How I Lose my Holiday Weight ASAP!

First thing anyone that knows me and reads this post will say is What!! Which Weight!! Please leave us that have weight issues with our struggles oo. lol. I totally understand where they are coming from though, to them i look like the perfect weight, majority of my friends beef me that i'm a foodie and never pile on the pounds. haha. they say it's the person wearing the shoes that knows where they pinch and hurt.

me tryna compress the CHEEKS

Honestly i rarely have issues with my weight, as far as i'm concerned, my BMI (Body Mass Index i.e the ratio of your weight to your height) is perfect. My weight is usually between 50kg (lowest)- 59kg (highest), it fluctuates depending on my meals, diet, stress, etc. I have discovered that my weight almost enters the 60s on the scale, in fact i'm sure it enters this range during the holiday season (Christmas/New Year/Sallah/Easter), i just refuse to climb a scale during this period and remain blissfully unaware of the numbers *wide grin*
When i do add the weight it starts showing first on my face especially my cheeks (note i already have naturally full cheeks) and chin!!! and these parts are the ones that get to me! that's when u see me taking all my pics at angles!lol; then slowly my clothes get really tight and since i have no plans of changing my wardrobe, the weight gats to go. 

Last year i got kind of an early start on piling on the 'holiday weight' when we went for our honeymoon in Zanzibar, Tanzania. We had booked our hotels online and they were 'All-Inclusive' i.e the room rates included meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, room service, etc). Oh my days!!!!! I ate like a glutton and piled on the pounds mehn!! Before i could say jack i had a double chin and full rosssyyyy cheeks (people started asking if i was preggers). Funny thing is before we went on this vacation, we had done serious workout to get in shape and have 'beach bodies'.

post-holiday fuller cheeks

Post-Zanzibar round face

Anyway enough of my stories ba, here is how i get rid of the weight ASAP after the holidays are over:

• Accept that it'll take some time to lose the weight
• Accept that you'll loose some goodies in the process (i.e. boobs, ass) *tears*
• Get ur family/friends on board-they'll motivate u n help/correct when u wanna cheat 
• Join a support group (mine was SYTYCC fitness group); you can also use an app for this
• Do not keep climbing the scale to see how much u've lost-You will be disappointed, instead measure ur weight loss by how ur clothes fit or by using a tape rule
• Stay Motivated by all means (it helps to work towards a goal weight or a dress you wanna fit in by a certain time, etc.)
• Meal plan, you can have a timetable or just make a list and cook from it. Planning ahead helps you not just reach for snacks,fast food or eat out so much
• Track your Meals-You can keep a food diary or picture log
• Stock ur fridge, freezer and pantry with the good/healthy stuff and snacks (Fruits, Veg, etc)
• Snack addict (snack healthy-carrots,tigernuts,dates,cucumbers, plain popsorn, etc.)
• Cook more instead of eating out especially veggies n protein meals
• Eat less carbs (Rice, Pounded Yam, etc). Take smaller portions and take more of the Veg and Proteins
• Cut out Soda & Fizzy drinks
• Portion Control (I use small bowls to help measure what i eat, white plates also help after a while ur eyes can guage what is ok for you)
• Eat smaller portions more frequently (easier for ur body to digest, don't overdo it) instead of one large portion that will send u to woonderland
• Eat fruits
• Don't overdo it, pace yourself and slowly but surely your body will start to adjust accordingly
• Use the white house (toilet) regularly
• Shower at night after eating (for me i feel more refreshed after a shower and get a few more hours awake for my food to properly digest)
• DON'T go to bed IMMEDIATELY after eating
• Drink lots of water (before and after a meal especially-you will visit the loo more often however)
• Exercise;know what works for you-power walking, dancing, moving around doin diff activities(climb staircases), skipping, stretches, squats, situps, legups, house cleaning (that sweat is calories being burnt, don't underestimate it)
• Keep a Workout Timetable (whatever ur form of exercise) to track your activities
• Be active (move around more). Having a pedometer or smart band to track your steps keeps you motivated
• Watermelons are your friend
• Detox once in a while
• Fasting (usually church prescribed but works for me)
• Facial Exercises (supposed to help us with full cheeks; thank God for 'contour' sha)

'Regular weight' face

'Perfect wedding weight'{After 100day church fast}

I watch a lot of 'Fat Shows' on TLC and i learn from them, the habits to cut and how to be aware and control what you eat in order to reach/or maintain your desired weight instead of fighting to lose weight. Weight loss is hard especially after a certain stage, it is better to work towards not even reaching such a stage.
I maintain my current weight by cooking what i eat, portion control, indulging my sweettooth once in a while, being active and very little exercise (mostly walking, house cleaning and dancing).

Slow and Steady wins the race, just keep at it and eventually you will see results (clothes start getting loose, etc.). Hope this helps anyone that overdid 'small chops' during the Easter.

Toodles!XooX

Safety in Abuja-December Holidays

Hallo ma peoples!!! Been a Minute ba, no vex biko, i've been swamped with so many events and work and have sooo many draft pending posts... *sigh. Anyway, back to the matter, we are in December, the last of the 'Ember Months' signalling the end of the year, like play like play 2015 don dey waka go .

