Ajima Jackson

Cassandra lost 32 pounds

February 6, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 17 Comments

Today’s weight loss success story: Cassandra lost 32 pounds by exercising and following the Paleo Diet.

Cassandra weight loss

Cassandra wrote to us and shared her photos and weight loss story:

“I was at my heaviest weight of 201 lbs after having a complicated pregnancy. Two years later, I was still the same weight and of blaming it on the childbirth. I tried many diets. Either I was eating healthy and not working out or vice versa. I was not consistent. I lost some weight doing Taebo and P90X. I joined Crossfit Sumter in September 2012. That is when I became serious about exercising. The only problem was that I wan’t quite eating the way I should. I tried the Paleo diet and noticed the weight and inches fading away. I am more happier and healthier now than I have been in a while. My currently weigh 169 lbs.”

Debra lost 40 pounds

February 5, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 9 Comments

Update Oct 2015: Debra shared her story with us in 2013 and now she’s given us an update. She’s down 10 more pounds, recently ran a half marathon and is still off of high blood pressure meds. – “I shared my story with your page a while back and I just wanted you to know that I am still going strong. I’ve been on this fitness journey for 4 years now. However, it has been 3 years that I’ve been off blood pressure medication. Also, I just ran my first half marathon. Woot woot! I have lost a total of 50 pounds so far. I still meal prep because it keeps me accountable, and still workout about 4-6 times a week. Your page continues to inspire me to keep going, so I just wanted to say thanks again for the inspiration!”

debra before and after

Feb 2013 – Debra lost 40 pounds and got off blood pressure medication by embracing running and joining Weight Watchers.

Debra weight loss

She wrote to us about her weight release story:

“Here’s my story…I have struggled with my weight for years. It wasn’t until I was placed on blood pressure medicine that I knew I needed to change my habits. My doctor told me the only way to get off of them was for me to lose weight, and maintain the weight lost. That was my mission…to get off that medicine. It was June of 2011 when I started the blood pressure medicine. I began July of 2011 with my journey (1st pic). The middle pic is July of 2012, and the third pic is Jan 2013. Oh and by-the-way I have been off my blood pressure medicine for 5 months now.

I joined Weight Watchers in 2011. In the beginning, I was not consistent with the plan and my weight loss wasn’t happening so I stopped going. In February of 2012 I rejoined and have been consistent. In April of 2012 a friend and I decided to run a 5k. We planned to run it late that summer. So I started training by using the app Couch to 5k. Running the 3 days of week really kicked my weight loss into gear along with making healthier food choices. We ran the 5k in late August and we completed the 3.2 miles in 35 minutes…for us that was great for our first race. I have continued to run to help maintain my weight loss. I have never felt better. In addition, it’s pages like BWLW that help to encourage and inspire people to get healthy. Thanks for providing a platform for people to share their stories.”

Make your New Year’s Resolutions Come True

February 5, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 2 Comments

Trying to lose weight? Want to turn your life’s passion into a real career? Or, do you have simpler goals like spending more time with your kids or dealing with stress.

Many of you know that I’m currently a student with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. IIN has recently created a great Free guide to show you how to reach your goals this year. It’s called “The Definitive Guide of Accomplishing Your Resolutions”.

From this guide you’ll learn:

The Best Kept Secret for Making Resolutions a Reality
The Right Way to Set Your Resolutions to Ensure Success
12 Resolutions to Make 2013 Your Healthiest, Happiest Year

At Integrative Nutrition, the world’s largest nutrition school, we are taught that food is not the only food. We have primary food that is our relationships, our family life, our work life, etc. IIN has spent 20 years teaching students how to help people get healthy and lose weight, but also how to transform not only their nutrition habits but their lifestyles into what they dream of.

Glorie lost over 30 pounds

February 5, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 17 Comments

Update: Glorie lost another 10 pounds. Check out her update below.

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Our international BWLW Member, Glorie, wrote us to tell us about her weight release journey. She says, “Hi there! my name is Glorie and I am in Tanzania-East Africa. Your updates inspired me a lot to change my image and in less than 5 months I have lost over 30 pounds and still going! I started eanting healthy and enrolled in a gym. So, here is my before and after pics to share with every other black women around the world! We are doing this! Its time to be healthy!”

