Body Mass Index

I located a BMI calculator on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website. I will put the link at the end of the post for those of you who are interested. The site gave the following information:

BMI Categories:

·         Underweight = <18.5

·         Normal weight = 18.5–24.9

·         Overweight = 25–29.9

·         Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater 

So I put in my height which is 5 feet 2 1/2 inches (to be exact) and my current weight as of today 159.8 pounds. My BMI computation came to 28.8. That puts me in the overweight category. At my starting weight of 186 pounds, I was surely in the obese category (33.5 BMI). Doesn’t make me feel good at all.

So out of curiosity, I plugged in my height and my goal weight of 136 pounds. That put my BMI at 24.5 which in the normal weight range but as you can see it’s barely in that range. Another.5 (which would be 139 pounds) would put me in the overweight category. That is crazy to me. If only you could see how thin I look at 139 pounds.  

I have to do more research on this topic as it does not seem to take into consideration the size of a person’s frame and I personally have a large frame. What I mean by frame size is the size of your bones. One test of frame size is to wrap your thumb and middle finger around your wrists. If your fingers overlap you have a small frame. If your fingers touch, you have a medium frame. If your fingers have a gap between them, you have a large frame.  When I do this test, I have a gap. More to come on this topic.

BMI Calculator: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

Week 6 Recap on Weight Watchers

So it was another successful week. I am so thrilled that I a moving closer and closer to my goal weight. I have outfits envisioned in my mind that I want to wear that I really could not at 186lbs. I am not talking about revealing outfits, no not all. I am talking about tasteful outfits that did not look good with a little belly hanging over or super thick legs.

Even though this week was successful, it was not easy. I had a lot of cravings this week and I just wanted to eat. I mean like really eat…not watching portion sizes, or calories, or caring about any of that weight watchers stuff.  But I managed to push through and not give into my cravings because I have a goal to reach and I don’t want to backtrack and have the numbers on the scale start moving in the opposite direction.

I tried a Healthy Choice meal today that I picked up while at Target this weekend. I will normally take a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones frozen meal to work for lunch and/or dinner but I saw these Healthy Choice meals and noticed they also have the Weight Watchers points already calculated and printed on the box which is kinda cool. The Margherita Chicken was delicious! It had some kind of sauce made from balsamic vinegar that was so flavorful and the portion size felt pretty filling compared to some other boxed "diet" meals.

 

 

 

Anyway….here are my results:

Results
Week 1, Monday 7/30 – My starting weight was 172.2 lbs.
Week 2, Monday 8/6 -- I weighed in at 170.8 lbs.
Week 3, Monday 8/13 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs
Week 4, Monday 8/20 -- I weighed in at 170.6 lbs
Week 5, Monday 8/27 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs
Week 6, Monday 9/3 – I weighed in at 163.0 lbs
Week 7, Monday 9/10 – I weighed in at 159.8

Total weight lost so far: 12.4 lbs

I’ve found my Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred DVD that I used to love sooo much. I am going to incorporate that DVD into a few workouts this week if I have time.

 

 

I gave myself a deadline/goal of November 12 to reach my goal weight of 136lbs. 9 more weeks to go!

Top 12 Snacks for Super Hair

Check out the article linked below. It gives some common foods that are easily accessible and good for your hair. I personally eat 10 out of the 12 foods listed on a regular basis. It is interesting to know how it benefits my hair.


Top 12 Snacks for Super Hair

Milky Way Saga Remy Human Hair Wig ~ Unity

So I bought two wigs from samsbeauty.com, one of which I have been wearing for the past few days and I absolutely LOVE IT. The one I have been wearing is called Milky Way Saga Remy Human Hair Wig Unity.

 

It comes in different colors with the bangs highlighted in various shades but the website I bought the wig from only had the color 1 and one with purple highlights in stock so ofcourse I cannot do purple hair, so I chose the 1. I was afraid it would be too dark but it’s fine. The cost was very inexpensive, only $24.99.

It does not have combs, only adjustable straps in the back. The fit for me was great. I love the cut of the bang. The back of the wig looks like a stacked bob although I don’t have any pictures of the back to show.

 

This wig is awesome and I plan on wearing it as much as I can this relaxer stretch while keeping my real hair moisturized and braided underneath. I have received tons of compliments on this wig, and some people actually thought I cut my hair rather than thinking it was a wig.
 

 

Week 5 Recap on Weight Watchers

Well, week 5 on WW went awesome. I had no issues this week. I had no temptations and no situations that would cause me to compromise my daily points value. I exercised my normal five days out of the week, Monday through Friday.

