I'm so Ashamed

If you follow me on Twitter you notice today all the love I was giving to The Hollywood Trainer, Jeanette Jenkins. One would easily assume that I'm just finding about this African American fitness expert. While that's not the case, I haven't known about her that long. Maybe about as long as I've been tweeting my skinnyfat journey because she's one that I follow. Nonetheless, I didnt become enthralled with her until today for some reason. Not really sure why. I hope it has nothing to do with the adage about African American women not being able to celebrate each others successes and support each other. Because this woman is the BOMB! As an African American so-called fitness fanatic woman, it is shameful that I do not own an exercise DVD led by an African American, with the exception of an a step aerobics VHS that was included with the stepper I purchased when step aerobics was all the rave!

That all changes today. As much as I love my Chris Freytag workout DVD set and Denise Austin, it's past time for a splash of color.

Ironically I'm always telling my daughter not to try to model herself after our European counterparts always being thrown in our faces as the image we should be. "You need to look at black folks, those you share a likeness with," I tell her often.

Shouldn't I as well?

LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger

Website: www.lajefferson.com

Blogs by me:

L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com

A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com

All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com

Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com

Surviving Work @ http://survivingmydayjob.wordpress.com

Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

SkinnyFat Workout Plans

My daughter was only speaking the truth when she said to me, "Ma, since you're skinny you're going to have to work out harder if you ever want to lose any weight."  Harder meaning walking faster than 2.5 for 50 minutes on the treadmill. Harder meaning walking, instead, on 4.0 for 25 -30 minutes.

Is this fair? Absolutely not! However, if I want to do more than maintain my current weight, I HAVE to work my body hard. In retrospect, that's how I did it before. I hit the gym 3-4 days a week and walked and jogged on the treadmill and sometimes on the track. Then, I wasn't on the mission I'm on today. Then, I was working off the frustrations of a failing marriage. In those situations it's easy to--sometimes--to eat less and burn fat.

Today I'm motivated by a few factors:

1. I going to Vegas or Niagara Falls in a few weeks to get married. Ironic, huh?
2. Sometime this year or early next year I'm going on a cruise on plan to look fabulous in my swimsuit!
3. My best friend is getting married in October and whether or not I'm in the wedding party, I MUST look stunning in whatever dress I wear. This is my friend who rocked a bikini on the last cruise we went on last year.
4. Lastly, I want to be as close as possible to my ideal weight when I have that surgery I wrote about in a previous post.

LaCharmine (L.A.) Jefferson
Author, Writer, Blogger
Website: http://www.lajefferson.com/
Blogs by me:
L.A.'s Literary Love Life@ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
A Day in the Life of L.A. Jefferson @ http://lajefferson.blogspot.com/
All Things Love @ http://all-things-love.blogspot.com/
Naturally L.A. @ http://naturallyla.wordpress.com/
Surviving Work @ http://survivingmydayjob.wordpress.com/
Follow me on Twitter @lajefferson

Beach Body in 2 Wks? Too Little Too Late

June probably isn't the best time to get beach body (as though I were close to that ) ready. Heck! By the time I get into a routine, here in Michigan, we're likely to be preparing for the fall. So, what exactly does that mean? Should I even bother trying? Or should I just go buy myself some better fitting, preferrably loose fitting, summer clothes? Matter of fact, my local Walgreens store has some cute loose-fitting summer dresses that would be perfect! I guess that's not the worst alternative. After all, I am in my mid-30's now. Not quite so young to be showing a lot of skin just because it's summer time. Times like these I'd give just about anything to go back in time to my 20-something year body that I wasn't satisfied with because I was so hung up over my less than flat belly. Talk about not appreciating what you have until it's gone. Oh well! There's always next summer or an upcoming vacation, or party, or some other event that I'll want to look good for.

Another Ab Product Temptation

How many products have there been? All advertising to be the BEST THING since sliced bread!

