Love and Hip Hop's Somaya Reese..40 lb Weight loss!

Ms. Reese has lost 40 pounds and 6 dress sizes, and no, I didn't stutter!

(Before and after shots below)

How great is that?! And she did it the normal people way, not the celebrity trainer/personal chef way either.

Good healthy foods, portion control and exercise (she does Tae bo which I used to LOVE to do).

She looks friggin' amazing! You go girl, you worked for it so you deserve it, much props. :)

You can read it in her own words on her site by clicking here.

Before

After

Photos: Myspace and VH1

I'm Back And With Only 76 Days Til Cali...oh My!

I was thinking of this blog on my way to work today, as I was simultaneously thinking, "shit I only have 76 days 'til I leave for Cali"!

See, here's the skinny,(pun intended) I am taking an 8 day vacation in July to California and Vegas with my oldest son and his best friend and we are going to visit my son's God Mother and one of my best friends, J.

J lives a kind of parallel universe life to me, she is dating a great guy, she's trim and slim, she makes a nice living she has a fabulous career and lives in a beautiful place. She vacations in Hawaii, spends most weekends at a friends mansion by the pool and the like and she does things like mingle with celebrities when she "goes to the races" whatever the hell that means!

So, if we were in high school I would say that I am the plain Jane and she is more like the popular cheer leader :)

I'm not hatin',I love her, I just don't wanna be the fat girl in Cali. I know the only way to loose a few pounds before I leave is up to me, totally and completely. And just an FYI, I am not whining about J's fabulous life, she busts her ass for it. I was just making the observation on the vast differences in the lives of two friends that were both raised in New York City during the 80's, by mothers who were also best friends.

K, well as my teenage son says, "I'm Off this", I hope everyone else's weight loss journeys are going better than mine, which at this point means if you've lost even 1 pound you are ahead of me! LOL

My Weight today. Drum roll please...

After three and a half years on this blog my weight today is 214 lbs. That's right people, I weigh only 1 pound less today than I did when I started my blog.

How sad is that?

Bleh, anyway, guess whattttt? We ended up finding, well my daughter found, the Kinect at our local Game Stop. And we played it tonight, though not much because we connected it pretty late.

It is SOOOO much fun! If only you all could have seen my royal fatness jumping up and down like a lunatic and swaying back and forth. I got a score of 29, which is pretty pathetic considering my 3 year old grand daughters score was 79, but hey I did it, and that's what matters most. And I almost broke a sweat too, so boo-ya!

At first I kept letting all the kids go and I was seriously considering not joining in, I didn't want to "look stupid". Then I remembered my post on what my life was like eons ago, what I want it to be again and I just did it.

So glad and proud of myself for that, now if I can just break the "one off" curse. See it goes a lil something like this. I get super psyched and amped about getting healthy (ya lets DO THIS!) and I do all these crazy things.

Like getting everyone I know involved because they say when you are held accountable by others it makes weight loss easier. Or I buy something that has worked for someone else, like the handy dandy stack of work out DVDs I own, "Dance your ass off" anyone? And I do the walking with friends, or try and dance my ass off, and I have even been known to throw in a little yoga booty ballet. But then after one time I find excuses not to do it again. My friend M will call for a second walk on a nice day and I decide cooking dinner that second is more important. I hide the DVDs so I won't feel so guilty about once again not keeping up with my goal on top of the money I've just spent.

So is this time different? I can only say that God willing it is. Because I really do hate being so fat that I can't thoroughly enjoy living my life. I will keep you updated. Good Night my peeps.

P.S. Big ups to my girl J who is celebrating her "27th" birthday in style :) Have a GREAT time in Vegas this weekend mama, wish I was there.

XBOX 360 for Weight Loss?

Sooooooo, guess what? My daughter and I are going halvsies on the XBOX 360 Kinect budle! It's $300 and comes with a game, we are also planning to purchase Zumba and Dance Dance Revolution. I just thought it would be something fun to do with the kids. She wants it so that we can loose some weight and get toned.

After reading some reviews, it looks like you work up quite a sweat with all of the games even if they aren't targeted for working out, so maybe I can shed some of the rolly polliness. But toned? I wonder if it will work. If any of you have tried it, please, I would love to hear from you and get your input.

She is having a problem finding it in any of the stores around our area, so we may have to order it online :(

I will keep you updated. Who knows, maybe I'll be a bikini model yet, watch out Heidi Klum! lol

When I close my eyes and think of what I want my life to be...

I would be rid of the cigarettes for sure. And that cigarette money saved would be taking me to England and France and Italy.

An ex smoker, healthy and happy at my goal weight. A return to my old self where even if I was afraid I would try new things, like snowboarding, cuz hey, you only live once and as John Gotti once told his son, "at the end of the day all we have are our memories".

And even though apprehensive I would attend that black tie affair and say yes to a date with the hottie MGM rep that is in town. A return to the me that loved girls night out and having my little sisters teach me the latest dance moves, now don't hate but I learned all the moves to NSYNC's "Tearing up my heart" back in the day :)

Someone that loves to do athletic things with my kids, like basketball in the park on a nice summer day or sledding in the winter, and dare I say it, a lil touch football in the fall.

I would NOT be working at my current job, though I cannot tell a lie, working in television has been one of my better job experiences. But I digress, I'd have a career not a job, I would be writing for a living. Writing non fiction about strong women who have chased their dreams of entrepreneurism, and fiction with fabulous characters based on my crazy, smart, lovable and ghetto-fabulous friends.

I would vacation in spectacular places and date delicious men!

So, these are the things I would do, the person I would be, the person that I was.

Yes, if I could blink and have the life I want, those are some of the things that would instantly change. But alas, I cannot.

So I have two choices, exactly what I've been doing which is to wish and dream and not change my ways. Or man up! and do what i gotta do.

What My Fat Means To Me...

As I sit here at work eating my bag of mini chips ahoy that I just spend .85 on at the vending machine of death, I ponder. What does my fat mean to me? So the following list is what I have come up with so far, I'm sure I can add more if I really think about it, but i need to "get me back".

These are in no particular order:

No cute boys to kiss good night after a date :(

18 is my new and very sad size

Chest pains

Can't go up a flight of stairs or walk a full New York City block without being winded

I am depressed

I avoid doing things I like (I miss swimming the most)

I threaten my kids and friends when I find they've posted a photo of me on facebook

I've let myself go in other areas, i.e. my hair, my clothing choices

I get tired to the point of having to stop when playing with my 3 year old grand daughter

Avoid choosing places fabulous like Miami and Puerto Rico for girls weekends because that screams bathing suit

Sigh! I know you may be tired of hearing this, cuz i'm tired of saying it, but I need a change :( I need my life back, where the hell did I go?

How are you all doing?