erricah- WELCOME!!!!

Hello ladies how is everyone!

Anyone ever thought about surgery once reaching your goal like a tummy tuck or something?

I know a few AA females that werent over weight but they had children and got tummy tucks one of my cousins got lipo on her thighs. Just curious what you gals think of it lol

Well I got my hair braided yesterday YAY! I have been 6.5 months Relaxer free.....I am trying to stay that way but I tend to get them twice a year. So the plan is to just keep it braided. I am trying to grow this mess back out. I made it to the gym yesterday but IDK about today due to working 12 hours today. I may just slide in for 30 minutes or so. My Bday Party is Friday and I can not wait!!!!!! I got this stupid flyy dress and I am just soooo excited.

Jasons Lea - I know you are having a few issues but you seem to be handling it all really well. WTG for giving up sodas and taking better care of your self....seriously. I need to try that sunscreen thing as fair-skinned as I am

Matilda - Well, I have no children and I have been overweight since childhood. So I am definitely getting a breast lift and a TT but not until after I have my child (which will be by the time I am 28). SO even though it is far off I am getting it. If I was palnning on a child I would get it over Christmas Break. Now something I would like to do is lipo on my thighs but I am scared the skin just sag and look bad....so won't be doing that.

Erricah - WELCOME

Jasonslea- Small changes count for something to. Just keep progressing!

Cake I know exactly what you mean about the hair. My cousin and I are going to get our hair braided on saturday and I cant wait. Im sick of taking my wig off to go to the gym lol

Well ladies Im down another lb so im happy 236 this am!!! 21lbs to go to hit b day goal!!!!

Where the heck is everybody???? Okay so is one day to Operation Bday Party. My birthday is officially Monday but I am having my celebration tomorrow. I got my dress, got my hair done, get a pedi tonight, and find my shoes tonite as well. I have my WI tonight and I am pretty sure I will have a good one!!!!!! I am so excited to reach my goal so that I can get a new ticker with 10 pound increments.....How is everyone else's week going????

Matilda - I know you can not wait to get your hair done. I am loving mine. Going to the gym and showering and having beautiful hair instantly. Not having to look like ragdoll that nobody loves when I get home is a blessing. I hate looking all jacked (hair-wise) when I see my man or anyone for that matter.

Today, I am feeling very crappy emotionally due my new friend and I having our first fight. It was a big misunderstanding but he wouldn't talk to me about it. I literally had to tell him that I was going to leave him alone in order for him to tell me what was wrong. Good thing is I can't overeat because I can't. Right now I can barely eat. Things will get better for me with or without him. I am down four pounds and that is a very good thing.

CakeBatter - Happy Birthday. You Go Girl!!!! Doesn't it feel wonderful to look how you want to look? We women are sexy no matter what because being Sexy is a state of mind. I have been thinking about getting my hair braided too. I am waiting at least another month because I just colored my hair two weeks ago and permed it 4 weeks ago. I need to get my ends clipped too. Also, I am going to wait until about an 1/2 of inch of new growth comes in before I get it braided. Enjoy your party!!!!

Jasonslea - I work for the VA in Manhattan and there is a freeze here too.

Erricah - AWWW I'm sorry honey/ The first (well ALL of them) fight sux. I hope it works out however you want it to. And :carrot: :carrot: :carrot: WTG 4 POUNDS yay!!!!!

erricah Im sorry to hear about your situation with your man friend. I know how that can be which is why Ive been single for about three years. Its really lonely sometime but Ive learned a lot about myself in the process. Ive been just doing things to better myself as a person but I think I am ready to be in a relationship but I dont have time. Im dating a new guy and I do like him but I guess well see.

Cake happy early b day I hope you enjoy every moment!

I did body to pump last night and boy ol boy do my arms feel like strings. Then this morning I got up and took a Low impact class and I am sooo sore but I feel great. I hope I drop at least two more lbs this week. But we'll see!

hey girlies!
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/fashion/27SKIN.html

hey ladies i have another article that i read that i think is super interesting. its about black hair. i am going to find the old hair thread and post it there too. i'll comment after i hear ya'lls thoughts.
edit* i posted pics of my two strand twist out over there too in the 20 somethings hair thread

i know ive been gone forever it seems but im back! i missed yall and i have read every word! :wave: to everyone who has joined us since i left.

sooo i had two interviews in st louis for the position that i really want, and they both went really well. sooo i have 3 more interviews next week and that will be a grand total of 6 interviews for one position. whew! i really want and need this job so i am okay with it but geez thats a lot! anywho i figure i just have to keep getting through each day and i will be employed by the end!

as for WL efforts i have been maintaining which i am very proud of since i havent been home for 2 weeks and managed to not gain a pound thru 2 bday celebrations while i was in stl. now i just have to get back in the gym and begin eating better again. its tough esp. since i am leaving again next week. oh well hopefully i will know something by the 2nd week in sept and be gainfully employed and ready to have a stable living situation. i think its going to be difficult to lose until then.

well hope everyone is doing well and losing pounds. ttys!