I was so close. I almost did the unthinkable--at least in my book. I mean, I was literally minutes away from putting the box in my shopping cart when a rationale voice on the other end of my phone unknowingly brought me back to my senses. It was after my son's soccer practice and I had made a stop at Target before picking my daughter up from drivers training. Let's see...I needed some dish detergent, sandwich bags, and a few other household products BUT my main objective was to purchase the Ab Lounger. Remember the Ab Lounger? Yes, I know this particular product is old news, however, I know too many people who swear by the results it produces--if you use it, of course. Anyway, as the product is old, it was no where to be found in the store BUT the Perfect SitUp was! Backstory: I was mildly interested in this fitness equipment when I first saw the infomercial but I always reminded myself of my firm rule against buying into the endless advertisements for abdominal exercise equipment. They all advertise the same thing, don't they? Providing money back guarantees, and everything to suck you in further. The key is--you have to use the equipment ALONG WITH A PROPER DIET in order to get the desired results and that's where most of us--okay, where I fail.


As my friend was advising me to check out the product reviews before I purchased the equipment, I was reminding myself of the Bender ball and the 8lb medicine ball for abdominal exercises that I had at home and had not been not using. "What makes you think you're going to use this?" I admonished myself. "Do you really want to spend $100 on something that's going to eventually end up taking up space in your house?" NO!

So, after about an hour browsing the fitness aisle I settled on a new jump rope. I figure I can use that while my son is at soccer practice before I walk the track and most importantly, it won't take up any space in my house.

Fat Loss Secret Hoarders

Why can't folks just tell the truth??? Don't they know the truth always comes to light. Eventually. A "friend" of mine who maintains her weight very well WITHOUT exercising, so she says, claims watching her food intake is all she does. Hmph! Now I finally find out the truth! Water pills! And I would have never found out if I hadn't been eating lunch with her the other day. Anyway, this girl comes into our dining area and asks in a whisper, "Anybody have any water pills?" And without so much as second thought, my friend was like, "I do!" It was then that the light bulb went off in my head and I knew she was a fake! I lost respect for her. I mean, seriously, what would have been the harm in admitting to taking a daily water pill for weight maintenance? Was she afraid she'd look like the cheater that she turned out to be, in my eyes at least? I just wish folks would just keep it real. Whether you take a daily water pill, rub some kind of magic potion on your fat zones to keep them toned, have a standard bi-annual appointment with your plastic surgeon, or you only eat one meal a day--whatever it is--don't keep it secret from your girlfriends! We're all in this fat battle together. Let's share and share alike!

It's no secret that it's plenty more out of shape people walking around than it is in shape people. Think that makes me feel better? Absolutely not! In fact, it makes me feel worse to be in such company! I'm supposed to be among the exceptions to the rule. Unfortunately this fact has not metriculated to my physical self, but someday it will. I'm hoping it's before the end of my time on this planet.

Wrong Side of the FitnessTrack

While my daughter and sister are heading to the gym, I'm pretty sure that I'll be heading to the store to buy a  pack of Oreo cookies--not the BIG pack but not the snack size either-- to enjoy while I have a couple of hours to myself--my son is outside playing. I know that's about as wrong as two left feet but that is soooo where my head is this evening after a day of rest & relaxation from work. And one thing I've learned on this journey to living a healthy lifestyle is, "If you're having a craving for something in particular, grant yourself permission to indulge." If you don't, as I have learned too, the craving will just keep knawing at you like a dog knawing on a bone. Sometimes trying to deny yourself the craving causes more harm than good, mentally and physically! Guess you figured where I'm going with this, right? Right! I bought the cookies! But, oh, how times have changed! For the better!!I couldn't even polish off the entire pack! Not that I was trying to, but I do remember when...Midway through, I put the remaining cookies away then pulled out my iPod and got to dancing those calories off!

 No, I don't feel the best about the two small slices of pizza I just ate at 11pm as I lay in the bed about to go to sleep, I do feel good about my committment to move more during this week. May even be renewing my gym membership. We'll see.

