Black Weight Loss Success

The Official Blog of the Black Women Losing Weight Community. Tips, articles and weight loss resources for African American Women.

Join Our Email List:
We respect your email privacy
You are here: Home / Archives for eating habits

eating habits

Dede lost 75 pounds

by 13 Comments

Today’s featured weight loss journey: Dede lost 75 pounds with consistent exercise and by cleaning up her eating habits.  Here is what she shared about her weight loss journey:

“My weight loss journey started in July 2012 at 262 pounds and I am currently at 187 pounds in August 2013.  I’m working towards losing 30 more pounds in the future to reach my goal weight.  My weight loss motivation was looking at myself in a picture from a family vacation to the Bahamas last year (2012). I realized that I was not pleased by the way that I looked.  I realized that I had to lose weight in order to feel healthier and be more comfortable from the inside out. I stopped eating red meats, pork and any fried foods. Now, I only eat seafood, turkey and chicken along with plenty of veggies, fruits and nuts. I cut out all white food products; such as white flour, white sugar and breads. I only eat whole wheat breads, grains, and pasta. I also drink smoothies and lots of water.  For exercise, I workout in the gym 5 days a week.  I do at least 30 minutes of cardio everyday and do strength training 3 times a week. When i’m not at the gym, I enjoy bike riding, walking and roller skating. I have lost a total of 74 pounds in one year.  I use to wear a size 20 or an extra large and now I wear a size 12.”

Dede weight loss journey

Shaniqua lost 102 pounds

by 1 Comment

Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Shaniqua!  She has lost 102 pounds going from 285 pounds down to 183 pounds.  Check out her before and after photos. Here is what she shared with us:

“This has been the longest journey of my life. Depression had me at my heaviest weight in 2006.  I weighed 285 pounds. By the grace of God, I woke up, got up and started moving. I cut out fried foods and fast food.  I also started taking a step class once a week for exercise. I went from 285 pounds to 206 pounds within two years and I stayed at 206 lbs. from 2008-2011. Then, I had my second child and went back up to 225 lbs. Before depression could sink back in, I joined Weight Watchers.  I went from 225 pounds to my current weight of 183 pounds with the Weight Watchers weight loss plan.”

Shaniqua weight loss story

Brittney lost 40 pounds

by 2 Comments

Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Brittney who lost 40 pounds in the last year.  She started walking and then jogging.  She also started juicing and worked to change her eating habits. Here is what she shared about her weight loss journey:

Hi! I’ve been really serious about losing weight for the last year. After getting married, having 4 beautiful children receiving my Master’s of Education degree, I had gained 80 pounds. I got to the point where I got tired of buying clothes and having to return them because they were too small. I felt smaller on the inside, but it didn’t reflect on the outside? After setting my mind on being a better, healthier me I started to walk 3 miles, 3-4 times a week. Within 6 months, I started jogging a little, but increased my total workout to 4 miles. In the last 3 months, I have started jogging 3 miles and walking 1 of those miles. I even broke my treadmill from using it so much.

I have  cut back on my portion intake.  Instead of eating my entire meal when we dine out, I save half for lunch the next day or I choose healthier options of the menu. I juice regularly, drink a gallon of water a day and take full advantage of a fresh fruit salad everyday. I even participate in BWLW monthly exercise challenges. I have successfully lost 40+ pounds and I am working toward the next 40! Thank you for the motivation and encouragement.

Brittney weight loss pictures

Vegetarian Protein Myths: Does a Plant Based Diet Contain Enough Protein?

by 1 Comment

veggiesFor years, dieticians, medical professionals, and the health conscious have insinuated that vegetarian and vegan diets are deficient in some way, mainly when it comes to protein intake. However, most of the hype surrounding vegetarianism and protein deficiencies can be attributed to our culture and not to any real medical research. You see, before the turn of the 20th century, most people did not eat a lot of meat and dairy products; they just couldn’t afford it and food was scarce. In the early and mid 1900s, though, nutrition experts started telling people that they needed well over 100 grams of protein a day for optimal health. The idea stuck, resulting in a population that eats too much protein.

Protein: How Our Body Uses It

There’s no doubt about it, protein plays a huge role in our metabolic processes. Your body uses the protein you consume to make specialized molecules – the building blocks of your body. Your body requires protein to make blood, build muscle, make new cells, and to maintain bones and organs.

When you consume protein, your digestive juices break it down into amino acids. There are approximately 22 amino acids that your body requires for optimal health. Your body can create around 13 of the required amino acids; you must consume the rest.

