I’m Back!

Yes I know it’s been awhile – but I have been up to quite a bit in my absence – more on that at a later date. Right now: Eight Weeks to a Better Body Challenge is officially back this week though I’ve been back on a serious workout kick since last week where I lost 4 lbs.

So here goes:

The Vitals

All Time High: 172lbs
Recent High: 168lbs
Current Weight: 164lbs
Goal Weight: 140lbs (even though to consider this Challenge a success I need to lose a minimum of 16lbs)

The Plan

- Low carb diet – haven’t really been following this as well as I should – working on it
- 2 a day workouts – been doing this and it’s been killing me
- 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day - definitely been hitting the mark here and my body thanks me for it
- Minimum 10 glasses of water a day – hit this most days and get up to as many as 16 glasses

Why Now

Well I was tried of feeling like crap and being over weight. 168lbs for me is NOT the business. That and i have a pool party on Jun 5 to attend and I REFUSE to be the chunky girl in a swimsuit and a cover up. Also there’s a really good chance someone could see me naked soon (more on that later too -lol) so I figure now is the time to get the body (back) in shape. So, as usual you will get weekly video updates from me starting next week. AND just to show you how serious I am this time here are before pics of me in a bikini no less. Geez – I must crazy: Continue reading »

Mo'Nique at the 2004 BET Awards

Mo'Nique at the 2004 BET Awards

Mo'Nique at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards

Mo'Nique at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards

pict05871

Not the biggest one anymore!

scan0002

August 2007 - The eldest and the biggest!

Hey All!!

Seems like a while since we have gotten together!  I have been super busy with summer outings and such, but I have missed you all and will be trying to catch up!  Got me some coffee (my water of life) and a fiber bar, got my run in, my wig on – I’m ret’ to go!

First up -  A Big Hello and Welcome to Sandra!  180 to 169 – YES!  You Can Do It!  In fact, you are doing it!!  Keep up the great work, and if you send an email to Ms. Johnson with your address or PO Box, I will send you a shirt and a hoodie!  Hey are you on our Sweet Potato Pie Team?

Second, Allo to Ms. ZDubb.   Press. The. Publish. Key.    And let’s hear some more from you!

Big Hi to Casper – you will be hearing from him soon!  Hope he sends some footage of him kickboxing….

Hello to Tully and Holly, my weight loss blogging sisters.

Shout out to Khadija and all the girls at the spa…Special howdy-do to Thor…..

And a special shout out to my “Cuz’s” the Fields!!  Hey all!!  Thanks for you comments and support! It was great meeting all of you - looking forward to Atlanta!!

And as always – hey to Ms. Johnson, who is taking a sabbatical – have a good vacation!  But don’t stop running! ;)

Well, last week was a whirlwind of excitement.  Not only did I have a family reunion to attend, but my bro-bro came in from out of town, aaand I was still painting the house next door to me.  I also took some time out to date, and see some good friends.

All of these activites involved  – FOOD!!  Lots of it!!  From the wonderful fried fresh fish that was brought up from Arkansas, to the great mom-pop restaurants to the movie popcorn, and those DAMN NILLA WAFERS – Ms. Tracy had it coming at her from all sides.  And, truthfully, I gave in.  Life is not all about calorie counting and worrying about how many points are in your burger (20  – Yikes!!)….  Sometimes life is about sitting down, having a beer, some good food and a lot of laughs with people that you love……

Then it is about running your ass off trying to make up for that pound of sweet potato french fries that you just HAD to have….and could you have put any MORE tartar sauce on that fish?  Now, my eating didn’t get totally out of control – except for that box of Nilla Wafers.  I have no will power with those evil things! I did enjoy, but I enjoyed with limits. And you know what?  Those two pieces of fish were just as satisfying as having six, I said no to dessert after the gonzo burger and fries, and one margarita did me just fine .  Moderation folks, the spice of life….Eat what you want, just not as much ( or more than you need)….