Good Company Reaps Better Choices

From time to time--okay, A LOT--I feel like eating something that I really want to eat. Pancakes or a glazed donut for breakfast, chicken tenders and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Most recently when I've had those kinds of desires I happen to be in the company of some health conscience coworkers who helped me make better decisions. For example, on Friday I planned to buy a donut from our cafeteria to go along with this delicous flavored coffee that I brought into work with me.  As I shared this with her she encouraged me to only eat half of the donut. At first I was like "whatever", but after some thoughtful consideration her advice made perfect sense. Another time I went to the cafeteria with a coworker. While I was intending on getting a grilled chicken quesedia, she was intending on a lighter alternative. Walking and talking with her I ended up purchasing some soup and I felt much better.

Yes, it can get frustrating always talking about diet and fitness, but having other like-minded persons in your company, making good choices is a bit easier.

Oatmeal for breakfast is a good start to this morning. Hopefully, the rest of my meals for the day follow suit. Might be a good idea to get to the grocery store.

****UPDATE****

Didn't make it to the grocery store. Didn't cook any dinner. Me and the kids have been over my mom's house all day as we prepare for the homegoing of my grandmother. For dinner, we had Pizza Hut pizza for dinner. Personally, I had three slices in the course of 4 hours. Not bad, huh? Not to mention, before I left home this afternoon I did do some crunches and pushups. Yay me!

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, BUT...

Gosh, I haven't seen my cousins in a month of Sundays or more. It's sad that a death in our family had to occur for our more recent gathering. Of course the occasion was sad but that didn't stop me from noticing the physical differences between my sister and I and my two of my cousins--my aunt's daughters. From the looks of things, something was definitely wrong with the picture. "Okay, our side obviously got the fat gene?' I declared.

Clearly that was the case because my mother, my sister, and myself were definitely carrying more weight--especially around the middle--than my aunt and her two daughters. WTF!. And what's worse is that my aunts children are the ones who supposedly LOVE to eat ALL THE TIME. So why, then, was it my sister and I who were carrying all of the fat??? I just want to know!

I mean if they LOVE to eat, what exactly are they eating: fruits, vegetables, beans, multigrains?  That's what I want to know.

Or are they eating and EXERCISING? Could that be it? I know back in our school days my cousins were involved in more athletics than my sister and I. One cousin played softball. The other ran track. When my sister and I talked about playing sports with our mother she would say stuff like, "Y'all don't need to be out playing and sweating in that hot sun. You'll coming home all stink and stuff." SMH. However, no need in dwelling on the past. I'm sure what athletics I didn't play in middle school and high school have very little to do with my current battle of the belly bulge. It's about the here and now.

I can't speak for my sister, but I'm not going to keep being one of the "fat" ones at family gatherings.

Stress--A Fat Burner?

Surely it borders on some level of insanity for a person to wish for a stressful situation to plaque their life simply for the hope of a little weight loss.I wonder who would do something like that?  ALRIGHT ALREADY! I admit it. IT'S ME!  I'm the crazy one. But, WAIT! Before you pounce on me, let me explain. During a rare and random house cleaning moment, I came across a picture of myself --actually, a picture of me and my son--from a few years ago and guess what? Easily, I was at least 20-25lbs smaller thanwhat  I am today. At the time of the picture my son was 2yrs old. As a matter of fact, the picture was taken at his 2yr old birthday party. Without close inspection, a person could have easily thought the picture was taken some 10yrs ago. My face was thin, my usual shapely legs looked as thin as toothpicks. And the killer part is that I wasn't even exercising during that time! When that fact dawned on me, that's when I remembered what was going on in my life at the time. My husband was on the NUT, really showing his a$$ at that time during our marriage, taking me through some serious DRAMA--hence, the divorce shortly thereafter. LOL! But that's why I was so darn skinny! And without any effort! So just for a minute, one little minute, a quick thought entered my head, "Hmmm, maybe a little stress wouldn't hurt." BUT, I came quickly to my senses. Guess it's back to my exercise & diet efforts.

