I've been Setback!!!

Eating right and working out is hard. Eating right and working out is hard when you have a tight schedule. Eating right and working out is hard when you have a tight schedule, are lacking sleep and just down right down feel like it. What’s harder is feeling like you fell off and have no way to return; when you feel like you’ve failed. (Sigh)
This weekend I had a photo shoot with my favorite photographer and my Radio Show Co-Host (Speak on That coming soon to blogtalkradio.com). We chose red dresses for one look; RED is my favorite color! I bought this dress two months ago and let me tell you, I look HOT in it!!

As I slid the dress on and zipped it up, I found out that I had gained weight in EVERYONE’S favorite spot . . . yes, the midsection, the belly, the dreaded abdominal devil had expanded just enough to make me say, “AW MAN” and at that point, I hated my favorite red dress. I didn't even NEED a spanx or ANYTHING to hold it in just TWO months ago. Now I’m thinking, “I’m here, I don’t have a back up red dress, WTH do I do?” I go for the suck in and PRAY that it doesn’t look that bad in the pictures. Do you know what happens when you suck it in? You look stiff and fake and scared and like you’re not breathing . . . makes it hard to look natural in pictures; my advice, don’t do it, no matter how good you think you look, it just makes you look like . . . uh, you’re sucking it in. (Sigh)

So now, I’m sitting here evaluating what did I do wrong? I’m drinking my water, I’m going Zumba crazy, eating good food, eating often . . . wait, how much did I eat? My new beau is a chef and has been making the best meals. Only one problem, he doesn’t know how NOT to fix me a huge plate of food and I’m bad at saying, “I’ve had enough” especially when it’s so good. And yes, I, even I have slacked on the weight training because of a tremendously busy schedule. Key Key, you’ve got to make a choice honey. I’ll admit, I went on scolding myself and then gave myself the “yo, snap out of it” look in the mirror. This is a minor setback that I can come back from. I just have to reorganize my schedule and tell some people and things, “No, can’t do it. I’m busy taking care of myself.” My schedule is already packed pretty tight (actually it’s being held hostage by my full time 9 to 5, but let’s not go there). Last summer, I was weight training on my lunch hour and doing cardio at home. That’s not hard is it? Nope, it just means going back to being diligent and going to the gym the same way I come to work every morning (I love seeing nice, hunky men sweating and grunting . . . oh, sorry, sometimes that is the extra motivation).

Let me just say, I want to beat myself up so badly and say to hell with it all but then I remember how good I feel now compared to how I used to feel. I admittedly think about the people I know that say to me, “I wish I could look like you” and I really want people to keep saying that. I like going into a store and being able to fit a regular size and even more than that, I think of how I’ve lowered my risk for a myriad of diseases that plague my family like Type II Diabetes, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, Gout, Migraines due to poor food choices, increased adult acne, chronic fatigue, joint problems because of weight, asthma, and on and on . . . That’s when I remember that it’s just a minor setback. We can come back. SO . . . if you didn’t do so well on the food challenge the past two weeks, let’s try again. This time, You may eat food outside of your house on the weekends (except fast food) but TRY really hard to be sure you fill up the food chart, eating vegetables and fruit. AND DON’T FORGET THAT WATER!!!

The next installment will be “What you don’t know about food.” You’d be surprised at how some foods we eat are marked as “Healthy” but some of them turn out to be the culprits in our diet. One that you’ve probably had recently: Cereal. I know, I’m getting ready to ruin your life over cereal but trust me on this one.

Keyona
#PixieDustPotent

Would you starve your children?

Would you starve your children? Would you let them leave the house without eating anything? For the mothers who adore their babies, they would never let their babies leave the house with empty bellies or something to eat on the way to day care or school. So, why do we leave the house without eating? Be honest, do you eat breakfast? No, no . . I don’t mean once you get to work, I mean within an hour of getting out of bed, do you have your first meal? No? Nothing? Not even a piece of fruit, a cup of water or juice, NOTHING?!?!?! If you skip breakfast, you are hurting your chances of having that killer metabolism we all want. “Oh, I just can’t eat that early!” Okay, let’s consider your food timeline.
What time was the last meal you ate yesterday? Count the hours to your first meal of the day.
If the last time you ate was oh, let’s say 8:00 pm. You went to sleep, slept good too, woke up to get yourself ready for work. Most of us leave the house about 7:30 so think about this, if you haven’t eaten yet, by the time you get to work, it’s already been 12 hours since you ate! Are you trying to starve yourself??!?! If you wait until 10 or even worse, lunch at 12, you are now evil, hungry, slow and unproductive. Now, let’s go back to my first question: Would you starve your children? If your answer is no (which I really hope it is), then let’s not forget to take care of ourselves and eat some breakfast.
Uh huh, that’s a long time isn’t it if you don’t eat breakfast. Even if you wait till you buy something at work, the stress of the commute has probably made you more irritable and stressed and you don’t even have anything in your stomach to combat that but the sound of growling!!!
According to Mayo Clinic Nutritionist, Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D., “Eating breakfast reduces your hunger later in the day, making it easier to avoid overeating.”

