Recovery And What To Expect Days After Gastric Vertical Sleeve

This video is about what to expect during the recovery days after vertical sleeve.

Remember this is not advice, and I am not a doctor, just sharing my personal experience.

Enjoy and remember if you have any questions to keep me posted!

How To Prevent Loose Skin After Vertical Sleeve

This video is about my personal journey and how I prevented loose skin after Vertical Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy.  Remember this is not advice, and I am not a doctor.

Life After Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy And Daily Vitamins

A healthy lifestyle includes a balanced diet and physical activity but should also include vitamins and supplements.  During countless doctor visits, and nutritionist appointments I was advised the same thing to take a daily vitamin.  Studies show woman lack calcium and sometimes can be iron deficient.  Check out my latest video here where I discuss the vitamins I take.  Remember this is personalized for me and its best to speak to our doctor before taking any medicines.

My favorite at home workout

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These are the vitamins and supplements I take on a daily basis and after Vertical Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy.  

Daily vitamins I take:

Folic Acid

Vitamin C 1000mg

Iron 65mg

Biotin 5000 mg

Loose Skin and Hair Loss After Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery

This video is about some of the side effects you may face after Vertical Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy. Loose skin, hair loss, and acid reflux are all common.

I Don't Want To Be Fat Anymore Why Choose Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Here's a quick video about why I decided to not be fat anymore.  Many people don't understand how I wanted surgery but had high confidence.  Hope this sheds some light on things!

Top 5 Foods To Help Lose Weight

To be successful at losing weight and more importantly keeping it off one must commit to changing their diet.  Everyone knows pizza and ice cream does not make sense in a healthy lifestyle, but do you know the healthier foods can still taste pretty good and satisfying?  I wanted to share my top five foods I enjoy most which also aid in maintaining my weight-loss.  

Oats

photo cred: Vegan Ricana

Easy to prepare if you're a person on the go plus very versatile.  Oats are full of fiber which will help in keeping you satisfied and not hungry.  Its a plus the fiber will keep you regular so if you struggle with constipation this is a great food to add in your daily food intake.  Boring??  Not at all!  Try adding different fruits, powders like protein shakes, PB2 flavor (peanut butter powder), natural unsweetened cocoa powder or honey to make it interesting. One of my favorite oat dishes includes making overnight oats because its light prep work, and easy to grab and go in the morning.  Check out my home girl Yvonne here.  She has the best gluten free and guilt free recipes and I adore her discipline and love so much!  I use her weekly as a resource and look forward to her new blog and youtube videos.  These oats picture are taken from the Vegan Diva herself @VeganRicana.

photo cred: Rican Vegana

Grapefruit

Growing up I could not stand grapefruit because of the bitter taste.  As an adult I've learned to love this fruit for its juicy goodness and great health benefits.  Grapefruit helps burn fat and curb your appetite. I love when it's chilled cold and sometimes as a treat, I sprinkle stevia over it. If you don't like the bitter taste, try to only eat the pulp and not the white membrane layer of the fruit.

Salmon & Tuna

My absolute favorite protein during the summer is fish.  Tuna and salmon are at the top of my list because it can be cooked and enjoyed in a number of ways.  Tuna can help reduce stroke and heart disease and is filled with omega-3 fats.  I enjoy it over my salads, with crackers or in my sushi.  Salmon is an all star dish for me and I love it cooked with garlic, lemon pepper or just a bit of honey and ginger. This is a good fatty fish that speeds up metabolism and is full of protein.

Almonds & Nuts

These are high calorie snacks but they make snacking healthy and enjoyable. I enjoy them plain or sprinkled with honey or cocoa powder. It's better to flavor them yourself to avoid too much sugar or salt intake. These help my cravings for something salty, crunchy, or sweet.  I eat almonds or cashews instead of eating potato chips.  This food also has "good" fats and can help lower cholesterol   

Cucumber

source

I can eat them plain, in a salad or added in a pitcher of water.  Cucumbers are so refreshing and hydrating.  They are full of water plus helps reduce stomach bloating. I've been thinking of ways to incorporate apple cider vinegar into my diet because of its great health properties and I recommend to try cucumbers with vinegar for a light tangy snack.

What are some of your favorite health snacks or foods you've incorporated in your healthy diet?  For more health videos check out my blog channel and subscribe here.

Plus Size Girl's Guide To Fitness

It is a new year which for many means a fresh new start to healthy habits and nutritious meals.  Fitness resolutions are made by thousands to shed the extra holiday weight  or to start a new workout regimen into their lives.  Motivation is key when staying focused to lose weight and the following items keep me excited to work out.  My favorites include my Polar watch so I can see my calories burned from free lance workouts.  My Fitbit tracks my sleep performance and my juicer was inexpensive but gets the job done so I can get the benefits of vegetables and fruits without eating them. This is a Plus Size girl's guide to stay motivated to reach her fitness goal and look good while doing it!

polar fitness watch | jumprope | water that holds fruit bottle | pedometer and sleep tracker 

sports bra | jacket | leggings | workout pants | sports bra | sneakers | juicer

What Waist? Review of Luxe Curves Waist Cincher

Have you noticed all the coke bottle-shaped women walking around?  How about the countless disappearing waistlines of your favorite celebrities? Do you want to know what thats about?  Two words for you....waist training.  Waist Training has been around for centuries and can create long term results as well as instant results.  If you follow my Instagram you may have noticed my ity-bity waist { LOL, its really not that small at all}.  By wearing my Luxe Think Pink Cincher, gifted to me from the ladies over at Luxe Curves, I've been able to create the perfect hourglass look.  I've worn this cincher out to an event and during a day of running errands; each time for at least four hours.  The waist trainer is bearable and comfortable enough to wear while standing up or exercising.  Whenever I sat down or drove it was very uncomfortable and forced me to sit straight up.  I plan to give waist training a fair shot for results by exercising and maintaining a balanced diet.  One thing for sure is that I loved the look of what my body could be.  Only time can tell if I will achieve the permeant results.  Check out the pros and cons below of my Luxe Curves waist trainer.

