Nubian Fitness Goddess Mama's Weightloss Journey

Janice's Weightloss Progress May 2014 to February 2015

My travel lifestyle as a flight attendant impacted my health negatively. My colon expanded from all

the take offs and landings. Every time I would take off in the air, my colon would expand and

whenever I would land my colon would contract. This caused my intestines to become packed with

waste and made it difficult for me to eliminate. In May 2014, I stopped working as a flight attendant

because I was unable to move my bowels. My stomach looked as if it was 7 months pregnant.

I began working out 5 hours a day 5 to 6 days a week for three months just to get my bowels to

move. The photo above of me showing my "sugar roll" belly was taken in June 2014.


On December 30, 2014 I was told that I had cervical cancer, it was quite an unpleasant New Year's

surprise. Most people were making New Year's Resolution, however I was forced to change my

eating habits to a vegan lifestyle. I went into survival mode. There are various cancer deaths in my

family. I lost my mother to second hand smoking cancer, one aunt to cervical cancer, and

grandmother to breast cancer. I had one other aunt die to cancer as well, but I don't remember

what type. I am not ready to give up my life to cancer.


I overcame fear and remained positive. God placed the right people in my life to help with my

healing. One of my daughter's gave me a visit to King Spa and Sauna for a Christmas present. It is a

wellness retreat that has over 30 hot and cold healing rock saunas. The biggest help was the

V Steam Herb Woodworm Sitz Bath which is known to prevent uterine cancer. My daughter and I

and I had an one hour and a half treatment by God's divine plan. We were visiting with three of my

daughter's friends who sitz baths were not working properly. The treatment is normally 30 minutes

but we received an additional hour because we were waiting for my daughter's friends. After the sitz

bath we spent time in the various sauna rooms, detoxifying and healing our bodies.

Janice Working Out 

Another factor which helped cure me from cancer was my employment at L.A. Fitness as Personal

Trainer Fitness Assessment Counselor that gave me access to a spa and whirlpool. I continued to

detoxify my body. I also began working with a personal trainer who encouraged me to eat organic

fruits and vegetables and change to a vegan lifestyle. My working out with Personal Trainer Lance 

Dillon of Truth Fitness 2020 led to a 17 pound weight and building lean muscle mass during the

month of January.

Being employed at L.A. Fitness has helped change me into a fitness person as I now workout about

6 days a week. My job as a Personal Trainer Fitness Assessment Counselor requires that I workout

with clients about 3 to 4 times a day in addition to my regular workout routine. A health and fitness

lifestyle has changed my travel lifestyle. Although I have hung up my wings as a flight attendant, I

decided to combine passion to travel with health and fitness by creating Black Girls Fitness 

Getaways. Please comment by sharing your weightloss journey and  your dream wellness getaway

destination.

Finding our Namaste

Ladies, it's National Yoga Month, so we have to pay homage to the spiritual and health benefits of the historic practice of yoga. It's a workout that should be an equal priority to cardio and weightlifting, but many of us don't put it on the top of our lists. Why? Perhaps there is a lack of access or focus on the benefits of yoga. With it being "Back to Health" season, now is the time to revisit our thoughts on yoga and how we can incorporate it into our workout regime.

Yoga benefits include:

• Reduced stress
• Increased flexibility
• Proper balance
• Cleaning our blood of waste material
• loosen muscles and joints that are ignored in our day-to-day lives

I personally prefer a class called BodyFlow. It's a mix of yoga, pilaties, and tai chi! It's choreographed to nice relaxing music and ends with a few minutes for mediation. It's the perfect way to start a Sunday morning before heading into the work week!

Access to yoga is now easier than ever! You can go to a class at your local gym, buy a DVD, or use your cable programming right in the comfort of your living room.

I challenge each of you to try a Yoga class at least once this month in honor of National Yoga Month. If you already practice yoga, I challenge you to invite a friend to join you to spread the namaste!

Keeping Fit on a Budget!

Contrary to what gym ads (Bally Total Fitness) say, you don’t “need” a gym to stay in shape and look your best! This may be shocking to hear from a group fitness instructor who constantly uses the gym, but I’m also a 26 year-old, paying rent and utilities, still in the beginning phases of my career, and keeping track of a tight budget! I’m sure many of you can relate to my situation.

