Daily Weight Loss Tip

Don't skip meals. Eating small frequent meals help to balance your calorie intake throughout the day and also keeps your blood sugar level balanced. Instead of eating 3 big meals, try to eat 5 - 6 smaller meals throughout the day.

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Daily Weight Loss Tip

Stay focused on being healthy not on becoming thin. Many people become more successful at long term weight loss when their motivation changes from wanting to be thinner to wanting to be healthier. Change your mindset to think about selecting foods that will help your body's health rather than worrying about foods that will affect your body's weight.

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My Workout Playlist

Since I write about music over on my blog, Songs In The Key of Life, it's only fitting that I share one of my workout playlists that I use when I'm moving my body. Gotta have a soundtrack!

• Dance for Me, Mary J. Blige
• Naughty Girl, Beyonce
• Real Love, Mary J. Blige
• Pon de Replay, Rihanna
• Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Michael Jackson
• Touch It, Busta Rhymes
  
• Bad Girl, Usher
• Dancing In September, Earth Wind and Fire
• Just Fine, Mary J. Blige
• Get Me Bodied, Beyonce
• Ring The Alarm, Beyonce
• She Wants to Move, NERD

This is one of my many that I have created. I'll share more in the future. Tell me what's on yours in the comments.



Vivrant Thang blogs about live, love and music over at Songs In The Key Of Life.

Move That Body!

Never let the music make you feel lazy
Get on the dance floor, feelin' that backbeat
You never had it so good, you never had it so sweet
Raise your hands up in the air
Shake your derriere like you just don't care
Rockin', rollin', doin' it steady
I do believe y'all are ready to move that body
Move that body, baby

-Technotronic "Move That Body"

B. Good over at She's Opinionated got me thinking with this comment on one of her Weight Watchers Wednesday posts. So far she's lost over forty pounds and counting but knows she has to move her body in order to keep the scale going down.

I hate gyming. I actually have plenty of time to do it, but I still don’t go. And I have this thing about sweating. I hate to do it. So I have to find ways to absentmindedly move my body, so I don’t realize that I’m “working out” and burning calories.

B is not alone. A lot of women feel the same way for various reasons. Big box gyms can be such meat markets. Sweat and permed hair are not a perfect combination. Who has the time? The machines can be so boring.

Over the years, I've given all these excuses and more for not moving my body. However, I realized that the key was to find something that didn't feel like a chore. I had to think of it as my personal time where I was doing something that was good for me...but also something I actually enjoyed.

I started out swimming laps. I've always been in love with the water, learning to swim at an early age. By the time I had my surgery, I had gone natural so I didn't have my hair to worry about.

I walked - but not on a stationary treadmill or around and around an endless track. I walked through the woods and around bodies of water - anywhere scenic. I made an exercise playlist on my IPOD and I moved my body to the music.

I knew the key was not to let my body get used to any one exercise. I had to use different muscle groups. I had to keep myself from getting bored. Here's some of the things I tried:

• Jazzercise: a 60-minute class incorporating cardio, strength, and stretch moves for a total body workout. We’ve taken moves from hip-hop, yoga, Pilates, kick-boxing, and resistance training and bundled them into one hour. All ages, levels, and sizes welcome. I've tried this once or twice and it's quite a workout. You can find it hard to keep up at the beginning but they do offer a very good tutorial on the site to help you learn the core moves before you attend the first class.
  
  
• Strip Aerobics: This is probably one of the best workouts I've ever had. I leave every class exhausted and sore for days afterwards. I prefer the floor/chair class so I've never done the pole workout. I've seen women of all sizes doing both classes. I find that you tend to bond with the other women in the class as you struggle through! It's a fun struggle though...if that makes sense.
  
  
• Bellydancing: This is also another form of exercise I've only tried a few times. I never could figure out how to isolate my movements. I think I'm going to try again though because I find it such a sensual form of exercise and it's great for the abs - definitely my problem area.
  

I'm also interested in trying hand dancing and a hip hop dance class in the near future.

What alternative, fun ways are you finding to move your body?


Vivrant Thang blogs about live, love and music over at Songs In The Key Of Life.

Don't Forget the Weights

So often women workout and they forget about strength training. While aerobic exercise is important, as it helps strengthen your heart, weight training is just important...especially for women. As we age we lose bone mass. Too much loss of bone mass can lead to osteoporosis. From Black Women's Health:

Women typically lose 25% of their bone mass by age 70, putting us at risk for fractures. Strength training has been shown to actually thicken the bones in the fracture-vulnerable spine and hips. It also increases overall physical strength and balance, greatly reducing the chance of devastating falls.

So weight training isn't just about looking good but about being healthy and strong in your older years. A solid strength training routine 2 - 3 times a week is enough to keep you healthy and strong (and fit) for years to come. Black Women's Health goes on to offer some tips on how to strengthen your bones:

• Exercise. Start a moderate strength training program on a regular basis.

• Get your Calcium and Vitamin D. You need both to build and maintain bones.

• Eat a Balanced, Varied Diet.

• Don't Get Too Thin. Being significantly underweight can accelerate loss of bone density, even in younger women.

• Don't Smoke.

• Limit Your Alcohol Intake.

• Know Your Relative Risk. If you have a relative with osteoporosis or its symptoms (hunched back, loss of height, easily broken bones), ask your doctor to evaluate your risk and give you information on other treatment options, if necessary.

• Be Aware of medical Conditions and medications that can affect your bone density such as thyroid disease or the use of corticosteroids (often used for asthma and other medical conditions).

• At Menopause, bone density may decline very rapidly.

So remember to keep fit, healthy and strong add those weights to your regular workout. Your body will love you for it and you'll love the results.


Today is a new day, so what are you waiting for.

Daily Weight Loss Tip

Eat breakfast daily. You would have gone hours without eating since the previous night, hence eating breakfast would not decrease your tendency to overeat later during the day.

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Big Butts = Good Health?

Well, all (big butt) black women should be jumping for joy on this one. According to a recent study butt fat is not only not a health risk but it good be good for you. Hell, if that's the case I should be the healthiest person on the planet. LOL From the BBC:

Body fat found under the skin - and particularly on the buttocks - may help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, research suggests.

The study contrasts this subcutaneous fat with visceral fat, which is wrapped around the organs, and raises the risk of ill health.

It is thought subcutaneous fat may produce hormones known as adipokines which boost the metabolism.