I love December, its the month of Christmas, hubby's birthday, my birthday, holiday from work, last month of the year and usually full of weddings and events. *bigGrin. This December though, the Nigerian people and Economy is suffering from 'Buharitisis' a.k.a money no dey in circulation. Since Buhari became the Presido, contracts haven't been issued (people dey fear), sack letter dey flow like water, $ rate don almost reach 300 naira (lets not talk about Pounds), thieves have been caught (i like this sha, the Dokpesi's, Dasuki's and their fellow barawos-i just hope justice prevails eventually), fuel scarcity, etc.

Country tight now as you can see from the above, the streets are not smiling and those that are not making an honest living have become more desperate. Everybody wan go village do yanga and celebrate this Christmas, by fire, by force. God help us that are working hard for our income and bless the work of our hands and keep us safe. There is more insecurity during this period and i'm just going to write below a few pointers to help us stay safe especially in Abuja.

• Try not to stay out too late especially if you do not have a car and if you have to, have a friend or 2 with you
• Be aware of your surroundings
• If you own a car and reside in Abuja (especially around Wuse 2), please try not to park in areas without proper security (especially @night) and even when you do, please do not leave any valuables in your car or boot. (Our car was robbed sometime in October, the back window was broken and they were able to open the car and stole my handbag from the boot; luckily i got my bag back, but that's story for another post)
• If you own a car, please always lock all your doors at all times, especially when approaching a speed bump or at a red light. It has become common practice for thieves to run out of nowhere, open car doors and grab what they can within reach (your bag, phone, etc.) in a flash and dash off into the blue before you even comprehend what even happened. Sometimes they (heard sometimes they are oiled up) will even try to drag things out of the hand of the person in the passenger seat (this happened to my friend)
• If you are entering a cab, please be extremely cautious and try to evaluate the personality of the driver while pricing, when a price is agreed on,ask him to open the door from inside (this is to ensure that the child lock is not enabled and in case of any issue, you can get out ASAP). 
• If you are entering a cab, ask to check the boot, to make sure there's no one hiding in there, some cars have back seats that fold and open into the car and quite a number of people have gotten robbed in this way
• If you are entering a cab, i'd advise you seat in the back seat, preferably directly behind the driver, its harder for the driver to attack you in this position if he has such intentions and you can easily tuck and roll out of the car in such a situation
• If you are entering a cab, check to see that the door locks are present and if they are automatic and the type you can manually open if necessary
• If you are entering a cab, please evaluate the cab even from afar even before stopping it, check that it has a proper plate no; the necessary cab no.s painted on it, etc. An unpainted cab (not green&white) can be riskier to take
• If you want to take a cab, you can use the Easy Taxi or Uber app to get one from the comfort of your home, though the prices may be a bit higher that if you get one by the roadside, it is wayyyyy safer. Their drivers are registered with them and can be traced if anything goes wrong.
• If possible, have a pepper spray or small tazer on you at all times in case of an attack, so you can defend youself
• I do not advise entering cars that already have passengers (a.k.a 'Along') especially if they are all men or only one female in the car, i believe buses are actually safer for such trips
• If you are walking on the sidewalk, keep your bag, etc. properly closed and on the shoulder away from the road, hold on to it tightly to avoid having something stolen from it (pickpockets) or having it snatched from you 
• Do not sleep in cab and mind d convos (phone calls) u have,
• Do not leave ur bag/valuables to step out for a bit, use an ATM, etc. and come back. You can end up having something stolen or he zooms off with all ur stuff,
• Keep ur belongings closed n out of arms reach of the cab driver
• If possible have a consistent cab guy with a detailed record of his car and personal data in case of any issues
• Keep you house gates and doors locked and try to avoid crowded places (Boko Haram is still active)

Stay safe my peoples, country hard but by God's grace e no go hard for us and we will be out of the reach of these desperados.

Toodles!XooX

Na wa o!!

Mehn! it was a beautiful day on the 18th of November, i went to NIIT class, saw a friend then went to French class, then on ma way home from around 8pm, ma beautiful day went sour. I was walking by the side of the road with my friend and the this car drives up slowly beside me, a guy brings half of his body out the window and drags ma bag off ma shoulder after hitting my hand with his gun to halt my struggling and they zoom off. i was stunned 'cos all this happened in like 10 seconds..i dint feel good at all 'cos that bag contained a lot of things. This happened in Zone 4, Abuja on the narrow road by PHCN, there are no street lights there.

They definitely hit a Jackpot...ID cards, ATM cards, phones, make-up not less dan 20k in all, gold jewelry i was planning to change at Wuse Market (all hail the queen of procrastination), ma class notes, diary, flash drives, camera, memory cards (with all my grad pics).. and money (luckily i had made most of the payments i needed t)..u name it they were all in dat bag.My friend gave me cash to bus home..but i v gotten over the loss and yesterday i retrieved ma lines and blocked ma ATMs. 

In everything give thanks, i do, coulda been worse, i coulda been shot, on top bag; i know God will replace all i lost with even better things. My mum sed its 'cos December is around the corner, thieves are now more desperate, 'bout two weeks ago my friends phone was stolen from her bag while we were at the bus stop about to go to the redemption camp in Keffi; guess we gotta be more careful b4 they steal us in their desperation. I'm in a better mood now and getting over the theft of ma bag and the items in it, the most painful was my diary and memory cards with my pics funny enough. God dey...i have learnt from this experience, would never have guessed Abuja would be the place for me t get robbed and in the streets for that matter.