So, what do you do if your budget doesn’t have room for that fancy gym? Use your surroundings! I actually enjoy working outside during a nice day or in the comfort of my home, it helps to mix things up and keep my workouts interesting. Check out these suggestions and feel free to add more ideas if you workout without a gym:

• Local high school track: I happen to live very close to a high school with a nice track that many members of the community use after school hours to walk, jog, or run. It’s safe from all the traffic and helps you track how far you’ve run (four laps equals a mile).
• Interval running: If you don’t live near a high school track, you can use your sidewalk and the street lights. Make sure to walk fast for 5 minutes to warm up the body, then after every other street light sprint really fast to the next one…then walk slow to the next one…then sprint. Interval training will help you burn fat and get your heart pumping, which is great cardio!
• Hand weights: You can go straight to your nearest Target and buy two hand weights and do bicep curls during your favorite TV show (Grey’s Anatomy, anyone?)
• Workout videos: You can now work out with some of your favorite celebrities as it seems EVERYONE is coming out with a new exercise video: Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson (I think) or you can go to try cool workouts at home like Taeboe, belly dancing, strip tease, etc. Have fun in the privacy of your home if you’re not one who prefers to workout in front of others.

That’s just a few examples of how you how you can get and stay in shape during a time where every budget cut helps! You can also use fitness magazines (I love SELF Magazine myself) to get tips on new moves and workouts that don’t need a gym. So there you have it, one less excuse to not live a healthy lifestyle! Keep it moving ladies .

Easy ways to get Fit this Summer!

Summer is almost here and I know a lot of you are trying to meet your fitness goals so you can be fit and fly. I've come across a few great products to make getting FIT this summer a little easier. Also, it's great to reward yourself with new gadgets and fitness gear. It keeps working out fresh and exciting.

Here are some items I plan to try out this summer.....

FitFlops I love to show my freshly pedicured toes during the summer so I love flip flops. Well, I have found some shoes that will tone your legs while you walk...amazing! Also, they have more support then regular flip flops so they reduce joint strain. These are definitely worth trying this summer. I love flip flops but regular flip flops do not have enough support. The benefit of toning my legs puts these shoes at the top of my list. Curious as to how FitFlops work? Click here to learn about the new technology.
The Nike-Ipod Sport Kit Now you guys now I love running especially during the summer. This little gadget is great for keeping track of your distance, calories burned, and pace. You can even program custom workouts. This is a great little gadget for the summer.

Fantasia Frizz Buster Silk Smooth Straightening Cream
This product is not really a reward but a day where my hair acts right is always rewarding. I am constantly looking for products to make hair maintenance just a little bit easier. A friend recommended this product to me. Anything that may make taking care of my hair easier I am willing to try. (I'll let you know how it goes)

MBT Shoes
Shoes that burn calories? Yes it is true there are shoes that actually increase the amount of calories you burn. The shoes are designed specifically to activate more muscles which in turn boosts your metabolism and burns more calories. I am all for effortlessly burning more calories so this are worth a try. Click here to read more about MBT shoes.



Comment!

Any great products you recommend for the summer?

Any suggestions on how to keep working out easy and fun this summer?

Also, share your fitness goals for the summer. Can't wait to hear from you!

Lose for Good!

Last week I said I had a special announcement, here it goes.......

First I want to thank you for your support of Nubian Fitness Goddess. Blogging has been a great experience for me. I've learned alot from you all and I hope you find the information here valuable.

Thanks to the support from all you of you my Blog was selected to participate in Weight Watchers new Lose for Good campaign and fitness challenge. As a part of this challenge I will participating in Weight Watchers and blogging about my experience and weight loss. I will also be advertising for the Lose for Good Campaign on my blog.

Here's is the best part!
I will be awarding 2 free three month subscriptions to Weight Watchers to you guys. Look for details to come!


What is Lose For Good?

Lose for Good is a charitable effort that addresses two important epidemics: hunger and obesity, by empowering people to get healthier while also doing good for others in need.

For every pound that Weight Watchers members will lose during a six-week period, Weight Watchers will donate the cost of one pound of food -- up to $1 million dollars -- to two hunger fighting organizations.

The chosen organizations are Share Our Strength, the leading organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry, and Action Against Hunger, an organization that helps feed people in troubled parts of the world.

Click here for more information

I think this is a wonderful cause I am glad to be apart of it! Please share your thoughts.

Get Motivated: Look Good While Getting Fit

Here is some Motivation for my S.O.S participants:

Looking Good while you workout can be a great motivation tool. When you look in the mirror and you have clothes that fit right and high light the right areas you will see the fruits of your labor much quicker. I'm not saying you have to make a fashion statement when you go to the gym. But feeling good about your clothing and the way you look may give you an extra boost of confidence and energy.

