Amber Riley Weight Loss: Before and After

"I'm a lot more comfortable in dresses, especially gowns"

After dealing with chronic stomach pains that drove her to her doctor last year, Glee's Amber Riley decided it was time to get healthy and lose some weight.  Since then, Amber has dropped a total of 2 dress sizes.  According to Amber, she's always been comfortable with her size, but wanted to get healthy for a change.  She also told People magazine that all the fast food that she was eating at one time was attacking her stomach and so desperately needed to make a change to her lifestyle.

I am so happy for Amber!  She definitely looks so much more healthier, not to mention, refreshing.  

Photo-source: www.googleimages.ca

Q & A with Tommy Europe

I'm a total big fan of Tommy Europe and I'm so excited about his latest project: Talk with Tommy which will be happening every other Wednesday.  For all you Tommy lover's, this is your opportunity to chat with Tommy and have him answer your questions on nutrition, exercise, and weight.   


For further details, check out Tommy's facebook page or his website at: www.tommyeruope.tv.


Check it out:

One on One Personal Training with Jackie Warner

The two latest home workout video's that I've had my eye on for weeks now is Jackie Warner's "Extreme Time Saver Training" and "30 Day Fast Start" DVD's.  If you've ever worked out to any of Jackie's video's you can attest to the fact that Jackie doesn't play around and means business when it comes to her workouts.  She certainly keeps things interesting by having you move non-stop and incorporating a variety of exercises you never thought your body capable of doing.    


Since I'm back incorporating strength training as a part of my exercise routine again, I definitely plan on adding these two video's to my already growing collection in hopes of mixing things up a bit as far as my workouts are concerned.  You know me...have to keep things interesting as I easily get bored.


Here's a sneak peak at Extreme Time Saver Training for you:

Weight Loss Made Easy

Too funny:

Style Icon: Solange Knowles

It's know secret that my two biggest style Icons are Tracee Ellis Ross (from the former hit show Girlfriends) and Solange Knowles (Beyonce's little sister) and with Spring just around the corner (well not quite just yet in my neck of the woods) I'm starting now to get a bit of inspiration as far as playing around with a few new looks.  And with me going on 7 weeks strong with Weight Watchers I'm hoping by the time spring rolls around, I'll be at the half-way mark and on my way upping the wardrobe just a tad bit-something that is long time over-do.  

My one style icon that has certainly made her mark in the fashion industry is Solange Knowles.  She's definitely one that's knows how to play it up with all sorts of colours, patterns and prints and I absolutely LOVE it!  

Let's check out a few of my favorite looks that I'm hoping to draw inspiration from when it's time to update the wardrobe:

Because It Works: Weight Watchers

I came across this video that  a friend of my posted on one of the Weight Watchers boards and I just had to share.  It's definitely one of those video's that offers a nice little boost for those of you who are struggling to keep up with your weight loss journey.  It's not easy, but video's such as these remind you that anything is possible as long as you stay focused, commit yourself and give it your 100%: 

Adele: Grammy's 2012

Definitely loved seeing the lovely Adele at the Grammy's this evening.  She's looking much thinner than I saw her last and she certainly killed it on the red-carpet.  Keep up whatever you're doing Adele-you're looking Fab-U-lous!

Janet Jackson was spotted recently at the LAX airport sporting a much smaller version of herself than we had seen when had first started appearing in the Nutrisystem commercials just after the holidays.  I personally think she's looking just a tad-bit too thin, but there's no doubt that the program must be working.  Let's just hope that she's able to maintain the loss once the program is said and done.  I've never been a big fan of programs that base their programming on pre-packaged meals as these type of programs teach you nothing about proper dieting in the real world, but hey, if the program is working for Janet and she's able to keep it up-skirts off to her!  

Tina Knowles' Recent Weight Loss

I've been following Tina Knowles over the years, especially after the launch of her clothing line which I love so much, but I must admit that I was a little disturbed when I came across pictures of Tina and Beyonce at the launch of the 2012 fashion line for the House of Dereon at London's Fashion Week late last year.  Now is it me or does something not seem quite right about the way Tina's looking?  I know she lost a ton of weight and got some work done after ditching Beyonce's Dad to the curb, which is fine, but something about the work she's had done, especially the weight loss isn't looking quite right.  Is it me or do others feel as such?

Saturday Weigh-in...