Results
Week 1, Monday 7/30 – My starting weight was 172.2 lbs.
Week 2, Monday 8/6 -- I weighed in at 170.8 lbs.
Week 3, Monday 8/13 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs
Week 4, Monday 8/20 -- I weighed in at 170.6 lbs
Week 5, Monday 8/27 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs
Week 6, Monday 9/3 – I weighed in at 163.0 lbs

Total weight lost so far: 9.2 lbs

I have clothes in my closet in different sizes from the various sizes I have been over the years, the smallest being size 7/8 and the largest being 15/16. I was wearing the size 15/16 jeans when I was at my highest weight of 186lbs. I am proud to say those jeans no longer fit. Not only that, I tried on my size 9 jeans in my closet this week and to my surprise, they fit!! I was very shocked because in the past I could fit size 9 jeans when my weight is in the 140s, so for them to fit in the 160s was strange. I don’t know if I am carrying my weight differently or what but what I do know is that I do not want to get down smaller than a size 7.

 

My goal weight is 136lbs. That is 27 more lbs. At 136lbs I should comfortably fit size 7/8 clothes. I am going to give myself a goal of 10 more weeks to reach my goal weight. 10 more weeks will be November 12, a few days after I turn 29 years old. That is very reasonable. That is approximately 2.7lbs a week. Last week I lost almost 5 pounds which is definitely more than I should be losing for healthy weight loss. I am not going to lie though, I am happy with the number this week.

BTW, last night on YouTube I was watching a documentary called My 600lb Life that originally aired on TLC. It documented the story of four people over 600 pounds going through gastric bypass surgery, multiple skin removal surgeries and how these things affected their lives. I pulled a few images of that documentary off the internet, see below.

These people really touched my heart for various reasons. First of all, because they were no different than you and I.  They were people who somehow managed to gain an enormous amount of weight due to food addiction and/or using food as a coping mechanism. But their hearts and spirits are the same as anyone else and you can see the emotional pain that the weight has caused. I loved their personalities because they were genuinely good people, just in a bad situation.

We live in a world where people judge others by their physical appearance which is not the way it should be. Just because someone is overweight does not mean they are fat and lazy. You just may not know the circumstances that got them to that point. Treat them with respect and compassion. Judge them by their character and what’s in their heart. Pray for them that they beat the food addiction and become healthy. Teach your kids that there are people who may be different from what we consider is normal and that is okay. We should love each other. We should care for each other.

If you have a chance to watch the documentary on YouTube, please do. It is quite interesting and extremely inspiring. I found myself smiling a lot as I watched these wonderful people reach some of their weightloss goals. It is also a motivator for anyone who is overweight to get their weight under control before it gets out of control. The more weight you put on, the more difficult it is to take it off.

Love you all J Be blessed!

I Love a Good Updo

Yesterday was Saturday and I will normally wash my hair on Saturdays so I took down the style I have been wearing for the past week and deep conditioned on dry hair. I put the conditioner on and let it stay in my hair with a plastic cap for a long time while I did things around the house, maybe three hours. I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Hair Masque. I love this product.

Then I washed it out and did a co-wash. I am trying to use up some of the conditioner I have because I have lots of them in different brands from the days when I was trying everything in sight to see what works for my hair. I co-washed with the Herbal Essence's Totally Twisted conditioner in purple bottle (see pic below) but for some reason my hair just was not feeling as silkly soft and I am used to after a deep condition. Don't know if it was the Herbal Essences or not but I am not feeling that conditioner right now.

Since I relaxed my hair, I have not wanted to be bothered with it. So after wearing it down a few times the first few days after my relaxer, I have been wearing alot of updos. I take the updo down mid-week to comb out shedded hair, moisturize and then I will put it back up. What I have noticed is that I am shedding ALOT. I don't know if it is a reaction to the weightloss my body is experiencing, or do to change of seasons, but it is annoying me. I truly hate shedding even though it is a natural process your hair goes through. In my mind, it is like why put all this time and energy into growing and taking hair of your hair when you are just going to be losing strands and strands everyday. Silly I know, but I need my strands to stay in my head, lol.

So I put my hair back into an updo that I will probably wear until next Saturday and take it down to wash and condition it. I ordered some wigs so I am excited to try them out when they come. Here are the pictures of the style I did yesterday. This was simply a wavy ponytail that I had in a box in my closet. I put the ponytail on, pinned it up in a bun, left a few tendrils hanging down to frame my face.

I created some interest in the front on the top of my head like I normally do by simply rolling and pinning my hair. Sorry, it is kind of cut off in the picture where you cannot see it well. I think it looks pretty and the best part is, I don't have to comb my hair everyday.

