*Screen Name: Aphil
*Age/Age Range: almost 30!
*Family Life:
Married with two children-Raiden is 3, Jasmine is 6
*Occupation:
Middle Eastern dancer with Troupe Taleeba, professional seamstress and costume maker specializing in belly dance costumes and movie costume replicas, vendor for belly dance merchandise, member of the costume staff at TheForce.net
*Hobbies and Interests:
Art, dance (all kinds), music and instruments, costumes and costume design, sci-fi and fantasy movies and books, foreign culture, wine and mead, Renaissance faires, exercising, Natural health and eating practices, funky clothing, any craft-crocheting, floral design, beading, painting-you name it I do it.
*Favorite Music:
Middle Eastern, Prince, Ani Difranco, Adult alternative-folksy stuff, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, classical, Gothic-Type O Negative or Manson type stuff, Electronic Techno-Raver stuff, Bluegrass (yeah-imagine that!
) Afikan Jenbe, Native American and Middle Eastern drumming...really anything that makes unique use of instruments and musical talents. (So I actually pretty much hate pop music like Britney Spears and Hillary Duff.)
*Favorite Color(s): green, black, and any shade of brown. I like orange as well.
*Favorite Exercise/Workouts: strength training, belly dancing, walking, and yoga.
*What are your fitness/health goals?
To become stronger, more flexible, and more more aerobically fit. I would ultimately like to maintain a weight of around 140-but I am in no hurry. I concentrate the most on athletic fitness. I also concentrate on eating as much of a natural diet as possible.
*What was the "trigger" or incident that made you decide it was time to lose weight and become more fit?
After I had my first child I weighed 200 pounds. The trigger to get fit was when I saw photos of me with her during a baby pageant. It tore me up to see how fat I was. I made it to goal and maintenance, and soon became pregnant again.
I hadn't even recuperated from his birth totally yet when he became very ill with pneumonia and aspirated lungs at a few weeks of age. He was in intensive care for a while and I was doing breathing treatments and such every couple hours for a while after his hospital release. Once that was all over with-I realized how worn out and fat I was. I was 211 pounds and tired and just worn out. I couldn't wear anything but housewife sweatpants. I knew I had to start taking care of myself, if I was going to take care of my children.
*What do you struggle with the most on this journey to health?
Binge eating/snacking
*What are three things in the area of diet/exercise you need to improve?
*Stop occasional binge eating/snacking
*To drink more water
*To try to push my dance experience and ability to a higher level
*(Evil motivation
) Who do you want to look better than?
:
Every female on my husband's side of the family.
*What can you not wait to wear when you are at goal weight or size?
Shorts! (legs are my problem area)