Yes, my friends, I gave in…..but I didn’t give it up!  If I overate, I compensated for it by adding more exercise.  Did I mention the fact to you that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE RUNNING!?!   No matter what the scale said – and it was moving up there, about three pounds – I kept up the exercise.  If I could, I would sneak in an extra run – yes, I have turned into a running geek!

But it paid off, cuz as of Monday morning, July 20th, I weighed in at 166 point something or other…..91 pounds down!  HA HA I AM SHE-RA GODDESS OF ALL I SURVEY!!  Getting closer to my goal of 153 and closer to being – dare I say it – “normal” on the BMI chart.  Normal and healthy weight – a wildest dream about to come true!

Speaking of wildest dreams (taking a page from Khadija)  – I had one come true last weekend.  The two pictures  above are of me and my two younger brothers.  I am the eldest and the only girl – spoiled city, I know.  But I have also been the biggest kid in my family for as long as I can remember.  The second photo was taken at a family reunion two years ago.  The top photo was taken last weekend – I am no longer the biggest one!!  Look at them guns!  On top of that, my brother Brandon is a Marine – has been for 21 years!  His first night home, we went for a 5 mile run and I kept up with him every step of the way!!   Both of my bro’s are amazed at how I am changing and are two more of my biggest supporters.

Random thought – I have decided that I will stop complaining about my boobs.  I took a good look at myself yesterday and realized that what I have been blessed with (boobs, lips, nice skin, cheekbones) other people pay out of the waz for.  I always had an idea of what I would look like once the weight started to come off, but I must say that I am more than surprised and pleased with what I am seeing now.  I have no more excuses to hate or doubt myself, so no more – I embrace all of me!

So folks, what more can I tell you to convince you that this is a ride worth taking.  Do it for your health, do it to look good, do it to make your family sick, whatever  JUST DO IT – CUZ YOU CAN DO IT!!

Til next time – the Ms. Tracy Fashion Show is on the way!

Hey All!

Just some random thoughts for ya tonite….

New goal – at 182, I will have lost 75 pounds!!  This goal might take a little longer to reach, cuz all of a sudden:

1.  My body is just now realizing that I have dumped a major amount of weight in the past 7 months and is now  playing hard to get ( or hard to get lost..). And..

2.  Since I now walk/run about 8 miles a day and try to squeeze in some weight training time, I am HONGRY!!  All of the time!  If I don’t do some kind of exercise, it is worse.  Yesterday, my relax and cheat day (yes I can now have one cheat day a week – I use my weekly extra points!), I ate two sections of those cheap shortbread covered -with -some -kind -of -plastic- chocolate -flavored coating cookies.  You know the ones where you get about 100 cookies for a dollar!  They were never so good!  AAaand at about 10:30 p.m.,  I found myself spinning (in my Ronco Showtime Rotissere) two pork chops!  As long as they were devoured by Midnight it was ok!  Madness!  So, I know that my overeating  issues are far from over, but I can better control them.  Those cookies tho….mmm mmm!

So, anyhoo, new goal is 182, Whatcha Gonna Do?  I’m gonna dance the Stanky Leg! Will make sure that gets filmed, and by that time I should have my video converter softwear installed.  Then I can finally stop all this damn typing!

OK next…the job front here is pathetic, but I am still plugging along and trying to pick up side work.  One of my little jobs is being a Fitness Consultant.  For a small fee, I will help you start your eating plan, and everyday I will take you on a 4 mile powerwalk.  I have two customers so far.  One customer is a dream, she will do whatever it takes to lose weight and get healthy and since she has seen me at my biggest, takes my word as Gospel.  Her first weigh in was last Monday   – She lost 2 pounds!!  I can see success in her future…..Way to go girl!!  YCDI!!

My other customer…..hmmm….my other customer is half Indian.  She is a descendant of the Ohahcaint tribe. Everytime you tell her something….

“You need to drink at least six glasses of water a day”  “Oh I caint do that, I’m allergic to water”.