 *Item was a gift and all opinions are my own.

Get It Right, Get It Tight: Make It A Part Of The Day

For everyone noticing my weightloss its been from a combination of several things.  This post is to show what I am doing and how often I'm doing it to help you ladies jump start you fitness goals.  One of my fitness goals have been to work out at least three times a week.  As we all know goals are to be attainable and to be met.  Often at times, goals are not reached because of the lack of planning into our busy schedules.  Anything worth doing will be worked into your day.   

First, start by choosing a time of day you would actually be up and moving.  For me is at 10-11pm or 7-8am.  I am not a morning person so I choose the evening workout time but these are the times my body is already up and going and I am not sleepy and therefore I am more likely to actually workout and give it my all.

Second, I do workouts that get my heart rate going.  Cardiovascular workouts are great to burn the calories you eat during the day and help condition your body for over all weight loss.  One of the machines I HATE is the same machine I get on first when I get to the gym because it makes me burn the most calories, the Arc Trainer -___-

Lastly, I do not limit my workouts to the gym...if I cannot make it out the house (usually when its cold, rainy, or anything else I can fathom an excuse for lack of a babysitter) I do my workouts to home DVDs or home exercises.  My favorite exercises at home includes jumping rope, doing squats, and working out to Hip Hop Abs because Sean T is so fine and fun.

So far these things have worked for me and I've been pretty slack on being consistent but I am not going to give up.  Any workouts you ladies love?  If so let me now so I can try them!

Get It Right, Get It Tight: Snacks To The Rescue

80% of weightloss success is from the food you eat... 20% from working out.  

That is the fact that shocked me to the core.  For years I've been focused on going to the gym, or jumping around my living room to work out with videos,  and even invested in personal trainers to lose weight.  During this time I had no clue that eating once or twice a day, skipping breakfast, or not getting enough water was doing more damage to my weightloss goals than the exercising did to help.

By visiting a nutritionist and also by doing research online I've learned it is imperative to increase your metabolism by eating more food. Crazy I know!  Eating more helps you lose weight..who would of thought it??  Getting healthy is a big part of my vision for 2014 so I've decided to share a few tips here and there with you Dolls because we need to be fabulous and fit!  This series: Get It Right, Get It Tight will be 5 segments of videos and posts talking about what I'm doing to get fit.

By eating small meals every couple of hours during my day I am able to speed up my metabolism and stay fueled throughout my day.    It's a good idea to preplan your meals so you can grab pack your food on the go.  By pre-packing food, its less likely you will make poor food choices during the day.  Try ziplock bags or visit your local dollar store for inexpensive tupperware. To help me remember to eat I've set alarms on my iPhone.  I do not starve myself and I find it less likely to pig out on a meal because I am no longer famished by end of the day.

My favorite snacks of the moment:

1. Apples and Peanut Butter

2. White chicken salad and crackers

3. Avocado, turkey slices, and cheese roll ups

4. Fage cherry greek yogurt

5. GNC Lean Shake Chocolate

*all photos are from Pintrest

I Got The JUICE

There seems to be a huge push right now in the "Get Fit" movement.  Now, more than ever before, celebrities like Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, Khloe Kardashian and Ravin Symone to name a few have been leading the way with shedding the pounds and living healthier lifestyles.  Social media like Instagram, Facebook and different blogs showcase "normal" people dropping weight.  Morbid obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or above.  To find out your BMI click here.  As a clinical defined morbid obese African-American woman, I am a horrible statistic.  According to the U.S. Office of Minority Health, four in five African-American woman are obese or overweight!  The extra weight and extra abdominal fat causes severe risks such as death from heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

Now of course the idea of me being slimmer and more comfortable with my body image is at the top of my wish list, but living longer with less health complications seems much more important.  The bottom line is I must do different things to have different results.  I am learning I cannot continue to yoyo diet or try impractical temporary solutions to a long term want.  I want permanent results so I must make permanent changes. 

One of the permanent changes I made to my personal diet came about after watching a documentary on Netflix called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.  I've heard of juicing but dismissed the idea of drinking celery, beet, or carrot juice but after watching the movie my opinion changed.  The documentary was amazing and motivating.  I bought a $35 Black & Decker juicer from WalMart and filled my buggy full of fruits and veggies.  With little research and much ambition I started a 15 day juice fast.  I juiced random combinations of 50% vegetables like kale or spinach and 50% fruit like kiwi, apples, or pineapples.  I drank three large glasses of juice each day as meal replacements and plenty of water between meals.  Surprisingly, I had enough energy to even workout 30 minutes twice during the fast.

After six days I ended my 15 day fast.  For all those that wonder if I lost any weight, yes I dropped 13 pounds (which may have just been water weight).   I did not feel 100% confident I was doing the fast correctly and decided to research more to mentally prepare before starting the next fast.  My objective is to find different drink combinations, workouts, and supplements like fiber or flax seeds to aid with my fast.  I learned there are best practices like cleaning my food in baking soda and vinegar before juicing or buying organic food.  A better understanding of juicing is needed instead of winging it day by day.  My main goal for fasting is detoxing my body and boosting my vegetable and fruit intake. I know only better eating habits and normal exercise can get me in better shape.

I realize I cannot only juice for the rest of my life so I decided I will detox the five days of every month and continue to juice once a day as a tasty treat for my body's nourishment.

This is my first permanent step to life long changes and it feels good!  Care to join me?