The Ladies Lifestyle

If you read my post titled, Weight Wellness: My Body, My Way, My Wellness, then you know I am embarking on dropping some weight. So, why do I call it Weight Wellness and not weight loss? We live in a society where everyone has an opinion about those of us whom are bigger than a size 6. The diets, the eating trends, the fitness world, Bloggers, and Vloggers; everyone has a point of view of on weight, food, and weight loss. One of the most amazing things about humans is our diversity, there are no duplicates. We differ in everything from eating to ethnicity, so then there can't be a one size fits all way of living well. Our bodies are different, we live in different climates, we live in different socioeconomic situations, and different cultures. Our belief systems and how we view and/or relate to food is as unique as our fingerprints. There are so many voices speaking to us about health and weight and none of them are saying the same thing. The contradictions and competition in th...

My belief in the sacredness of the bonds of sisterhood among females is no secret. We all know that I believe quality friendships make life so rich. As a woman who has friendships that span over 3 decades, I feel I am versed enough on the subject to help women build cords of friendship that will enrich and empower their lives. I have concluded that one of the main reasons why females have so much trouble in making and/or maintaining friendships is because they have not befriended themselves. The one person that you are guaranteed to be with for the rest of your life is YOU. So, if you don't enjoy being with yourself, how can you expect another woman to enjoy being with you? Everything in your life begins and ends with you . Most of us, go into friendships with an unrealistic and selfish perception. People don't look at others and think, "what can I do to make her life better?' It's human nature to be self driven and self focused, that is why we teach our childre...

Wouldn't it be grand if I could tell you that I came to Minimalism by some angelic visitation from a celestial being? The truth is, minimalism became apart of my life because I am genetically wired to be a hoarder. I am a make addict, one day I was looking through my collection for a specific lipstick and discovered that I had 96 tubes of lipstick, I was alarmed. Yes, my lipsticks and make up was organized by color or brand but let's be honest, I was hoarding make up. A fear fire was ignited and I began going through my collection and giving things away. As I was purging my make up, I asked myself why I had so much over and over again; I had no real answer. There is no need to have 96 tubes of lipstick, especially when I had so many of the same shade. I was just collecting things because it felt good to have stuff, but why? What was the make up doing for me? What void was it filling? Why did I need it so much? Once I felt I had cleared the clutter of my vanity table, I turned...

294 LBS I have been thick, fat, Plus Size, or whatever you want to call it all of my life. Weight has never truly been an issue for me because being on the bigger side is what I have always been, it is my normal. As a young girl, I had the body of a woman, puberty was a physical explosion for me, I was stacked, baby! I've always had breasts, hips, thighs, and butt; I don't know life any other way and honestly I don't desire to know a different way. However, as I age and genetic illnesses like Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, and Diabetes become more of a reality, I have to reconsider my stance of weight and weight loss. My rule of thumb for managing my weight has always been, stay away from 300 lbs. At my highest weight, after a knee injury I reached 300 lbs and I was mortified. I dropped the weight and vowed to never ever get back to that weight again, a girl has to have boundaries. Well here we are and I am close to crossing my personal boundary. I was weighed at...

I didn't like how the format looked on my original of this blog post, so I am releasing it again. I linked my blog to Bloglovin and it changed my layout, I don't like that, lol. You've picked your outfit, your hair is slayed, your nails are popping, and your shoe game is sickening; you are ready to show up to these holiday events in style and then you get slammed by a flare up. If you have Endometriosis, Chronic Pelvic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Gastroparesis, Lupus, or any other chronic illness you know how unpredictable life can be. So, then the question is how do you navigate the holidays when sickness invades? I wish I could tell you that I had an easy fix for this situation but the truth is, there is no one definitive way to live with illness, everyone will employ different coping techniques and methods, our strategies are as unique as we are as individuals. No need to be disappointed, I have a few tips that may help you get through the holidays even if you are not feeli...

Follow my blog with Bloglovin You've picked your outfit, your hair is slayed, your nails are popping, and your shoe game is sickening; you are ready to show up to these holiday events in style and then you get slammed by a flare up. If you have Endometriosis, Chronic Pelvic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Gastroparesis, Lupus, or any other chronic illness you know how unpredictable life can be. So, then the question is how do you navigate the holidays when sickness invades? I wish I could tell you that I had an easy fix for this situation but the truth is, there is no one definitive way to live with illness, everyone will employ different coping techniques and methods, our strategies are as unique as we are as individuals. No need to be disappointed, I have a few tips that may help you get through the holidays even if you are not feeling your best. Tips & Hacks: Be kind to you When you live with chronic illness, being down and feeling useless will creep in quickly, especially ...

Me sitting in my Christmas Car 1976/77 For many, the holidays are an exciting time full of preparations and parties. They are looking forward to family and friends coming in  from near and far to gather together in the spirit of fun and festivities. Then there are those whom want nothing to do with holidays. For these people, the spirit of comfort and joy has been swallowed up by anxiety and depression. While the average person is making lists and planning menus, the not so average are worried about engaging with family members, panicking about the number of people that will be present, the demeanor of the people they will interact with, and how to handle awkward situations that are inevitable in every family gathering.  Speaking from a personal experience, holidays are a definite struggle for me and actually always has been, especially Christmas. I hated Christmas until my daughter was born, I was 17 years old. Every Christmas of my life, as far back as I can remember...