Alphabets of Fitness: F is for Fashions to Fancy

“You can be whatever size you are, and you can be beautiful both inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful and what’s not and that’s not right.” – Serena Williams

 

When I started working out and eating healthier, the changes to my body became pretty noticeable to my peers after a while. It showed in my face and in how the clothes that I used to wear began to drape over my body.

I started getting compliments from people telling me that I look good now. The now is what stumped me the most. Should I have felt offended by that? Not for nothing but I was da bomb when I was big.  Just a little bit bigger.  

Do not allow society’s beliefs on what beauty ought to be, make you change your beliefs about whom and what you are. Believe in yourself no matter your size or shape.

At the same time, “when friends tell you how awesome you look, drop the "I still have more to go" crap.  You worked hard and you deserve the compliment” (Jillian Michaels)! A compliment is a compliment and almost like a gift so be appreciative of it.

Wherever you are and on the road to where you are going, be happy and satisfied with that because you can only be you and no one else. So be the best damn you that you can be.

 

“Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written. – Mark twain

It started the summer of 2012. I was set to sing at a black tie affair and I needed a dress.

Sometimes your idea of your size is not the actual truth. There is a coined term used when you are tardy for something you are fashionably late. I guess it applies here because I was the only one who didn’t see that I had started to explode. Who would have thought that person I saw as little was bigger than I ever realized.

That is when I made the decision. I would not be going up in sizes anymore but instead would find ways to change.  

Change became drastic though and I was changing my wardrobe about every two months.  If you are attempting weight loss and start to see success, do not run to buy a new wardrobe just yet. It might look a little tacky, but wear what you have a little big until you have no choice but to change. Wear belts to keep pants from falling and/or get some fabrics taken in before having to go and spend money. Clothes shopping when losing weight can become costly after a while. But if you wait out the weight, you will be weighing in a wise decision. Fashion is just fashion but style is in the way you carry yourself and wear it and even if it is a little big, you can still make it look good.

 

“Bravery never goes out of fashion”

– William Makepeace Thackery

 

If you feel like braving the storm and it is in you to get out there and start your fitness challenge, let nothing stop you, but also be prepared to go into beast mode. While the stylish clothes I loved from Ashely Stewart no longer fit, and my beautiful coifs were looking less and less appealing due to sweating off the pounds and sweating out the perm, I had no choice but to continue thrusting forward to do what I had to do.

The important thing is to brave the storm. Everything starts with day one, without day one there is no possibility. You will crawl, then walk and then run like you never imagined you could. Try it for yourself.

Joan Rivers said that “diets, like clothes, should be tailored to you.” Try getting on that treadmill or onto the track at your nearest park and do intervals of walking, jogging and walking for about 30 minutes or so and your heart will be thanking you for each and every minute. Or why not get onto that elliptical machine and bust out a three-mile glide? It might seem a little boring at first if you are not used to it, but you are equipped with all that is necessary to tailor your exercise routine to your liking and make it fun. Fashion the instructor led group classes or even the free ones on the Net. Just do it. But if you are going to work-out and plan to see true results, make sure you are not eating the same old crap that got you to where you are now. Fashion a new diet that you can fancy and stick with.  

 

“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”

– Marilyn Monroe

 

By this, I hope you were thinking sneakers. Yes, wear a good pair of sneakers that can support the heavy beating you are about to put onto your feet.  You want to avoid foot pain and cramps and achiness and if you are wearing the incorrect shoe while exercising, you will know just by the way your foot feels.

Look for sneaker stores in your area that examine your old sneakers as well as study your foot in movement to determine what sneaker is best for your foot.  They then will give you a visual idea of the support your foot needs and might even tailor make one for you or point you to some of the sneaker brands you like that will provide that support needed for your foot.

Starting a new lifestyle is fashioning a new attitude. Something has made you want to change. Whether it was a circumstance and illness or something that somebody said, you have come to that point in life where you felt that it was necessary to. You now have two options. You can complain about it and do nothing or you can get up and bust your ass trying to make a difference in your own life. But only you can change you to a different version of you that you might fancy more. Brave the change you made and claim your own victories. Now fashion that!   

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I appreciate you stopping by to read my blog post and I truly hope that some of these things being discussed can be beneficial to you and your new lifestyle change that you have embarked on.  While you have fashioned in a new mindset, I would like to also invite you to visit a few links that you might fancy.

 

Fashion Advice After A Big Weight Loss From WSJ

How to Choose the Right Athletic Shoes

My Fitness Pal

Eight Glasses of Water A Day Chart

How Much Sex is Considered Exercise

Keeping That New Year's Resolution

Get Ready For Your Breakthrough

Fitness Blender's Beginner Kettlebell Workout

Ivanka on Fashion and Weight Loss

Feedback is requested. If you found this post helpful, please let me know. And if you have some pointers that might be beneficial to others, please share because everybody is always looking for new and exciting ways to enhance their workout and diet experiences; including me!

