Body translator

Previous to Monday, I have most certainly been off track. Fortunately, one of my current jobs is as a dance teacher, so I can't afford not to exercise. However, my eating habits were horrendous!

It all started with a box of softees... You know, the Entemann's donuts? Someone gave me a box of those suckers last Wednesday... Now, even though I live with other people, who I know snacked on the donuts, there is still no excuse for the amount I ate.

One morning, in a rush, my entire breakfast consisted of a doughnut and a chug of soy milk.
Poor body.

I know she's mad at me. In fact, I have often wondered, if my body could speak, what would it say?

in regards to last week, I imagine it would go like this:

"What the hell is this? Another doughnut!!! What am I supposed to do with that Leslie? I am still trying to work out the last one you forced down my throat. Are you trying to kill us? I'm not particularly in the mood to die today. And where's the water? I am so thirsty that I should just shut down on your behind. Ungrateful heifer. Here I am, doing the best that I can to carry your heavy self around, AND keep you doing what you do. What thanks do I get? A doughnut. Some H2O would have been nice. Maybe some spinach... but no... you want to start the day off with a doughnut! Oh sure, maybe you and the Brain are happy. What about me? Why must you make my job so difficult? You know what? Lights out for you!"

And that's exactly what happens. When I don't eat right, my energy dies. I mean, really, it just flat-lines.

And if I was listening, I probably would have heard my body's plea. But instead.. I snacked yet another doughnut. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that a single doughnut is the end of me, although my body would probably beg to differ. However, many donuts, in a short span of time, coupled with the overall lack of other nutritional sources (I wasn't eating much of anything), just did my poor body no good.

I am probably not the only person not to listen to my body. I think many people ignore the body's basic cry for help. Even those we would call "fit." We ignore our body's cry for nutrition, for rest, for movement, for healing... So many basic needs that we deny ourselves.

Why?

Why do humans think it's ok to ignore the single most important responsibility to a successful life? Name me one thing you can do without your body....


Don't worry... I'll wait...


I didn't think so... So WHY do we mistreat them so? Not exercising. Not resting. Not letting ourselves heal from injury. Eating crappy foods. Yes, people say its ok to have sweets in moderation, but please.. tell me ONE physiological benefit from eating... say... a doughnut. Just one...


Again... think on it... I'll wait...


More importantly, when we don't do these things, we wonder why we suffer from exhaustion, chronic dis-ease, fatigue, memory loss, sluggish brains, headaches, rapid aging, frequent injury, etc.  There's no one to blame for this but us. And even with all the medical help in the world, there's no one that can fix us, but us.

Quit trying to out-logic your body. Chances are, you are the one being illogical. Not the body. It's only telling you what you need. You can't win by trying to reason that you don't really need it.

In my case, my body was fed up with the nutritional malarkey I was feeding it for the week. And what did my body do? "Showed out," as the old folks say. I was overly tired in my dance classes. I was in a grumpy mood, I slept too much, I didnt get as much work done as I wanted, which created anxiety, which added to my stress, which beat my body up even more, because my poorly fed body wasn't functioning at optimal levels, so it didnt have the energy to battle the stress. This resulted in headaches, which led to me taking painkillers.

Now, all of that might have possibly been avoided, if I had just laid off the doughnuts, and ate some nutrient-dense foods.

"That's what I'VE been saying. You take care of me, I'll take care of you."

Ok body... I hear you.

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.

21!!!! And a half....

A few days ago, I met up with an old enemy of mine.... The scale... I looked at it.... It stared back up at me with that cold digital 0000... And then we faced off.

I stepped up on the scale with hesitancy. Lately, the past couple of weeks, nearly a month, I had fallen off of posting my calories to the MyFitnessPal app on my phone, and had to stop doing Zumba for financial reasons. *tear*

Like many women across America, I braced myself and looked down. YESSSSSS! I was DEFINITELY smaller. I went to my app and input my new weight, to which my app responded "Oh, hell yes, girlfriend!!!".

Okay... It didnt actually say that. Its not like i have an iPhone with crazy Siri on it... But it did display my weight loss with exclamation points like this: Lwright has lost a total of 21.6 lbs!!!

Doesnt that feel like a cyber "Oh hell, yes girlfriend" to you? No? That's because you, are a hater.

21.6 lbs... Wow. That means I am one pound lighter than I was last May, before I gained all this weight.....