“To get a good workout with your walk, you need to move your arms”  ” Oh I caint , I’m double jointed and will throw something out”.

“You need to get some measuring cups and spoons and a food scale to monitor your portions”  “Oh I caint eat smaller portions, I’m anemic and need to eat more”.

She “caint” do anything I tell her, but she can put on makeup that would make a clown say “Damn!”, an outfit with matching hair and nail color, and of course a head band.  That has yet to trap any sweat cuz when I call her and it is a little warm “Oh, I caint walk today, heatstroke”.  Or if it is too cold “will catch pneumonia”.  Don’t let it rain…

This heffa had the nerve to get mad at me cuz Monday, she didn’t lose any weight….and wanted her money back…which leads me to this conclusion: If I am going to make any money at this, I’m going to have to leave Negroes alone for awhile.  I’m meeting  too many clients like the latter ( “Walk EVERYDAY?!?”) and not enough like the former (“When can we start weight training!”) I would love to reach out and help my sista’s go that extra mile and reach their physical goals, but it seems like, around here anyway, that we still don’t take this seriously enough.   Coupled with the fact that we think everything should be for free (“Can my two cousins walk with us today? and can I make copies of the eating plan for them?”) things are just not looking too good on this venture.  Ah, well, I will stick with Ms. Go Getter tho – she’s got a hunger for it, I see me in her eyes.

All right, home stretch…the hair thing.  Natural, weave, wig, whatever….If you sweat, you are gonna have to wash your hair!  You know when you wake up in the morning and that crusty stuff is in your eyes and around your mouth? That is what sweat does – it crystallizes in your hair.  If you let it sit there or God forbid brush it thru your hair and scalp, the salt will eventually harden and snap your very delicate hair right off.  So if you can’t wash , at least rinse it out.  And if you swim, which is next for me, sorry, you gotta wash.  Find a gentle shampoo and conditioner and get that chlorine out, cap or no.

I can hear the screaming already! I’m immune, I have heard all of the excuses – now here are your choices.  You can:

1.  Wash your hair, learn to blow dry and barrel curl your hair on a moderate (not not) setting.  Have your stylist give you a more do-able style that is easier to maintain.

2.  Go natural and wash – n – go!  Or for more variety, get braids.

3.  For weaves, make sure that you are drying the underside (the anchor braids) completely – trapped water will give your hair a mildewy smell..

One thing a fitness minded chick that sweats cannot have – the multi do head! Twists on one side, finger waves on the other, boop – de – boop curls in the back, all finished off with a coat or two of shellac.  Ladies, if you are over the age of , oh say, TWELVE, this do shouldn’t even be an option.  Like your new fitness routine, keep it simple.

Well, that’s about it…getting a little knackered.  Hello to all the Diva’s and if you didn’t agree with all that I had to say in this post, well write your own telling me how stoopit I am….

Seriously, we wanna hear from you!!  You all are from the Ahcando tribe – and you  can do it!!

Til next time…..get to typing girls!!

Hey All!!

Nope,  video file still too big!!  And I had a nice one too, me on my daily morning walk, I almost got hit by a car!! Ah well!

How has everyone been doing?  Great  I hope!  And Hello to the New Divas!! We now have 14!! Welcome and looking forward to hearing from you…..Any of you!……Hello?!? I can hear you breathing….Quit acting like y’all are so shy!  Let’s see some pics!  LOL!!

Well, happy to announce that I have now reached a loss of 65 pounds!!  I am around 192, feeling and looking great!  So, you know what time it is!!!  Yep, MINI-GOAL TIME!!  Ladies, this is so important in your weight loss walk.  Not only does it keep you in check but it gives you such a mind and energy boost when you reach your goal!!

