Last Sunday's Weigh In

   Sorry that I am so late with this, but I am currently chillin in Toronto.  I had a nice vlog for you guys, but I am having trouble uploading it, so I will just have to report the old fashion way.  Last Sunday I was 210, up 1 pound but that it is not bad there have been a few BBQs and lots of eating out.
    You can imagine that since I am "vacation" (for some reason unless there is a beach, I don't consider it a real vacation, I guess I am a vacation snob) I have been eating out left right and center, I am having a great time and I love hanging with my friends that live here now.  I even got to try Chipotle for the first time, let me just say that I am glad that they do not have it in Montreal!

My bathing suite was a hit last Sunday!

C's beautiful new pool from the BBQ last Saturday.

I have a pic of me in the bathing suite that I want to post, but I have to check with my friend in the pic if it is ok.  I am on her Mac and I have no clue how to crop a picture.

Have a great week!

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Working These Legs

Shorts are growing on me, no not literally that would be weird and gross. Since it has been so hot, I have had no choice but to rock the shorts, in and out if the gym.





Yup there I am. I actually went to the gym one morning just for the air conditioning that is how hot I was. I am starting to see improvements in my legs to I am working the even harder. Thus, I am more comfortable in shorts.

Tomorrow my friend is having a BBQ/pool party and I going to rock the new bathing suite! Woot Woot!

I am also heading to Toronto for the week to kick of Caribana, which us a West Indian parade next weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!

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Guess What I Bought For 20$ Yesterday?

This!




So cute! Totally reminded me of a pinup girl. I tried to take a picture with me in it, but with these breasts it was not appropriate. This blog is still PG.

Last night I went to deal of the day outdoor bootcamp (5 weeks twice a week for 10$, you can't go wrong). I had a smile on my face the whole time. First of all it was challenging but not impossible, my fitness level has definitely improved. We had a plethora of circuits to do and some people had no clue what a "plank" or a "crunch" was, let alone how to do one. I felt special that I was knowledgable on the fitness vocab.

Weight Watchers is going well I am following nicely, I am shocked at how much activity I get in in a week. I try and do at least an hour or activity every da, whether it involved running zumba, spinning or just weights and cardio, but who knew it was so much! I am at 81 activity points for the week, woah!

Tonight is the 20 minute challenge at the Running Room, it is free and we do 20 minutes of running or walking to encourage fitness, we also get a free hat. Then I am heading for Indian with some buddies.

Last night I went to see X-Men: First Class, if you are into that type of thing it is an EXCELLENT movie, we learn how Professor X ends up in a wheelchair and so much more.

My birthday is around the corner (about 5 weeks away) and I have made a goal of trying to be down 5% (around 202) now that I have WW, I am really confident that I can kiss these 200's goodbye once and for all.

I am feeling so good lately, I feel fit, healthy and I think that I am looking better. My eating doesn't feel so limited and I am enjoying summer.

Happy Wednesday!

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Question Time

Happy Monday!  I love answering questions, so I saw this on Doing It My Weigh's blog and decided to answer them.  Check her out, she is new to the blog game, but is doing a great job.  Feel free to take these questions and answer them on your blog.

1. What do you like most about yourself? I’m outgoing and love speaking in front of a group
2. List three characteristics that you like to have in your friends. Sense of humor, trustworthy and smart 
3. How often do you brush your teeth? First thing in the morning and at night
4. If you could travel anywhere today, where would you go? Somewhere with a gorgeous beach and hot sun, Turks and Caicos or St. Bart's. 
5. Have you ever met anyone from the blog world in person? Nope, but I would love to. 
6. What is the last show you watched on TV? Wheel of Fortune is on in the background. 
7. What kind of perfume/cologne do you wear? I like sweet smelling perfumes, I currently wear (don't laugh) a scent from Victoria Secret that smells like coconut. When I go out I wear Escada or Paris Hilton's Cancan (you can stop laughing now)
8. How long ago did you complete your last workout? About an hour and a half ago I went to Tabata class.
9. What will you eat for dinner tonight? I had a pork chop and cauliflower, yummy! 
10. Share something fun that you did over the weekend. I went to Trinidad Day in the park, great music, food (had a curried goat roti with sorrel) and people. 

Have a great evening!

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Weigh In: A Step in The Right Direction

Hellllllllloooooooooo Bloggies and Blogettes!

I hope that this post finds you well.  Since I last left you, I headed to hot yoga Friday night and had a blast as usual, I wish  I was ballin' so that I could go more often, but so is life.  Saturday I had all these amazing workout plan, but my bed had other plans and I decided to take the day off.

Today, I went to spinning, it has been so long since I did a spinning class that my butt is on fyah!