This may sound like a setback, but to me its a victory for two reasons. For one, I managed not to gain extra weight, even when I wasnt monitoring myself. Hopefully this means that I am becoming more intuned with what my body needs to become more fit. Healthy living may become more natural to me.

Secondly, it is a sign of something I experienced in late January, when I found myself sobbing profusely over my Grandfather's passing last spring. I'd finally let go. Even though he died last spring, I did not shed one tear. It wasnt in me. I thought maybe I was dysfunctional. Instead of crying, I somehow gained 20lbs. I say somehow because I had a very physical summer job, and ate pretty healthy foods... Yet and still, the weight came.

I think that when I finally sobbed like a child in January, it allowed me to let go of whatever it was that was holding me back from grieving, and packing pounds onto my frame. Consequently, a weight has been lifted, literally and figuratively.

So... I am happy with myself. Twentyone and a half pounds is a good indicator of change. But I am certainly not content. I intend to keep going, pushing towards the next ten pound loss.

Hope it gets there...

GroupLove

Let me begin by saying this is not about an orgy.


Yesterday I had my first meeting of a health-change support group.
I say health-change, because I  find it more important to focus on changing one's health status, than obsessing over a number.

It was an amazing meeting. I decided to start one because I do better when people are in on it. That's right. I thrive on accountability! I dont mind health food, or excercise, but I wont keep doing either for very long. I have discovered that motivation is my biggest problem.

Imagine that...

One of the new group members discussed how she might get grouchy during the process; that her attitude towards a necessary change was one of being burdened. She felt like it was a burden to have to make changes for her health. I wondered on this, as I am sure she is not the only person who hates eating better and excercising.

I mean, let's face it... there are alot of people who hate excercising. Excercise-haters of the world unite!
Strangely enough, alot of these same people can intellectualize the process completely.

wait, wait, wait... what am I saying?

I think thats untrue.


I mean, I am sure that there are a lot of people out there who have been unsuccessful in making permanent changes, who can list the process, or explain successful methods. I think I belong to that group. However, I question if those individuals.... us individuals.... can truly conceptualize what it will take, or what may happen if we don't.

For example. I am well aware that if I walked for three hours every day, and reduced my caloric intake, that I would see significant results very soon. But, i don't do it. Why? Well, my theory is that I haven't fully conceptualized what it would require from me mentally. I would first have to re-wire my brain to be more motivated, more disciplined, less likely to give in to the idea of "i-don't-want-to." I would have to learn to accept pain (soreness), as necessary. I would have to dissolve the idea that feeling "full" all the time is a good thing.

Trust me...knowing you have to give up that feeling of being "stuffed" is not the same as giving it up.




So.. I don't think us so-called  intellectuals are truly grasping it at all. I think we may have a very basic understanding which gets us to the starting line. But we still have  a ways to go to truly "get it."


Either way, I am very excited by my new group. Its all women, and very local. So far its only day one, but I think that having others to lean on will be provide alot of strength when I am weak.

check in with me in a week.

baby steps!!!

Til, next time...
Smooches Divas! (And all my wonderful Princes)
Food is good. But Life is delish.

I'm baaaaack!!!

Hello all. I have been on a sort of blogging hiatus. I have also been gone traveling 17 days out of 24 last month. Phew! Nothing like a few trips to make you reevaluate your health plan.

I'd like to take a moment to give you all an update. While I have no idea how much I weigh, I have made an attempt tp stop eating after 7pm, regardless of how much I've eaten. This has been approximately 89% successful, which I'm pleased with for now.

Listed below is a link to an article that I hope will be very helpful to myself, and all you wonderful readers. http://www.naturalnews.com/003550.html

I've also come to terms with a certain reality... I am going o feel hungry sometimes. It is a natural fact. I can pretend its untrue or I can accept the mathematics of it. To lose weight, I must excercise and consume less calories. In consuming less calories than I am used to, my body will feel confused and respond with ghrelin (the hunger hormone) to try and maintain my current calorie count. But I can't maintain my current calorie count.

So far, this blogging thing as been a reason to find someone to hold me accountable for what I am doing. Then it became a chore. Now, its a task. A challenge. Both to give you all something worthwhile, and to see it through. My health and my words.
So... I'm back my darlings.

New start, and new saying, my chubbchubbs.

Food is good, but Life is delish.

posted from Bloggeroid

posted from Bloggeroid

Water, water, Everywhere...

