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Erica lost 28 pounds

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Let’s show some BWLW love to Erica.  She lost 28 pounds during a year of serious life events (some very painful).  She is down from 259 pounds and working toward her goal of 200 pounds.  Here is what she shared with us:

“Hello, my name is Erica and I wanted to share my weight loss story. 2013 was a bittersweet year. I got married, lost my mom, got pregnant and lost the baby at 4 months.  I also gained lots of weight through all of this. Then, after trying to lose weight I almost gave up but I pushed. Even though I still have a ways to go I’m getting closer and closer to my goal of 200 pounds I’m also a mother of three. I just want others to know that if I can do it so can they.

I had to cut out all sweets and junk foods. I substituted sodas, juices and coffee for green tea 3 times a day. I also started eating the right portion sized meals and took out fried, salty foods and breads from my eating.  I walk for an hour 3 times a week and workout in my home at least once a week. All the while, I’m drinking plenty of water”

Erica weight loss before and after

Ruby lost 130 pounds

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Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Ruby lost 130 pounds.  Her proud daughter Tosha wrote to us to share her mom’s story.  She said, ” I am so excited for her story to be shared with other women! Especially with being 51 and slamming!!”  Here are the details of her transformation:

ruby before and after
Updated photos: October 2014

What was your motivation?
I had been overweight since having my last child over 25 years ago. Granted at the time I started I was not my heaviest but I was definitely at the point where enough, was enough! I had undergone knee surgery about five years ago and the weight just started piling up on me after that. At 50 years old I decided enough was enough and I was going to get my body back! And that is what I did.

How did you change your eating habits?
I would drink to nutritious and calorie dense, low glycemic meal replacement shakes twice a day (Isagenix products) and enjoy a healthy 400-600 calorie meal a day long with two to three snacks. I drink one-two gallons of water a day and stopped eating after 7. I also I PRAYED PRAYED PRAYED to God for strength to endure and put my best foot forward everyday! There is not a day I don’t pray but I started praying for my health and weight loss goals as well. With Jesus anything is possible!

ruby before and afterWhat did your workout routines look like?
Honestly, maybe like a lot of you, my first month I only walked 3 times! You know how it is, struggling to find the time and really pushing yourself to change your ways and renewing your mind with the word and speaking the possible into your life as you can and will have control over your body! After the first month I starting walking to and from my salon. That is 2.10 miles. I then started adding squats, lunges, crunches, pushups, and leg lifts. I started walking up to 4-5 miles a day for 5-7 days a week. That started to add up to 48-50 miles a month. Now 8 months later I have started going to the gym to help release these last pounds by doing the elliptical and weight training.

What was your starting weight? What is your current weight?
My starting weight on April 13, 2013 was 322 pounds. By November 13, 2013 I was down 101 pounds. I am now on January 18, 2013 I weigh 192 and I am still working to release more weight. I would love to be to my pre-child weight of 115 pounds!

How long did your transformation take?
My transition is ongoing. My first 100 pounds and 145 inches all over my body took 7 months and I lost an additional 29 more pounds over the last 3 months.

What advice to you have for others who want to lose weight?
My advice is to stay focused and determined. Try to cut out all of the sugar, breads, sauces, dressings, spreads. When you go out to eat get those things on the side and eat lots of green veggies, berries, apples, and pears which are not as high in sugar as other fruits. A good rule of thumb is if it is white (rice, bread, flour) don’t eat it and find the healthy alternative. The most important is to MOVE!

Ruby lost 100 pounds
January 2014

Jaianne lost 76 pounds

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Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Jaianne lost 76 pounds.  She changed her eating habits and worked out at home to change her lifestyle to one that was healthier.  Read her story:

Jaianne before and after

“Hello my name is Jaianne. I started my weight loss journey in May of 2013. My trigger for wanting to change was when I got out my car and had a hard time breathing. I knew that could not be good for my life and I had to make some major changes. I started off with my eating habits and then I started working out. I am currently down 76 pounds since May. My starting weight was a whopping 257 pounds and I am now 181 pounds. I am not where I want to be as yet but will continue to push through. This lifestyle has changed my life and I could never go back to the junk food. I do not go to a gym. I do all my workouts from home. I work out any where from 4-6 times a week. I no longer eat fast food.  I eat tons of veggies and fruits. It’s definitely not an easy journey. You have to remain strong and know that when you put the work in, changes will follow. Many times I cried, looked in the mirror and was upset at myself but it’s important to know you are amazing. Once you lose the weight there is no turning back. It’s gone forever.”