So consider investing in a couple of pieces and see if that boosts your motivation and your workout. Of course you want to consider function first. Make sure that you have clothes that fit your workout of choice.

* Form fitting comfortable clothes are great for workouts like yoga and pilates. Make sure your body can move freely for all those difficult yoga poses.

* For cross training make sure you have a bra that can supports you and comfortable form fitting clothes. There are also specialized clothes to help keep you dry like Nike's Dri Fit and Champion's double dry.

* Get the right shoes, make sure you pick up a pair of cross trainers for low impact activities and running shoes for cardio.

*Doing some heavy weight lifting? Make sure you have gloves so you don't get blisters on those beautiful hands!


Here are a few pieces and articles that I came across that have what's hot in Workout Fashion.

For those of you with a little money to splurge check out Stella Mcartney's line at Addidas. Here are a few of her pieces.

For more of her line click here.

Also, Check out Champion Double Dry. The top is 20 bucks and the skort is 25 bucks....pretty economical.




Budget shoppers, Check out this Outdoors Store.
They have your basic workout items and few more expensive items. They also seem to have a lot of items on sale (pants and shirts for ($9.99)
REI is another store with similar options, check it out.




I don't normally make a big deal about how look before I workout. When I first started working out all I cared was about making it to the gym, plus I have a gym in my building and I am usually down there by myself. But now that I run outside regularly I'm thinking that some new workout clothes are a necessary reward for my hard work.
Comment!

Does fashion matter to you when you workout?
Does wearing the right clothes affect your motivation?
Any suggestions on other great workout clothes?

Don't forget to checkout tips for the Save Our Sister Fitness Challenge at Sweet Potato Pie.

Does Size Matter?

You don't know how many times I've been asked "Girl, what size you trying to get down to?" Since I started working out and dropping sizes everyone wants to know what size I will stop at. It has become clear to me that women are obsessed with sizes. I admit that I measure my weight loss around my size, so I guess I'm obsessed too. I'm too lazy to measure my inches regularly and and the scale and I, have a love-hate relationship. So, I measure my success by how many sizes I've gone down. It's quite unfortunate because sizes are extremely arbitrary.
They are numbers chosen by clothing companies to make women feel good about themselves and keep them shopping. In addition women's sizes are forever changing. I witnessed it first hand when Express changed their sizing when I was in high school.

In high school I bought all my jeans from Express , so I was shocked when I walked into the store and saw that they no longer had my size. I asked the sales woman what happened and she informed that a 14 was now a 12 and that I should try on the 12. She was right I could fit the size 12. At the time I couldn't understand why Express would do change their sizes like that. It seemed that Express did this to make women feel like that were a size smaller. This is really strategic on the part of clothing companies because it is less motivating to go shopping when you feel unhappy with your size.

I recently read that Lane Byrant resized their jeans as well. Their Right Fit jeans come in 2-8 . In this new line the jeans are supposed to fit based on your body type ( moderately curvy, curvy or straight), they claim the number is not important. You're just supposed find the perfect jean for your body type. I must admit this quite innovative for Lane Byrant, I like the idea of being able to find jeans in your body type. Sizes are so arbitrary anyway, they vary by clothing companies.

You have to wonder how the changes that Express and Lane Byrant made impact women psychologically. Some may argue that these changes cause women to become complacent at unhealthy weights. In her article Tiny is the Black Ashton Lattimore argues:

"Rather than attacking the root of the problems for women who feel overweight, and encouraging them to adopt more healthy lifestyles to take more control of their self-image, vanity sizing panders to their insecurities. For women who are truly overweight, allowing them to believe that they’re smaller than they actually are might seem like a benevolent, “feel-good” practice on the part of clothing companies. Instead, it places undue emphasis on the number on the clothing tag rather than the vitality and self-esteem of the woman wearing the clothes. "

I believe that is possible that vanity sizing (enlarging the size and keeping the tag the same) may have some negative affects on woman but because there is so much pressure to be thin society women will not be completely disillusioned.

Knowing that sizes are so arbitrary I am trying to ignore the societal pressures and focus on getting in my healthy weight range. That's kind of complicated too because it depends on your frame size. Click here to figure out how to calculate your healthy weight and frame size. I hope to find my perfect size (i know it's never perfect) based on what weight I feel most comfortable at.

Interested in more informtion about vanity sizing click here.

Comment!

Share Your thoughts

Do you Measure Your weight loss success by sizes?

What do you think about the Changes Express and Lane Byrant Made?

