resulting in more money being given to both entities. I’m a conspiracy theorist and all, but wowzers. The change in the threshold for obesity did result in something like 30million more Americans being classified as overweight.

If there are all these problems with it, why is it still in use? Because, quite frankly, while it’s often wrong… it’s also sometimes right. Though that “overweight” label might hurt some people’s feelings (why, I don’t know), its labels like “underweight” and “obese” that signify much more than the “overweight” category. (Although, I must admit, I doubt you need a scientific calculation to identify an individual as obese. Seems like a waste of time.)

Personally, I think it’s stupid. The body responds to its environment. Some athletes are extremely active, and the body will recognize that it may need to burn calories and lose weight to help accommodate that activity. Those athletes are, by definition, underweight. Some individuals have labor intensive jobs that require lots of heavy lifting, and the body will respond by packing on the muscle. Those individuals, by definition, are overweight. My bodybuilding friends? They’re shooting the BMI the finger because they’re obese.

If the body mass index is merely meant to measure the amount of mass a body should/could carry… and we know there’s a major difference between a body carrying fat and a body carrying muscle, for our doctors to use a measurement that doesn’t quantify muscle in comparison to fat is a medical fail. Seriously. Neither Keys nor the originator of the BMI intended for it to provide such blanket assumptions in such a specific fashion. “You must be like these other people because you share the same height and weight.” That’s what the BMI says. That’s why it’s so stupid.

I, personally, find the body fat percentage to be far more valuable in gauging my physical wellness. The body fat percentage estimates what percentage of your body appears to be purely fat. The “average American female’s” body fat percentage is somewhere around 32%, while the typical athlete is around 22%.

The bf% is a much more valuable number because it acknowledges that those in the overweight category may simply be muscular, and those on the thinner side may still be hiding some fat that needs to be addressed. There is no cheating or hiding behind “unfairness” with the body fat percentage. A caliper or a hydrostatic test is usually used to measure bf% – I use an electrical machine at my gym – but there’s also this quick and dirty calculator that I use to keep track, and it only requires a tape measure. You’ll get two numbers – take an average between the two numbers, and you’ll have a better and much more valuable estimate. If body fat is the issue (not muscle), then getting numbers that address specifically that definitely helps.

Lastly, if your body mass index still has you down… head on over here and see others who, apparently, are in your “weight group” and feel a little bit better about yourself. Lots of beautiful people over there, wondering how or why this arbitrary ratio matters so much. Just like the rest of us. (This one is my personal favorite.)

PS: Show a little love by voting for me in the Black Weblog Awards for Best Health or Wellness Blog category! That’s right – BGG2WL is a finalist thanks to you! Let’s do what we can to bring it home!

Q&A Wednesday: Why Does Body Mass Index (BMI) Matter? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: How Weight Clings To (And Falls Off) The Body
2. Q&A Wednesday: Is This The Size My Body Wants Me To Be?
3. Q&A Wednesday: Weight Changes, Body Awareness & The Creeper Effect

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ancel keys, bmi, body fat, body fat percentage, body mass index, CDC, fat head, government, NIH, normal weight, obese, obesity, overweight, underweight, what is normal weight, wtf is normal

To me, the first step is always to get the stuff out of the house. Alcoholics don’t keep liquor in the house, and they’re not binge drinking on water. Food addicts/emotional eaters (they’re one in the same) shouldn’t keep our objects of desire in the house either, and we certainly aren’t out here binging on brussels sprouts.

I mean, you might if you cook ‘em the way I do… but I’m sayin’. You’re probably not.

But after we take the first step of clearing out the house, then what happens? What do you do to manage the urge? While I’ve always said it’s most important to try to address what’s going on head-on, sometimes you have to get yourself in the right state of mind for that. Here are my five suggestions for things you can do with your emotions instead of eat them (Because, really, let’s face it… you don’t want to eat your emotions. They taste bad.) :

1) Meditate. Literally, sit on your floor (I wouldn’t recommend the bed or any other place where you frequently experience anxiety) bend your legs and make the soles of your feet touch, wrap your hands around your feet and breathe. You don’t need to put your hands in any fancy pose above your head or anything to begin with – though there is a negligible “energy” issue there, one needn’t worry about that as a beginner. Sit on the floor, hold your feet, breathe deeply, and think about what is stressing you. A big part of the success I’ve experienced thus far has been developing my ability to be more of a problem solver – I spend less time letting things upset me and more time trying to address things head on before they get to the point where I can feel the anxiety in my chest. And, sometimes, that requires sitting on the floor and getting your “om” on.

2) Bath time. I’m serious. Run the nice, hot bubble bath, light a candle and get nekkid. Immediately. You might even wanna get nekkid first. It’s more likely to keep you from leaving to go to the kitchen to binge. I don’t know about you, but I have negative interest in being nekkid in my kitchen.

Got kids? Nap time. Mommy needs an hour to herself. Got work? I’m pretty sure it’s not more important than your sanity, and a piece of fruit can easily help keep you awake for the additional hour you might miss. It’s important that you do what you can to preserve your mental well being, as well as develop new habits that counter your old one of binging.

Put on some Tony! Toni! Tone! (It is, in fact, the unofficial Tony! Toni! Tone! appreciation day, after all.), dim the lights, wrap a towel around your head spa-style and dive right in. Even if you’re only giving yourself 15 minutes before the boss/husband/the kids bug you, that’s still fifteen minutes devoted to keeping you from eating emotionally.

3) Read a book. Take a deep breath, and turn right to the page before the good part of your favorite book. No matter how scary, scandalous, kinky, truebloody or nerdy it might be, it’s bound to pull you in to the point where you forget about how much you wanted that entire bag of verona cookies.

Oh, no one else has done the whole bag before? Just me? Okay. I’ll own up to it. But books help. A lot.

4) Take up a hobby. And if you don’t have one? Take up a class. Knitting, sewing (yes, I have my sewing machine), painting, sculpting, sketching, poling…anything will be better than sabotaging your efforts to avoid eating emotionally. Hell, before I moved to this lunchbox apartment, I had my pole in the middle of my house and whenever I got frustrated, I took a spin on it. Didn’t even require a second spin… it just made me laugh that I was on a pole. In my living room. More often than not, it helped to put me in the right frame of mind to help me solve my problem.