Rockin' the Jeggings...HOT!! or Not

As good as I look in these jeggings that I'm rocking on this beautiful pre-Spring day, the last thing I should be thinking about is the belly bulge hiding beneath my top. Well, I'm not really thinking about it, but it's always there staring me in the face when I get dressed. Even though I feel sexy as all get out, somewhere deep inside I think, "Damn, you'd be even hotter with a flatter belly." Think that stopped me from enjoying a deliciously, satisfying breakfast at Big Boys this morning with my kids. NOT! After all,  breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Omelets, hashbrowns, turkey sausage, waffle squares. Mmmm. Absolutely delicious! So whenever I treat myself or am treated out for breakfast, I make sure I eat good--you know, get the day started right! I ate good and I feel great--belly fat not withstanding!

Chicken--The Enemy

"Okay, honey. Looks like we have to cut chicken out of our diet." I announed to my daughter when I came home from another informative session at the beauty salon. The loctitians at the shop are always discussing informative and interesting topics, either with each other or with their clients. Anyway, my daughter promptly looked at me like I'd lost my mind FOR REAL and started cracking up! Only she didn't know how serious that I was.

Interesting enough this was the second time that I heard in the beauty shop of someone warning of consuming too much chicken. Difference is, the first time they didn't really say why. During that conversation, they'd only said it wasn't good to eat chicken more than once or twice a week. This time, however, the conversation went further into the why's, pertaining to the enormous amount of hormones injected into the chickens so they can grow faster or be bigger. Yes, I'd heard of this before, but I'd never tied it into why my daughter has always battled with her weight--besides the fact that we ate too much fast food & too many sugar filled sweets. I cut out beef years ago. We eat  more veggies. I switched to brown rice instead of white rice. I bake food instead of frying it, etc. Still, my daughter remains on the heavier side. And you know my belly issue.

Therefore, while she's on her weight-loss kick and I'm revving mine back up, I'm going to tweak our diets a tad bit and see what happens. Maybe with this, she'll be more likely to eat more fish.

3/17/11 1:00P.M.

So far so good. Dry Cinnamon Toast Crunch & coffee for breakfast. Snack: Apple. Lunch: Pizza slice. Could've done better with lunch, but I also brought a small soup to eat that late afternoon before I leave work so I can eat a light dinner. AND I plan to get my exercise on this evening before I go to the doctor to have my foot examined. Yes, after nearly 3 months of walking around with a sore, sometimes throbbing, big toe on my right foot, a couple of my coworkers finally convinced me to have my foot looked at by a doctor instead of going along with my self-diagnosis of a possible spranged toe. I'm hoping the doctors can do something to hurry the healing along so I can get back to performing the lunges correctly on my 10lb slimdown program. Lord knows I don't need anything to use as an excuse for not exercising.

Did I Do That???

3/16/11 7:30P.M.

How in the world did I end up shoving a chocolate covered donut in my mouth at the end of the day? It was bad enough that I ended up with a Burger King hamburger and small French fry(their rendition of the size) for dinner because my loctitian was running an hour behind schedule and when I left to get something to eat while I waited, I was too hungry to make a healthy selection. Sure, realistically, whether she started on time or not, considering I didn't bring any healthy snacks with me for the time I'd be at the shop, I probably would've ended up with something unhealthy for dinner anyway, but I was still mad as hell. Nevertheless, when I finally left the shop, I considered picking up a Carmel Mocha from McDonalds for the ride home. Craving a little sugar, I guess, but I disciplined myself and continued in route to my moms to get my kids. Somewhere along the way I lost that discipline because as soon as I caught sight of the YumYum Donut box on my mom's stove I almost knocked one of my nephews over trying to see what was left in the box! A chocolate covered donut! Oooh! Yummy! Perhaps that's why God led me away from the mocha because he knew I had another treat waiting on me, right? Anwyay, my mom--bless her heart--offered me the whole donut when I'd only asked for half of it, so I obliged :)Figuring in that I didn't get any exercise in for the day, the only thing I can congratulate myself on is not giving into the idea--can't call it temptation because I really didn't want anymore--of nibbling on more of those Keeble Fudge Stripe cookies that I conveniently forgot to throw away.

I went to bed praying for a better tomorrow.