A major plea.

22LBS.

I have defied my own evil habits and truly made a dent in this healthy weight journey. I have lost 22lbs. In my mind, I still have a ways to go, but I take this weightloss as the accomplishment it is.

It always feels good to reach goals, and mine have felt better and better with every pound gone. However, the days of magical Zumba fitness are passing me, as income changes are forcing me to be more frugal with my budget.

Its a tough economy for nearly everyone right now (with the exception of the minority wealthy). And we all have to make some tough decisions about how we spend our finances. I, for one, am no stranger to these decisions, and unfortunately $40 extra bucks a month for Zumba seemed counterproductive when I could barely afford to buy healthy groceries.

As it is, I desperately want to add some weight resistance to my workouts. Most of what I do now is cardio/aerobic, and its just not enough. As many people know (and many more dont), muscle burns calories long after any workout. The more muscle a person has, the more calories they will burn regularly.

Here's the thing though.

Im not exactly in a place financially to invest in hand weights, or weighted vests, or any of that.

Usually, I am simply reporting my success and failures with this blog. But now I am making a plea to the entire community.

If you, or anyone you know, has any weights no longer in use (perhaps a lighter weight you've plateau'd with) or weighted vests that they'd be willing to donate to one young lady's weightloss journey, please do.

It is so important for me to get my health status to a good place. And I am learning more, and more, that it is important for me to ask for help when something seems out of my reach.

So, won't you help me?
As a beginner, I'm not looking for anything expensive or extremely heavy. Anything up to 20lbs in hand weights, or 60lbs in a vest, would be wonderful. I do mean anything. That includes cannon ball weights.

I appreciate whatever you, my loyal reader, may be able to offer.

The Beginning

I dont want you to get the wrong impression. I love being me.... mostly. And I am certainly what I call a "chubb chubb." This is not about bashing or making fun of people's sizes. I will probably always be a little bit chubby. But I think it makes me cute. What is a Chubb Chubb? One of the proud and fortunate few who carry a little extra weight, and keep it moving. Chubb Chubbs arent ashamed, sitting in the corner like wallflowers... We are unabashedly proud to be the social butterfly, sitting in the middle of the crowd, getting all the attention.







However.... chubby or not... I need to get my health in order. So.... I've decided to write a blog about this weight-loss thing. Who Am I? No... i am not some health and fitness guru. Although as much as I nag my friends about fried food and pork, they probably think I am.

I don't have any crazy medical miracles when it come to weight loss. I'm a moderately healthy American who is also overweight with a sugar addiction.... Laughing yet? If so... that's probably because this sounds familiar. Very familiar..

I’m 5’6” and I weigh in at approximately 230-235lbs. Yeah… But I’m Black, so I look like I’m about 180.

What is that about you ask? Oh… well…. I learned that physiologically, most Black people are generally denser. Muscles. Bone, etc. We even carry our fat differently (and I don’t mean the stereotypically popular Black Booty.) This means that a white girl with my height and weight might look much bigger, or less toned than I do.

So-obviously this blog wont be about scale numbers. Inches maybe…. But not numbers. Why? Because I plan to succeed in getting healthier. And that means losing fat. Inches matter more than pounds when you are talking about fat.
And while we’re talking success… (well… I’m talking… you’re reading….)I am giving myself until the end of august 2012… My 25th birthday, to get my body in order. It’s January… 2011… so… we are looking at an estimated 18 and a half months. I want to lose this belly fat, so I can reduce my risk of getting diabetes, lower my blood pressure, build up my cardio endurance, and strengthen some muscles groups.

Yup. I got a target. You got to have a target. And I’m gonna document it for all the people out there who think their own weight loss is undoable, or think the solution can be found in a pill. I’m putting it all out there; the triumphs, the failures (I’m sure there will be a lot of those), the discoveries, and the tried and true methods that just work. I hope to become a daily blogger, but honestly… I’m a busy girl. So I hope you, my dear reader, are ready for the journey. Because truthfully, I’ve had enough of just wanting better. I'm ready to DO better….

Love you all, my fellow Chubb Chubbs. Remember... good food is delish, but good living is sweeter!