Fabian lost 86 pounds

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Let’s show some love to Fabian.  She lost 86 pounds after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  She is an overcomer!! [MS is an issue that is dear to my heart because my father had it.]

“My name is Fabian B. Crawford and back in 2011 I was over 256 pounds at 5’3. I decided to lose weight when I received life changing news.  I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It was a dark time in my life where I was depressed and sick. I woke up early one morning and I decided it was time for a change.  I was overcomer with a firm belief in God, so this could not possibly be my life. I worked out three times a week by just walking at first and I even had to battle my own body in order to begin jogging. I replaced carbs with whole wheat products, fatty meats with lean meats, and sweets with natural sugars. I used Calorie Counter in order to keep track of my eating habits. Today I enjoy an 86 pound weight loss and I weigh currently 170 lbs and I’m continuing to lose weight.  It took a total of two years in order to lose the weight. I have continued to maintain my weight loss without gaining even one pound back. I never considered my changes a diet, but a lifestyle change. I started a blog in order to help others and to promote a healthy lifestyle. Just make small changes slowly until you make it to your goal weight.”

Check out Fabian’s blog urbanmschick.com

Fabian weight loss photos

Candince lost 75 pounds

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Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Candince lost 75 pounds.  She was at risk of being obese and suffering health problems related to weight so she made the decision to invest in her health.  Here is what she shared with us:

“I just wanted to share my story. My journey started back in 2012. After being told by my physician that I was obese, as well as in danger of diabetes and high blood pressure, I knew I needed to stop wishing for a healthier me and start working for it. It was a wakeup call at 238 pounds (size 18). I couldn’t fit anything in my closet and was in the worst shape.

I lost 75 pounds in less than a year by exercising 6 times a week.  I also hired a personal training for strength training 2 times a week. I used working out as a way to combat stress and made it a priority. Not even work prevented me from exercising because jobs come and go but I only have ONE ME!! I threw out all processed foods and learned to eat clean! Once I quit making excuses for myself the change happened. Best decision I could have ever made. At 163 pounds my body thanks me everyday!

My advice would be to throw away the scale, surround yourself with positive people who help keep you encouraged and understand that losing even one pound is a HUGE milestone!!”

Candince weight loss photos

Terkeisa lost 60 pounds

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Terkeisa lost 60 pounds by cutting out junk food and soda.  She embraced healthy eating and consistent exercise. Here is her weight loss story:

Terkeisa before and after weight loss

“My name is Terkeisa Brown and I’m 32 years of age. I have battled with my weight for my entire life. I’m 4’11” and at my highest weight I was 230 pounds. I decided to start losing weight in September of 2012 by cutting out sodas and McDonald’s. I started walking at least a mile a day and drinking plenty water. By November of 2012, I had dropped 25 pounds. In December of 2012, I found out I was pregnant. During my pregnancy, I wanted everything I ate to be healthy. I didn’t want to get back on the wrong track.  I had my third son on August 4,2013 and a week later I was back to walking two to three miles a day and making sure not to eat any processed foods or soda. I also ate plenty of fish and chicken.  I love the George Foreman grill so I grill everything. By my 6 week check up, I was down to 187 pounds and after that I started going to the gym 4 to 5 days a week. I started off doing nothing but cardio at the gym. Now I go 3 to 4 days a week and I still do a lot of cardio but I’m also lifting weights now, trying to tone my arms, thighs and legs. My current weight is 170 pounds.  Before and After photo: In the first pic I was 230 pounds.  In the second I was 205 pounds and the last is at my current weight of 170 pounds.

My advice to all my beautiful black women that are trying to lose weight is to start off slow and make sure that you’re mentally ready. You may fall off the wagon but you can get right back on. Make lifestyle changes! Start by taking things out of your diet that are bad for you, like fried foods, sweets and soda. Try challenging yourself to see how long you can stay on the treadmill or how many miles you can walk. Most importantly do it for you and love yourself ladies. I’m on Facebook: Terkeisa Brown and Instagram: @hellonheels81 if anyone wants to contact me!”