Glorie weight loss

“I started eating healthy by avoiding junk foods that I used to eat. As you know here in Africa the most common foods are rice, ugali (maize flour) which are rich caboyhrates and red meat is used in almost all of our daily dishes. I was on a diet program that allowed me to eat healthy and not to exceed 600 calories per day for the first 9 days. Thereafter, I joined a gym and I was working out 5 days a week in aerobics classes and drinking lots of water. For now am on a strict diet, that i have developed myself whereby it rotates raw foods and juices for 1 week each. I have also found out that drinking cinnamon tea mixed with honey also helps in shedding the pounds off. I now do strength training where I concentrate on my thighs and tummy as thats where I carry most of my weight. I am truly inspired by your page and it gives me hope and alot of tips when am slacking or giving hope. So be assured that this is all over the WORLD! Even in Africa, we’re losing the weight too. Thank you alot and never stop what you are doing. Be blessed.”

Update May 17, 2013 –

Hello there! It’s Gloria Ojare all the way from Tanzania-East Africa. Again I have made some tremendous efforts and YAY…I am down 40 pounds now!!! Yay! Yay! I am so thankful to God and again so proud of myself; I just can’t imagine if I had never made up my mind to get healthy what would have happened or how would I be now. To me this is my new lifestyle. I have managed to pull off the extra 10 pounds since I last shared with ya’ll. This time I had to change my regimen. Every morning I took warm water mixed with cinnamon, lemon juice and ginger powder. I also continued to exercise but this time I skip rope at least 30-45mins every 4days. I also completely cut all sugary stuffs and limited my carbohydrates intake by adopting the STANLEY DIET. I kept on going no matter what or how I felt and so far I am ecstatic of my transformation. I speak to every woman trying to loose weight..DONT EVER GIVE UP! Stay ON and be consistence surely you shall see result in you and your general health. I thank everyone whose photo has been posted because whenever I look at them I smile and I say WOW..it can be done…it can be done. 9th July,2013 will mark 1year since I started my weight release journey!

Kenya lost 130 pounds with weight loss surgery

February 4, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 6 Comments

Kenya lost 130 pounds. She wrote to us saying, “I have a weight lost story for ya. I lost over 130 lbs. I started in 2009 and I am so happy about it. My previous weight was 325 lbs. I had bariatric surgery in 2009 (gastric bypass). Now, I exercise every other day and watch what I eat closely. I was on 4 different meds when I was overweight, now I take no meds. I speak to a lot of people about my weight and let them know that weight lost surgery is not a bad thing. It can be a blessing.”

kenya lost 130 pounds

Day 1 – Recipe Resources for the February Challenge

February 4, 2013 by Ajima Jackson Leave a Comment

It is Day one of our February Challenge – The Clean Eating / Food Diary Challenge! Our 3 main GOALS: eating clean, february goals

keeping a food diary for 3 weeks (Feb 4 – 24) and exercising 5 days a week (45 minutes minimum). If we are consistent, we will develop habits that will become permanent lifestyle changes. That is the Key. If you are like me, you are not interested in losing weight just to see it come back in a month or two. Releasing the weight for good is our ultimate goal.

Recipe Resources: I want to share with you a list of free resources for eating clean. I’ve been gathering this information so that I have plenty of recipes to choose from during the challenge. One of the main goals of eating this way is to avoid highly processed food/junk food and replace it with healthy food. You want to use recipes and meal planning so that you are prepared make the switch. Take some time to do your research and find new things to eat so that you have tasty options.

5 Great Skinny Salads You Should Try – I put together this list of 5 great salad recipes.
Clean Eating Magazine – This is my favorite source of clean eating recipes. I make a lot of their “5 ingredient meals” and “20 ingredients or less” recipes.
Gracious Pantry – This website has a ton of great recipes categorized in a number of different ways. I love their breakfast recipes.
10 Clean Eating Recipes for Weeknights from Cooking Light Magazine
He and She Eat Clean – This site offers not only great clean eating recipes, but also gluten-free recipes and shopping lists.
EatCleanDiet.com is the go to site for clean eating recipes. It is the official site of the book of the same name by Tosca Reno, who brought the kind of clean eating that bodybuilders use info the public eye.
Healthy Recipes to Help You Eat Clean from EatingWell.com
Free 2 Week Clean Eating Meal Plan from Fit Family Meals

Reminder: Monday Night Chat

Don’t forget to join us tonight from 8-9 pm Eastern for our weekly weight loss support chat. We will discuss clean eating and our February goals. Login at 8pm.