5) Lift something heavy. Not entirely in the “I pick things up and put them down” type of situation, but yes. Pick things up and put them down. One of the best ways to channel anxiety into something positive for your body is to use it to challenge yourself. Go workout. Put on a fitness DVD. Go for a run. Go to the gym. Drop and give me $20…er… I mean, drop and give me twenty! Push-ups, tabatas workouts, start shadow boxing.. something. You got random anxiety? Don’t eat it up, burn it off.

How are you managing your emotions?

Friday 5: 5 Things You Can Do With Your Emotions Instead Of Eat Them is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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And while my problem was easy to spot (big difference from “simple to solve,” though), many are not. Many of our issues are far more complex and ignoring them or wishing them away won’t change the effects those problems have on our day to day lives. If I, as a sexual assault victim, were to simply ignore the fears or nightmares or issues that my attack left me with… then ignoring the attack or “wishing” to go on with my life as if it never happened would not change the fact that I still have fears of men, nightmares of being assaulted again or issues with intimacy. You cannot ignore life-changing events.

The bottom line, here, is that I’m left with questions that I am wholly unable to answer. It was by sheer luck that that therapist friend happened to be there and happened to be willing to listen to me pour out my problems (for free! and y’all know I love free!) and give me what I need. I’m clueless as to how to choose a therapist, but considering how awesome my readership is, I know y’all can help.

What tips do you have for how to choose a therapist? What stories do you have for success with your therapist? Do you have any horror stories that you learned a valuable lesson from in how to choose a therapist? Please share with the class.

And if any of you have a therapist in New York City that specializes in eating disorders in African-American women, do be so kind to e-mail me that info at erika@blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com.

Open Thread: Do You Have Tips On How To Choose And Find A Therapist? is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Dressing
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. grated lemon zest
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. soy sauce
2 tsp. agave nectar

Pecan Kale Salad is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Post tags: carrot, kale, maple syrup, onion, pecans, rutabaga, turnip, vegan, vegetarian