So I managed to make it to my Saturday morning weigh-in and guess what?  I'm down 3.2 pounds...woot, woot!  I didn't expect weight loss to go so well considering the fact that after a good couple of weeks on the program weight loss starts to slow down to an average of 1-2 pounds (2 pounds if I'm lucky).  But then again, I attribute this weeks loss to a few changes I made in my diet last week. For one, I'm definitely eating way more fruits and vegetables then I tend to eat and the biggest change is limiting what I typically eat for dinner by incorporating a healthy large salad with healthy fats such as almonds, avocado, fruit and a healthy low fat dressing of some sort.  My body is certainly getting use to all the changes I've made during the last 5 weeks and it's definitely showing on the scale. 

The Food You Eat...

Now this is a powerful quote-take note:


"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison."  


Ann Wigmore

A Newly Slimmed Down Adele

Looks like pop icon and singer Adele is another celebrity to have gotten bitten by the weight loss bug.  She's an incredibly beautiful woman and looked amazing before, but if her recent loss is as a result of striving towards living a much healthier life, I'm all for it!  

Portion Sizes 101 with Tosca Reno

For more tips on Clean Eating, be sure to check out Tosca's Reno's "Eat Clean Diet".  You can always go to the website at http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ in order to learn more about the diet and Tosca's approach to eating in general.  It's definitely a way to go as far as eating is concerned and an approach I've adopted alongside that of Weight Watchers.  I still have a long way to go as far as completely switching to a 100% "Clean" diet, but I'm taking things slowly and hoping to get there some day.

You Know You're on Weight Watchers When...

A regular poster on one of the popular discussion boards I follow, posted this up this evening and it kind of hand me chuckling a bit.  Now for those of you who have followed Weight Watchers or are currently on the program, how many of you have displayed the behaviors captured in this post?  I hate to admit, but I on more than one occasion have displayed many of the behaviors highlighted below and still do from time to time (lol).  I guess that's the nature of being on a weight controlled program-it kind of makes you a bit neurotic doesn't it?  Well either way, I thought I'd humor you by, in turn, posting a slightly altered list on my page and adding a few of my own...enjoy!




You know you're on weight watchers when:

. You accidentally swallow toothpaste and wonder how many POINTS it had in it.

· You stand in the aisles at the grocery store with your WW PointsFinder figuring POINTS before you buy.

· Everyone at your lunch table is asking you to figure the POINTS on their lunch.

· You figure the POINTS on cough syrup.

· When you've run out your daily points for the day, you turn to the Weight Watchers 0 points soup as your meal of choice.

· You don't want to share ANY of your food with anyone because you've measured it and know exactly how many POINTS are in it.

· You know where every public restroom is wherever you go . . . you need it after drinking all that water!

· You wear as little clothes as possible during weigh-in, hoping that the less clothes worn the better the weight loss.

· On the day of your weigh-in (especially if a morning weigh-in), you skip eating your first meal of the day in hopes of producing great numbers during weigh-in.

· You weigh yourself before and after the bathroom just to see how much of a difference it makes.

· You ask your WW leader to bring in a curtain so you can weigh-in naked.

· You Calculate Activity points for Sex!

· People at work know when your weigh in day is because you have the same outfit on that day EVERY WEEK

· You take a bite and then spit it out because you realize it wasn't worth the points! 

· You mark all the food boxes in the house with points per serving.

· You carry your journal with you wherever you go.

· Kashi becomes your favorite snack food.

· You start wondering how many points are in bubble gum


· You know in advance, by heart, what you can and cannot eat at each and every restaurant.

· You take a big black permanent marker and not only mark the points but also write your name and "DO NOT TOUCH OR ELSE". 

· Everywhere you go, you take along two 'purses'. Your regular purse, and your Weight Watcher's Black Bag, with the point guides, Slider, and all other 'stuff' in there!

5 Pound Weight Loss=First Charm

Guess what I ended up purchasing this evening?  I finally ended up purchasing a Pandora bracelet and charm to signify my first 5 pound lost since joining back up with Weight Watchers.   I'm actually down a total of 9 pounds since starting back up on program 4 weeks ago, but hey, a loss is a loss as long as it's a loss in the right direction.  

As mentioned in a previous post, my goal from now until I reach goal (35  pounds in weight loss) is to purchase a Pandora charm for each 5 pounds lost while on program.  For someone who's doesn't always see the end in sight, I thought this would be an easy and effective way in keeping me on target with my goals.  Rather feeling discouraged with the thought of having to lose a good 35 pounds, I figured that breaking down my weight loss into 5 pound increments and tracking my loss by collecting charms would not only keep me accountable, but motivate me in a fun little way to keep on track with goal.