I also weighed in today at 209, down 2.2 from last week, I guess this Weight Watchers thing is working! 

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Hands Up...

If you know what this is?




If you said foam roller, gold star! I used this at my gym today, it helps massage and stretch out soar muscles. All you have is roll over the part of the body that is soar a few times. Ever since pole dancing class (see previous post), my left shoulder has been so soar, rolling it out helped a lot. I first learned about the foam roller at the Running Room, if you run it is a great tool for any part of your legs. You can roll first thing is the morning or after a workout. Luckily my gym has a few in the ab area, so I use it after I work out, it feels so great. Next time you are at the gym look out for it and give it a try, let me know what you think? Better yet, if you have tried a foam roller, do you like it?

In other news, today is day 2 of life on Weight Watcher's. I am starting to see why I have not lost the last bit of weight, today I went to lunch with my mother and had muscles in tomato sauce with garlic, basil and peppers, with a side of fries and a soft drink. Oh let me not forget we shared a dessert. When I finished entering my points not only had I used the rest of the slotted points for today, I dipped heavily into my weekly points. Yikes! I am suppose to go for an Indian dinner later next week and I was suppose to use those for that. Hmmm I am going to have to plan better and make better choices. This are all starting starting make more sense.

Today I half assed my way through Body Design because of my shoulder and hit up hit yoga. Tomorrow, I hope I can make the 7:30 am 12 k run and then hit up bootcamp in the afternoon.

Have a great weekend! It is going to be a hot one!

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Vlog Virgin

Hello Readers! This is my first attempt at a vlog (Ro you inspired me!).  I talk about my Weight Watchers membership and if parents of obese kids should be taken away from there parents.

How did I do? Would you like to see more vlogs? Or should I stick to good ol' written blogs?

Let me know!

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Then and Now...

   Miss Felicity asked me to post pictures of me before and now. No problem, here you go.  I can't believe that I am inspiring people, crazy.  If I can help anyone on there journey, I am more than happy to.  If you have any questions or comments, I am more than happy to help you in anyway I can.

It has taken me 3 years to get where I am today (down about 60 pounds, give or take a few).  I still have another 35-40 pounds that I would like to lose.  Sometimes I get upset at myself that it has taken me this long to get this far, but then I remember that I have come along way. I was 272, that is close to 300.  For those of you out there trying to loss weight, you can do it, don't be afraid to get help if you can afford it.  Read as much as you can, share you goals with someone.  I keep a copy of these pictures in my room to remind myself how far I have come. 

These were taken in 2007 when I went to Venezuela on vacation, I weighed around 272.  I still can't believe how bloated I looked, funny thing is this cute Venezuelan guy thought I was the sh*t.

This was taken last August I'm about 209 here. This is one of my favorite picture, I find I look so thin here.

This was taken last month, I'm about 212 here.

Looking at these really makes me see that I have lost a lot of weight.  I still feel like I look the same as I used to, I think that is something that I will never get away from.  I am still coming to terms with not being the biggest girl when I go places.

Hope that everyone is having a great day!

P.S. Just hit up Boot Camp and it was great, going to tey and go again on Friday

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Pole Dancing #fail

Remember the deal of the day I got yesterday? One month a studio for 20$ (regularly 100$).  Just a side not, if you are not on the deal of the day wagon you need to get on it!  You get daily emails about deals in your area and you only have a day (sometimes more) to purchase the deal. I have purchased massages, as well as received deals for places like Running Room and Body Shop. Go to sites like Living Social, Deal Find, Tuango or Groupon and check it out, they have deals on restaurants, gyms, spas and more.  Many times you are limited on many you can buy (usually one), but you can also buy as gifts.  It is really a great idea, especially if it is a place that you go to usually. Check it out!

Last night I went to pole dancing class. It was horrible.  I was so nervous about going, the only time I had done pole dancing was at a bachelorette party last year. The teacher walked in and I knew I was in trouble she was so strong and athletic, her biceps that could challenge Serena Williams. We started off easy, with hip rotations and plie squats.  That didn't last long.

We started of with the fireman swing, that wasn't too bad, but by the time we did the chair (imagine spinning around the pole with both legs up like you are sitting on a chair) and the arrow (one leg pointed and the other bent).  I was a lost cause.  The teacher even gave up on me, at first she would give me helpful pointers, but as she saw I was a sorry excuse for a stripper pole dancer, her comments ceased.  At 200+ pounds it is almost impossible for me to hold up my weight.  Nevertheless, I will try it a few more times, because it was fun. I am so used to doing everything I try, that when I find something that i am not good at it gets me mad.