See you soon!

 

Alphabets of Fitness: E is for Equipped

Everybody has been made wonderfully equipped with a purpose.

 

Everybody has a story. Everybody wants to accomplish something. Everybody comes to a point where they might experience doubts. Everybody finds a reason to hope. Everybody uses that hope to encourage themselves.  Everybody uses that encouragement to continue on. Everybody continues on and finds the door to their goals cracked open just for them to enter. Everybody enters and shares their experiences. Everybody experiences something. Everybody’s something is different. Everybody has different ways of handling that something. Everybody sees that something from a different point of view. Everybody’s point of view is based on their own system of beliefs. Everybody’s system of beliefs is either self-made or culturally grown. Everybody has a culture. Everybody’s culture is their own. Everybody owns their own mind. Everybody’s mind features its own thousand words. These are mine:

1,000 words Equipped For Me

I had just gotten to work and was waiting for an elevator and when it opened, a young lady I have been acquainted with in the past also entered as well as another woman trying to get to her point of interest. The familiar face looked and asked how I lost so much weight. The unfamiliar woman asked how much weight I’d lost and I told her that I lost 80 pounds. When explaining that diet and exercise were the biggest contributors to my new present self, the familiar threw many doubtful statements my way. “No you didn’t. You got gastric bypass.” “Don’t believe what she says. Ain’t no way somebody could lose so much weight that fast.”  “She is lying. She was probably bulimic or anorexic.” 

To be honest;  this was never my intention. I just wanted to feel healthy for a couple of reasons. There is a big difference between climbing up a flight of steps and panting like you just ran a five mile race or going up a flight of steps and not breathing uncontrollably, but as you normally would from brisk walking.  There is also a difference between getting on a treadmill and running for a few minutes and your ankles and knees starting to hurt because you are carrying so much weight on your body, or running and not really feeling the stress on the lower extremities of your body. But there is also a difference between eating something and your whole entire body becoming swollen from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet or eating something and the normal processes of the intestines occur and you excrete and defecate as you ought to.

I wish I could say I did do gastric bypass; but I did not. I really did diet and exercise and in just nine months, I lost 80 pounds. 

 

Natural over bypass any day!  Bypass requires the consulting of a doctor as a new lifestyle might.  But with the doctor, they will prescribe you medicine as well as put you on meal restrictions you have to now stick to so you do not have any complications after the surgery. A nutritionist however might put you on a meal plan that can help to benefit your life and also to form new eating habits that are in line with your fitness goals. Bypass requires overnight hospital stays.  Working out only requires rest to heal the stressed out muscles and bones; in your own home and in your own bed. Bypass will come with a huge bill. You might get a bill from the gym, but with all the free YouTube fitness programs available, you can actually lose weight in the comfort of your own home without a gym membership. Wherever you live, you have a chair or a staircase. Use the staircase to do step aerobics by just going up and down the same step for like 20 minutes or so, to your favorite song list; or use one of the chairs in your home as a base to do triceps dips. Use the floor before your television to do squats and pushups while watching your favorite sitcoms. No computer is even required. Maybe you can use on of those Heart rate monitors to calculate how many calories you are burning just from getting into the swing of things in the comfort of your own home.

 

About the anorexic and bulimic statement; No, I am not any of the two.  I did however begin my program on a very strict diet that I put myself on. I gave up eating rice, pasta, bread, meat and drinking alcohol. It might shock people including yourself if you start a diet of this sort, but the real shock will be how much weight you begin to lose and in such a fast period of time.   But first things first, you must be mentally prepared.

How I began; I fasted and prayed for one whole day, the day before the day I gave into my new lifestyle.  Without prayer, your new lifestyle may not work so make sure you include God into the challenge you set for your own self.

Here is something to think about. A non-meat eating diet is not a starving yourself diet. Yes, you still can get protein from other sources. Your body is well equipped to handle other forms of protein. Here are some you might want to try.

Cottage cheese or peanut butter
 

Have some with your fruit. How delicious is a cup of these two protein sources that are even healthier than pork chops or sirloin steak?  You can still have your protein and eat it too. I am begging you to try a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Delish!!! Or take some of that cottage cheese and have it with cantaloupe or honey dew. Not only are these two ideas tasty, but they also serve as great meals. Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner; Hmmmm!!!!

