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Andreshia lost 20 pounds

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Andreshia wrote in to let us know that she’s lost 20 pounds with healthy eating and by stepping up the intensity of her workouts.  Here is what she shared with us…

andreshia before and after

I found my motivation in simply saying one day, ” I will not keep starting over”. I always worked out but my diet was the worst. I was on Instagram and saw grandmothers who looked better than me in a bikini. I told myself that I had no excuse to be this way since I had no children.

So, I started eating clean, watching my macros (counting macronutrients) and watching what time I ate. Again, I use to going to the gym, so I started to make my workouts count. I began HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), CARDIO and incline walks on the treadmill. I hit the gym 4-5 times a week.

I’m 5’4″ tall and started at 176 pounds. Now, I weigh 155 pounds.  I lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks. I’m on my way to my goal weight of abs. 🙂 My advice for people who want to lose weigh is to stay consistent and plan ahead with your meals and gym schedule.

Instagram: @sheroinme

Mashea lost 65 pounds

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Weight Loss Story of the Day: Mashea lost 65 pounds in approx. 5 months with healthy eating and lots of exercise.  She was motivated by a diagnosis of diabetes to totally change her eating and exercise habits.  Here is what she shared with us about her weight loss journey…

mashes weight loss

I started my journey in February 2015. I began by changing my eating habits. I also started working out 3 to 4 times a week. My motivation was that I was diagnosed Diabetes. I didn’t take it seriously until I lost a family member that was my age.

I changed my eating by cutting out fast food, junk foods, fried food and I stopped drinking everything but water. Also, I started in taking more fruits and veggies and eating 6 small meals a day. I drink a gallon on water if not more each day.

I use to make up every excuse you could thing of for why I couldn’t work out. Then I found a track with a park right next to it. My kids and I would go there and they would play as I walked or ran 3-4 miles, 3-4 times a week.

My starting weight was 325 pounds I am now down to 260 pounds. I’m still working to get an additional 60 lbs off of me. I’m 5’9″ tall. I’ve started my journey this year so it’s been less than 6 months.

My advice to others is you can do anything that you put your heart and mind too. Yes, it gets hard at times but I keep pushing myself not only for me but for my children and my family. My Instagram is @weewee_31

mashes before and after mashea before and after

5 Tips for Avoiding Temptation at the Grocery Store

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tips grocery storeIf you don’t want to fall off your new healthy eating regime you have to be prepared to fight temptation while grocery shopping. It is easy to lose focus and start perusing the aisles aimlessly. Before you know it, you get home and while you’re putting your food away realize you bought junk food that you shouldn’t have or spent much more money than you had budgeted.

Before your next visit to the market, consider these 5 tips to make your shopping experience more productive.

Plan Meals and Look Up Recipes Before you Go

Planning out meals every week or even for the whole month may seem tedious at first but it goes a long way in both saving money and ensuring you eat what you are supposed to. Before you head to the grocery store, sit down and think about what you want to eat. If you have no idea what you want it can be helpful to look through your local store’s weekly flyer to see what’s on sale and work around that.

Once you figure out an idea of what meals you want to eat you can look up recipes so you can put together a shopping list. This will help you ensure you only buy the ingredients you need. This whole process of finding meals and going through recipes is easily streamlined by using an app. Two excellent apps to use are Yummly and Fooducate. As an added bonus with Yummly is that you can “Yum” your favorite recipes and add the ingredients in them automatically to an in-app shopping list.

Write a Detailed List and Stick to It

Having a detailed shopping list will help you shop more efficiently by finding what you need more quickly. This is especially helpful in a very large supermarket.

When you are writing a grocery list based on a sales paper, meal plan or recipe it is important to write down brand names or know what generic brands you can buy for member prices. You may also want to write down sale’s prices so you are sure you are buying the right product. Also, don’t forget to check for coupons online before your trip to the store. Listing the ingredients you want to purchase by location in store can also be done and prevents you from having to go back and forth from aisles to, say, the produce section. Some stores provide the aisle info online.

Sticking to a list really requires willpower. Stay focused on only what you need and try to not let your eyes wander around shelves. If you find you really struggle, try these two things:

  • Time Yourself: Set the timer on your phone for 15-20 minutes (however long is a reasonable time for your list) and get your shopping done in that time. You could also set the stopwatch and simply work against yourself to see how quickly you can get everything. This could be really fun for shopping with your children if they are old enough to go through the store to grab items by themselves.
  • Use Exact Cash: This can be really helpful if you tend to buy junk food at the last minute and also use sale’s flyers for shopping. Write down prices for all the ingredients, add it up including tax, and only take in just enough cash to cover the cost of your list. Not having extra money or your debit card will stop you from buying something you shouldn’t.