Start out by setting something small and doable – maybe one or two pounds in the next two weeks or 5 for the month. And make a plan as to how you are going to make that happen.  Let me give you and example:  I have to track everything that I eat in a little booklet provided by Weight Watchers called a Tracker

tracker

Sorry, shakey hand!  If you could read this, you would see that on the front of the Tracker it asks for a date and what you are committing to for the week.  When I set my mini goals – and I do them weekly – I write down what I would like to accomplish and how I am going to try to get there.  This one says “Keep momentum going!! Continue eating well and exercising steadily!!  191 by next week?  It’s possible!!”.   I made my mini goal, so the tracker for this week is going along the lines of ” More jogging, build stamina, Aunt Flo is comin!! Get to high 180′s by next week!”  Once you set your plan of attack in front of you – and look at it everyday – your goal becomes more and more attainable.

Okay! On to my new goal!  Well, already made one dream come true  – finally being under 200 lbs.!!  So the next weight loss fantasy that I want to make a reality is:  My Driver’s License Weight!  For the last 15 years, my license weight has been the same: 185 lbs.  Nevermind that I haven’t seen that weight since grade school.  So the next challenge will be: License to Drive – 185!! 

Gotta squeeze another mini goal in there!  At 182.4 , I will have lost a total of 75 pounds….that is even hard to write, I can’t believe it!  So, this is where I want y’all to help Ms. Tracy out!!  How do you think I should celebrate that milestone?  And can someone give me a catchy slogan for that Goal?  And please, tell me about your mini goals and how you are going to acheive them!!

Let’s hear it from you all!!  Please comment and I will send a special prize to the most creative commenter!  You’ll love this….In honor of the Good Ol U S of A having its first Black First Lady , I have a set of  three very classy jeweled pins modeled after the ones Michelle wears.  Stylish, elegant and can snap you in two with her bare hands – these pins say it all!  I’m waiting!!

To celebrate my 65th, I am going out to get some new workout gear – these are finally getting too big!

To Ms. Johnson, hope all is well and looking forward to your video posts!!

Til next time! YCDI!! (Okay, I figure if Rachel Ray can get away with something as stupid as EVOO, I can condense ‘You Can Do it!’)

brickhouse2

" Built like an Amazon"

60-gone1

"She know she got everything...."

 

Hey All!!

Nope, still have not mastered the Web-cam, will be working with someone that actually knows how to work a computer this weekend!  ;)

Sorry for the late post, but it has been a confusing week!  Sometime between my last post on Saturday the 21st and last nite, I have transformed into (and these are the words of my neighbor, my brother, a stranger at the grocery store and several friends):  A sexy, doe-eyed woman that has a body like a brick sh_t house.   And boobies. 

This kinda surprised me because I didn’t think that I would be brick sh_t house-y until I dropped at least 20 more pounds.  Apparently I am wrong, cuz when Ms. Tracy puts on her new size 14 jeans/skirt and cute little tops (which were bought this week at my favorite consignment shop – you can still look good in this economy ladies!!)  and her high heel boots  – look out!  Heads are a turnin! 

I always make eye contact, smile and say hello to folks that I pass – it’s a Southern thing.    But now, instead of getting the ” look over her head, tight smile and nod” or the ” look away real quick” or the ” get a frightened look on the face and run” responses, guys are looking me in the eye, saying “heeyyy” and twisting their damn necks off after I pass.  I looked back and caught one man looking at my butt!  The nerve – Cretin!  

Who am I kidding? I am so loving this!!

I am also starting to do really weird/silly stuff lately.  Like going out in the cold weather either without a coat or with the coat open so’s everyone can see my new bod.

Or not leaving the house – even to go walking or to the grocery store! - without full makeup, my face framing wig, some cologne and a nice coordinating outfit.  I now get mad when my white Nike walking shoes get scuffed and dirty, so I wear my old shoes with the flapping soles to work out in. 

Oh and get this, when Blond Chick runs by in her cute outfit , I run too! And smile and wave and toss my hair – ha, take that heffah!  I’ll take yo’ man!!  Of course, after she is out of sight, I quit running and lay down in the embankment to catch my breath!!  This being cute  stuff is gonna kill me!