1. Defy convention Do the healthy thing, even when it’s challenging, inconvenient or considered weird. Take pride in that.
2. Buck trends Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s smart or good for you. Enlist fellow trend buckers and create a trend of your own.
3. Rage against the machine Use your healthy frustration about the unhealthy status quo to spark creativity and determination.
4. Celebrate what’s good Look for signs of progress (beyond pounds lost) and rejoice when you find them. Give yourself a pat on the back every time you make your health a priority.
5. Repossess your health Reclaim responsibility for your well-being; own your daily choices; minimize your reliance on the broken sick-care system.
6. Redefine your role You are not a “healthcare consumer.” You are a human being. You may be experiencing an illness or other health challenge right now, but remember that good health is your body’s natural state.
7. Practice medicine without a license Research your own conditions and treatment alternatives, ask questions, and seek second opinions with impunity. Leverage the expertise of trained pros, but don’t allow it to eclipse your own informed instincts about what’s best for you.
8. Minimize symptom suppression Make whole-person vitality, well-being and resilience your goal. Partner with healthcare pros who understand and support your desire to be fully healthy with a minimum of medical intervention.
9. Safeguard your juju Don’t let yourself get run down, depressed, negative or reactive. That’s when immunity drops, inflammation rages, and unhealthy tendencies strike.
10. See the bigger picture Yes, this is about you, but your well-being also affects everyone and everything around you. When you get healthier, everybody benefits.
11. Be part of the solution It’s going to take a lot of strong, clear-headed, high-vitality people to solve the world’s problems. Be one of them.
12. Go at your own pace A healthy life is more a marathon than a sprint. So start where you are. Choose sensible, sustainable shifts over instant cures and quick fixes.
13. Be proactiveIf you feel a cold, flu or nasty headache coming on, take evasive maneuvers. Rest. Refuel. Reconnect. Rebuild your immunity and vitality. There’s no heroism in ignoring your body’s needs.
14. Leverage your big “whys” Know the specific reasons your health matters to you. Write them down where you’ll see them daily.
15. Raise your sights Don’t get sucked in by obsessions with six-pack abs and buns of steel. Don’t play “compare the bodies.” Fulfill your best-self vision.
16. Learn the skills Healthy, fit people have learned how to be healthy. Learn those skills, practice them, and you’ll be healthy, too.
17. Reap the rewards Look and feel better, sure. But also think better, smell better, give better, love better, live better, be better.
18. Focus on the fundamentals Drink water, eat good food, move, rest, relax, connect. Don’t sweat the more complex stuff until you’ve got a grip on the basics.
19. Fake it till you make it Don’t yet see yourself as a super-healthy person? Experiment with doing a little of what you’d do if you were already supremely healthy and fit. As often as you can, act as if your commitment were unwavering.
20. Aim for 85% You don’t have to make 100% healthy choices all the time. It’s what you do most of the time — day in, day out — that counts. The healthier you get, the easier and more automatic healthy choices will become.
21. Keep your body clean, inside and out Toxins, poisons and other gunk have no place in the temple. Avoid artificial flavors, preservatives, colors, fragrances, petrochemicals and other toxic ingredients whenever possible.
22. Brush and floss Your teeth and gums are a huge determining factor in your whole-body well-being. They’re also an easy place to start demonstrating your commitment to whole-person health on a daily basis.
23. Eat fresh Trade dead, packaged goods for foods that are fresh, alive and full of high-vibe goodness. Figure out where to find them, learn to juice/slice/dice them, and eat them with great pleasure.
24. Eat more plants There’s a long list of phytonutrients and other good stuff in vegetables, fruits and legumes that you can’t get any other way. Put plants at the center of your plate for as many meals and snacks as you can.
25. Don’t fall for fakery Processed, fake, diet and imitation ingredients burden and inflame your body, contributing to chronic disease. And there’s no clinical proof that artificial sweeteners and fat-free products support weight loss or do any part of you any good.
26. Learn to cook Get a dozen healthy, whole-food recipes under your belt, and your life will be forever changed. Start by mastering one.
27. Have breakfast Let there be protein, produce, healthy fats and fiber in it. A good breakfast wards off energy dips, brain fog and afternoon cravings.
28. Watch your reactions 40% of U.S. adults have an intolerance to gluten; 70% to dairy. Know if you’re one of them. Digestive, skin, joint, energy and mood problems may be your first clue.
29. Beware the USDA Food Pyramid It is a whole lot healthier for Big Ag and Big Business than for humans. Fill two-thirds of your plate with an array of vegetables, add in some other whole foods you enjoy, and don’t let the rest of the Pyramid’s propaganda confuse you.
30. Approach ADA guidelines with a healthy dose of doubt The American Dietetic Association is sponsored by processed-food corporations and staffed by former food-company execs. Their pro-processed-food advice is often colored by that, and their calorie-counting obsessions are profoundly counterproductive.
31. Go easy on the sugar and flour These two ingredients (combined with unhealthy industrial vegetable oils) have a starring role in most packaged foods we eat. More than any other culprit, they fuel inflammation, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and cancer.
32. Savor what you eat The foods you rush into your body tend to create more problems than they solve. Take your time and consciously enjoy every single bite. Notice as your hunger diminishes.
33. Care where food comes from Know your food’s history, and you’ll want to consume more selectively. Most factory-farmed and industrially produced foods aren’t all that appetizing once you know their origins.
34. Go for quality, not quantity An ounce of wonderful is far better than a whole mess of mediocrity. Most beige, starchy and supersized foods are not worth eating.
35. Move it out A healthy person poops every day. Twice a day, maybe more. How’s your fiber and water intake? (Also, see #28.) A clogged up colon wreaks havoc on your whole body.
36. Read labels Don’t worry so much about the calories, grams and RDAs. Read the ingredients. Most ingredient lists begin with some combination of enriched wheat flour, sugar and oil. Avoid foods like that. Also avoid foods with long lists of ingredients you don’t recognize.
37. Ignore labels Most of the marketing claims are meaningless, and a lot of the data is confusing. Most of the very best foods (in the produce department) have precisely one ingredient and, often, no labels at all.
38. Say no to soda Both regular and diet soft drinks stimulate a pro-inflammatory insulin response, trigger cravings, acidify the body, decay your teeth and leach minerals out of your bones.
39. Ask for what you want If you want extra this, none of that, something on the side, X in place of Y, broiled instead of fried, and everything prepared just so — say so. Being picky about what you put in your body is nothing to be ashamed of. Picky eaters unite!
40. Drink a lot of water The health of every cell and synapse depends on it. And when you’re dehydrated on a regular basis —Êeven a little — your metabolism, energy and immunity all suffer mightily.
41. Filter your water You’ll drink more when it tastes pure and you know it’s clean. If plain water doesn’t turn your crank, enjoy water with a slice of lemon, orange, cucumber, or a splash of juice. Or try herbal tea instead.
42. Love what you’ve got Treat your body with respect and appreciation. Focus on what it can do, not what it can’t. Find something to celebrate, not something to criticize.
43. Redefine your goals If you’ve been trying to lose weight and struggling, make it your goal to get superbly healthy and fit instead. And then don’t be surprised when the excess weight starts melting off.
44. Beware artificial hungers Notice what triggers your sudden desires and uncontrollable appetites. Stress and anxiety both masquerade as hunger. Find better ways of dealing with them or warding them off.
45. Identify real hungers You can’t eat or spend your way out of loneliness, fear, boredom or lack of meaning. Find healthy ways to honor and shift them, instead.
46. Be human Cut yourself a little slack now and then, and forgive yourself your unhealthy trespasses. Learn what you can from them, and then move on.
47. Make being healthy easier Self-restraint is a limited resource. Do everything in your power to make healthy choices automatic choices and to keep unhealthy temptations out of range.
48. Don’t believe the hype Give up on gimmicks, fads and instant fixes. Most miraculous weight-loss schemes do more harm than good, and yo-yo dieting is a recipe for weight gain.
49. Look beyond unrealistic role models Find your inspiration in people whose lives and goals have some relevance to your own. Also remember that most of the pictures you see of celebrities and fitness models have been extensively retouched.
50. Question authority Big organizations like the FDA, USDA, AHA, AMA and ADA all struggle under real limitations and conflicts of interest. Know and understand them.