Fatimah lost 70 pounds

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Weight Loss Success Story of the Day: Fatimah lost 70 pounds by eating a holistic, plant-based diet.  Now, she helps others as a health coach. Check out her transformation video and the details of her journey:

fatimah before and after

“Growing up both of Fatimah’s parents were vegetarian and she was raised on a plant based diet. At the age of 16, Fatimah went to Wisconsin to live with her older sister. This is when her life changed and her journey to wellness began. Fatimah stayed in Wisconsin, ” The dairy state”, for three years. Over the course of that period of time, she began to take on the eating habits of those in that environment. She began consuming a lot of processed foods, dairy, meat and alcohol. She was eating the SAD or “standard american diet “, which was a normal way of eating for those living in the dairy state. Unknowingly at the time, her health was rapidly declining. Growing up Fatimah was very athletic maintaining a healthy weight of 136 . This all changed when she moved to Wisconsin and took on this new SAD diet. It wasn’t until a routine check up at the doctors office in 2004 that the reality of her degenerating health sink in. She got on the scale at the doctors office and weighed in at 206 pounds. She was borderline diabetic and had high cholesterol. Fatimah knew she had to do something fast. She tried many quick fixes and fad diets but none of it worked. She spent several years yo-yo dieting and losing a few pounds just to gain it all right back. It wasn’t until she made the commitment in 2009 to make a complete holistic lifestyle change that she began to improve her health and heal herself. Going back to a plant based diet, Fatimah was able to loose 70 pounds and return back to her natural weight. Today Fatimah Shabazz works as a Certified Holistic Health Coach offering programs and workshops to educate people in how to use food as medicine and maintain optimal health through holistic living and plant based nutrition. www.fanashaa.com”

“In terms of what was my motivation, for me, I think of my son. I try to be the best role model in all or most areas of my life to set a good example.

My starting weight was 206 pounds. My current weight is 136 pounds. My total weight loss is 70  pounds. It took me 9 months to loose the weight.

My work out routine was doing yoga & breathing exercises 5 days a week at 7am for one hour each day.

My advice to others would be to love yourself enough to have patience, faith and be willing to make a lifestyle change while keeping in mind that nothing happens overnight.”

Fanashaa weight loss

Angela lost 132 pounds

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Let’s show some love to Angela.  She lost 132 pounds and she did it the old fashioned way, by changing her eating habits and exercising.  Here is what she shared with us about her amazing weight loss journey:

Angela lost 100 pounds

“Hello! I first want to wish everyone a prosperous New Year! I want to share my weight loss story. The picture on the left (below) was taken during my senior year in high in 2004. I was 332 pounds when I graduated. The picture on the right was from this past summer (2013). I have been blessed to lose 132 pounds since 2004. It took awhile to lose the weight and to be serious. I lost weight in college, but eventually put it back on after graduating. It took the death of a dear friend and the doctors telling me about the many health risks I was in store for within the next year for me to become serious about my weight loss. I had to change my lifestyle to one that was healthier. I decided to join Weight Watchers and join the gym. I also began to join Zumba classes. I eliminated fried & fast foods, as well as  sodas.  All of this contributed to me becoming a healthier me. I pray that my (and all of the ladies who have posted weight loss testimonies) will encourage and inspire those who are struggling with weight loss and health. 2014 is YOUR year!”

Angela before and after

What is Lupus: The Basics

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“African-American women are three times more likely to get lupus than white women. African-American women tend to develop lupus at a younger age and have more severe symptoms than white women.” – womenshealth.gov

Note: Let me just note at the beginning of this article that there is much to learn about Lupus and the research has not bore out all of the answers about how people develop the disease and how it affect the body.  What I want to present is an overview of what is known, but I acknowledge that every person’s experience is not the same.

nurseI believe that Lupus is something we should ALL know about in the Black Community. Lupus occurs when the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and begins to attack normal tissue as if it were an infection to be destroyed. While anyone can be diagnosed with lupus at any time, young black women are more than three times as likely as whites to develop the disease. To put that in perspective, this means that 1 in 250 black women between the ages of 15 and 44 are could develop a form of this painful disease. Fortunately, there have been great strides made in the treatment of lupus and while there is no cure, with proper medication you can live a satisfying and full life.