So, fully dressed and fluffed, I have the confidence of 20 women – undressed is a different story! Yesterday  I was trying on clothes in one of those dressing rooms with mirrors at every possible angle.  I got a reeeaaallly good look at my butt and the back of my legs and the front of my legs for that matter.  I gotta step up on the weight training, cuz the loose skin on the aforementioned is horrible.  At this rate, I may never have sex from behind again! Hopefully, I haven’t waited to late – I will have to get with Mr. Grant for some more weight training tips! 

Speaking of sex, I also mustered enough confidence to sign up on an online dating site.  I signed up on Monday – I have ( no lie!!) 82 hits!!  I would say out of all of them, I match up to about ten and I am already emailing and corresponding with one.  So if all goes well, in March I should be headfirst in dating hell experiencing the excitement of socializing!  Wish me luck!  But really, the worse the date is, the funnier these posts are gonna be!

Well, you all have a great weekend!  I am trying for 3 pounds gone this week – that will make a total of almost 12 pounds for the month!  I Can Do It!  And Hello to our new Diva’s – Welcome aboard!  Who is the chick that has already lost 23?!  You go girl!!  Guess I will be sending your t-shirt and your hoodie at the same time!

Til next time – gotta get dressed and ready, I’m going to the mail box…..  hmmm hmmm…Brick….house….

YESSSS!!

Hey all!

This was supposed to be my first video post, but the webcam is goofing up!  So hopefully by next post I will have mastered  the beast…

Well,  my efforts paid off!  I officially weighed in yesterday at Weight Watchers and the scale said – 197.2!!!  I have now lost a total of 60.2 pounds!!  I think that what I am most pleased and happy and scared about is that I am setting and reaching attainable goals.  Pleased and happy because the weight is coming off, I am looking and feeling better and I am making this happen!!

Scared because the weight is coming off (no more hiding behind it), I am looking and feeling better (no more excuses, helloooo men!!) and I am making this happen (ok got the weight thing down, what else am I capable of?).  I feel like I can now make some decisions that I should have been facing a couple of years ago, but self doubt (yes, Ms. Tracy goes thru that too) held me back.  Career, life and love decisions – the triple threat! 

Since getting laid off  in January, I have made time to assess just who I am and what I want.  I am a very talented woman and I have the power to impact and change for the positive everything that I touch.  Folks like me (and you) don’t sit at a desk waiting for the Boss to come out and make them a Millionaire.   So, I have figured out what I want to do and what I don’t want to do – recession be damned!  It won’t be easy, but hell neither was losing 60 pounds, but I DID IT!!

That was life and career…as for love….I decided to give Match.com another try (shudders inside).  I still get updates from my matches, and they are getting more local and more diverse, so what the hell! At the very worst, my posts will be alot more interesting!!

Well, gotta go for my power walk in the newly fallen snow (great! Winter’s back!)!  I celebrated last nite with a great dinner and good friends and family!  …..and a fried cheesecake dessert!  ;)  

Til next time!  How does this webcam work again?!

Hey all!!

Well, last week should have been the victory lap week, and this post really should have been ” I Did It!!” post. Buuut…..Mother Nature and I have been battling it out – and I won!! But She gave me hell! Not only did she arrive early ( I guess I should thank her for that, now I won’t have to put up with her on my birthday!), but she brought some friends with her!

The usual friends that she brings are her baby play-cousin Bloaty, and her Aunt Crampy. This month someone else showed up to the party…..MS. ALMOST UNCONTROLLABLE HUNGER!! That Bitch almost made me undo six months of hard work and scrap my birthday goal. No matter what I ate, I was hungry less than 30 minutes later! Folks, I went thru two boxes of Weight Watcher cookies (can’t buy those anymore), about a gallon of zero point soup, popcorn for the salt fix, and I never want to see another orange or banana again!! I get 35 extra points a week to add to my 25 daily points. I blew thru those by last Tuesday. I still wince when I look at my Food Tracker and see 15 one point cookies for one day!!