51. Face the facts Your body is a mirror: It reflects your choices, your priorities, your habits, your attitudes and your quality of life. If you don’t like your body, be willing to change the way you are living.
52. Maintain a morning practice Take a few minutes each sunup to set your intentions, take a few breaths, read an inspiring passage and start the day on your own terms. You may be shocked at the difference it makes.
53. Move your body Every day, every which-way you can, in as many ways as you enjoy. Movement nourishes your body, clears toxins, and reduces the inflammation that breeds illness and irritation.
54. Reframe exercise as a privilege You don’t have to exercise. You get to exercise. Visit a person whose mobility is severely limited, and you’ll appreciate the distinction. Do what you can, and count yourself lucky.
55. Break a sweat The more often, the better. Sweat is a signal that your metabolism is switching into a higher gear. Sweat is weakness, complacency and toxicity leaving the body.
56. Stay strong More muscle and sinew means more capacity to do anything. Don’t let age, aches and pains, or lack of time be your excuses for abandoning your strength.
57. Maximize your mitochondria Every time you exercise, you upgrade your body’s energy-and-vitality factories and build your metabolism.
58. Find your fitness edge Flirt with it in ways that feel good and exhilarating. Bursts of high-intensity exercise trigger positive, dramatic changes and help catalyze the body’s healing response.
59. Get past body envy Release supermodel and celebrity obsessions. Translate your desire for a fitter, more beautiful body into positive, self-respecting daily action that nourishes you and makes you stronger.
60. Embrace meditation There are few life skills that will pay of as handsomely or give you as much peace and healthy perspective. Even a few minutes of meditation a day can trigger positive transformations in your biochemistry, neurology — even your DNA.
61. Study your systems Learn how your body works, and respect its genius. The unfortunate fact that most of us aren’t formally educated in how to properly care for our bodies doesn’t mean you can’t learn.
62. Get to the bottom of your symptoms Body trouble? Find the source. Root out the cause. Don’t settle for a drug that forces your symptoms to go underground only to pop up somewhere else with a vengeance.
63. Self-medicate with caution Get honest about how you’re using alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, pain killers and other drugs to simulate well-being or cover discomfort.
64. Abandon victim thinking “Poor me” doesn’t get you anywhere you want to go. Instead, dust yourself off, see the choices that got you here, then reclaim your prerogative to choose your own better way forward.
65. Sleep well Rest = recovery, repair and resilience. Exhaustion = illness and messed-up metabolism. Prioritize ample sleep time as the health essential it is.
66. Breathe deep In for four, out for five. Oxygen’s good; breathing keeps you alive.
67. Get off your butt Sitting for more than an hour or so at a stretch is deadly. Get up, stretch, walk around. Do some deep knee bends or go climb a couple flights of stairs.
68. Slow down Perennial rushing is toxic to the body and mind. Find moments of silence and contemplation where you can just be. Create margins of sanity. Practice the defensive art of scheduling breaks and vacations.
69. Connect with community Find ways of being active and involved in some kind of group activity. Joining a group, if you haven’t already, can reduce your risk of dying this year by half.
70. Heal your relationships Mend fences, build bridges, forgive trespasses, grieve losses and let toxic grudges go. Then move on. Get help with this if you need to.
71. Get outside You need sunshine, fresh air and time in nature. Daily. Grab five minutes in the morning, five on the way home from work.
72. Respect your environment Keep in mind that human health depends upon the health of a lot of interconnected ecosystems and the planet as a whole. Make choices that respect that reality.
73. Embrace play Fun, novelty, humor and joy are key sources of energy, strength and inspiration. If you’re suffering from a case of fun-deficit disorder, remedy that situation ASAP.
74. Consume media wisely Seek out entertainment and information that makes your life better. Choose not to watch, read or listen to stuff that demoralizes or immobilizes you, incites craziness, or insults your intelligence.
75. Be your own biggest fan Refuse to bad-talk your body, nitpick your appearance or kvetch about your weight. Find something to dig/love/ appreciate about yourself — just the way you are.
76. Turn off the TV Opiate of the masses. Fritterer of time. Fryer of focus. The average American watches several hours of TV a day. How much of your life are you willing to hand over to a box?
77. Eliminate tolerations If something’s driving you crazy, deal with it. Noticing and resolving daily annoyances, messes and downers helps free up energy and increases your pleasure in living.
78. Follow the money Look at your checkbook register and credit-card statements for clues about where your spending is inconsistent with your healthy goals and values.
79. Redirect your resources Take some of the money you’re spending on unhealthy distraction, consolations and indulgences, and re-route it toward your healthy-living priorities instead.
80. Ditch debt The stress of being stretched too thin financially is at the root of a great many health ills. Develop the skills you need to master your money and live within your means.
81. Invest in your health Money spent proactively on your health delivers far better returns than money spent reactively on treating illness and disease. When healthy choices seem “too expensive,” consider the long-term costs of health-sapping alternatives.
82. Wise up Keep seeking new wisdom and mastering new skills that help you take better care of your body and live a more satisfying life. Continual learning and discovery support both health and happiness.
83. Build on your successes Look at what has worked well for you in the past, and do more of that. Identify and leverage your strengths. Be willing to learn from your “failures,” too — but refuse to wallow in them.
84. Surprise yourself Don’t be boring. Every once in a while, do something unexpected or out of character and see what happens.
85. Find your tribe Surround yourself with other healthy, positive, active people who share your passions. It’s a lot easier to thrive around people who are thriving.
86. Laugh it up Seek out mirth, glee and merriment at every opportunity. Laughter triggers a cascade of healing, energizing chemicals.
87. Get a buddy Do your healthy thing with a pal or partner. Camaraderie and accountability go a long way toward creating success.
88. Give your best gifts Developing and sharing them endows you with enthusiasm and energy. Neglecting or squandering them slowly kills you.
89. Pace yourself When working hard, take brief rest breaks every 90 to 120 minutes so your cells can recharge. Be kind to yourself, and be honest about how much you can take on at any given time.
90. Vote your values Take your healthy convictions to the polls. Share them with your elected representatives. Vote with your dollars, too, to support healthy products, companies and communities.
91. Visualize the possibilities What if we lived in a world where the majority of people were healthy and happy most of the time? Imagine that future — then start creating it in your own life, one step at a time.
92. Follow your bliss The more positivity and enthusiasm you can build into your life, the healthier, happier and more satisfied you’ll be. Happiness breeds healthiness.
93. Be responsible for yourself Own your decisions and actions, no matter what the circumstances. Refuse to abuse or be abused on any level. See challenges and setbacks as learning opportunities.
94. Take the high road If you feel yourself getting dragged down or losing traction in your healthy commitments, ask: What’s my highest choice right now? What can I do to make this situation better?
95. Make time The hour you give yourself for self-care pays you back three. Think you’re too busy? The busier you are, the more effective and energetic you need to be, and the less time you have to get sick.
96. Make space Declutter your house, your office, your car, your desk, your mind. Create room for your chosen future; create space that reflects the way you want to feel.
97. Focus on action, not outcomes Live the life of a healthy person, and the results will take care of themselves. Every healthy step is a victory. Every day is an opportunity to feel, live and be better than the day before.
98. Make it a party Discover new healthy passions. Revel in new healthy pleasures. Have so much fun getting and being healthy that everyone around you wants to do it, too!
99. Let go of excuses Yes, you’re busy. You probably have a lot of priorities competing for your time, energy and resources. But wouldn’t all those priorities be better served by a healthier, more dynamic you?
100. Show up No one is going to do this for you. You can’t fake it, and you can’t phone it in. Your body is where you’re going to spend the rest of your life. So make it a great place to live.
101. Pass it on Pssst! Being healthy is a revolutionary act. The more of us who stand up for our health and happiness, the more power we have to change the world — one person, one life, one revolutionary act at a time.