Don't forget about S.O.S. look for more tips and info to come this week!!!

S.O.S: Why the Scale Lies

Has the Scale ever lied to you? Ever felt like you were doing everything right but the scale didn't reflect your hard work?

I have had several experiences when I knew my scale must have been lying to me! I have been working out really consistently since March. In the beginning the scale did not move one bit but I stayed motivated and tried to ignore the scale. I decided to do some research and see why my scale did not reflect all the hours I spent in the gym. I found this great article by certified Personal Trainer, Renee Chole that really breaks down all the factors of the scale. I have highlighted some of the really important parts here.

To all my S.O.S. Fitness Challenge participants stay motivated and don't let that scale distract you! If you are eating right and exercising the weight will eventually come off. Don't forget to share this information with your sisters, friends, co-workers. We have to support and motivate each other.


1. Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.

2. Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content.


3. Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it’s associated water. It’s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level.

click here for more

Want to join the Save Our Sister Fitness Challenge click here

Ever had any bad experiences with the scale? Share your story

Free Yourself: Caring for Black Hair

It's time to stop being a slave to the hair salon and learn how to take care of your own hair!

If your hair is still preventing you from working out, it is time to free yourself by using hair techniques below.

I realized today that I have written several posts encouraging you all to take care of your hair so that it does not prevent you from exercising. However, I did not address basic hair care techniques. I know that not everyone knows how to care for their hair. Up until about 1 year ago I had no understanding of how to wash, condition, and style my relaxed hair. I had regular appointments at the hair salon and depended on my friends to maintain my hair. I only knew how to maintain my style until the next appointment. My hair is really really thick and I was always under the impression that it was just to big of challenge for me to tackle.

After spending last summer in Vegas my hair got really dry and I decided to try wash and condition it myself and it came out decent. I never thought I was capable of doing my own hair. I tried doing my hair a couple of times last fall and realized that I was perfectly capable of taking care of my hair.



Learning how to do my own hair has freed me from the stress of spending $65 at the shop and not being able to workout for a week. I wash my hair regularly, a minimum of once a week and it is getting healthier (I condition it a lot!) and longer. I still get my relaxers done professionally and get blowouts at the egyptian spots here in Chicago (like the dominicans in NYC), but only if its a special ocassion. I love being in control over my hair, it saves me money and I can workout without feeling like I'm wasting my money.



Here are some basic hair care resources I found online:

Natural Hair Care

http://www.nappturality.com/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=motown+girl

http://naturalblackhaircare.com/

Relaxed Hair Care

http://www.treasuredlocks.com/blhacafa.html#structure

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2007/11/01/top-five-ways-to-acheive-healthy-relaxed-hair/

http://blackhaircarequestions.com/



Here is how I care for my hair:

I use Elasta QP Conditioning Creme Shampoo and wash to a lather 2-3 times.

I use Elasta QP Intense Conditioner and let it sit on my head for 15 min.

Next, I use IC deep conditioner with Olive Oil for an add'l 15 min , if I have time.

Next I towel dry it really good and blow dry it in very small sections (the smaller the sections the straighter it gets)

Then I use a Olive oil hair spray or oil to condition it before I flat iron it. I sperate my hair into small sections and flat iron. A little more hair spray and I am good to go.

The whole process takes me about two hours, but it is worth it plus its free!



After 3 or 4 workouts I will usually use a Dry Shampoo (spray that refreshes your hair) and then put it a ponytail (if I can't wear it wrapped). After the 5th workout of the week I will wash, condition and style it again and wear it wrapped over the weekend and then on Monday I'm back in the gym.

I developed my hair regime by trial and error. There were certain shampoos that I tried that dried my hair out. I finally found one that hyrdrated my hair. You will have to find what works for you but hopefully I have given you a starting point.

*I also started recently using aveda anti humectant which I use after blowdrying. It has helped maintain my style a littile longer than normal but I'm still not sure if it's worth the 20 bucks (I'll keep you posted).

More tips on how to care for your hair?
How did you learn how to wash, condition, and style your own hair?
Know of any additional resources or products?

Is weight loss harder for Black women than for White women?

Yes apparently it is.


All my life I've always heard that as Black people we have to work twice as hard at everything (academics, the work place, etc.) Well, recently I found that this even applies to weight loss. I came across this link at sweet potato pie.
The article from Web MD states that past researchers found that:

"Obese African-American women lose less weight and at a slower rate than Caucasian women do across a variety of treatments including conservative interventions, very low calorie intake, and surgery."