Your Body’s Protein Requirements

It’s estimated that the average American consumes twice the amount of protein that their body requires. According to the World Health Organization, protein requirements for individuals fall between 5- to 11-percent, depending on various factors (for example weight lifters and athletes may need more for their activities). If you eat too much protein, you can face serious health risks including kidney disease and kidney stones, cancer, and osteoporosis.

Can You Get Enough Protein from Vegetables?

Fruits, grains, and vegetables contain all the protein your body needs in order to function properly. Vegetables contain around 22-percent protein, whereas beans contain a whopping 28-percent. Even grains contain 13-percent protein. As you can see, most foods contain more protein than your body requires. In fact, every single plant food found on this planet contains more than 2.5-percent protein. So, no matter what you eat, you will consume enough protein.

In addition to the myth of protein deficiency among vegetarians and vegans, it has been said that those who do not eat meat must eat a wide variety of foods in order to consume the right types of proteins as plant proteins were thought to be less complete than meat proteins. To the contrary, research shows that vegetable proteins are complete proteins. There is no need to pick and choose certain vegetables in order to meet all your protein requirements.

The myths surrounding vegetarianism and veganism are entrenched in our social consciousness due to the fact that they have been passed from person to person for decades. If you take the time to do some research, though, you will see that most of plant foods you already eat contain more than enough protein to meet your body’s needs.

vegan protein sources

La’Shonda lost 65 pounds

by 3 Comments

Update 2016: We shared La’Shonda’s story back in 2013. Now, she is updating us about her ups and downs, as well as her success. She’s lost a total of 102 pounds.

LaShonda

My name is La’Shonda, and I am emailing you to share my blessed testimony. I was featured about 3 years ago when I lost 65 pounds. I have been constantly trying to lose more weight, and at one small period, I regained about 22 pounds. Graciously, I managed to lose those 22 pounds, plus an additional 35 pounds. That’s a grand total of 100 pounds. I am extremely grateful for this testimony. I have 50 more pounds to go before I reach my weight goal.

I did not lose weight with any fad diets, diet pills, programs or surgeries. I just practiced clean eating and exercised regularly. At my largest, 318 lbs/size 24, I became miserably aware that I needed to alter my lifestyle if I wanted to live. I started slow just changing what and how much I ate and I did not exercise. Before I knew it, I had lost over 50 lbs. Eventually, I reached a plateau. After that, I suffered major life changes and then I began to regain some of my lost weight. I was determined not to succumb to the pressures of being obese again, so I made a conscious effort to persevere and push forward.

I begin to increase my fresh vegetable and fruit intake, as well as my lean meat intake. I also minimized my starch intake. I eliminated processed, “fatty” foods, and anything with high fructose corn syrup and/or carbonation in it; thereby, increasing my water intake (approximately approx. gallon a day).

Once I re-lost my original 65 lbs., I incorporated exercise into my weight loss regimen. My exercise regimen commenced with just walking, and today I run too. Eventually, I incorporated strength training and rigorous cardio activities such as Zumba (which is fun, fun, and more fun). Now, I take Boot Camp classes, HIIT classes, and Body Sculpt classes. I’m also walking/running the bridges, taking Zumba classes and doing strength training. It’s a constant struggle, but if I can do it anyone can. I just weighed myself today and I currently weigh 216 pounds. (total of 102 lbs. lost). Thank God for giving me the fortitude to accomplish this. I am still a work in progress, but at least I can see and celebrate the progress.

La'Shonda

2013 – La’Shonda lost 65 pounds by changing her eating habits, doing exercises like water aerobics and weights.  Let’s show her some love!

Hello members of BWLW! My name is Shon, and I would like to share my story even though I am a work in progress. I’ve lost approximately 65 pounds. Initially, I began losing weight due to illness. Once I realized that I was losing weight, I seized the opportunity to capitalize on the loss. I changed my eating habits. I incorporated more fruit, veggies, and protein into my diet thus minimizing my sweet and starch intake, but my secret weapon was water. I eliminated carbonated drinks, and I limited my consumption of sweet tea/lemonade and fruit juice (100% only). I didn’t really exercise until I had lost the first 50 pounds. Now, I do some form of exercise daily. I’ve also recently begun taking water aerobics classes, and while I’m at the gym, I indulge in other forms of exercise by utilizing the weight equipment. I’ve noticed that certain body parts are beginning to tighten where it was otherwise very flabby. I still have a long way to go, but now I can see the change.  That’s all the motivation I need.  Thank you for encouraging black women to lose weight.

LaShonda weight loss before and after

Your Metabolism Likes Food: How Not Eating Is Keeping You Fat

by 1 Comment

metabolismYou go on a diet, restricting your caloric intake drastically. What happens? At first, you lose a lot of weight; it seems like things are going in the right direction. Suddenly, though, you reach a plateau. You become discouraged, start eating again, and end up putting the weight back on plus a few extra pounds. Why? This phenomenon is all due to your metabolism. When you severely restrict your calories, it slows, resulting in fewer calories burned in a day.