Keiah lost 124 pounds

February 4, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 19 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Keiah lost 124 pounds and part of her journey has been becoming vegetarian. I think that more black women should explore the benefits of vegetarianism and going vegan. Embracing a plant-based diet can be a great way to increase health and lose weight.

Keiah weight loss

Here is what Keiah had to say:

“My name is Keiah and I am very inspired by your web page, its keeps me motivated and going strong. I am so proud of all the beautiful black women featured, what an inspiration! I hope to do the same! I have lost 124 lbs so far. My heaviest weight was 334 and I am now 209. I want to lose about 50 more pounds. I started my weight loss journey in 2010. I have been a vegetarian for 3 years now. I work out an hour daily mixing weight training and cardio.”

Marie lost 149 pounds

February 3, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 11 Comments

Marie lost 149 pounds. She wrote to us to share her story.

“I love ur page. I started out at 338 pounds and now I weight 189 pounds. I started this journey in 2010. I stopped drinking sodas, fried foods, starchy foods, and cut out all fast foods. I love all fresh veggies, shrimp and fish (salmon). I make my own protein shakes. I speed walk, run, jog hills, do strength training, do spinning, Body Pump classes, squats and jumping jacks. I also eat 5 to 6 healthy meals a day. I drink green tea and I do a detox at the end of each month.

NO SURGERY NO PILLS NO WEIGHT LOSS SHAKES…. I JUST GOT UP… EVERY MORNING AND PUSHED MYSELF…AND I’M STILL PUSHING MYSELF.”

marie weight loss

Malikah lost 138 pounds

February 3, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 14 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss success story: Malikah lost 138 pounds by eating right and exercising. She is proof that consistency and hard work will PAY OFF if you stick with it.

Malikah weight loss

Here is what she shared with us about her weight loss journey:

“My weight loss journey started Jan 2011. I decided to start making better food choices and start losing weight because I was turning 30 and I didnt want to go into my 30’s being over weight. I’ve been over weight my entire life. And I didnt want to start the next chapter of my life being overweight. I also wanted to be able to shop at regular stores, I don’t want to go into the stores and have to ask if they carry plus size. My goal is to one day get to 174. I have an extremely long way to go but the important part is that I’m on my way to a better me. I’m currently down 138lbs. I’m doing weight watchers, zumba, hitting the gym every chance I get. I also started running with BGR (blackgirlsrun.com). When I can’t make it to the gym or Zumba, I workout at home on the Wii or do workout DVDs (either the biggest loser cardio max or walk away the pounds). My goal this year is to do the broad street run, thats the longest 10 miler ever. I also want to run a half marathon. Now I’m looking good and feeling good. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me. I’m just trying to make my way to fit and fabulous.

Latese lost 134 pounds in 2 years

February 2, 2013 by Ajima Jackson 31 Comments

Update May 2016: It’s been 2 1/2 yrs and Latese is still maintaining her success. She’s lost 162 pounds.

“I have learned self discipline and that we can be our own worst enemies. My children drive me and I will do anything to be around them as long as I can. Meal prep and planning is time consuming, but it keeps you accountable.” Her starting weight was 302 pounds and her current weight is 140 pounds (height? 5’5″)”

September 2013 Update: “It’s me checking in. Since I last shared with you all I have lost 8 more pounds. I have not gained back the weight in 2 years. Overall, I’ve lost 134 pounds total.”

Original Post:

Latese lost 95 pounds. She says, “I have been on my journey since about Dec of 2011 but kicked it into high gear during May of 2012. I’m now down about 95 pounds. I still have a ways to go, but I am sticking to keeping my protein on high and having little to no carbs. I am strictly a water drinker and I am doing boot camp. Five days per week, I walk/run for 2-3 miles”

Latese’s Facebook page