In the present study researchers found that obese black women had more adenosine receptors in their deep abdominal fat than the obese white women. They suggest that this finding may help doctors come up with new strategies to prevent obesity.

click here to read whole article.


So what do you take away from this article?
I plan to continue to work just as hard as before on my weight loss. But it does help to know what is going on chemically in my body. So we have to work a little harder but it is worth it!

Ladies, please share your thoughts.

No Excuses: Addressing the Barriers of Health in the Black Community

I was on the phone with of one my girlfriends and she randomly mentions that she could not understand why black women that are severely overweight don't do whatever it takes and just lose the weight, "If you have legs, you can walk!"

She believes that there really is No Excuse for women to be overweight. At first I kind of agreed with her but after really thinking about the issue I realized that we are speaking from a privileged point of view. We are not privileged in the sense that we grew up with silver spoons in our mouth (trust me that is not the case) but privileged in the sense that we are both college educated, have good jobs (well she does, i'm in grad school), access to a gym, access to fresh fruit and veggies, and we don't have to really take care of anyone but our selves.

So after thinking about this for a while I wondered if I would be working out 5-6 times a week and eating healthy if:

*I lived in a housing project or bad neighborhood with no safe place to run or walk

*I was living off assistance from the government and had to worry about feeding two children in addition to myself

*I had to work two jobs to feed my family (how would i find time to work out?)


These obstacles would be in addition to the obstacles that most black women already face; the hair issue, not knowing what to do in the gym, lack of resources about black women and health, recognizing that being FIT is a lifelong commitment.

It would be incredibly difficult to endure those challenges and maintain the workout regimen that I have now. I realized how blessed that I am to have a gym in my building, a beautiful lake path to run on, money to buy nutritious food, etc. It saddens me that it took me so long to take advantage of my blessings. There are women out there that would probably love the opportunities that I wasted for so long.



I recognize now that its not that easy for some Black women to lose weight. I'm sure there are ton of more obstacles that women face that I did not think of. I plan to create a post in the future that includes suggestions on overcoming these obstacles.

Please let me know your thoughts? What do you think Black women can do to overcome these obstacles?
Are you taking advantage of all of your opportunties?

Don't get too Comfortable! Maintain that Beautiful Body

How do you maintain your fabulous and fit body? (scenario A)

How do you boost your work out and reach your goal? (scenario B)

Scenario A: You may be at a point where you are close to reaching your fitness goals and your are loving your beautiful body.

If you are at this point it is critical for to come up with a maintenance plan. You don't want all that hard work to go to waste, do you? So what are going to do to maintain your weight loss?

This tips are helpful for maintaining weight loss from www.diet-blog.com

The National Weight Control Registry looks at what successful weight maintainers (people who lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year) have in common. They have published their results in a number of articles.

The Keys to Maintaining Weight Loss
From the above research.

• Exercise - Those who continued on with exercise were much more likely to maintain their loss.
• Not Sedentary - Hours spent in front of the computer or TV were closely correlate with regain.
• Lost weight slowly - Regainers were more likely to be those who had lost large amounts of weight in short periods of time.

From the Weight Control Registry:

• They watch portion sizes.
• Four in five eat breakfast every day of the week.
• Most are physically active, with walking being their most common form of activity.
• They actually find pleasure in their healthier lifestyle.

Scenario B (like me): Or you may be getting close to your goal but still have alot of work to do.

This is a critical time and it is important to keep it moving and pick up the pace!
Especially after the 4th of July you have to make sure you get back on track. Get back in the gym and resume your workout.

Here are my suggestions (my plan for the week)

1. Double your workout: If you normally workout 4-5 days a week, pick two days where you work out twice. Try to make the second workout something like a dance class or a sport you enjoy.
2. Get rid of all that BBQ food. Clear out (give away) any unhealthy food left from the weekend for BBQ.
3. Eat as many fruits and veggies as possible. Try and start the day with a fruit salad and make sure to end the day with some type of veggie along with your meat and whole grain.

more workout tips at womens health
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/burn-fat

Comment! Have any additional advice?
How do you maintain your weight loss?

Black Women Workout Too !! : Why aren't there magaiznes that address our needs?

Google "Black Women's Fitness Magazines" and see what you come up with. You will probably find that their is only one magazine that addresses fitness and health issues for us. Heart & Soul magazine has a section on health and from time to time Ebony and Essence may have an article that address fitness and nutrition issues.