Metabolism: Your Fat-Burning Friend

At its most basic, metabolism refers to the rate of speed at which your body breaks down food and uses it as energy. Each unit of energy is measured as a calorie. On average, it takes approximately 2,000 calories to fuel a human body. However, a more active person will require more calories and a less active person fewer calories.

Your metabolism determines how many calories are burned for each activity. While you may only burn a hundred calories performing an activity, someone else might burn twice that amount doing the same activity. It all comes down to your metabolism. As you can imagine, a faster metabolism is desired when it comes to losing and maintaining weight, but many people accidently stall their metabolism, resulting in fewer calories burned per activity or function.

How Not Eating Slows Your Metabolism

Your metabolism is designed to speed up in times of excess abundance and slow down during times when there’s little food. Throughout history when food was scarce, metabolism helped people survive famine. Although there’s little use for this gas and brake system in today’s world of abundance, metabolism still works the same. When you consume fewer calories than your body needs to perform basic biological functions – about 1200 calories for women – your metabolism will slow or stall.

How Many Calories Should You Consume?

“The Ideal Daily Caloric Deficit: 20% below maintenance level per day.  What this means is, whatever your daily calorie maintenance level is, you should be about 20% below it each day. Here’s an example…

Let’s say some person (male or female) had a daily calorie maintenance level of 2500 calories. They’d first figure out that 20% of 2500 is 500 (2500 x 0.20 = 500). This means they should create a caloric deficit of 500 calories each day. In this example, that would mean eating 2000 calories per day.” – A Calorie Counter

The key to successful weight loss is to take in fewer calories than you burn without dropping below the level that will trigger your metabolism, resulting in a slow down. You want to figure out what the correct calorie deficit is for YOU.  While this number is different for different people, most people need an average of 2,000 calories per day. However, many people consume as many as 3,000 or 4,000 calories per day which explains the weight crisis in this country.

One issue I see all the time, is when women don’t take the time to figure out how many calories they were consuming before they start reducing.  For example, for some ladies, going from regularly eating 3000 calories per day down to 1200 all of a sudden can be too drastic and your metabolism could slow.  I suggest that you do a food diary for a week to find out how much you’ve been eating on average.  Then, decrease that number by 500 calories at a time to start.  Later, decide how many more calories you need to reduce on a weekly or monthly basis and and don’t drop below 1200 calories in a day.

To lose or maintain your weight without stalling your metabolism, you need to figure out how many calories your body requires. There are numerous charts that will give you this number. Simply choose your weight, height, and activity level to find your caloric intake amount for weight maintenance and weight loss.

Remember, there’s a golden range for weight loss. If you drop too low, you will slow your metabolism and not lose weight – plateau. For successful weight loss and a speedy metabolism, consume slightly fewer calories than is recommended for your body and activity level. Exercise is also important. Not only does it burn calories, it helps speed up your metabolism.

While skipping a meal here or there isn’t going to break your metabolism completely, it’s a good idea to eat small, frequent meals. Not only does this help your metabolism, it keeps you from feeling hungry which will help you fight off cravings and binges.

Lanea lost 54 pounds

by 3 Comments

Let’s show some BWLW love to Lanea.  She lost 54 pounds going from 299 to 245 pounds by changing her eating habits and exercise.  She has a supportive spouse and wants to live a long life with her loved ones.  Here is what she shared with us:

I knew it was time for me start changing my life when I weighed myself and the scale read 299 lbs. I’ve never been small, but 299 pounds was unacceptable. I decided that my New Years resolution would be to lose weight and to stick with it. I wanted to be around to watch my son grow up, have more children and enjoy my life with my loved ones. Once the new year came, I cleaned out the fridge and started replacing foods with fresh fruit and vegetables. I started bringing my lunch to work, packing it with yogurt and eating fruit or Healthy Choice microwaveable meals-instead of processed lunch meat sandwiches and chips. I started replacing my snacks with 100 calorie snacks like granola bars and a lot of Special K products. Being that my job requires me to sit and take incoming calls, I started to incorporate walking more, and exercise videos available on on demand. Just recently, I started the apple cider vinegar detox regime, and honestly I’m feeling really good. At my largest size, I was wearing anywhere between a size 22-24 on pants. The first thing that I’ve purchased since I started my weight loss journey was the dress I’m wearing in my after shot and its a size 16! That last time I was in a size 16, I was in high school! So needless to say I’m very excited and even more motivated now to continue on this journey. My husband Nick has been my biggest supporter. He keeps me going on the days when I want to give in to bad food decisions. Even though he loved me when I was bigger. He has been my biggest fan and he makes me feel so good about my progress thus far. I’m weighing in at 245 pounds now and my ultimate goal is to get down to 160 lbs. I celebrate my 10 lbs milestones. Celebrating my 10lb milestones and keeping my overall goal in sight is what keeps my going!