Don’t Shop Hungry

Going grocery shopping while you’re hungry is a very bad idea, especially when strong cravings are in play. When you feel hungry and you’re surrounded by tasty food you are much more apt to: 1) buy more than you need in terms of amount and calories, and 2) buy foods that aren’t on your list (junk food, highly processed food).

The idea of not grocery shopping while you’re hungry isn’t just good judgement but also scientifically sound. A study in JAMA Internal Medicine archives done in 2013 showed that participants who fasted prior to shopping didn’t necessarily buy more food but they did buy more high-calorie food.

Even more interesting is that being hungry while shopping doesn’t just affect the types of groceries you buy but also non-food items as well. Researchers at USC Dornsife found that participants who were experiencing hunger pains while shopping would purchase more non-food items than those who had eaten recently.

Don’t Shop While Emotional (Stressed, Angry, etc)

Similarly to shopping hungry, don’t go shopping when you feel any exaggerated emotion. This could be upsetting emotions like anger or just excitement over getting together with your girlfriends on the weekend. If you are an emotional eater, going shopping while you feel any strong emotions can lead to unwise food choices.  Food is very connected to comfort and celebration in our society.

While many studies about emotion and impulsive shopping, like this one, don’t involve grocery shopping, researchers agree that the result is very much the same. When you combine the effects of emotion with hunger, it’s pretty much a guarantee you’re going to buy more than you should or overindulge in your favorite comfort foods.

Go grocery shopping when you are in good, neutral mood and dealing with limited stress. Reducing your stress might mean leaving the kids or your significant other at home. It may also mean going shopping very early in the morning or at night when the store isn’t so busy.

  1. Shop the Perimeter of the Grocery Store

Whether you are shopping without a list or with a full, detailed list, it is best to stick to the perimeter of your store as much as you can. Why? Majority of grocery stores tend to keep produce, meat, frozen produce, and other whole foods on the outskirts of the store while most of the processed foods that can stay on the shelf for months are in aisles in the middle. By staying on the outside of the aisles as much as possible you are going to keep your mind on track.

Many of these tips for staying on track are basic but very powerful. They will also become second nature as you practice them. Be sure to put some or all of these tips into effect the next time you need to restock your fridge and pantry.  When we fail to plan, we plan to fail.

Gertrude lost 94 pounds

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Update 2017: Gertrude is still going strong. It’s been more than 2 years since we featured her and she’s kept the weight off.

Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Gertrude lost 94 pounds.  This UK author and mother of 2 got a wake up call in the form of a friend’s brutal honesty and decided that it was time to lose the weight and change her lifestyle for good.  Now she is helping others to do the same. Here is what she shared with us about her journey…

gertrude before and after

Hello, my name is Gertrude Nyirenda and I’m 36 years old. I am married and I am mother to two wonderful boys. My weight loss journey started on June 8, 2013. I had been invited to a barbecue where a friend’s brutal honesty made me realise just how unhappy I had been. She merely pointed out what I had known all along. I was obese weighing in at 17 stone (238 pounds) and I needed to lose the weight.

For seventeen years, I had battled with trying to lose weight, only to put it on again. I embarked on a journey involving lifestyle change. I came up with what I call the ABCs of weight loss. By committing to my new lifestyle change, I managed to lose 91 pounds. My start weight was 238 lbs and my current weight is now 144 lbs, it took me 1 year to lose the weight and have managed to maintain my weight for 9 months now. My height is 5’4″.

My ABC plan is very good and helpful to anyone who would like to embark on a weight loss Journey. Every battle we encounter starts in the mind and if you can win it in your mind you are half way there. No one can change a made up mind. I have written a book entitled ‘Weight Loss Wars’. It chronicles my journey, or rather (my weight loss wars), I suffered from anorexia and bulimia in my late teens, and then being obese most of my adult life. Finally to experience a sweet and total victory of reaching a healthy goal weight the healthy way. My website is www.weightlosswars.co.uk and my book is also available on Amazon.

My eating habits before I started my Weight Loss Wars journey consisted of: I would often skip breakfast as this would justify my reasons for eating more throughout the day. My excuse being that since I skipped breakfast, I can have an extra slice of cake. I ate out most of the time as I found cooking my own meals too strenuous, so I would often eat things like pizza, fish & chips and steak bake. I never really cared about what I ate. I had a bottle of coke every day and never drank water at all. Looking back now, I never even gave myself a chance to feel hungry because I was always eating or snacking on crisps and cakes. M&M chocolate peanuts were my favorite.

