Be true to yourself.

It’s Monday and I like to post motivational stuff on Monday. Sometimes I have these great moments, but most days it’s just a simple message. Today is going to be one of those moments…and I may have talked about this a few zillion times, but I REALLY think it’s important to BE TRUE TO YOURSELF!

A little #motivationmonday on the blog about always being true to yourself. I know I will always be the person on the outside of the group. I know the things I enjoy out of life might be a little weird to most. But I'm me and I've accepted that. Just do y

I’ve struggled. I want to be everything to everyone. I want to feel loved and I want to feel needed. Sometimes I would morph myself to fit this person’s mold and then try to fit into another person’s needs. I can only be myself and that is when I’m the happiest and most secure.

It’s a matter of acceptance.

There are things people tell you as a child that you think will go away. But even in adult life, cliques still exist, there are still “mean girls” out in the world and at the end of the day we still want to belong…to something. The difference in adult hood is we’ve probably learned to accept who we are as people a little better (but not all the time).

I still struggle but that’s human nature. At the end of the day, I still accept who I am and the person I am still growing to be. Of course there are things that I wish were different, but at the end of the day I’m just me.

I’m weird. I’m quirky. I run a lot. I love to travel. I care too much.

I can’t really make small talk with people. I’m better with the written word.

I will always struggle with my food “addiction” no matter what my weight may be.

I have always been a person on the move. Home is for the weekend and weekends are meant for exploring.

I’m more than likely going to be the person on the outside of the group and not the center of attention. I don’t mind doing things by myself.

I will always place high expectations on my friendships. My friends are my family.

My idea of having fun will probably never match up with someone else’s idea.

But I’m me and I’ve come to accept these things about myself. I’m not here to please anyone but myself. The people who are in my life fit in my life for a reason because these are things they love about me and don’t care. I can’t make everyone happy. I can’t be what everyone thinks I should be. I can only be me. Love it or hate it!

I encourage everyone to embrace the true qualities of yourself. Accept those things and live a fulfilled life for yourself. It’s ok to be different. It’s ok to not do things the standard way. It’s ok to be you.

Are you always true to yourself? What makes you different?

Does the journey ever really end?

Does the journey ever really end?

This day in 2011, Willie and I decided that it was time for a change.  Together we took the steps to lose weight and transform our lifestyle.  This morning I woke up to tell Willie today was the day and he didn’t remember.  I take that as a good thing because that means we’ve come a long way. I still remember everything about that day.  The conversation we had and how I really wanted to get barbecue that day for dinner. I know it sounds silly, but I still remember.  The next day Willie and I went to the gym…

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The lifestyle change is DIFFERENT for EVERYONE

The lifestyle change is DIFFERENT for EVERYONE

It’s different for everyone and it’s going to change over time.  Keep that in mind.  I’ve said it many many times.  The journey I took is different from the one Willie took and will be different from the one many people take. A lifestyle change is about developing new habits.  In our case, our lifestyle change was about developing HEALTHIER habits than what we did before.  McDonald’s drive thru and movie marathons for the weekend soon became weekend running and enjoying a good healthy meal. Losing 100+ pounds takes time and commitment.  That has to come from within yourself. No…

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Five steps to become more proactive

Five steps to become more proactive

Proactive, that’s the word of the week.  Last night I posted about the perks of being proactive and I’m sure a lot of you missed that post.  Here’s your chance to go back and read it before you continue with this post. Are you a proactive or reactive person? Do you let situations control your life? I like to think I’m a proactive person NOW but I spent many years being reactive.  That wasn’t a good place to be.  I didn’t realize this until later in life but that is when I decided to make a change.  A few years…

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The deal with changes

The deal with changes

Change is a part of life that we can’t really avoid.  Things change on a constant basis, including the weather.  I can’t believe we were hit with two ice events in 6 days here in southeast Texas.  I was cooped up in the house for a couple of days which really gave me a chance to think about the message I want to send out to the world.  Things changed for us a when we decided to lose the weight, our appearance changed,  our life changed, our activities changed and all of the sudden people are asking us to speak about…

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I am a Black Fitness Today Ambassador and …

I am a Black Fitness Today Ambassador and I signed the pledge!

I am proud to announce I’ve been selected to be a Black Fitness Today Ambassador! Among many other great things getting our story out there has done, this is probably one of the most important things for ME to be able to do. I want to share our story to show people you can lose (and keep off) weight by just changing your lifestyle. You don’t need a magic pill or diet to make the change, all you need to do is change your habits. African Americans have the high rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and many more things…

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Counting the blessings

Counting the blessings

Being in the public eye comes with lots of benefits like being about to share our story and inspire others but it also comes with haters! There’s been a huge surge in coverage on us and the haters are out and I’ve been the focus of some of their hate. I am blessed that our story is out there so that we can inspire and motivate others. I thought this would be the perfect time to count my blessings for everyone to see. So here I go: 1. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who is MY BEST…

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Wait a minute, did she just say fat?

Wait a minute, did she just say fat?

Hi my name is Angela and I used to fat! I think I put people off by using the word “fat.”  It doesn’t bother me and it never really did unless my grandmother was calling me fat and I think that was because of the tone she used.  Sometimes I see people wince when I tell them the name of the blog or even when I talk in casual conversations and I use the word fat to describe myself.  People just aren’t comfortable with the word. Fat (adjective) : having a lot of extra flesh on your body : having…

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Why I stopped logging my food

Why I stopped logging my food

About a month ago I decided to stop logging my food. This was a hard decision for me because I’ve logged my food every day since we started our weight loss journey. But that was the thing, I logged my food on my weight loss journey and that’s really not the journey I am on anymore. I can proudly say I’ve been maintaining my weight for a year and half. People said it couldn’t be done and there were a lot of haters out there, but I’m still beating the odds every day. That’s not to say I haven’t gained…

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It’s not a diet. It’s healthy …

It’s not a diet.  It’s healthy lifestyle changes to lose weight.

The biggest piece of advice we can give you is to stop dieting.  It’s not a diet; it’s healthy lifestyle CHANGES to lose weight and keep it off. A lifestyle change is very difficult, especially for the people in your life.  We had so many problems with our friends and family because it wasn’t only a change for us, it was a change for them too.  Both Willie and I were overweight our entire lives and our weight defined us.  When it was time to make a change things did get very sticky and possibly people didn’t take us too seriously. For people who…

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Finding balance

Finding balance

Losing weight is and changing our lifestyle was the easiest and hardest thing we’ve ever done. I know you’ve heard that plenty of times here already, and you’ll probably hear it again many times. But those words are the truth and something everyone needs to know! The first thing people always say to me when talking about losing weight is they don’t have enough time to go to the gym or cook the food, but is that really true? There was definitely some self-evaluation that went on when we started our journey. I spent a lot of time doing things…

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