I’ve been apart of the weight watchers community for a long time. Four years to be exact. In the beginning I was very excited to be apart of weight watchers mostly because of Jennifer Hudson’s amazing transformation. You see some years ago I met miss Hudson in line auditioning for American Idol. She was on the season before I auditioned, but had showed up to the Chicago audition to give moral support. I was extremely nervous and Jennifer and George Huff just showed up and started talking to me and some other contestants. She was so nice and uplifting that my nerves went away. I never forgot that. Fast forward many years later we would cross paths again on the christening of the Disney Dream cruise ship. This time I got to see with my own eyes just how much weight she lost on the weight watchers plan. I wanted those results.  
      I needed a change in my life, health, and eating habits. I had gone from 150 to 204 in a year. None of my old weight loss tactics seemed to work anymore. I did Tae Bo now twice a day and took dance classes.  I also did extremely high impact praise dancing all weekend long and was on a veggie fast. For some reason my weight just kept rising. I needed something new, a restart button.    

  
    After pictures of my 30th BIRTHDAY surprise party and engagement video surfaced I knew now was the time. I joined weight watchers and I was very diligent in my tracking. At first my weight did not change immediately. I would loose two pounds one week and gain them back the next. Then I joined LA Fitness and signed up for a personal trainer. Then improvements started to show. I became a believer in the weight watchers diet, and nothing could sway me otherwise.

  
    My friends did not understand and would often treat me as if I was stupid for dieting. They would try to get me to over indulge in unhealthy foods. They would always say it won’t make a difference what you eat. They believed Weight watchers was unhealthy.  They did not know much about the program but they assumed it involved only prepared meals. They would tell me there was unhealthy chemicals in the food that I have to eat for weight watchers. I would reply that I can eat what I wanted only in moderation. The smart ones meals are optional. They did not buy it. I remember one friend in particular bet me she could loss even more weight then me quicker with out diet or exercise. She did not in fact loss even though she never brought it up again. She told me by mistake that she keeps gaining and she cannot seem to loose. I never rubbed it in her face but in my mind it further confirmed to me that I was on the right path.

   

  When my wedding day arrived I had gone from 204 to 170 in a year and a half.  Even though it was not my goal weight of 150 I was content and determined to keep pushing to my goal. Then something changed. I started birth control pills for the first time in my life and it started to make my body go out of wack. First my weight skyrocketed. I went from 170 to 189 in a month. Then my period started and did not go away for two and a half months. I ended up in the hospital with a lot of pain and no explanation. When I returned home I waited till the pain subsided to resume working out. I had lost my appetite but still my weight kept 
Creeping up. Then weight watchers changed their points tracking system

  
   Things that I had been tracking for two years suddenly went up in points value. When a lot of my normal food points value changed the amount of food I could eat a day lowered drastically. That should be good but I felt like I was not eating enough to be healthy. I tried to Change things up again by replacing a meal with a home made healthy fruit and veggie smoothie. But once I was finished adding in all the ingredients from healthy smoothie recipe I would be left with no points for the day. I tried only eating veggies and fruits instead of chips and crackers which is what I snacked on when I first lost weight. I took the bread out of my sandwiches, maid my own kale chips, downloaded a personal trainer app on my phone, and bought the full set Zumba workouts with the weights. I worked out everyday for a month and a half. And I gained 8 pounds. I think my final straw was when some friends assumed I was pregnant.

  
    So here I am hungry and sore from exercising to much and I stand here at a whopping 210 pounds. I’m just not happy anymore. I feel as if it is time to find a different way to eat healthy. Right now I feel like I’m just throwing money down the drain. If tracking is not working for me it’s time to go.  It’s crazy that I’m distancing myself from weight watchers way after Jennifer Hudson did.   

  
last Sunday’s say it with your dress features a skirt I got from Old Navy for $5 dollars. Yeah you heard it right $5.00. That’s how I roll when I’m shopping. As soon as I find out a already reasonably priced store is having a sale I pounce. 

  
     My main mission is to find the lowest markdowns in stores like Old Navy, Rainbow, TJ Max, Marshals, forever21, Charlotte Russe, and the now defunct Dots. Speaking of Dots that’s where I got my embellished top a couple years back. The Leopard print shoes I got during Dots 1st going out of business liquidation sale. I also got my kitchen table and a cool mirror from there too.  

