14 Sept 2012

Inspiration: Somaya Reece

I remember watching an episode of Love and Hip Hop where some girl called Somaya a "beast"..an obvious diss to her size. I never thought she was overweight just a tall girl with curves and then I saw this:

It's amazing how putting 2 photos side by side can give you perspective. Not only does she look great but she looks younger. She looks happier 20 LBS LIGHTER.

How did she do it?
She started eating clean but never saw it as a "diet" but a lifestyle change. She ate what she loved but alternatives. Like instead of beef burgers from xyz, she'd make them herself from turkey meat.

I love how in this video she explains that being thin doesn't mean that you are healthy. Even the most overweight person can still have the stamina as long as they are fit:

What she eats on a typical day?
9:30am Coffee and protein shake (water, ½ cup of milk, ½ banana, ½ tbsp of almond butter, ½ cup of uncooked oatmeal)
12:30pm Chicken breast (boneless/skinless, the size of a small fist and baked) spinach, toasted piece of wheat bread
3:30pm Salad (red leaf lettuce, bell pepper, avocado, oil, vinegar & seasoning salt)
6:30pm protein shake (water ½ skim milk)
8-9:00pm Glazed Whitefish, veggies, salad


On her blog: missreece.com she shares tips, recipes and workouts:


I follow her on Instagram and she's always doing things like 30 day fitness challenges to motivate others and herself. Next month will try it out. 

 Inspiring stuff!!

....sexy + I know it..

This is my "eurgggggh I have to workout now" face...attractive isn't it. I decided to go the park and make my workout fun...emphasis on the word fun.

Any ideas on how I can make my workouts fun?

Where do I start...???

I have just finished the hardest month of my life..slept less than 4 hours a day, submitted my dissertation, finished my exams! Lost like 5 kg in a month because I just wasn't eating or exercising properly.

Ohhh and I was diagnosed with HYPERTHYRODISM AND HYPOTHYRODISM! MY BODY HATES ME...IT'S OFFICIAL! Basically for the past 6 months my memory has been acting up. I cut my finger and couldn't remember how I did it. I had exams and it was difficult to grasp things..and I love reading, so it was frustrating. 

My mum wouldn't let me hear the end of it till I went to a doctor. So I went, they took my blood and a week later told me that I was showing signs of hypothyroidism but my blood showed hyperthyroidism. My heart dropped..it sounded like the end of the world. So many negative thoughts were running through my head at that point. It dawned on me that the I went through for P90X and Insanity, was because my body didn't have a chance since it was dealing with its own B.S.

How weird is that though! My blood shows that my thyroid is working too hard, so naturally my metabolism should be in overdrive and I should be losing weight. Instead its behaving as if it hypothyroidism and I'm finding it hard to shift the pounds and even though was eating less. SIGH...LIFE EY! 

So for the past 2 months that has been my life...ohhh and another thing..I'm tired all the time but can't sleep, I have goitre, I feel hot all the time, find myself gasping for breath (had this for a year...never knew why till I was diagnosed), muscle pain....it goes on and on!

Thankfully its treatable because I caught it early...phew! Ladies (+gents) if you feel weird about anything...body wise...please go to the doctor ASAP!

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ANYWAY...I just want to share with you guys what I ate during the haitus. I tried to take photos of meals that I bothered to cook: Made an amazing bunch of steaks that were marinaded for 72 hours with this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-steak-marinade-in-existence/


Grilled the steaks in the oven till medium rare and served them with a wild rice + long grain rice mix.

For a meatless dinner, I sauteed some onions with baby plum tomatoes and garlic and served it with red rice (nutty + delicious variety of rice -- very healthy)

A Nigerian dinner of black eyed peas in a chilli tomato sauce with white rice. 
 
Breakfast smoothie of frozen berries with rice milk, banana, spinach and chia seeds.