Which ones stand out the most to you?

101 Revolutionary Ways To Be Healthy is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Post tags: mentality

This video, from Kandi Ali, is just… just watch it.

The second one, from JustCallMeMrRight is also just…. watch:

Like I said… I have no comment. I know y’all do, though, so let’s hear ‘em.

Video Vault: Introducing… “Sh-t Fat Girls Say” and “Sh-t Fat People Say?” is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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When the Victoria’s Secret Angels strut the runway Tuesday in $3 million bras, larger-than-life wings and barely there lingerie, what viewers won’t see are the countless hours of work that goes into making the most beautiful women in the world look so ethereally sexy.

The show, airing on CBS at 10, was shot at the Lexington Armory.

“It’s all about creating the illusion of this amazing body on the runway,” says Selita Ebanks, who walked her first Armory show five years ago. “People don’t realize that there are about 20 layers of makeup on my butt alone.”

In addition to body makeup, which Ebanks estimates takes well over an hour to apply, the Angels prep in hair and makeup for three to five hours before hitting the runway, with an average of five people – hair stylists, makeup artists and manicurists, working on each of the 38 models.

And if the hours of makeup, laboriously applied hair extensions and 100 pounds of body glitter (worn collectively) weren’t enough, the models are then squeezed into some of the most intricate garments imaginable.

Ebanks’ first look on the 140-foot-long runway is a gold lightning bolt strapped lengthwise across her middle. Think supersized Christmas tinsel weighing 30 pounds and with dangerously sharp points.

Photo from glamourvanity.com

“They added a 15-pound sandbag to my hip so the points wouldn’t scrape my thighs when I walked and there was a metal rod in it,” says Ebanks. “When I first came out and cut that corner, my whole body tilted to the side and I thought, ‘Oh my God, if I fall in this thing, forget my ego, my body is going to be jacked up.’” 

But Ebanks made it work, repeating the mantra “I’m fierce” over and over in her head.

“I called it my stark-kichu” after the Japanese cartoon, says Ebanks. “It was part of the Star Trooper segment of the show and I felt like I was the cosmic star leading the girls to a sexy galaxy.”

Other out-of-this-world items featured Tuesday include Marisa Miller’s $3 million bra dripping in diamonds and Candice Swanepoel’s wings made out of oversized pocket watches.

Ebanks, daughter of a New York City corrections officer and alum of Curtis High School on Staten Island, was glad to have the show back in her hometown.

“New Yorkers really appreciate a good production and amazing people came out to support the show,” says Ebanks.

Supermodel Heidi Klum, who makes a surprise trip down the runway and gave birth to her daughter Lou just weeks before the taping of the show, agrees.

“New Yorkers scream loud when you come out,” says Klum, who also hosts the show. “In other places, people tend to be a little more quiet, so it’s fun to have the New York crowd.”

Please think about that before you whine about your stretch marks. Butt paint. Say it in your head a few times. Those. Models. Need. Booty paint.

Booty paint.

Booty paint.

Booty paint.

One more time? I think so.

Booty paint.

Okay, I’m done.

Victoria’s Secret Models, Runway Walking and Booty Paint is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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Post tags: Body Image, booty paint, models, selita ebanks, sex, stretch marks, victoria's secret, victoria's secret angels

This year, they’re going to lose weight.

That’s right – they’re going to hit the gym seven days a week. They’re going to turn vegetarian (or vegan) and eat better. They’re going to lick this thing.

And it usually lasts, what? Two months tops? Three if they’re lucky?

The reality is this – some people like start dates. Nothing is wrong with using the start of a new year to signify the start of a major change in one’s life. However, we can’t treat those changes the same way we treat the holiday – once the novelty of the day wears off, so does the resolutions. We can’t do that to ourselves.

What we also cannot do is spend a short amount of time going hard in the gym, or wildin’ out on a crazy diet hoping to get rid of that last little bit of weight. We can’t adopt something only to quit in a few months because we’ve burned out, or because we made changes that were too drastic and were unbearable.

You have to realize that there’s something in your lifestyle that allows that weight to stay on. The issue isn’t the fact that you need to burn off this little bit of weight super fast – the issue is that you need to take a long, hard look at your lifestyle and start making changes that will lead you in the direction of not only achieving your goals, but maintaining them. Make sense?

So instead of making a resolution that involves a gym membership that you’ll only use for ten weeks, what kind of resolutions are much healthier?

Ones that can last. Baby steps. Resolve to hit the gym at least three times a week, if you’re opting to make use of a membership. If not, resolve to go walking for a half an hour a day. Resolve to avoid junk food one day a week. Gradually move up to 2 days, then 3, then allow yourself only a couple of days a week when you eat fast food or junk food. I promise you – you’ll feel so good after accomplishing those simple tasks that they will not only become a part of your regular routine, but natural progression on it’s own will lead you to increasing your own intensity.

Resolve to think before you put food in your mouth. Resolve to drink an extra glass or two of water each day. Resolve to eat breakfast every morning. Promise to get a healthy night’s rest. Try to take the kids to the park at least once a week, and while they’re playing? Walk laps around the playground (this one is mine!) Don’t just burn yourself out in the gym. Don’t just jump on the grapefruit diet. Definitely don’t expect a quick fix to change what a lifetime created.

Approach the new year with a positive attitude. Trust in the fact that this is the year you will treat the one body you have for a lifetime… as if it is, in fact, the one body that you will have for a lifetime. You want it to be (and look) healthy forever, so take the time to develop habits that you can maintain forever!

Making Foolproof Weight Loss Resolutions For The New Year is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. One Foot In Front Of The Other: Mentally Preparing For Weight Loss
2. Stop Defeating Your Weight Loss Efforts Before You Begin
3. A Very Big Piece of My Weight Loss Story

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: mentality

The number of families living on $2 or less per person per day for at least a month in the USA has more than doubled in 15 years to 1.46 million.

That’s up from 636,000 households in 1996, says a new study released by researchers at the University of Michigan and Harvard University.

Government benefits blunt the impact of such extreme poverty, but not completely, says one of the researchers, Luke Shaefer, a professor of social work at Michigan.

When food stamps are included as income, the number of households in extreme poverty, defined as living on $2 a day, drops to 800,000, Shaefer says. That’s up from 475,000 in 1996.

“This seems to be a group that has fallen through the cracks,” says Kathryn Edin, a Harvard researcher and professor of public policy.

The study found that among households in extreme poverty, one in five received rent vouchers or lived in public housing. Sixty-six percent had at least one child with public health insurance. The study did not factor in how those benefits affect household income.

Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, says most aid to the poor today is in non-cash assistance. Last year, he says, the federal and state government spent $900 billion on 70 programs that assist the poor, from health care and food stamps to energy assistance and college grants.

“When you look at that type of family, you don’t see the type of deprivation this study suggests,” he says.

Because the study shows households in extreme poverty for a month, it is more reflective of people losing jobs, getting divorced or having short-term crises, he says.

Shaefer says, “We are trying to document the growth in deep poverty. … Even one month living at this level is concerning.”

Magdalyn March, 30, of Birmingham, Ala., can relate to those living in extreme poverty. In 2006, she lost a seasonal job at a packing warehouse, split with an abusive boyfriend and was caring for her two children. She received about $200 a month in government cash assistance and $282 in food stamps.

March and her children lived in a motel when she was with her boyfriend. When he left, she couldn’t afford the room, and she and her children were kicked out. March stayed with friends and relatives for a few nights at a time but ended up in a homeless shelter.

She credits the shelter, First Light, with helping her find a job as a waitress at a chain restaurant and affordable day care. She says she still struggles. She needs glasses and has to go to the dentist but can’t afford it. March and her children are living with her mother now.

“You’ve got to come up with a system,” she says, “because you can’t live off of that. You really can’t.”

You guys, I am crushed by this. $2 a day? I mean, it’s one thing to eat $2 per meal per person per day… but $2 per person per day? And look at the number of people saved by food stamps.

This is why I constantly write about destigmatizing food stamps – people who are living on pennies per day are “afraid” to use the very system we all pay into with our taxes. C’mon… far too often, we find ourselves completely distanced from the people who have these struggles. I know the feeling…but I also know that had a few things not gone differently for me, I can’t imagine where my daughter and I would be today.

I cannot be the only person heartbroken by this. Please tell me I’m not.

More Than 1.4 Million Families Living On $2 A Day Or Less is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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3 small potatoes

1/4 cup cubed cooked ham

2 cups shredded cheese

5 large eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prick the bottom of the pie shell with a fork in several places and prebake for 15 minutes; remove from the oven, then icrease the oven temperature to 375. Layer the potatoes, ham, and then cheese into the shell. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and milk together, and pour the mixture into the shell. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

The Hungry Woman’s Quiche is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Q&A Wednesday: Working Out Makes Me Hungry! Help!

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cheese, eggs, ham, milk, pie, potatoes

Why do I believe that? Because weight loss is complex, overwhelming, and difficult. It’s hard to dive in head first if you don’t necessarily know what’s happening or why it’s happening to you. There’s no shame in that, when there are industries who put forth lots of money to keep you confused. We all know that money outweighs and outdoes everything nowadays. This is no different.

I am an advocate of putting one foot in front of the other… in the direction in which you want to go. As long as you do that, you will always be moving toward your goals.

“Okay, it’s easy to talk the talk, but do you have any suggestions on how to actually do it?”

I hear you thinking it. Of course I do!

First, accept that failure is a part of your growth. Remember that you’re changing a lifetime of bad habits. You’re adding things to your daily routine that will change your life. It doesn’t happen overnight, and you WILL fall down. Even after well over a year at it, I STILL occasionally fall down. I don’t give up, I don’t tell myself that I can’t do it, and I certainly don’t retreat into food – the thing that got me to obesity in the first place – when I feel bad about falling short.

What I do try to do is remind myself of my goals, take a hard look at why I fell short, and try my best to address that “why.” For example. If I promised myself no cakes or candies, and I have a slice of cake at a restaurant, the question becomes, “If I promised that I wouldn’t, why did I do it anyway?” If the answer becomes, “I just couldn’t resist that picture of that cake staring at me throughout dinner!” then I have to rationalize with myself a way to avoid the temptation. For those of you wondering, yes, this was a real issue for me. How did I overcome? I stopped going out to restaurants until I could build up the ability to overlook the pictures, and learn how to say no quickly, and mean it.

Next, accept that you have to make some hard decisions. Not hitting the restaurants? That’s a HARD decision! Please believe I love my On The Border taco salad (1,700 calories, 124g fat, 2,620mg sodium), my Cheesecake Factory Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (870cals, 558cals from fat, 62g fat), and, well… some other stuff we don’t have to talk about here. However, my decision not only saved me money, but saved myself calories, as well. Hard decision accepted, reward gained.

Thirdly, resolve within yourself that the follow-through won’t be easy. If you can’t stop going to McDonalds after work; and you realize that it’s because since you take the shortest route home, you can’t help but stop in to help you suffer through traffic… what options do you have? Better yet, what options do you allow yourself? Sure, you can buy healthy snacks and keep them in the car, but what if that doesn’t work? Are you willing to take the extra 5 minutes in your ride to avoid the McDonalds? Can you do that for yourself, even though it’s hard? It might not be easy to see in the beginning, but you’re teaching yourself a plethora of lessons with that one action:

1. It’s ok to make difficult decisions for ME.
2. It’s ok to suffer for my own greater good.
3. It’s ok to push myself, because I am changing ME for the better.
4. It’s ok to take the harder route, because I will be stronger in the end because of it.
5. I am able to do this.

Remember that every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow, no matter how successful the endeavor is or is not. As long as you take something away from the situation, it was not in vain. As long as you take away something from the situation and grow from it, you are putting one foot in front of the other. As long as you’ve learned one more way to get closer to your goal of a healthier lifestyle, you’re well on your way.

Be happy, be healthy!

One Foot In Front Of The Other: Mentally Preparing For Weight Loss is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. Self-Compassion: A Key Factor In Weight Loss
2. How Much Is The Weight Loss Industry Worth?
3. A Very Big Piece of My Weight Loss Story

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: mentality, overeating, weight loss

But every now and again, I read something that makes me want to toss my head against my desk – not too hard, but hard enough – because they’re either mistakes I’ve made before… or mistakes I make now (and realize it while reading someone else’s words)… or mistakes I haven’t made and probably would’ve made in the future if I weren’t thinking consciously.

So.. having said that… consider this my collective screaming, shouting, and fussing from a year’s worth of e-mails and comments where y’all just know you are wrong. You know you are. Hopefully you’ll giggle with me a little, and come on out of the woodwork admitting how you know you’re wrong.