By the way,last nigh my wrists and arms hurt so much that I thought I broke them.  This morning they are much better.  I also have bruises on my inner thigh, not sexy at all.

I am thinking of joining Weight Watchers to help me get rid of these last 35 pounds.  I went to the office yesterday and it looks like 60$ a month roughly.  Back in 2002 I had tried WW for a bit, I remember because I was around 252 then (wow I have come a long way...)

Any thoughts?

Boot Camp today around lunch time and then I am going to do some hill work with the Running Room.

Thank you so much for all your positive comments on yesterday's post, I got the warm and fuzzies, kisses and hugs to all of you!

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Detox: The Aftermath

     Yesterday, marked one week since the 7 Day Detox.  My weight? 211.2, that translates into a gain of 4.8, am I surprised? No.  Let's be honest, I went from 7 days of eating only fruits and veggies and drinking water, to eating normally, I knew that there would be a gain.  I am really trying to work on losing from here, I still have issues with how much I can eat.  I think that I am not eating enough food. I am trying to track my food and exercise and see where I am going wrong.  I am also struggling with water consumption.

I have also incorporated the "Compliment of the Day".  Each day I write down a compliment that I get that day, I try to focus on weight related compliments, but anything will do.  For example; Saturday I ran a 5K and a girl I run with said, "You look like you have lost weight since the half marathon." Awwww thanks!  Try it!  Then when you are down you can look back on all the compliments.

This morning, I purchased a one of those deals of the day from Living Social for a studio near my place, 20$ for one month of classes.  They have pole dancing and erotic dancing, which should be interesting. They also have hot yoga, woot, woot!  I will keep you updated as I try the various classes, I am excited to try these classes.  I am always looking for something new.

I am happy to say that I am seeing more definition in my arms.  For as long as I can remember I did not wear sleeveless tops. Not because my arms are a flabby mess, more because of stretch marks, those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that of all the things about my body, I HATE, loath the stretch marks so much.  I have WAY more than the average person and like air they are everywhere.  I would give back at all the weight I have lost and go back to 272 pounds if I could not have any stretch marks.  Now that my arms have a hint of tone, I am a bit better at wearing sleeveless, stretch marks and all, baby steps.

Not bad, not bad. At least the red smiley face is happy.

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Do You Want Kate Middleton's Body?

     I was at the gym this week and had to laugh out loud when I was on the stair climber.  There was a show on TV talking about celebrity bodies and their workouts, the head line read, "Look Like Kate Middleton from the Back".  Ha!  What back?!  I am so sorry Kate Middleton is classy a la max, she dresses to the tea, she is beautiful, but does she have a "body"? No.  Now if they had said, look like Kim Kardashian from the back, that is a different story.  I know that Kate is athletic; she rows, kayaks and does various other activities, kudos to her, I just don't think that she has a body that I want.

I will update all of you on life one week after the detox tomorrow.

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A Few Words About The Detox

      Hey. Hey!  I have a had a few questions about the Detox that I just completed. I will take this post to answer those questions to the best of my ability.

• What did the Detox involve?

    This was a 7 Day Detox, on days 1 and 2 all I had was water and or herbal teas (I drank alot of green tea).  On days 3-5, I added fruits and veggies.

• Did you notice any changes besides the weight lose?

    I have to admit that I do look smaller, I must admit that my stomach is not as flat as I have seen it before, especially my lower stomach area. Not too sure what that is about *shrug*

• How did you feel the first day?

     I will not lie, I was tired, I could not go to the gym and almost everyday I took a little nap.  The first day I drank so much and was going to the bathroom so much it was crazy. I did get a bit of a headache that went away after the first day.

   Today is my first day back to "real food", I am being so careful with what I put in my mouth not to undo all my hard work.  I had a quarter of a mango before heading to the gym for weights and cardio.  I then went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  I eat oatmeal in the morning and usually put in brown sugar, I want to stop that so I bought agave nectar, I was torn between the agave and stevia, but the stevia was too expensive.  I really want to keep away from sugar as much as possible.

I came home and made egg whites with dill.  I had some organic salsa on the side.  I love when I buy something and I can read EVERY SINGLE ingredient on the back.  The salsa was on sale at the health store 2 big bottles for 4$.  They had a mango one but I chickened out and bought the black bean/corn one instead.

Tomorrow, I am suppose to go to the water slides, so I bought a watermelon to cut up and bring and I decided to make some hummus, which is a chick pea dip. you take a can of chick peas, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil (I added sesame oil, because I did not have Tahiti;sesame paste to add), I also added a bit of pepper sauce.  I will dip my baby carrots as well as cauliflower in it.