How I changed my eating habits: Now my meals are structured and I never miss breakfast. I usually have a bowl of bran flakes with a banana slices and 150mls of semi skimmed milk, with a cup of tea (no sugar) with 50mls of semi skimmed milk. I only snack on fruit. Lunch is usually a salad or a sandwich and a pot of muller light yoghurt. For dinner I have vegetables and whatever meat the rest of my family are having. For example, I will have a home cooked curry but with vegetables or steak with vegetables Throughout the day, I drink water. I drink 4 bottles of the 500mls small bottles taking sips thought the day. In a nut shell, I eat healthy 6 days a week and I have one day when I treat myself sensibly.

For exercise: when I started my journey I was 17 stone, I had a very bad back (sciatica) so I could only walk, I used to walk for four miles, 5 days a week, then when I hit a plateau, I increased my walking distance to 5 miles, 5 days a week. It used to take me 2 hours to walk that distance but now it only takes me 1 hour 15 mins. I absolutely love going out for my daily walks.

FB page: Weightlosswars

gertrude weight loss

5 Free Wellness Apps That Can Help You Reach Your Goals

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5 free wellness apps

The biggest struggles of weight loss and just improving your overall wellness involves a combination of remembering to write down what you eat, keeping track of your weight loss, calculating how far your run was and other such chores that can be easily forgotten.

Tracking your progress in the form of calories, miles ran and workout time is important for motivation and overall improvement of your health since it will allow you to see where you may be missing out. Since most people have a smartphone with them everywhere they go, mobile health and fitness apps have become quite popular.

Save yourself the time of searching for the best health and fitness app and download one of these 5 instead.

  1. MyFitnessPal

my fitness palIf you could only download one app, MyFitnessPal would be an ideal choice. This app allows you to keep a food journal, track your workouts and see your overall weight loss progress all in one spot. Some specific features include:

  • A huge 5 million food database
  • Add your own foods easily and quickly into your own personal database
  • Set very specific nutrition goals for any diet
  • Track water consumption
  • Set reminders for adding food and exercise progress
  • You can add a sync a step tracking device to the app
  • App syncs automatically on mobile and online
  • App is one of the easiest to use and set up beautifully

The app hits every single requirement of a good health and fitness app for weight loss. It is perfect for people brand new to using these types of apps and equally appealing to tech-junkies who crave a well-designed, quick to use app. You can also access your MFP information online. You will not be disappointed with this one.

  1. Fooducate

fooducateFooducate is an amazing app for those who don’t want to just count calories but really track the nutritional value of the foods they eat. This app uses a grading system to allow you to easily judge the quality of food you may buy. Being able to take our your phone right in the grocery store and scan a barcode means you’re more apt to do it.

Other features of the Fooducate app include:

  • A-D food grading system so you can judge the health at a glance
  • App will give you pros and cons of the food
  • Focus more on the quality of the food you eat rather than how many calories
  • Will show you hidden ingredients not easily deciphered from just reading the nutrition label
  • Add in your own food that you eat often to make using the app easier
  • Includes personalization for elimination diets like gluten-free
  • Takes health conditions like illness and pregnancy into consideration

You can also track exercise with Fooducate though it primarily focuses on diet. This app also connects to Apple’s Health app to make sync both apps seamless. If you really want to know what you are eating or are needing to carefully keep track of what you eat because of food allergies, this app should be on your phone.

  1. Lose It!

loseitappLose It! uses a combination of tried and true weight loss methods like calorie counting backed with friendly community of peers there to motivate you. This app has quite a few features and works well as a stand-alone app much like MyFitnessPal.

Here are a few of Lose It!’s features:

  • Allows you to set goals for weight, sleep, blood pressure and exercise
  • Track body measurements
  • Large food database with ability to add your own foods
  • Scan barcodes on food items to make tracking easier
  • You can be as open and social as you want with the community, or make it totally private
  • Set up community fitness and diet challenges

Lose It! is a really fun app and a great choice for people who really want a social experience when it comes to weight loss and overall health. This app is also available on more uncommon platforms like the Nook and Kindle.

  1. Noom Coach

Noom Coach is a solely mobile-based app that includes the ability to track diet and exercise for those who are striving for weight loss. This app is praised as being more than an app to count calories but rather an app made for the everyday person who is more concerned about health than numbers.