Between the PMS, the constant hunger and all the other joys Mother N. left me, I was going nuts. The scale was registering up about 4 pounds (water, I know). Now, I have been thru this before, I knew that all this would pass and there was nothing that I could do about it. Sooo, Ms. Tracy just gave in to crazy, ate what made me feel good (within my points) and walked and biked.

Two things that I noticed when you are exercising while battling the Curse:

1. – If you are on your normal walk outside, you instantly hate everything and everybody. Birds, squirrels, people waiting for the bus – Damn ‘em all! And you especially hate the cute little blond that is running in her cute little outfit across the street from you. Where are man-eating wolves when you need really need them?

And don’t walk with anyone else….let your walking partner go for those few days. Mine made the mistake of asking me why we weren’t jogging the alternate blocks like we usually did. I told her that all I wanted was some Lay’s chips, some chocolate with caramels, and an Uzi with two clips so I can take out a Kmart. I haven’t heard from her since Saturday….

2. When you are on your stationery bike, nothing gets you in the mood like a good kick ass movie!! I biked to Kill Bill, Jet Li and the Transporter movies. Easiest 45 minutes ever!!

Sooo, today is the last day, I weighed in and Survey Said…….200!! Ding Ding!! Yes! Don’t know if I will reach 197 by Saturday, but will be putting in a little more effort to get to at least 199! I Can Do It!!

Yes, I know that I sound obsessed, but I just gotta make this! Anyone else out there have a goal or a setback to overcome? Let’s hear it!

Welcome to our two new Diva’s! I have two new ones signing up before the week is out! It is not too late tho, so sign up and let’s win this thang!!

Till next time! I’m still hungry……

Down to one chin....
Down to one chin….

bigred-21

Alright! Well, Ms. Tracy is ecstatic!!  I officially weighed in at 201 this morning!  I have lost a total 56.4 lbs. !!  I am sure that I will make my goal of 199 by 02-21-99 so I have made an adjustment:  by 02-20-09 I would like to be 197.4 – that will be a total loss of 60 pounds.  By the end of February, I would like to lose 1.4 more pounds to make a total of 10 lbs lost for the month.    I Can Do It!!!

I was looking at an ad for a weight loss center yesterday.  While I was looking at all of the pics and success stories, one phrase kept popping up – “Results not Typical”.   You know, the CYA for the company just in case you pay your money and don’t come out looking like those folks did.  Then I got to thinking that maybe my results aren’t typical either.  Since September, I have managed to lose and average of about 3 pounds a week.  No plateau’s, no ups and downs, just slow and steady weight loss.  For folks that have been in the diet game, that is almost unheard of. 

So, no my results are not typical.  But they are not impossible either.  For the benefit of our readers and to the Diva’s to come, Ms. Tracy is gonna share her weight loss secrets with you!!

Number One – Move, Move, Move!!! I don’t care if you are doing Atkins, WW, bread and olives (well, don’t do that one, it’s gross), or whatever, no weight loss program will work if you do not burn the calories that you take in.  Sorry, diet alone will not work.  And I am not saying that you have to go big guns starting out either.  Take a walk, get on the bike or the elliptical and ease into your routine.  But start it – and keep going!

Number Two – Move More!!  Okay, got the movement down!  Now challenge yourself!  If you are strolling along la-de -da ing and not giving your heart and lungs a slight workout, time to switch up.  Pedal a little faster, walk more briskly, do some extra laps – get that heart moving.  One of the things that I think has helped me stay out of the dreaded plateaus is that I do my walking and biking in Intervals.  That is were, after warming up of course, you add short bursts of high powered movement in your routine . When I stationery bike, I pedal normally for a minute, then pedal like crazy for 90 seconds, all for a total of 35 minutes.  When I walk, I now walk a block and jog a block.  This helps not only to break up your routine, but to raise your metabolism and burn more fat!  So step it up if you want to see the pounds move!