I'll be back tomorrow with a weightloss update. The weightloss has really started to show on my frame and I am excited!!!

Hairstyle of the Week

Kinky Twists

So I did the kinky twists on my daughter’s hair and I like the way they turned out. I think they look okay for my first attempt. I will be definitely doing these in the future. It didnot take long either, only two hours. I braided the twists first for about a inch then started twisting the rest of the way down.

I used the Marley braiding hair in the color 4. It blended very well with my daughter’s hair color. These pictures are a few days old so she had played and rolled around and made them slightly frizzy. The top part is pulled up in a ponytail and tucked under in a bun.

 

Week 4 Recap on Weight Watchers

So week four recap is going to be very brief. I did not follow the plan exactly and I went out of town again this past weekend so I was at the mercy of eating whatever was available at friends’ houses, the continental breakfast at the hotel and the restaurants we stopped at. I ate in moderation and did not go overboard.

Results
Week 1, Monday 7/30 – My starting weight was 172.2 lbs.

Week 2, Monday 8/6 -- I weighed in at 170.8 lbs.
Week 3, Monday 8/13 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs

Week 4, Monday 8/20 --  I weighed in at 170.6 lbs

Week 5, Monday 8/27 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs

Total weight lost so far: 4.4 lbs

So I lost all the weight I gained back last week exactly. If you can see, today I weighed in at exactly what I weighed at the beginning of Week 3. I will work hard to have another successful week. I am shooting for 3 pounds. I am going back to tracking points and sticking to my allotted daily points value. I’m excited about the weeks to come.

Might Attempt Kinky Twists :)

So one of the things I love about YouTube is that you can learn how to do certain things from other people. I have been thinking about doing some kinky twists on my daughter’s hair but have never seen anyone do it. If I watch someone, I can get the idea of how it is done so that I can experiment myself. That is where good ol’ YouTube came into play. I went on there today and watched a few tutorials and I think I can do it. So it’s my plan to try them on Friday. If they turn out okay, I will post some pictures. Wish me luck.  

Week 3 Recap on Weight Watchers

So I went to Kansas City, Missouri this weekend with my fiancé and youngest daughter. We had a blast. We were visiting some of my fiancé’s old friends and they were really nice and funny people. We drove out on Friday night and took all day Monday driving back. It was a 13-hour trip each way. There was beautiful scenery throughout Oklahoma and Kansas so although the drive was long, it was not unbearable.

So taking a trip out of town is not the best way to end a week on Weight Watchers. Monday thru Friday was great. I worked out on each of those days, stuck with my daily points allowance and was on track to lose 2-3 pounds this week. Then I travelled Friday night and all that changed. We drove from 11pm Friday night until noon on Saturday. So around 12:30am I was sooo hungry, normally at this time I would be sleeping and hunger would not bother me too much but since I was in the car, I could not sleep very well, and my hunger really started to bother me. Knowing that I would probably not be able to stick to the WW plan on the trip, I asked my fiancé to stop and McDonald’s and I ate a fish sandwich meal. Not good.

Then we get to Missouri and our friends were very hospitable so they cooked on Saturday twice for us, lunch and dinner. The wife made our plates and placed them on the table for us. The food was delicious…wonderful Ghanaian cuisine but the portion sizes were huge. I am not exaggerating in saying that the amount I eat all day, all three meals combined, was probably the amount of food that was on my plate for one meal. I struggled to finish it all. I did not want to be rude by wasting the food, nor did I want it to seem as if I did not like the food, it was just a lot food. I ate it all. Sunday, I ate breakfast at the hotel, went to a Chinese buffet for lunch and ate another large cooked meal for dinner. Monday was spend on the road driving all day long so we made stops at fast food restaurants to eat.

This weekend did major damage to my weight loss progress. I know it cannot be actual weight gain, or maybe it is…

Results
Week 1, Monday 7/30 -- I weighed in at 172.2 lbs.
Week 2, Monday 8/6 -- I weighed in at 170.8 lbs.
Week 3, Monday 8/13 -- I weighed in at 167.8 lbs

Week 4, Monday 8/20 --  I weighed in at 170.6 lbs

Total weight lost so far: 1.6 lbs

So this is currently Week 4. I will keep going, I won’t let this setback halt my efforts to get down to my goal weight. It is definitely discouraging but it is not totally unexpected, I knew what I was getting myself into this weekend. This week on WW has already started out wrong. I already told you how yesterday (Monday) went and today is no better. I have not tracked any points for yesterday or today. I did not get a chance to workout yesterday, can’t workout today or tomorrow, so if I lose any weight this week, it will be a blessing because it definitely will not be because of my efforts.