Common symptoms

While the rate of diagnosis for young black women is high, the awful truth is that the path to a correct diagnosis of lupus can be a long and difficult journey. The common symptoms of lupus are easily mistaken for other diseases, like cancer or MS, especially if they are just showing up. It isn’t until there is a history of symptoms present that a doctor may even suspect lupus. This can be very troubling and causes a lot of confusion. The most common symptoms can include;

  • Rash or color splotches on the nose and cheeks that are red in color
  • Swollen, painful joints
  • Unexplained fever
  • Breathing causes unexplained, sharp chest pains
  • Hair loss
  • Extremities such as fingers and toes turn purple with cold
  • Similar purple discoloration in extremities when under stress
  • Unusual sun sensitivity
  • Low blood cell count

[More info on symptoms]

While all of these symptoms taken together would seem like it would be easy to make a diagnosis, the truth is that most people with lupus appear healthy and the symptoms are intermittent at first. Lupus can often be experienced in waves, with a period of high symptoms followed by a period when there are none present. One clue that researchers are beginning to track down is that while these symptoms could be attributable to other diseases, most are unusual in young black women. There is a strong chance that lupus is inherited so doctors will ask about family history (inheriting lupus is suspected but not absolutely proven).

Three different types of lupus

Generally, there are three different types of lupus, not all of which share the same grouping of symptoms but may display all of them too. The first is the most severe; systemic lupus erythematosus is a form of lupus that affects the joints of the body and different parts of the body including the skin. The second type, discoid lupus, is limited to the skin and the last type, drug-induced lupus, is exactly what it sounds like a form of allergic reaction to a medication you are taking.

How lupus is treated

The good news is that drug-induced lupus will likely disappear once you stop taking the medicine, but some symptoms could be on going. For most people, it is a matter of simply finding a replacement medicine if you have a chronic condition that the medication that caused the induced lupus is treating. This can take some trial and error. It can also be complicated if you are on multiple medications as you will have to figure out which one is causing the lupus. Do not stop taking any medication on your own if you think it is causing your lupus, stopping medication of any type should only be done with a doctor’s approval and supervision. For lupus that affects the skin, there are many ointments and creams that are now available that can help to relieve the rashes and other symptoms associated with discoid lupus. Treating systemic lupus is more involved as you will have to work with your physician to find a pain relief medication that can also reduce any swelling without causing any disruptive side effects in your life. Treatment varies from individual to individual, so these scenarios may not be the case for all people.  If you suspect that you are suffering from lupus, TALK to a DOCTOR (I’m not a medical professional.  This article is based only on my personal research…not medical expertise)!

How did I get lupus?

No one knows for sure why lupus develops. It is heavily suspected that genes play a role as there is suggestion that lupus can be inherited. However, there isn’t enough evidence to prove that hypothesis so no scientist can explain why one person in a family would develop lupus and two other complete generations not have any symptomology. One benefit from all the research and attention lupus is receiving is it marks a turn in the nature of scientific investigation that is focused on and inclusive of minority health issues. Lupus may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for many who will benefit from the new approach to addressing disorders and disease within minority population that had been missing from health research for too long.

For more information check out this fact sheet from The Lupus Foundation of America –  Lupus.org 

Jasmine lost 84 pounds

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Weight Loss Story of the Day: Jasmine lost 84 pounds.  She decided in her twenties that she did not want to develop the chronic health issues she was witnessing in her family.  Here is more information about her weight loss journey:

Jasmine before and after

“Hi, Although my journey is still in progress, in 1 year I have lost 84 pounds. My motivation was seeing all the women in my family and how they struggle with their weight and medical issues. I am only 23 but I saw myself headed down that same path. I was determined not to allow myself get a serious health problem, like type 2 diabetes which I was borderline for, so I began to loose weight. Also, my father passed away at the beginning of 2013 and going to the gym became a stress reliever for me.

It was hard to change my eating habits in the beginning but slowly I began to eat smaller portions and added more veggies into my diet. I did not fully cut out all of the bad things for me but I limited myself to once a week of having them in small doses. In the gym, I did 30-40 minutes of cardio (running on the treadmill or elliptical). I would then follow up with strength training on alternating days between upper and lower body. I worked out everyday, twice a day. I started out at 315 pounds and now I am down to 231 pounds. My goal weight is 190 considering that I am 5’10 and that is healthy weight for that height. My advice to anyone trying to loose weight is that it 90% mental and 10% physical. If you are determined and have the right mindset, you can do it. It may appear hard and it will take a while to see results but if you really want to shed the weight, stick to it.”