1) You put off an activity today, for whatever reason, because you can “just do it tomorrow.”

Say it with me. This… is BS. Let me tell you what happens. You get home. You’re tired. You’re worn out. You’re angry. Whatever. Instead of using your pending workout at something to energize you and destress you, you put it off by saying “Oh, I’ll just tack it on to tomorrow’s workout.” You know what happens now: either you skip tomorrow’s workout as well, or you do finish tomorrow’s workout, forgetting the part you were supposed to tack on.

The problem with this is that it’s an excuse. It’s allowing you to excuse very big parts of your routine – your entire routine for a day – and its a bad habit that you don’t want to develop. Do yourself a favor. If you get the feeling that you want to “put it off until tomorrow,” go anyway… but do at least 1/3 of your workout. Why 1/3? For one, you’re still going. That prevents you from getting into the habit of not going. For two, once you get into the swing of your routine, its highly unlikely that you’ll literally stop at 1/3. You’ll probably keep going… and you’ll probably feel glad that you did.

2) You’re still freaking dieting: you diet, you lose a little weight, you go back to life before the diet, you put the weight back on. Woe is me.

I don’t believe in dieting (or “cheating“). I refuse to live on mashed potatoes for a week straight, grapefruit for a week straight, spongebob squarepants fruit snacks for a week straight.. whatever voodoo mumbo jumbo looney tunes diet is going on out there right now just to lose a measly five pounds. I don’t believe in being miserable.

Dieting is moronic. Yes. I said it. Dieting says that it makes sense to “take a break from your regular bad habits” to go on a temporary severely restricted regimen, lose weight, then go right back to the habits that caused you to gain weight in the first place. How does that make sense?

If your goal is temporary weight loss, then yes, a temporary change makes sense. But last time I checked, no one puts themselves through a ton of dietary trauma just to lose five pounds for five days, right? Right.

I believe in making changes to the habits I created, be they questionable or downright deplorable. If I want to go in on some ice cream? I’ma do it, but there’s a consequence I have to suffer through, and that consequence teaches me the lesson: lay off the ice cream. That lesson is far more powerful than anything a darn diet could teach me. Ever.

3) You think the latest weight loss gadget is your ticket: you’ve got a closet full of ab pulsing belts, shake weights and thigh masters…

…and, for some reason, your abs aren’t ripped, your arms aren’t cut, and your thighs don’t look like Suzanne Somers. This is not coincidence.

Did you know that you can do the same exercise the thigh master shows you how to do… without the thigh master? That’s right. You don’t need the thighmaster to do leg lifts. You don’t need some pedals on a spring board to do sit ups… you can just do sit ups at home. You don’t need to shake an overweight rattle – one that, I presume, was created as an inside joke among perverts – to tone your arms the same way regular ol’ push ups or a one liter of water as a dumbell could.

Stop thinking that you need to spend – or waste, however you see it – money on the latest fad product to help you get it in. You don’t. You can do this with no products, or you can have all the products in the world. If you don’t have the work ethic needed to make this thing happen for you, then you can kiss your goal  – and your money – goodbye. You won’t be seeing it.

4) You’re impatient.

This ain’t The Biggest Loser. (Hell, The Biggest Loser ain’t The Biggest Loser.) But for some reason, you want to lose 30lbs in a week, too. Crappy supermarket checkout line magazines don’t really help with this, but you swear up and down that you’re supposed to “lose 7lbs in 7 days with nooooo effort!!!” and after that first week, when you don’t “lose 7lbs in 7 days with nooooo effort!!!” you want to walk around the house with your lip poked out all mad and angry, ready to give up on weight loss and, ultimately, wellness.

Did you put the weight on in 7 days? Why think that you can lose it that fast? Are you running at cheetah speed for two hours a day? Then no, you’re not going to lose 7lbs in a week. Let that go. There is nothing wrong with 1-2lbs in a week. There is nothing wrong with finding that you’ve lost 5-8lbs in a week, either: if you’ve upped the fiber in your diet and are going potty more, that’ll reflect on the scale… if you made drastic changes to your caloric intake, that’ll reflect as well. But by and large, the average woman worried about a “final 10-15lbs” (she is usually the target of this “lose 30lbs in 10 minutes!” schtick) is not going to actually do it.

This takes patience. It takes learning and relearning your body… which really takes patience. Don’t shortchange yourself by trying to rush through it for a bikini or a little black dress. Not worth it.

5) After reading this, you’re gonna laugh, nod your head and say “Yep,” and not change a single thing.

I’m serious – how many people do you estimate will read this, giggle a little, and then go right back to their Doritos and crystal light? C’mon, man, either you’re in or you’re out. Either you want it, or you don’t. Every decision you make, you need to make with your ultimate wellness in mind. Every step you take needs to be one where you are conscious of you and your needs. It requires that much effort.. and either you’re willing to put in that effort or you’re not. Waddling in the middle isn’t going to get you anywhere, that’s for sure.

So really, prove me wrong – stop buying every silly product that comes out. Stop putting off workouts. Stop with the impatience (and, consequently, undue stress and pressure that comes with it.) Stop with the freaking diets. Just live… healthier. It’s that easy.

5 Reasons Why You Won’t Lose Weight is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. “Don’t Lose Any Weight.. I Love A Big Fine Woman!”
2. Admitting The Desire To Lose Weight: Does It Affect Self-Esteem?
3. Why Aren’t Feminists Allowed To Lose Weight?

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 58 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dieting, Fad Diets, Healthy Eating, mentality, motivation, shake weight, skipping workouts, thigh master, weight loss scams

Place first 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add yogurt and the next 8 ingredients (yogurt through nutmeg); pulse 4 times or until blended.

Make 3 diagonal cuts 1/4 inch deep across top of each chicken breast half. Combine chicken and yogurt mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Prepare grill or broiler.

Remove chicken breast from bag; discard marinade. Place chicken on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray; cook 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done.