Good day Chubbchubbs.
February is off to an okayish start. (Yes I am aware that 'okayish' is not a word)
I've added a bunch of helpful apps to my phone. I love apps. Love them... I might be addicted...
I know my mom is addicted to one of them- the 'angry birds' game.... she REALLY loves it.

If you don't know what Angry Birds is, do yourself a favor. Play a game or two. Green pigs and exploding P-O'd birds...

As I was saying...
Android has a great group of apps! And though I may have a mild addiction to apps, I really have found some great ones. A diet tracker(food journal), a pushup sergeant, some pilates moves, a weight progress tracker, etc... there's even an alarm that tells me to eat (six small meals a day, remember?). And if you are hyper busy, like me, or hyper ADHD like... well... I won't mention names... having reminders for those types of important things is great!

However, there IS an app that is becoming a nemesis of mine. It also sets off alarms to remind me of something...

Its the water-drinking app...

There is a funny little app that reminds me to drink water. I did a bunch of tests, and based on my weight (234.6 today) and activity and climate, and blah,blah,blah... I am supposed to drink 17 cups of water... but its winter, and I am not sweating, so I'm going for 16 cups.

So... this lil app does two things. It keeps track of how many cups of water I drink, and it sends me little reminders.

It also does a third thing... it taunts me...

Now, I'm smart enough to know that not all my water has to come in crystal clear H2O format. It can also come from foods I eat, like soup, watermelon, fruits, etc. But still.... 16 cups is a lot of frickin water!!!
And usually, I like drinking water... but my body... it's just upset.

Yesterday was my first attempt at consuming 16 cups of water. I got to 15. That's alotta trips to the faucet.
A bajillion drip, drip, drips...


Ugh... so... yesterday was comical, at the very least. After my 6th cup, I felt full. Just too %$*# full... I was drinking a lot like this during the summer, but I hadn't been lately. My poor lil belly felt so stretched out!

The weird thing about drinking water is that you THINK you are going to feel bloated-because of what everyone says about water-weight. But evidently it doesn't work that way.

Here's how it actually works.

Let's start with a bloated white guy. We'll name him Randy...



See Randy? He thinks he's sexy... that's not sexy.
Anyway, Randy, besides being heavy, also has a huge gut from being bloated. And most of that bloating is water. Why is Randy bloated? Well... he probably doesn't drink enough water. So he, like most of us, suffers from dehydration. Its very common. Lots of Americans experience mild to moderate dehydration and never even know. They think they're SUPPOSED to feel the way they do.

I'm saying "they" so you don't feel bad, but chances are, you too are amongst the many.

So back to Randy's bloat...
When the body is even slightly dehydrated, it sucks whatever water is available, into the fat cells, to store it. Survival mode. And the fat cells swell... then you have. Ta-daa! Bloat.

So... drinking MORE water actually tells the body it can release the excess water in the fat...

Who knew?

Good luck Randy.

Now back to me.

I'm not so much concerned with bloating. I do that once a month without drinking water. Joys of womanhood...

However, it takes the body awhile to get used to constantly flushing out water. So until my body regulates, guess where I'll be spending quite a bit of time...

Well, my niece calls it... "the potty." The toilet. The can. The porcelain throne, the whizzbucket, the- ok I'm done.

Yep. Lots of trips to flush city. (Had to get one more out)

And don't be like me, in scenarios where there's no bathroom available and you wait, and wait, and wait, wiggling around like some sort of 1950's American Bandstand dancer


Its not pleasant.
I felt bad, because I almost bumrushed this small child to go. Well, I say almost. I hope I didn't get the child. I didn't stick around long enough to see after a bathroom free'd up.




Having to go to the bathroom turns you into a lethal person. It brings out the worst in you, I'm telling the truth! And guys... don't leave them near an empty container...


And WHY is it that they can pee anywhere and we can't? If we pee in the woods, we're wild women. They're just "roughing it."

Bah. Hum. Bug.

Well... I know my body will calm down and regulate after awhile. And I look forward to that. Because when I drink a lot of water, good things do happen. I eat less, my skin clears up, and drinking cold water burns a TON of calories. So, although I feel like a sponge right now, (soak it up, squeeze it out) I know it'll pay off soon.... I hope...

Til then, if u need me, I'll be in the restroom.

Love you all, my fellow Chubbchubbs. Remember... good food is delish, but good living is sweeter.

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!