Here are a couple of Noom Coach’s features:

  • Color coded nutrition feedback
  • Built in barcode scanner
  • App memory for favorite foods
  • Syncs with its own pedometer
  • Offers health-related articles daily
  • Very supportive community and forum to answer your questions

Noom Coach also claims that 9 out of 10 users have lost weight, with 10 lbs in 2 months being the average.  The basic version is free.  Upgrade for more features, like support groups and coaching.

  1. Endomondo

Last but not least is the app Endomondo. Endomondo is all about exercise. This GPS-based exercise tracker focuses on distance exercises like walking, running, biking, kayaking and more. This app will be an invaluable tool for those who participants in these activities.

By using Endomondo you’ll be able to:

  • See a live map of your workout and distance ran
  • Sync a heartrate monitor to view your stats while exercising
  • Includes customized tracking for more than 40 sports
  • Syncs with the music on your phone so you can listen and run/walk/bike/etc
  • Set up challenges in the Endomondo community
  • Shows workout history and goals
  • Motivates you with audio tracks

Though Endomondo isn’t a standalone fitness app since it lacks the diet aspect and goal setting, it is still a must download for anyone exercising at distances, even if you just enjoy walking. This app will also be ideal for those who compete or plan to compete in distance events, like 5k runs.

Health and fitness apps can really be invaluable tools, especially if you are just starting a new lifestyle. They simplify the whole process of creating and scheduling workouts, food journaling and tracking progress. If you don’t already have these 5 apps, visit the iTunes or Google Play store to download them.

Honorable Mentions: I also have to mention FitBit’s online community and app, the MapMyFitness app and the FatSecret app.  These are solid choices as well.

Claire lost 115 pounds

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Update Aug 2015: Claire sent in a new after photo and let us know that she lost more 15 pounds, with 20 lbs to go.  That’s 130 pounds gone so far.  Check her out on Facebook.

claire before and after

Weight Loss Story of the Day: Claire lost 115 pounds.  She shared with us about the emotion pain she had to deal with while being bullied for being overweight. She now wants to inspire others to lose weight and get healthy.

claire before and after

Being overweight really affected me, not only fiscally but emotionally as well. I was made fun off, bullied, laughed at and discriminated against by friends, family, people at work and on the streets. It took me a long time to have the courage and motivation to loose the weight.

I realized that eating healthier and living a healthier lifestyle is loving me in every single way, no matter how people could be so mean towards me due to my obesity. You made me see that eating healthy is so delicious. I was so ashamed to go out, I had low self esteem and I was feeling worthless. I want to thank Black Women Losing Weight for helping me to face that big fear I had and giving me the motivation to love myself and be proud of who I am.

Losing this weight has given me peace and made me so proud of myself. By losing weight I am able to inspire a lots of people and I want to help others who are also fighting obesity. I was 310 pounds and now I’m 195 pounds (height 5’4″). My goal is to be 160 lbs and I’m still on a diet and working on reaching my goal. It has been 11 months now on my weigh lost journey and I’m proud to have lost 115 lbs so far.

Instagram: @CLAIRESOLORZANO
FB page: Never Give Up On Your Goal

Tai lost 175 pounds with hard work and surgery

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Tai wrote in to share her transformation story with us.  She when from 314 pounds to 280 pounds on her own with healthy eating after years of emotional eating.  After learning that she had a serious thyroid issue, she opted to have Gastric Sleeve weight loss surgery and has now lost 175 pounds.

tai weight loss surgery

Hello!!! My name is Tai. I’ve never been overweight until about 4 years ago. I had usually lived a pretty healthy lifestyle. Then, tragedy struck and I lost a family member due to obesity related issues. Shortly after, I went through a horrible breakup. I was also nearly homeless and had less than two weeks to find a place to live. I took solice in food. It was my best friend, my confidant, and always there for me. I found a place to live and stayed in my room and ate my feelings. I was a mess. I never wanted to go anywhere or do anything. I was fat and nearly dead. I stayed single and didn’t date for about over a year.

At my very highest weight I was about 314 pounds and I stopped weighing myself after that. I was a size 18 which was tight on me at only 5’3″ tall. I started out buying groceries and cooking my own food. I decided to go to school which kept me pretty busy and out of the house. I cut back on sodas and drank a lot of fruit infused water. My roommates started eating healthier too, not that they were overweight, but I had a good support system. Slowly, the weight started to come off and I got down to 280 pounds. I went to see my doctor who diagnosed me with a serious thyroid issue. That’s when I started researching weight loss surgery options. I needed a tool to help me be successful and keep the weight off.