Tandoori Chicken is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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1. Weekend WTF: He EATS The Chicken In A Can!
2. Weekend WTF: Chicken In A Can?
3. KFC Tests Sandwich That Uses… Chicken.. In Place Of Bread

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Post tags: chicken, chili powder, coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, onion, paprika, yogurt

Jia has more photos, but so did the Daily Mail… and do yourself a favor and avoid the comments:

So…what’s she doing? Of course, a vegetarian diet and, apparently, a workout video on the horizon:

Frugivore recently posted a snippet from her future workout DVD (subscribers, you’ll need to click through to see the clip)… are you checking for it? What do you think?

Fit Chick Watch: Angela Simmons, On The Beach AND Clips From Her Workout DVD is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

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1. Fit Chick Watch: Gabrielle Union On The Beach
2. Fit Chick Watch: Serena’s Racy New Ad
3. Fit Chick Watch: Rihanna On Vacation (#RihannaAppreciationDay)

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Whether it’s Michelle Obama’s health initiatives or programs to make school lunches more healthy, there has been an increasing focus on America’s increasing waistline and obesity epidemic.

However, a suburban community is realizing that there are even more consequences to being overweight than simply high blood pressure and diabetes.

According to WREX in Rockford, Ill., a fire began in a one-story home just before 4:00 a.m. Monday. The two parents, Joe and Delores Herron, escaped, but when firefighters arrived, their daughter and two foster sons, ages 10 and 11, were still trapped inside.

Firefighters were able to get the 2 boys out through the window, but firefighters could not lift Jamaya

Investigators say she weighed more than 500 pounds. through.

Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said, “That [the weight] did hamper the fire department and fire rescuers from taking her out a window. They did have to bring her out the door and in doing that, two firefighters we’re actually injured.”

By then, it was too late for Jamaya.

The daughter of a pastor and a singer at the church died at the scene. Fire Chief Derek Bergsten, stated:

“They gave 110 percent, did their best and sometimes we’re not able to save everyone, but we were able to get two individuals out of that structure alive.”

Investigators say Jamaya died from breathing smoke. There will be an autopsy later this week.

Fannie Barbee, a relative of the family, says, “She was very faithful in the church. Whenever I go over there, she was a really nice person.” [source]

Of course, I waited a few days to write about this just because I needed to think without the presence of anger or sadness…

..but then I realized that a little anger might be appropriate.

The video above is from the news clip regarding the events surrounding Jamaya’s passing. (If you’re a subscriber, you may want to visit this post on a computer to view it.)

Far be it for me to disrespect a grieving family, but we’re adults, here. Adults take situations and learn from them all the time. This needs to be one of those situations.

She was the daughter of a pastor and actively involved in her church. Obviously well-known.

All those people in her community… and no one was able to assist her before she reached the 300, 400 or 500lb mark? How does a teenager gain so much weight before they even reach adulthood?

Those of us who read this site know the importance of having a supportive environment full of people who care about us to help us reach our goals. What, in the world, is going on in a church when a girl can be “very faithful” yet still no one was as devoted to her as she was to them?

I mean, I get it – I’m the main one saying that we shouldn’t judge people who stand before us because we don’t know where they are on their journey to wellness. That’s my line. I know it by heart. But Jamaya passed away because no one bothered to stop her before it got to the point where her quality of life was so impacted that she couldn’t even be rushed to safety! This isn’t a young girl who we see outside walking and decide to judge from our cars. This is a girl who no one bothered to intervene with 200lbs ago. Major difference.

Now a while back, I wrote asking the readers of BGG2WL if there was anyone in their lives who was allowed to let them know their weight might be getting out of hand… and a lot of the messages I received publicly and privately implied that no one was allowed to tell them. No one was allowed to make them feel like something was wrong with them for gaining weight. And if you’re 140lbs at 5’8″, that makes sense. No one should be making you feel bad.

Having said that, those of us who are on the path to wellness and are experiencing positive results… You know how hard it was for you to obtain the knowledge you’ve developed. Be it from books, from your peers, even from this site. It is your responsibility to “be the change you wish to see” in your community and be a role model for better health. You don’t have to tell anyone “You’re getting fat” – in all my time, I’ve never used those words – but you can show people that good food doesn’t have to be full of sugar or fat or salt. You can be excited by your own loss and share with people how “easy” it’s been for you. (Maybe “simple” might be a better word.) You can let people know that your success has come from cooking more, being more active, and using less junk foods. People don’t want words, and they certainly don’t want insults. They want to see that something works, then they want to know what that something is. Do you think you’d be here reading MY words if you didn’t know that what I write about worked for me? I doubt it.

I question why no one in Jamaya’s community could be “that kind of person” for her. They had 200lbs worth of time to be there for her, and no one did it. I’ll even put it out there – what kind of emotional damage is a teenager going through that she’d rather continue harmful habits than try to get help? The same kind of emotional damage caused by parents who can get out of a house, yet leave their three children inside?

Sorry, I take that back. But I am a devoted parent and… let’s just say there better be a logical explanation for that part.

That is a beautiful girl lost because no one could save her. No one could get to her fast enough. In more ways than one. It is shameful that we have young girls in our community that need help and, apparently, aren’t getting it. It is shameful that they have no one to talk to about their insecurities and seek out some kind of guidance. It is a pain that we should  all feel that there are women who would rather endure the decreased quality of life than do what they need to do to be on a path to wellness.

Make no mistake about it – this isn’t about her dress size. This isn’t about her appearance, either – look at her, she’s a beautiful girl! This is about the fact that a girl, obviously devoted to her church community, was able to become so large that two individuals were harmed in an attempt to save her while she was impaired. That is a serious problem.

This should make us all look at ourselves. What do we do for those individuals who might be struggling? Do we talk to them, befriend them to see if they’re okay? Do we invite them over for dinner and, even though we might endure the “forget this – I want some real food!” comments, at least show them what healthier food looks like? Do we offer emotional support? Offer to go for a walk with them? Or are we just judging from afar, and make sure we can chip in on the casket?

I know that’s a bit sensationalist, but that’s real talk.What are we doing to stop this kind of silliness?

500lb Teen Unable To Be Rescued From Fire, and I Blame EVERYONE is a post from: A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

1. My “Black Women Are To Blame For Everything” Rant
2. Teen Girls, Weight Loss Surgery, Body Image and Class Distinctions

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© Erika for A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss, 2012. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: obesity, teenage obesity