Beans or Nuts

Okay so you are making a salad and usually you cut up fried or grilled chicken and put it in your salad. Attention! Please note that chicken is meat. Yes, it is poultry. Poultry is meat. So if you are giving up meat, you are also giving up chicken.  How about some garbanzo beans or almonds? You would not believe how tasty it is with some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette sprinkled atop it. Add some Goji berries as well which can be a nice replacement for a tomato if you are willing to try something different. Sunflower seeds, pistachios, split pea or lentil soup. Great sources of protein!

Eggs or Soy

Okay so you can have scrambled eggs or scrambled tofu. Preferably the soft tofu because that is the best type for beating; and you can add some of the same wonderful ingredients to it. But wait, instead of bacon, how about salmon?  If you have never had a bagel with smoked salmon, you do not know what you are missing. Tastes great. But let’s hold the starchy bagel and opt for something else like a slice of whole wheat toast or a spinach wrap. If you must have the egg however, why not try it soft or hard-boiled?  Have one with a bowl of cut-up fruit.

Protein bar or shake

So many different protein or granola bars out there. My favorites are Luna Bars. So many different flavors to choose from that have less than 30% calories from fat in it. Special K makes pretty good ones too that are also healthy and filled with 9g or more of protein to keep you full until your next meal which is hopefully lunch as opposed to the snack in between. But if you must snack, how about a protein shake?

 I love Spirutein. Also, a lot of different flavors that you can choose from that have no sugar added besides that natural sugar of the main ingredient. It is powder based, so add it to some fat free or dairy free milk and enjoy. If you are going to use dairy free, make sure you get the ones that are also sugar free as opposed to vanilla.  

Naked drinks are pretty decent too; not to mention that they are packed with a plethora of vitamins and nutrients your body needs; but,  lots of sugar. But make sure to remember that the label might say the bottle serves two people so the calorie content is doubled if you drink the entire bottle.  Make your own instead.

Why not add half of two different fruits, a vegetable like spinach or kale and some plain organic yogurt to the blender with a little bit of dairy free milk and ice and blend to make your own smoothie?  Tastes even better knowing you made it yourself.

Finally Seafood

Who said you had to go vegetarian to not eat meat?  Why not make it a pescetarian diet instead? No meat but all the fish and seafood your heart can desire.  But watch out; remember that some of the shell fishes of the world are very high in cholesterol.  So let’s not have it every day. But do add it to your weekly meal plans.

Everybody; Again?

Everybody is equipped with a mind to set it to whatever they want to program it to do. Everybody has abilities they have been fully equipped with to step up the game. Everybody has a heart equipped with desire to make things happen according to their own vision. Everybody however is different; so everybody might not be able to hold forts down in the same manner. Yet, everybody does have a mind of their own and goals of their own and with that in mind, if fitness is yours, let’s make your 2014 resolution take a smooth sailing flight to your final destination; your goal.

 

Now that we have settled on the idea of what we are equipped with, here are some links and other  ideas to get jiggy with:

Reading Food Nutrition Labels

Caloric Content of Alcoholic Beverages

Protein Foods

Pescatarian Chili Recipe

Lose 75 lbs in Less Than a Year

7 Keys to Improving Your Life Everyday

Motivational Quotes

Smoothie Recipes To Make At Home

13 Easy Ways to Eat More Greens

30 Minute Trampoline Workout

 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope this post inspired you in some way and I also hope to see you back here for more alphabets of fitness. Feedback is requested. If you found this post helpful, please let me know. And if you have some pointers that might be beneficial to others, please share because everybody is always looking for new and exciting ways to enhance their workout and diet experiences; including me!

See you soon!

 

Alphabets of Fitness: D is for Dose of D Words

“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,

anything can be made, any sentence begun.” – Elizabeth Alexander

 

Did you know that diving into a new lifestyle is easier said than done? Did you know that anyone can begin fresh and new again? Did you know that it only takes the will to be on the way to doing something different than you already are?  Many will desire it but only few will jump deep in to do the work that will truly get you there.  My suggestion; just do it!

When you go to the doctor because of an ailment, the doctor will diagnose you and most likely give you a dose of whatever medicine will work to maintain that very sickness. If you do not have the proper attire on for the cold winter air, you will be hit with a dose of reality.  We listen to stations like WBLS, KTU and WBGO for our daily dose of quality music. We watch CNN for a dose of what is happening right now. And when we go to the gym, we get a dose of the exercises that best suit us.

Today’s blog will feature a dose of D words for fitness and weight loss to consider that might help you along your journey.

Dance . . . Do a little dance. You can shake off some of those calories you add while consuming your meals.  Put on some music and move your body like you would if you were at a club for 20-30 minutes. 

30 minutes of cardio is a great benefit to your heart.