You know you go looking for the biggest donut to fill that hole in your stomach . . . yes YOU!! Okay, maybe that was me, sorry. But I don’t want my people passing out at work, trying to stay awake in the 9 o’clock meeting but fading fast, head ‘bout to hit the desk because you don’t have any food in your system. Food has calories; calories = energy. That’s energy to tell these people, “This meeting has gone on long enough and nothing has been accomplished.” Ooops, there I go again, inside voice jumping outside.
When you eat breakfast, you tell your body, your metabolism, “Hey everybody, we’re making moves, get ready to conquer the world!” Your body knows to burn the calories, use it for brain power, muscle strength, burn the fat. Oh, what should you eat? This is my favorite part. Eat a whole meal; none of that a little yogurt, a piece of fruit or toast mess. Eat some real food. Cook some eggs and bacon for a good protein fix. I often have salmon and vegetables in the morning; yes, I’m for real. It gives me the Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D that doctors say we need to help combat a number of health issues.

So, I’m begging you, don’t starve your “child” in the morning and send them off into the world with nothing to fight with.

This Time, I WIN!!!

Today's assignment is to write a letter or poem to the food that keeps you falling off the wagon. Here's mine, I hope you enjoy!

Reese cup, WTF?!
You know you do me wrong
I can’t eat just one
And then, I’m jacked and farting all day long

Chocolate Cake
Ah, you certainly complete a date
Just to have you, warm and properly dressed on my plate
Even before I’d ate . . .
How about a every night, about 8?

Hamburgers with multiple slices of cheese
See how you do me?
All sauced up and greased
With fries on the side, always ready to please

You three were once staples in my diet
But now, don’t even try it
I’ll succumb to you only once in a while
But fat on my butt, stomach and thighs
You shall no longer pile

I love this beautiful frame
It makes my man bow and praise
So I’ll resist you day by day
Come on dammit, bring it, this time, I win this game!!

2 week Food Challenge

Okay, here we go.  The hardest part of losing weight I found is not the exercising.  We can burn calories taking a walk, playing with the kids, jumping up and down, or going Salsa dancing (like me and my girls did - whew that was fun and sweaty!).  The most difficult thing to get a hold of is the food we put in our mouths.  Hold on to your hats, I'm getting ready to give you a lot of information and homework but don't worry, just refer back to the blog or shoot me a message.  What I really want to do is make sure we're making life changes that are actually maintainable.  This is not going to be rocket surgery, I promise.  I mean, I can't tell you to eat bean sprouts or drink shakes for the rest of your life, can I?  HECK NAW!!! That's how most of us end up regaining any weight we lost. (In your best cheerleader voice) Ready?!?! OKAY!!!!!

The food challenge for the next two weeks is . . . to only eat food prepared at home.   Why?  Well, when we go out, we cannot control the amount of salt, sugar, butter, sauce, or preservatives in the food and typically, we eat more than we're supposed to.  I know I do; I leave restaurants feeling like WHOA, roll me outta here!!  On the weekend, you may eat out EXCEPT fast food! I don't want you touching french fries or any burger from YOU KNOW WHERE! I ain't naming no names but you know exactly where I'm talking about, your favorite last minute stop shall no longer be your favorite stop.  For those of us who have someone that likes treat us to a meal or two, please go ahead and order the steak, the Tilapia, the salmon, hell go for the lobster and tell your date that it is a part of your healthy eating plan.  I mean, if you really want the salad, eat it but I don't anyone going hungry.  You'll never survive if you're hungry.  That's easy right.  Uh, but wait, there's more AND you get to choose a cheat day.  This is a principal that was confirmed by my dear friend, fellow singer and vocal coach Eric Arceneaux - http://www.youtube.com/user/EricRCNOmusic. His tactics might be a little radical to follow, but if you're game, I mean, the proof is in the pecs!! I mean, pics :-)

You have two homework assignments.

Food Chart
Food diaries work, yes they do but most of us don't have time to jot down EVERYTHING we ate.  We're going to have colored coded food charts.  Every time you eat a fruit or vegetable of that color during the day, put one X in the box but leave room in the box just in case you eat more items of that color on that day.  The goal is to get at least 5 X's each day.  Yes, this is a trick to get you to eat at least 5 fruits and/or vegetables a day. 

