Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Three years and 30 lbs. Later

Over the past few months, I have gotten messages and comments about my weight loss.
"How did you do it?"
"Whats your secret?"
Hopefully this post will help answer all of my lovely lady friends all at once.
Note: This is my personal experience, I am not a certified doctor or health physician. What may have worked for me may not work nor be healthy for you!

Three years ago I was beginning my senior year of high school. I weighed 179 lbs. This was also excluding the shoes on my feet. Some would say i was "thick", but i saw myself as chubby. Although I am a taller female, at 5'7, unfortunately the extra weight was not proportioned well. I had big thighs, a chubby stomach, slim at the ribs, round face, and chunky arms. Not to mention, none of the fat went to my boobs. No part of my body was toned or defined. However, oddly enough, I played numerous sports and I also danced in high school. I do not know how I was so active being that I was so heavy.
I believe I started gaining weight when I was in the 8th grade. It was as if I woke up one day and could not fit any of my clothes. What I thought was rashes all over my body turned out to be stretch marks (which scar my body til this day). I, always being tall and slender, was so confused about the spontaneous weight gain. My mom explained to me that it was a simple growth spurt and that I would grow into it in a few months.
...That was never the case.
As I reminisce over photos from high school, my weight gain is extremely noticeable. The pictures from my junior and senior year look the worst! If i remember correctly, I believe the cause of my weight gain, like most heavy people, was fatty foods. The amount of food I consumed was also a problem. I blame the cafeteria food that the school offered. I remember everyday I had french fries, EVERYDAY! The school lunch often consisted of leftover Pizza Hut pizza, fries, and sugary fruit "juice". Then after that I would go home and another meal would be on the table waiting for me; They were always cooked by my lovely hospitable grandma. It is so hard to say no to a home cooked meal, is it not? Those after school meals would consist of foods like fries, again, and a grilled cheese sandwich. She would also make me fried rice and spam, my favorite. She would make me anything that was tasty yet unhealthy. Then right after that I would take a nap for about an hour and a half, then wake up just in time to get ready for basketball practice. Then I would eat another small meal, a turkey sandwich for example, and head to practice. After practice, i would go home and eat dinner. I also ate a lot at my job as well. I would even have friends bring me fast food to work, and still eat the employee meals that were offered! So my days consisted of a lot of eating.
I believe I started to slim down as soon as I began college. I started at a community college. Therefore I did not go off to college and gain the freshman 15. The amount I ate was not as different as the items that I ate. I honestly believe that since I had stopped eating school lunches, that automatically made me lose 20 lbs. I will estimate that i had lost 15 lbs in 6 months due to the absence of high school lunches.
After my first semester of college, that's when I started to hit the gym. I would go 3 to 4 times a week for about an hour. However during this time, I did not work out accurately. Sure it was great that I was being active but I was not doing the correct exercises to get the body I was still striving for. I also still ate whatever I wanted. Then suddenly, I was tired of not seeing the results that I wanted. Yes, during those months I went from 179 lbs. to 164, however I still believed i could do better.
About three months ago is when I really became dedicated to working out and dieting. I hit the gym 4-5 times out of the week. I do about 50-30 minutes of cardio during those days. I also do weight training to tone up my body parts, and I top off the work out with abs. But I cannot stress enough that cardio is the key. Cardio is what melts the fat. You cannot see abs under fat. Doing sit ups, crunches, or any ab exercises defines your abs, correct? However the fat must be gone first.
My diet changed drastically as well (well I allow myself to cheat on special occasions...and Saturdays.) I eat three small meals a day and a small snack in between each meal. I am also proud to share that I have not touched fast food in five months! It is no good for you! I also do not eat past 8 o'clock. Also, try not to take naps directly following a meal. Just stay active!
However, I do have a secret to help me lose weight. For those men or women who have a slow metabolism like myself, I suggest you take this supplement to help you shred those extra pounds.
Its called Oxy Elite Pro.
I will recommend this to anyone! I believe it really works. I started using it two months ago and I lost another 13 lbs. I am at my lowest weight right now at 145 lbs. I have tried Hydroxycut and Xenadrine and neither of them have worked for me. Fortunately this supplement works wonders. It suppresses my appetite and gives me so much energy. Usually caffeine does not affect me but when I take this pill, I feel like i can run for hours.
You can get this product from GNC, they will warn you that you can not have high blood pressure or any cardio vascular issues while taking this product. It is really strong and it did give me headaches when I first started taking it. I looked online to see if there was any bad ratings about it. I could not find anything but good reviews about this product. I also found that the headaches were a normal side affect at first if one is not use to caffeine. So after the first few days, the head aches went away. I believe this product really worked for me, so it can work for you!
This post is simply my answer to those who were curious about my dramatic weight loss. Again, what may work for me may not be successful for you. I gave Oxy Elite Pro to my mother as a mothers day gift and she loves it as well. She is 50 years old and she has no problem with it. I will warn you that the supplement facts label may appear a bit sketchy, but I did my own research on it and I also checked with a GNC consultant and it seems safe. I mean I have been taking it for two months now! But be sure to make your own judgement on it, and do your own research before consuming this product. My body is different than yours. I am just sharing what worked for me. Now remember, while taking this product, I still spent hours in the gym and stuck to a diet. If you do the same, I'm sure you will get similar results as I!
So there is my secret, Oxy Elite Pro.
I always told people that simple cardio and diet was my secret, but I decided I should not be selfish and that I should help my sistas out! I love the compliments I've been getting lately on how great I look, and I want all my girls to have the same feeling.
Hope this helps!