Dare . . . to go beyond the limits! If you are used to getting on the treadmill and walking at 3 miles an hour, increase the speed by 5miles or add an incline to it to make it a little more intense. If you are not breaking a sweat, your body is now used to it and might need a little push.

Energy!!! Just add it.

Dine . . .  In or out. Out can be tricky because you have to try to figure out what to actually get. So you go to a salad bar and you add all the toppings you could find and the dressing and you are still having a high caloric meal. Or you can make your own salad at home. I am pretty sure you would not add the eight or nine toppings you added at the salad bar at home.  Would you? 

Fried chicken wings and fried plantains from the Chinese restaurant or oven roasted chicken wings and boiled plantains at home?  Okay so if you were at home, would you really eat four chicken wings at dinner time or an entire box of plantains?  Slice a whole plantain at your dinner table just to see how many plantain chips it would actually be. Now compare it to the portions given at the fast food restaurant. Which is more?  Would the one that is less still fill you? 

Dine in or out?  Your choice!  But nine out of 10 times, cooking your own meals will provide a much healthier meal. Cook and save calories. And while cooking, also burn calories because it is also considered housework which is a cardiovascular activity. And while waiting for that quinoa to cook or for the timer to go off, do a quick 20 minute circuit and include jumping jacks, burpees and pushups.  That would be a cool and different experience.

Do It . . . You want to but!  But, what!  The only thing keeping you from going is you.  If you want to do it, do it.  Nobody can put the pep in your step. Nobody can force you to get up and get in the spirit of things. Nobody can do the work for you to help you to accomplish your goal. It is your choice. You either want to do it or you don’t.  But if you do, put on your shoes and do the do.  You got this so don’t let anything block it and get with it.


Donuts . . . "Did you know that one plain cake doughnut can have up to 18 grams of fat?  For many, this can be about a third of their total fat allowance for the day.  The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2010) recommend adults keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of total calories. Read labels carefully. Doughnuts can pack a hefty dose of unhealthy saturated and trans fats.  If you have a choice, consider a whole-wheat bagel or English muffin with a tablespoon of peanut butter or nonfat cream cheese. Your arteries will thank you." - (Emblem Health Daily Fitness Tip)

Doubts . . . Just because you do not see the weight coming off as quickly as you’d like does not mean that you should stop working towards your goal. Remember it takes a lot of work and determination so continue on the fight until you get right to where you want to be. You’ll get there. Just be patient.  And just because you see all these slim, model type people up in the gym, does not mean you have to feel discouraged about putting on your cool work out gear to go and join them out there on the gym floor. Even they started somewhere.

Remember you have to start at point A to get to point B; see my point?

Drinking . . . Hey, nothing wrong with a drink now and then; but what is in your cup? Is it something sugary sweet?  Do you have cup full of junk that will only enhance your trunk?  Or is it one of those 400 calorie alcoholic mixed drinks? For the occasional drinker, change that mixed drink to a simple glass of wine to reduce calories. It still is alcohol. But if you certainly need something harder, go for the clear drinks like vodka and mix it with fruit punch.

Go a little bit more extreme and can the alcohol for a non-alcoholic mojito. Which one of your friends would be able to say that you weren’t hanging tough with them?  Would they even be able to tell?  Does it really matter if you want to truly go strong with your new lifestyle?  Your choice!  But out of all the drinks, be sure to include eight glasses of water into the mix. If you drink soda, coffee, or green tea, be sure to add two extra glasses of water to replenish. Especially if you exercise, your body needs that water. So please be sure to add some water to your cup.

Vitamin D . . . Who wants to be cramped up in the confines of a gym all the time? Actually it might be fun to workout with others who have the same types of goals as you in a place where you will not be judged doing what you have chosen to do. But, it is also a great feeling to get out in the sun and enjoy the wonderful day that God created.  Why not workout outdoors sometimes? It might be too cold to put your hands on the metal bars and do tricep dips, but not too cold to do an all-terrain walk, jog or run or interval walk/run/jog. Not only will you experience breaths of wonderful fresh air, but you also take up a nice supply of natural vitamin D from the sun. Isn’t that awesome!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by and dabbing into my diet and exercise blog post. I hope that in some ways, it might be some kind of help in your quest to continue with your new fitness journey for 2014. This is definitely the year to do what you didn’t do when you said you wanted to do it in 2013.  But since you are determined, why not? As we come to a close for this post, I'd like to invite you visit a few links below:

Web MD Discussion in Vitamin D

 

CNN's How Much Sex is Considered Exercise

 

Warning: Dieting Increases Your Chances of Gaining More Weight

 

Toning The Jigglings

 

Lose 75lbs in Less Than A Year

 

 

Hope you will stop by again soon for more alphabets of fitness.