This is the fruit and vegetable chart.  I am NOT against eating meat; I once was vegan but had to put meat back in my diet and I allow a few dairy products here and there (but OH that is SO dangerous for the ozone layer!!) So please eat some meat - steak, Salmon, Croaker, crab (real crab meat), chicken, lamb, turkey - EAT IT!  We don't lose weight because we don't eat enough good food, so please, don't starve . . . eat my dear.  Let's get some squash, mango, zucchini, eggplant, blueberries, raspberries, apples (ooh, I love apples), pears (did you know they had red pears? I love those too), oranges, pineapple.  Be careful with the pineapples and bananas, they have lots of natural sugar so if you're following through on the water, you'll be quite sugary sweet :-)




Hmm, I should make this a little more difficult though . . . and I will, no rice or potatoes until you've had three vegetables for the day.  Uh huh, I said it!  These are starches that your body processes as sugar and ends up in that lovely spare tire around our waists.  :-) Thank me later. 

The second challenge is to come up with a workout schedule for the next two weeks.  It should include 40 minutes of cardio at least four times a week and 30 minutes of strength training two/three times a week.  The strength training can be lifting weights or things like lunges, push ups, tricep dips, squats, yoga even!.  We all have busy schedules so you have to plan it.  Let me know what you came up with for the next two weeks and how you're doing with the food and water challenge.  Its not going to be overnight, but we're going to work at it together.  Until next time, let's get #PixieDustPotent with One Dress Size Less!

Keyona

One Dress Size Journey

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Welcome to my One Dress Size Journey! I am on a journey to drop one more dress size . . . why?  Because the camera is evil.  As a performer, I'm in front of the camera all the time and I want to look my best.  Hell, I just want to look good all the time, how about that? 

All of my life, I was a chunky girl.  Chunky, chubby, wearing a size 14/16 girl, even in elementary school.  So you know shopping with mom was always a GREAT TIME filled with lots of eye rolling, frustration and sometimes crying.  Every year, the doctor would put me on a new diet, and after a few weeks . . . what diet?  After I became an adult and graduated from college, my blood pressure crept up and so did my weight.  I wasn't as active as I had been before and the scale showed 205lbs at my heaviest.  Here I am, singing at my brother's wedding.  Yes, I was the big girl bridesmaid.  And can you believe my brother, damn nut picked a STRAPLESS dress?!? Of all things for your chubby sister, this was not a smart idea.  I had straps put on my dress so it would stay up but that just made it feel like a moo moo.

Yo, this wasn't going well and I hated being the "big girl" in the picture.  About 2007, food began to make me miserable.  I had gas all the time and sometimes worse things would happen everyday.  My stomach was constantly in pain and I wasn't losing any weight no matter how hard I danced, walked the track or crunched.  Finally at work one day, I decided I was going to find out what the problem was.  I cut out all dairy - eggs, milk, cheese - all fast food, junk food and eventually went Vegan to figure out what the problem was.  My doctor even sent me to have a colonoscopy at age 27.  On a vegan diet, I lost 20 pounds without exercising.  WOW!!!  I was now buying size 12 but still buying a 12 out of the Plus Size store; I wanted to buy a 12 or smaller out of the regular size!  When I think back, the food I was eating wasn't necessarily killing me but it was setting me up for hindered quality of life.  If I had stayed on that path, who knows what kind of medication I'd be on now.  I slowly introduced meat back into my diet and some rewards for training hard and eating well.

Right before my 30th birthday, I hired a personal trainer and he got me into that 10 range.  I was so happy!!  He had me lifting and sticking tight to my eating regiment.  I was ready to take the stage and start my singing career.  My skin was clearing up and I discovered I had some serious Pixie Dust. 

What is Pixie Dust??  Pixie Dust is the magic that draws you in to a woman.  As children, we know Pixie Dust is the magic dust trailing the movements of the character Tinker Bell.  This dust can help humans fly if they believe in happy thoughts.  The essence of Keyona was coming out because I was now confident enough to let it sprinkle among the world.  I wasn't hiding behind clothes, I could show my arms, legs, wear a form fitting dress and strut proudly across the room like, "Yeah, I know, I'm FINE!!"

So now, I'm on my final weight journey to make it to single digit dress size . . . can I have an 8 please?  I don't care about the weight actually; I'm proud to say I'm about 174 lbs at 5'5".  Forget that damn chart, I'm healthy and happy.  Why a size 8?  To say I actually did it and perhaps I could get a flatter stomach too.  That's the hardest part. 

So, here I am, rocking a size 10 and thinking, "What do I have to do to get to an 8?" Well, here's where we hold each other accountable.  People ask me all the time, "How did you do it? Can you help me?"  Follow me on this journey to another dress size and I'll share everything I'm doing, grocery list, exercise pattern including my Zumba Fitness Class and even what I choose when I have to eat out.  I can't promise a weight loss number but I can tell you that my blood pressure is better than perfect, cholesterol levels excellent, skin glowing, lip gloss popping, Pixie Dust gettin' 'em . . . I feel SO good.  I'll give you a weekly and monthly challenge.  This will take discipline, determination and an open mind so if you're ready, I'm ready, Let's Go!!

Check out the vlog for your first challenge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO690gzc3Uk

Let's Get Pixie Dust Potent!