The picture on the left was taken three years ago. I was 179 lbs. The picture on the right, I weighed 149. I have lost four more pounds since then and I am now at my lowest weight at 145lbs. Now even though this weight loss was over three years, with hard work and dedication, one can lose this weight within months!



SAY NO!!!!!!
 
 
 
The most underrated fat burner!
 

Along with taking Oxy Elite Pro, here are my dieting and work out tips, specifically:
Work out
-30 to 50 minutes of cardio, alternate days and methods. For example one day do the elliptical, the next day treadmill
-squats, three sets of 12. I use a 30 lbs bar.
-arm exercises (basic push ups are the best)
-200 crunches

Diet
-Cheerios in the morning
-yogurt snack
-turkey sandwich (whole wheat bread and low fat cheese) for lunch
-fruit
-salad for dinner

This is just an example of my daily routine but do your own research and find out what will work for you!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Confidence is Key

Psalm 139:13-14
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well



I must share that sometimes I do not have the greatest self-esteem. My boobs could be a lot bigger. I do not have abs of steel. Despite the hours i spend at the gym, and the neglect of my favorite fatty foods, I still have cellulite. Also, when my face is at rest and relaxed, I look like I am going to kill someone. I can't walk around with a constant smile on my face (I've tried to do that before but it always results in a migraine). All of these flaws could be fixed with a little plastic surgery. All I'd have to do is drop a few thousand bucks and then I'd be perfect! So what am i waiting for? I have given the idea of plastic surgery a lot of thought. However during those thoughts, I stop myself. There is this voice inside of me that interrupts my thoughts and shouts, 'How dare you! You're perfect the way you are'. So then I stop those insecure thoughts, and try to embrace what I was born with. Therefore, I'll fix myself up, do my hair, put on a little bronzer and mascara, buy the sexiest dress i can find and my confidence level will be a one thousand on a scale of one hundred. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much for my mind to wander yet again, and the insecurities slowly start to contaminate my mind. I'd see the models in my Victoria's Secret catalogs. I'd hang out with my gorgeous friends that have perfect bodies -natural and man-made. And sometimes during my free time I'd even spend hours on the Internet obsessing over celebrities and their looks. So mind you that this is, almost, an everyday battle in my mind -being real vs. nipping, tucking, and adding.
Now this post is NOT about me bashing plastic surgery, heavy make-up, or anything synthetic that enhances a woman's appearance. I am all for women that absolutely know what they want and need to make them feel happy and confident. However, I on the other hand, have no idea what I want; and I refuse to go through with something that I am unsure of. This is simply about me sharing my insecurities, in attempts to help any girl that has the same insecurities as myself.
I think we can all agree that society is to blame for creating the image of a perfect woman. Guys see that image that society creates and then they look for those characteristics in real women. Because of this false image of a woman, that is sculpted by a talented photo shop editor, our confidence level slowly drops. Woman all of a sudden want to be a size 0. We want to have colored contacts. We want bigger boobs. We want acne free tan skin. We want a bubble booty. Yes, we can have all of these features "fixed" at the drop of a dime. However, before we make that decision to alter our God-given appearance, I believe there is something that guys find more attractive than the perfect body....and that is confidence.
That may not be very believable, but confidence in one's self can go a long way, longer than any surgery or hair appointment may last. Confidence is such a powerful yet underrated characteristic. I have girlfriends that are bigger than me in size, and their confidence is bigger as well. Believe me when I say they get all the attention at the club. I see girls with smaller boobs than I, and they are in a happy relationship with fine young men! These examples should give us, the one's who are constantly on the fence about changing our looks, the confidence that we were born with. Why would you want to be with a man that loves you for being artificial? Embrace the assets you were blessed with! If a man truly likes a woman, and does not only want to get in her pants, it is because he ultimately falls for her personality. Confidence can be the sexiest thing that you own. You can't buy a good personality. It does not require surgery to boost your confidence. So before you make an irrational decision to change how God created you, try to own what you have and be proud of it.




   

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Shall We Begin...

  I am 20 years young. One could say that I am the female version of an average Joe. I haven't had any traumatic experiences in my life, yet. I was never a wild child. I am not one of those naturally smart people. I am a happy medium between the over-achiever and the slacker. I am far from an athletic or musical prodigy. But, I do have morals that i cherish dearly and i try to abide by them everyday. So that, in my opinion, makes me different from the next. I may not win every battle that life throws at me, but i take every loss as a lesson. So far these losses have sculpted me to be the person that i am. However, this sculpture, for now,is a work in progress. 
 I've decided that if my life were to be written as a book, so far I'd have an intro (1st-8th grade), chapter one (high school), chapter two (tidewater community college), and chapter three (the present). 
The rest of this post would be a summary of chapter one and two (I could possibly go more into depth for each in future posts):
   
In high school, I thought 'this is real life'. I thought my relationships were the "real thing". I thought friends were forever. I thought money was a renewable resource. I thought grades were nothing but letters. I thought 'you are what you wear'. Unfortunately these thoughts soon turned into nothing but theories..false theories.
 After graduation, it seemed that i had an underlying growth of maturity. I finally had an epiphany that the world, obviously, was much bigger than I; There was other people outside of the 757 (Hampton Roads,VA), and that I had so much in store for myself. Unfortunately, after this realization, I would say it took almost a year, after high school, for me to finally move on to the next chapter in my life. During that year I have lost all contact with certain people that i truly cherished as friends. On the contrary I met one person that showed me what love really is. I've developed great work and school ethics. However, my religious ethics could still use a little more work.
In summary, I must say 2011 was one of my favorite years of my life, simply because i grew...mentally.