My insurance didn’t cover the surgery so I saved my money and had it done in Mexico for 1/4 of what I would have paid in the US. Now, the surgery (gastric sleeve) is a weight loss tool. I had to do all the hard work. I was on liquids only for about a month. After that is when the real work started. I ate less than 1/4 of what I used to eat in 6 small meals a day. Drinking water was important too. The good thing was that I no longer craved junk food. I had to retrain my taste buds. I didn’t even want junk food in my house. I cooked all my meals. I craved protein and veggies. I made smoothies with protein powder, salads, grilled meats, etc. If I wanted to treat myself I would have a 100% fruit and veggies popsicles by Fruitare.

It took me about 15 months to lose 175 pounds. I am now a size 6. I feel great on the inside and look amazing. I was so afraid of going under the knife again, I researched products for skin firming and tightening. Body lift surgery for weight loss patients is common and very risky. Thank God I didn’t have to go through that. I swear by coconut oil (you can cook with it) and Nerium Firm cream. I’m more active, I work out 4 to 5 times a week and I’m always looking for more healthy recipes to try because I love to cook. If I can do it, anyone can!

tai before and after

Melinda lost 26 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Melinda lost 26 pounds, going from a size 12 to a size 4. She has reshaped her body with weight lifting and healthy eating.  Read what she shared with us about her journey…

melinda before and after

Hello, I just wanted the share my journey with you. My name is Melinda Cecil and I started my weight loss journey on January 18, 2013. I’m 5’4″ tall and I weighed 178 pounds wearing a size 12/large. I woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and simply wanted to look better naked..lol!! My goal was to just get my weight down to 145 pounds and I did that in 6 months by eating healthier and working out everyday. I would walk for 3 miles in 45 minutes until I was able to run. I started weight lifting and fell in love with the weights. I stopped eat so much junk food and I don’t drink pop, juice or Kool-aid anymore, just water. I’ve stopped eating red meat for about a year now. Now, I work out 6 days a week.

I’m still in the process of building a better me. Over 2 years later, I now weigh 152 pounds and wear a size 4/small. I feel fabulous and healthy! The advice I’d give to anyone who wants to lose weight is; eat healthy, workout, and stay focused! It gets hard sometimes, but don’t give up! My Instagram is @Mrsrome1

melinda weight loss

Eutonya lost 25 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Eutonya lost 25 pounds.  She knows that even though she’s had some ups and downs on her journey, slow and steady wins the race.  Here is what she shared with us about her journey…

eutonya before and after

I started my journey back in September 2014 to lose weight and try to eat better. Since I started, I have lost weight and gained it back so many times, but I never gave up. I’m not just doing this because it’s about to be summertime. A lot of people lose weight to have that summer body but I did it due to health problems. I have high blood pressure and I’m tired of taking medicine.  I also wanted to have more confidence. Don’t get me wrong, I love the skin I’m in, but I know it can be much better. I’m not getting any younger. I will be 39 years old this year and I want to be like a fine wine (better with time).

I started eating more healthy. I stopped eating ALL fast food druing the first 3 months of my journey. I only ate baked chicken and fish and more vegetables and fruit. The first 3 months, I walked around the lake 5 days the week. My starting weight was 242 pounds. Now, I weight 217 pounds and my goal is to lose 15 more pounds (height: 5’6″).

My advice is to never give up, even if people say you can’t do it. Trust me, it’s been hard. My weight was going up and down but I never gave up. So, to the people that said I couldn’t do it I say, “Y’ALL KNOW WHAT Y’ALL CAN DO FOR ME”. To the ones who have been helping me I say thank you because y’all push me! “WORK HARD or GO HOME!”

Instagram: @wine_fine76

Kenya lost 95 pounds

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Weight Loss Transformation of the Day: Kenya lost 95 pounds.  This single mom is raising 7 children. She embraced plant-based eating and regular exercise.  Here is what she shared with us about her weight release journey…

kenya before and after

In 2013, I was 325 pounds. Now in 2015, I’m down to 230 pounds (height: 5’9″ tall) with hard work and dedication. My journey continues with exercising, clean eating and having smoothies practically all day. My motivation was my seven children. Being a single parent, I wanted to live a long healthy life.

I changed my eating habits by giving up some meats. I don’t eat any red meat or chicken. I wouldn’t say that I’m a vegan, because I do eat fish every now and then. I eat plant-based meals primarily. I eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and if I do eat other carbs that are gluten free.

My exercise routine: I work out with a personal trainer three times a week.

My advice to anyone trying to lose weight is to never give up and take it one day at a time. Also, I would suggest that you change your way of thinking and surround yourself around positive people who will help motivate you into a healthy lifestyle.

Instagram: @mizz_thickemz