I have also started taking 2 bags of green tea placing them in a pitcher and adding hot water letting it seep and then placing it in the fridge.  Iced green tea on ice is refreshing and tasty, now that I have the agave nectar I can add a little.  If you have fresh ginger you can also add some and/or some fresh mint leaves.

I am going to try and hit Tabata class later, but not sure if that will happen.

Hope that everyone is having a great day!

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Detox Challenge Day 6 and Today Day 7

    Last night, I went over to a friend's house to help his sister paint.  When we were done he wanted to eat.  So he ordered some Indian food.  I did not even try to explain detox to a man, especially a black man, who thinks that I have already lost to much weight.  I ate some chicken and rice (I tried to limit my portion to one cup), but really I watched what I ate. I even said no to Timbits (they are these donut hole things)
     Today, I went to run with my running group we were doing 10K, it was steaming hot and it was only 9:00 in the morning.  At around 5.5K my upper back started killing, my left sole also started to bother me.  I stopped running and walking back to the store.  I am thinking that the upper back pain is due to my breast size.  I have large breasts and for most of my life they have been a pain in the ass.   I used to say that I wished breasts were like blood and I could donate to those in need.  I had hard time finding bras (to this day I go once a year to a specialty store in Toronto, were I get fitted and drop a few hundred for a few bras), inability to wear shirts with buttons, were as others looked at me in awe, I considered a breast reduction for many years.  At 19, I mentioned it to my doctor, he suggested I lose weight since breasts are mostly fat (Have you heard that joke? How do you make 5 pounds of fat look good? Put a nipple on it).   In the last three years I have lost weight and my breast size has gone down along with the rest of me, but they are still huge.  Today, the pain stemmed from my breasts, I am sure. 

    My right sole is a whole other story, I really think that I have planter fasciitis, ever since the Half Marathon a month ago, I have had pain in the sole of my foot, some days it is way better than others. I have tried rolling my foot and icing and I must admit that it is better. Has anyone ever had this? What measures did you take to cure it?

Day 1: 220.4....Day 2: 217 (-3.4)...Day 3: 214.8 (-5.6)...Day 4: 212.8 (-7.6)...Day 5: 210.6

(-9.8)...Day 6: 208.8 (-11.6)...Day 7 206.4 (-14!!!)

Woo Hooo.  14 pounds in 7 Days!  I must say that I am presently surprised. Now how I am going to keep at this?  I plan to continue eating fruits and veggies, but I will have to start incorporating protein. I will continue to stay away from carbs and limit dairy.  I am also going to try and not go back to juice and sodas.  I am only 3 pounds away from my lowest adult weight of 203! Ahhhhh crazy!

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Detox Challenge Breakfast Roadblock

    Every Saturday, I go for breakfast with my mother.  All I wanted was a fruit platter.  The only one they had came with cheese and nuts and toast and was way to expensive, so I decided on another dish that said, "strawberries, bananas, yogurt and granola". Stupid me I thought everything was going to be served separately.  No, no that would have been to easy.  The dish comes to the table and everything is mixed together, I was so disappointed. I sat their sulking like a 5 year old. I ate the strawberries and bananas to the best of my ability, but could not help thinking how this will impact the scale tomorrow. Boo.

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Detox Challenge Day 6: The End is Near

Day 1: 220.4....Day 2: 217 (-3.4)...Day 3: 214.8 (-5.6)...Day 4: 212.8 (-7.6)...Day 5: 210.6

(-9.8)...Day 6: 208.8 (-11.6)

One day left!  To be honest, I am so scared to go back to regular food.  I am afraid that all this hard work will have gone in vain.  I have been reading the Eat Clean Diet book by Tosca Reno (again) and getting ideason howto continue this weight loss.  I am so close to ONEderland!

Have a great weekend!

To my readers on the USA, have a great long weekend!

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Detox + Hot Yoga

This combination is like drinking and driving; lethal. On Fridays hot yoga at 8:30 pm is 5$ because they donate the proceeds to a local charity, they call it karma yoga. I always go, so I decided to go tonight, big mistake I was so nauseous I think it was the extreme heat mixed with the fact that I moved the lawn today in the hot sun. Sheesh, what was I thinking...

What day 6 tomorrow? Almost done!

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Detox Challenge:Day 5

Day 1: 220.4....Day 2: 217 (-3.4)...Day 3: 214.8 (-5.6)...Day 4: 212.8 (-7.6)...Day 5: 210.6 (-9.8)

Almost 10 pounds in 5 days!  Yeah!  Last night I went to my friend's house to watch the FIFA Women's World Cup and she busts out this dessert chocolate plate and you know what I did?  Sipped on my jasmine tea.  No chocolate for me! 

Happy Canada Day!

Tonight, I will try to make 5$ hot yoga.

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