Lanea weight loss before and after

What Are Negative Calorie Foods?

by Leave a Comment

One topic that you will find all over the net when you look at weight loss topics is the concept of negative calorie foods. In essence, a negative calorie food is presumed to be one that requires more energy to digest than calories it provides to the body for fuel. Thus, the body uses more energy to break down the food than the food contains. This concept is intriguing because it basically means that eating a negative calorie food can contribute to weight loss. You can see how this would be attractive, but is this concept too good to be true.  Could negative calorie foods really exist?

In general, the foods that are believed to have negative calories are low-calorie vegetables and fruits. Here’s a list of examples…
  • Celery
  • Oranges
  • Strawberries
  • Tangerines
  • Grapefruit
  • Carrots
  • Apricots
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Cucumbers
  • Watermelon
  • Cauliflower
  • Apples
  • Hot Chili Peppers
  • Zucchini
While these foods are healthy and should be a part of our overall diet, if you only ate them alone you would have some nutritional deficiencies.  However, they make for excellent snacks and replacements for high calorie foods that you need to phase out of your diet.
According to individuals such as Dr. Nancy Snyderman, these foods have no negative calorific impact. In explaining her view, Dr. Snyderman maintains that the calories burned during the digestive cycle are minor compared with the calories the food itself contained. It has also been stated that the thermic effect of celery is about 8%, which is less than the 100% or more it would take for a food to have the negative calorie effect. Specifically, a celery stalk provides the body with 6 calories. However, the body uses only half a calorie to digest the stalk. Moreover, proteins-which necessitate the most energy for digestive purposes-have thermic energy levels of just 20%-30%.
People who support the negative calorie concept may state that the weight loss experienced by individuals on diets rife with negative calorie foods proves that the idea is valid. Those who argue against this proof state that the weight loss transpires for other reasons, such as the fact that many of the foods contain significant amounts of fiber and water. These two components contribute to the sense of fullness and thus encourage weight loss because dieters are less likely to consume food in excess.   Also, opponents note that the only true negative calorie drink would be ice water. Ice water would count as a negative calorie drink because it contains no calories, but necessitates that the body use energy to make the liquid’s temperature conform to body temperature.As the negative calorie debate rages on, individuals who want to optimize their health may find it advantageous to try a negative calorie foods. In so doing, people can personally determine whether the dietary shift is advantageous.  We aren’t talking junk food or toxic foods here.  The benefit of fresh fruits and veggies is something we can all agree too.

Karen lost 30 pounds

by 3 Comments

Let show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Karen who has lost 30 pounds.  She was motivated by a diagnosis of diabetes.  Here is what she shared with us:

I changed my eating habits.  I stopped eating pork.  Now I eat chicken, fish and less beef.  I also eat a lot of vegetables and have cut down on sweets.  I don’t drink soda, only water or sweet tea.  I walk 2 – 3 miles, 3 days a week and I workout two days a week.  In addition, I trained myself to eat small portions so now I get full fast with less food. My motivation was my doctor telling me I have diabetes and I might have to take insulin.  She said that  if I lose the weight, I can over come diabetes. Being overweight, you start having high blood pressure and diabetes.  I didn’t want that for myself.  I’m 41 years old and I feel that the older you get the harder it’s is to get the weight off. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and for having a page for us.  When I see your page, it encourages me even more.

Karen weight loss before and after

Nadira lost 30 pounds

by 4 Comments

Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Nadira.  She lost 30 pounds since the birth of her son with Crossfit training and distance running.  Here is what she shared with us:

I’ve lost 30 lbs since having my son.  I attribute my weight loss to Crossfit training 3-4 times per week and distance running at least 1 – 2 days per week.  I also prayed while I ran and I removed negativity from my life. In terms of my eating habits, every 2-3 weeks I didn’t eat any processed carbs for 3 consecutive days.  I also used this time to only eat protein, fresh veggies, fruit, and drink lots of water. Other than that, I kept a 1500 calorie per day diet and ate foods that nourished me so I was not hungry.  Whenever I think about eating something, I always ask myself, “what is it doing for me?”.  If it doesn’t do something positive, then I typically pass on it. When I get off track, then I implement my 3 day no carbs challenge.

Nadira weight loss before after