Hey girls, i'm alive. Brie texted me a couple of days ago and I felt awful about up and leaving with basically no notice. Things got hectic with the divorce and then I started a new awesome job, and acquired a boyfriend (yes, rub your eyes and read it 100 more times, I said BOYFRIEND) and omg I am so sprung on this fool it's not even funny. So things are just now starting to settle into a routine and i'm back. :)

Happy/bummed to report no weight changes, but I really just want to get to my goal. It's been long enough. I'll write more when I get off of work tomorrow. I'm sleepy and I have to be up early.

Love ya'll! Sweet dreams!

Yesterday was like the greatest! I got my dress and it was $25 off and I got two pair of shoes for 1/2 off. I lost 3lbs making me under 170 for muh BDAY and I had a spicy italian 6" sub for dinner (which meant I didn't have to cook) and 2 chocolate chip cookies (all within points) and not to mention I was so sexy sophisticated yesterday and received a Kazillion compliments....WOOHOO!!!!

Nisha - I am happy to know you didn't fall off the face of the Earth! I am happy to cute the "sexymama" pic too..hehe lol. OMG a BOYFRIEND!!! Yay for a JOB! It so great that you are doing well and as far as the weight thing sheesh you haven't gained anything so uhm.....hallelujah!!!

Brie _ I am glad you are back as well. I will read the article and get back to you soon. Fantastic you didn't gain a thing being out of town that long and TWO BDAY CELEBRATIONS!!! WTG

Matilda/Ericcah - Thx for early bday wishes!!!

Interesting Article
 

i came across this today. hmmmm

Africa—Yes, Africa—Has an Obesity Problem
Do permissive attitudes about weight contribute to the rise in rampant fatness?
By Matthew Berman | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Aug 24, 2009

An obesity epidemic is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about health problems in Africa. You're far more likely to associate the region with infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, or starvation and malnutrition. In fact, though, the past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in obesity in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa alone, 64 percent of the black population and 50 percent of the white population are overweight or obese, according to a study by the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). The Ugandan Heart Institute predicts that obesity-related heart disease will be the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. Complicating the picture are social attitudes that make being overweight seem harmless, if not explicitly attractive.

This is not to say that no one is starving anymore in Africa. "This region may have started to experience what's called a 'double burden' … with malnutrition on the one hand and a growing prevalence of obesity on the other," explained Eduardo Villamor, assistant professor of international nutrition at Harvard. Malnourishment—in the form of both starvation and overconsumption of cheap and fried foods—is increasingly pandemic in Africa. This double whammy is largely due to increasing urbanization. As jobs have moved out of rural areas and into cities, the health of many Africans has suffered. Prof. Arne Astrup of the faculty of life sciences at the University of Copenhagen (and president of the IASO) explains that in rural communities, people were used to large amounts of physical labor and walking as well as an abundance of fruits and healthy grains to eat. In the cities, they encountered a new world of less energy-demanding jobs and a plentiful supply of fried, cheap meats laden with trans fats.

Despite the growing problem, many sub-Saharan Africans do not find the region's increasing waistline to be of concern. Instead, obesity and fatness in general are widely viewed as a positive. Prof. Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, found that the "index of affluence and power is linked to one's size." In other words, bigger is better, even if its unhealthy. HIV/AIDS is another unlikely factor in the acceptance of obesity. The virus, known as "slim disease" throughout Africa, is strongly associated with weight loss. So being fat is viewed as a "great thing because it means you don't have HIV," says James. Some Africans, he adds, purposely gain large amounts of weight to prove that they don't have the disease.

Cultural attitudes about fatness take a special toll on women. Astrup says that women, especially in black populations, think being overweight is "something that is beautiful and attractive." As a result, 75 percent of black women in South Africa between the ages of 18 and 65 are overweight or obese, according to IASO. Among certain tribes in Nigeria, women are traditionally fattened up before marriage to make them seem more attractive and healthy to their future husbands. Also contributing to the weight problem among Nigerian women: younger women there are not allowed to play sports or walk outside without an escort.

Historically, black Africans have been less prone to heart disease, making some believe that obesity has no downside. However, the incidence of type 2 diabetes—which is known to increase the risk of developing heart disease—has increased among black Africans in recent years. According to the IASO, 8 to 12 percent of the black South African population has type 2 diabetes, compared with just 4 percent of the country's white population. And African doctors, Astrup has found, are making matters worse. Many patients, he says,"are being told by their doctor that they should relax and that [being overweight] is not too important to their health." Radio and television also dish out incorrect medical advice, he adds.

For Astrup, it all seems woefully familiar. "If you go back in time to about 1950 in the U.S. and Denmark," he says, "they had more or less the same picture … nobody cared, nobody recognized that it was an issue." That's not a good place to be, especially for a region with a patchwork, often overwhelmed, health-care system. Without effective government intervention and a change in cultural attitudes, sub-Saharan Africa's obesity epidemic is likely to worsen in the coming years, bringing yet more medical horror to its beleaguered population.

Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/212556

Happy Monday ladies! How was your weekend?

I havent worked out since thursday I didnt go over board over the weekend with eating but I am going to work extra hard this week. I think Im going to go to the gym today for about two hours.

Dont want to lose this thread where is everyone!!!!!

I also got my hair braided this weekend I post pics as soon as I get time!