More about me!

I've already explained that I wanted anonymity while chronicling my weight loss journey.  However that doesn't mean that I cannot share anything about myself!  Lol.  Well for beginners I am an African American woman in my late twenties.  Something I hope you will find interesting is that I am in medical school.  Yep, in a couple of years I will officially be "Dr. Princess"!  Hahaha!  Seriously, that is one of my many motivators to stay healthy.  Aside from my own personal reasons, I really want to be an example to my patients.  I will be a family physician and I believe wholeheartedly in preventive medicine.  I think my impact on my patients' health will be greater if I am a living example.  It is as difficult for adults as it is for children who hear their parents preach "do as I say not as I do/did" to listen to someone who clearly is not following their own advice!  So from time to time, I will post from a very "medical" standpoint, and now you know why! 

Some of my other motivations to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle, in no particular order:

• To be an example to my own family of someone who has real life struggles with weight, but doesn't just lose throw in the towel.
• To practice preventive medicine ON MYSELF!  My mother has diabetes, my father high cholesterol and they are in their early 50's.  My extended family, too many illnesses to list, but all the typical diseases that run in the black community are present in my family also, plus a couple of others.
• To find a good relationship.  Now before you go all Sistah Soulja on me, let me explain.  I don't mean I need to lose weight to attract a man, although I do not think that notion is entirely false either.  It is just that I attract men, regardless of my weight (not speaking conceitedly, just being honest) so that is definitely not what I mean with this motivator.  What I mean is that I am unhappy with myself right now.  I'm not depressed about my weight, don't hate myself or looking in the mirror - but I do hate the way certain clothes fit.  I hate the size that I wear, hate that I cannot wear certain trends because they would look awful on my cellulite laden body, hate that I am so self conscious of my body when taking pictures, am in a bathing suit, etc.  I strongly believe that in order to find/begin a fulfilling, healthy relationship with a man (or woman for that matter if that is your preference) you have to be happy with yourself.  So that is what I am working on.
• To be an example for my (future) children.  My parents were always hyper-aware of my weight and body type, more accurately.  They knew that given my family history and racial legacy of obesity, I would most likely be faced with the same issues.  Especially since, I have never been a "skinny" person.  Thin yes, skinny, no.  So while they made me aware of keeping my weight controlled, it didn't have an impact at all on me.  Why?  Because all they did was talk!  Telling me to watch my weight and not to become like my other relatives was almost pointless - though not completely - because I didn't know how.  I have always been athletic, so playing sports is what kept me thin and in shape in high school.  And even though neither of my parents were morbidly obese (or even looked obese to the "American" eye), they were clearly carrying extra weight, yet I never saw them do anything to lose weight or control it.  Exercising was never a way of life for them.  Healthy eating wasn't necessarily either.  I mean, we didn't survive off of fried and fat laden foods, no....and my mom did make "balanced" meals and provide healthy snacks for my brother and I.  But they had the same struggles they were trying to prevent me from having to go through: being thin up until adulthood, gaining weight in their twenties and continuing as they aged.  I remember my mom doing a number of things, but never sticking to anything, never exercising regularly.  She would go through phases of buying workout tapes, visiting the track to walk, and the infamous Slim-Fast shakes - but she never got all the components of weight loss and healthy living in balance.  Making healthy low-calorie meals, exercising, portion control, eating 5-6 servings of fruits/vegetables per day, drinking 6 glasses of water per day, etc.  If she was walking 3 days a week, she was visiting McDonald's 4 days!  And my father was not much better.  To be honest vanity was more of a driving factor with them than health was...so because of that, they never got to the point of "roly-poly" but my parents never were examples of how to prevent the "i've become an adult, my metabolism has slowed" inevitable weight gain they always warned me about.
• To be an example to my (future) children - I want to do exactly what my parents weren't able to do for me.  This is so important to me, I had to list it twice!
• To feel better about me.  I inherited that same vanity I said my parents possess.  But I like being thin!  I like how I feel about myself when I weigh 135 lbs. or less.  I like how clothes fit.  I like being able to walk up several flights of stairs, even in heels, without feeling like I need oxygen to be fed to me!  I like not having to hide how heavily I breathe after doing anything slightly physical, walk up a hill, up stairs, carry a bag, play with my little cousins, etc.  I like being able to show my parents that I DID DO IT!  I like everything about being thin, fit, and healthy.  My skin is clearer, my hair is healthier, my nails grow longer.  All adds up to a better me.