I’m still trying to keep my dress very modest because I’m a Christian women, but still on trend. 

  
 I tried to make sure the skirt was not to short and the top not to tight. The necklace I got for my grandfathers funeral at JCpennys it still makes me sad when I wear it to this day. But I feel protected by the double crosses that hang on the pearl nacklaces. I had on larg hoop earrings but they broke when someone hugged me to hard after service. Good thing I know how to fix them. I added a brown belt to tie everything together in an even flow. 

some of you may not know I have a hair blog and YouTube/Facebook page. It’s called What My Hair is Doing Today.  It features some of the many hair styles and hair care tips.

Check it out.

  
This weeks #sayiywithyourdressSunday is a who wore it best me, or me!😃  

  
 My husband convinced me to get this dress at forever21. I’ve been playing with the style a bit to see if I can geta couple of different looks out of it. 

The first time I wore it I paired it with a Kimono because the straps are thin, and I planned to wear it to church.  The dress is very form fitting. I wanted to add a piece that would draw attention away form my curves. The idea is to keep it modest. My plan didn’t work as well as I hoped. I did get some side eyes form the church mothers.  So I waited a while for the scandal to die down and I decided to try to restyle the dress again this Sunday. 

  
The second time around I tried a denim vest and some Leopard wedge heels instead of the dollar store sandals. I was trying to achieve a little punk edge. I wore my very large Super Mario Brothers flower necklace to hide a little of the lowness of the neck line. The vest made my waist appear a little more cinched in while covering up the tiny spaghetti strap. Even though I felt more comfortable the second time around I still felt like I was being judged a little so this dress might have to be saved for weekend date nights and friendly gatherings. 

What look do you like best?

  

So after watching one of charyjay YouTube videos I became interested in oil pulling. When she mentioned it she was a little vague so I decided to do some research to see what it was all about. Oil pull is an ancient Ayruveda holistic dental care method that involves holding cold pressed oil in your mouth.  When practicing oil pulling you hold oil in your mouth swishing it around but never swallowing it for 20 minute. The idea is that it will whiten your teeth and make your mouth healthy by removing germs.  It can also make your over all health better, but I’ll get to that later.

  
    After I started oil pulling I’ve notice some interesting changes. One change I’ve noticed is I sleep much better at night. I use to wake up a lot at night and have trouble sleeping. Now I fall asleep easier, and stay asleep. I wake up in the morning felling well rested. As a result I have a lot more energy in the day.

   Another change I’ve noticed is the most important. My mouth feels so much cleaner. I’m not sure if my teeth have gotten noticeably whiter, however my mouth feel great. I was very skeptical about this, & most things I see online, but there seems to be a lot to back it up.

   One of the more surprising things I notice is that my weight changed a little. This was a very welcome surprise because I’ve been really struggling with my weight for the last 2 years. I went from 170lb to 205 in a matter of months and no matter what I do I can’t get my weight down. I lost 3 pounds and my body felt different. This caused me to research more into the beneficial properties of coconut oil.

   I’ve been using coconut oil in my hair for years but I never once thought I would be putting it on my mouth and consuming it on a daily basis. After doing some research I decided why not try it. I already have a ton of coconut oil for my hair.

    I’ve come across a lot of potential health benefits to coconut oil. When it comes to oil pulling with coconut oil the benefits are as follows. Whiter teeth, and healthier gums.  It can prevent gum disease and tooth decay. However it cannot cure it if it is already in progress. I know my teeth have some issues already. I was not about to fool myself into thinking oil pulling was some miracle cure to end all my dental problems forever. You still need to go to your regular checkups.

 It also can improve the appearance of your skin. I’ve noticed my skin seems more luminescent. A lot of my hyper pigmentation has cleared up & I have less acne.
Here is a link to one of the articles I read about oil pulling and the benefits of coconut oil.

http://draxe.com/coconut-oil-benefits/

http://artecalifornia.com/2014/10/28/ever-hear-of-oil-pulling/

http://www.primallyinspired.com/oil-pulling-with-coconut-oil/