I noticed the lack of Black Women Fitness publications after going to the gym for 3 months and seeing all these white girls on the treadmill with their fitness magazines. Women's Health, Shape, Fitness and ton of others address women's fitness issues. Now, I am not saying that these magazines do not provide tips that are useful to us, they do. They do not however address issues that are specific to us; like how to deal with cardio and our hair, fitness routines specific for us, healthier soul food recipes, the diseases affecting our community and how we can decrease our risk, addressing the "Thick" issue, etc.

It would be nice if one day I could go to the gym with a magazine that catered specifically to women like me. A magazine that had faces of women that I can I identify with and addressed issues I cared about.

Let me know your feedback. I could not find any information online as to why no publications have decided to address our issues. Do people think that we are less interested in exercising and nutrition? Are there not enough of us that would be benefit from magazines?

I collected a few resources of online publications that address our issues since there are no magazines.

http://www.blackdoctor.org/
http://www.blackwomenshealth.com/2006/articles.php?id=15
www.heartandsoul.com

Stay Motivated, Keep it Fresh : What to do when your Workout gets boring

Stay Motivated! Keep It Fresh!

I have been hitting the treadmill hard for the past 3 months and it has been well worth it. I have increased my running speed and endurance. In addition to the cardio I have been doing lunges, crunches, pilates, using weight machines, etc. I'm losing my motivation a little because it is so repetitive. So I spent sometime today figuring out ways to to keep it fresh. I saw a Commercial for Carmen Electra's striptease videos and it looks fun. So, I have plans to give that a try.

If you starting to lose your motivation like me, try adding a form of exercise that doesn't really seem like exercise to your routine. Try taking, salsa, belly dancing, striptease, or hip hop dance classes. If you don't have time for classes buy a video or Youtube. I also hear that Wii Fit is a good way to do yoga or pilates.


I am putting together some resources check back shortly!
Also, comment with your stories:
How do you stay motivated
What Are creative ways you have found to exercise


Resources
www.aerobicstriptease.com
chicago.flirtygirlfitness.com/about/index.html
www.nintendo.com/wiifit

"I'M THICK!!" : Are Black Women in Denial About Their Health??

You have all heard these words thrown around; Thick, Voluptuous, etc. But what do these words really mean? Are women that use these words to describe themselves considered to be healthy? Is the popularity of terms like "Thick", "F.A.T." (Fabulous and Thick) increasing obesity in Black Women?

My 2 Cents:
A recent conversation with a friend made me realize that there are varying definitions to the word "Thick", some that may be detrimental to the health of Black Women.

Some people consider "Thick" to be a woman with a small waist, relatively flat stomach, thick legs, and large breasts. The word is also used to describe women that are overweight.
For example, Mo'Nique considers her self to be "Thick". As a matter of fact she calls herself Fabulous And Thick (FAT). Now, I am all for women of all shapes and sizes embracing their beauty and having confidence. But it is also important for women to be aware of how much their weight affects their risk for diabetes, breast cancer, and other diseases plaguing the Black Community. So as long Black women that consider themselves "Thick" are concerned about improving their health and making significant changes in their physical activity and eating habits, I'm all for it!!

I try to avoid these types of classifications. While I recognize that I'm not my ideal weight or size. I try stay focused on my goal of physical fitness, decreasing my chance at disease, and increasing my life expectancy.


What Others Say (I do not endorse the validity of anything below) :

This is a rating system I found online; Originally posted by GeniusG

"Skinny" (Naomi Campbell)
"Slim" (Ashanti)
"Medium" (Gabrielle Union, Ericka Alexander)
"Thick" (Lisa Nicole Carson, Kenya Moore)
"Hella Thick" (Buffie the Body, Ki-Toy Johnson)
"Buff" (Serena Williams, Jana Stewart)
"Super Thick" (Queen Latifah, Kym Whitley)
"Big" (Monique)

Here's an Article I found: Click the title for the full Article
The Bridge: Thick, Healthy, or Fat , By Darryl James:
I remember in the late 1980’s when Black men first started using the word “thick” to define a woman with ample bottom and/or breasts. We knew what we were describing and it was more about T & A than the result of too many Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Moo-Moos and Cow-Cows.
We also knew that “healthy” was a term reserved for women with a little meat on their bones. They really were considered healthy because they ate regular meals (that they often cooked at home) and had beautiful bountiful bodies to show for it. They were proportionate and anything but obese.............(click title for more)



What Do You Think?
I think this topic is worthy of discussion. I am really interested in your thoughts on the issue. I'm am concerned with how these terms affect the health of Black women.