Number Three – Whatever you do, follow it to the letter!!  I believe that all diets work.  Pick one that you can be comfortable with and go for it, but remember this:  If you are doing a popular diet (Atkins, South Beach, WW) know that before the book , tv show or program came out, someone had to test it.  People have taken pains to go thru and see what works and what doesn’t.  So if the book says do “da-da-da” you have to do “da-da-da” or it will not work!  On Weight Watchers, I have so many points to eat a day, I have to write down everything I eat, track my water and make sure that I am getting so many points in veggies and fruits, proteins, oils,  and dairy .  Sure, I could eat diet cookies all day long, but I wouldn’t be getting the results that I getting now.  Before starting any diet, take the time to read and understand all that is required of you to make this diet work – and follow it to the letter.  Severe, maybe, but this is the first time in 15 years that I have been close to breaking 200 lbs – so it is worth it.

Number Four – This is Life, Live it! Remember that whatever you pick, this is the plan you have chosen for the rest of your life.  So pick something that you can live with.  I don’t know of many folks that would be satisfied with raw veggies and skinless chicken forever.  And if I can’t have a good glass of wine or brew every once in awhile, forget it!! Allow some treats and goodies in!  Life is parties and friends and joy and heartaches and love and pain.  Make sure that your diets ( and exercise) alots for all of these .  Also, don’t make your diet your life.  It is easy to get over-focused especially when the numbers are going down!  Don’t leave family and friends out – they are your cheering section and will be there thru thick and thin (pun intended)!

Number Five – Educate yourself!! Since September, I have surrounded myself with Health and Fitness books and Magazines.  You should always know the when, where, and why’s of your body!  Go on the internet and find out why you need a certain amount of vitamins each day, and how to get them.  Find out how much you should really weigh, why you need so much fiber (ha ha Ms. Johnson – that is another post!) protein and water, and how this affects your weight loss.  Find out what foods you should be adding to your bland list of veggies to not only add some variety, but to keep you on track and add more vitality to your well being.  Learn about different exercises that will help you on your journey .I personally love Heart and Soul – they cater to the Sistas – and Prevention magazine.  So, become a little obsessed with yourself and your health and become a mini Sherlock Holmes, your body will thank you for it!

Finally, Number Six: BE SELFISH!!  I remember co-workers and family always telling me ” It’s all about you, isn’t it?”  And my answer was always “Hell, YES!!”  Cuz sometimes, ladies, if you don’t make it all about you, it will never be about you.  You will always put your needs, your dreams and your health on hold to make someone else comfy.  my favorite saying is ” I was nice in my teens and 20′s, compliant in my 30′s, but in my 40′s, EVERYONE can Kiss…..”  you get the idea.  Make it about you ladies, even just for awhile.  When you are dead and gone, they will just find another mule…  You are worth so much more.

Well, dang, I’m just rattling on – must be the high fiber cereal and the coffee!  Will be working extra hard to acheive my goals for next week – I know that you can acheive yours! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Til next time – I gotta figure out how to work the webcam!!

Again!!  Scroll down and watch Ms. Johnson show off her hot body!!  Um, when I get that size, I’m quittin!  And please sign up for the SPP Diva’s!  I entered my new weight in this morning, entered my exercise tally, and made and entry in my personal diary – You get all this for free!!  So far, with me and Ms. Johnson, the Diva’s have lost 12 pounds!    To make things fair, I have not counted the last Fifty that I have lost – I am starting at square one.  So sign up and become a Diva!  To sweeten the pot ( A hunnert dollahs?!? Oh Yes, I’m unemployed, that would come in handy!)  I am having T-shirts and Hoodies printed up!  The T-shirts are for when you sign up, the Hoodies are an ‘Atta-girl’ for your first 10 pounds  lost!  So, along with getting a slamming new healthy body, you get money and clothes!  Sign up y’all and lets get this thing movin!