Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Motivation: Annette Larkins and Ernestine Shepherd



Ernestine Shepherd was the oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world, as declared by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 and 2011; as of 2014 she is 77 years old


  • Monday, April 28, 2014

    Blissful Weekend filled with Family, Food, Friends, and FUN!


    New Sexy hair


    Me and Lisa Roberts at Drunken Fish (My Homie from the 90's)






    Jazz Brunch at All Saint Episcopal Church with my family





    Selfie


    Me and my Grandmother


    My Kidlet




    Weird Church Selfie




    Wednesday, April 23, 2014

    Real Talk: Alcohol Fuels my Creativity!

    So here I sit in front of my computer trying to pound out this blog entry. And as smoothly as I want it to come oozing out of my brain with perfection, I seem to have gotten a small bout of writers block. Now I’m no stranger to writers block because all of my “Guys I’d Fuck” posts from my Sex Blog are written because I haven’t the slightest thing better to discuss, so I’d add those posts as mindless fillers. I didn't want to do that this time; I actually wanted something thought provoking to say, so here it is.

    Alcohol fuels my creativity!!







    I started drinking heavily again, and heavy to me is devouring a large bottle of Moscato wine in less than an hour. I stopped drinking for a time because I started to develop a dependency. But the fortunate thing is that when I pick up bad habits such as dependencies on marijuana and alcohol, the Gods and Goddesses will bless me with terrible aches and pains and rapid weight gain, which forces me to stop. As self destructive as I can be sometimes, the Gods look after me.


    But this is where it gets complicated because all of my best writing and thinking is done when I’m either drunk or tipsy, and I start to notice the difference in my writing flow when I haven’t had a drink because my writing isn't as fluid. I’m drinking right now, and as I get tipsier, the words start to flow a little easier.


    Some of my most favorite writers, artists and intellectuals were alcoholics such as Edgar Allen Poe, Frida Kahlo, Nina Simone, Ernest Hemingway, and Truman Capote, but I guess I shouldn't brag about that because they all died fucked up and in bad physical and mental health.

    In the end, limitation and moderation is the key to enjoying such vices without letting them get the best of you. Hopefully my hangover in the morning will be painful enough to make me take yet another short break from drinking.


    We’ll see!


    Ahhh, I Absolutely LOVE that picture below..

    Tuesday, April 22, 2014

    Fatty McMonday! The Struggle is REAL!!!

    I swear!

    I had every intention to eat healthy yesterday, but that plan was shot to shit.  I even packed a light lunch that consisted of a Lean Cuisine meal, banana, yogurt, and some Mandarin Oranges. I did my usual morning workout routine, then posted a new blog post.



    Then as soon as I got to work, a coworker asked about the Food Trucks over in Ferguson for lunch.  I tried to resist, but the excitement of those delicious food trucks being within a stones throw from my job, made the offer too good to refuse.

    I ordered the most delicious Philly Cheese Steak sammie with fries, and 2 damn tacos.  WTF Erika?

    Needless to say I felt kinda bad that I had fallen off the weight loss horse, YET AGAIN!  But I refuse to beat myself up, I'm just going to start again and work a little harder to get as far away from 200 pounds as I can.

    Lets just hope that the rest of this week will be more of a success.

    By the way, I gained 2 of my pounds back and I'm kinda frustrated about it.

    Oh Well!













    Monday, April 21, 2014

    Staying motivated to eat right during the Holidays......

    Um, Yeah......

    If anyone out there has a strategy for this, PLEASE let a sistah know!

    I must admit that I didn't do as bad as I had anticipated.  I didn't even eat the monstrous amounts of candy that I usually eat on Easter.  A few pieces of bubble gum, and a hand full of jelly beans.  Still not good for someone with type II Diabetes, but I could have done much worse.  My grandmother gave me and Isaiah Easter Baskets filled with candy and a HUGE chocolate Easter bunny, but I gave my basket to my niece and nephew to share.  Good Job Erika!



    So, my plan was to eat at the family members house with the least amount of Soul Food, and I knew exactly where that was going to be.  

    My grandmother's  House!

    (90 is Beautiful)


    For as long as I've been on this earth, my paternal Grandmother has NEVER cooked Soul food.  Her taste in food is kind of refined as a matter of fact.  Cornish Hens, lamb, steamed vegetables, Orzo Salads, couscous, butternut squash Risotto; you know, those kinds of foods.  Growing up, I always thought that her style of cooking was foreign since my parents only cooked soul food.  As a kid, I didn't understand my grandmothers cooking, it seemed bland, tasteless, and too different.  But as I rapidly approach 40, my body LOVES her style of cooking. I now appreciate it.  Not only do I appreciate it, I respect it.  My grandmother is 90 and she looks FABULOUS, and I'm pretty sure her style cooking has contributed to her fountain of youth.





    Let us pray that her longevity is hereditary! 

    After I left my grandmother's I went to my parents house where the usual fare was in full effect.  Beef ribs, Macaroni and cheese, mash potatoes, Dressing, greens, corn bread, and sweet potatoes.

    Didn't look twice at it! YAY ME!


    Sunday, April 20, 2014

    Food Wine and Urban Living





    Sometimes I wished I lived somewhere else besides St. Louis because when it comes to food and places to dine, St. Louis sucks. Don’t get me wrong, if you love Bar & Grills, Buffets, Chinese food, and hood BBQ joints; St. Louis is the place to live. But if you’re looking for something different, inexpensive, unique, and delicious; well you better cook it at home. And if you live in a predominately black area like I do; White Castle, Popeye's, KFC, Chop Suey, and tripe joints practically raised you.

    I remember visiting places like Chicago and San Francisco and thinking, OMG this place is heaven for food lovers. Even the small corner diners in San Fan were fabulous like “The Bashful Bull”, where I had the most awesome grilled cheese sandwich topped with pineapple, avocado, and tomato. Or something as simple as a street vendor selling hot dogs wrapped in bacon with sauteed onions and peppers.
    God kill me if I eat another piece of BBQ, fried rice, and fried chicken, I just can’t do it anymore.....

    I need something different, organic, fresh, and healthier that taste good, but I don’t want to travel far from my own community, or go broke to get it. But I guess like anything else, you got to work a little harder to get the better quality stuff, and food is no exception.

    That’s why I've created this blog specifically for the healthy dining experience. It’s not going to be your average food and restaurant blog, no sir. It’s going to infuse my love of good food and wine; and also an extension of my Weight loss blog.


    Typical Fat girl stuff.....

    Happy Easter!

    Happy Easter everyone!

    Let me first introduce myself and say that I'm already starting off on the WRONG foot this Easter morning. As I sit here pounding out my first blog post for "Happy In Sneakers", I'm sipping on St. James Red Velvet Wine at 9:00am on a Sunday morning......... who does that? ME!

    I haven't quite got this weight loss thing down to a Science yet, but I am aware of the things that work for my body.  Last year I discovered that I have type II Diabetes, and was given a prescription for Metformin and Glipizide which I resisted taking like a Fat kid to a Gym.  No wonder my blood sugar runs 350-400.  I never felt the side effects of my Diabetes and High Blood Sugar until late February of this YEAR. Dizziness, lightheaded, skin feeling tight, and blurred vision caused me to start taking the medications like instructed.

    Well, something glorious happened!  After I started taking the medication, a few pounds began to fall off.  Maybe it's the affect of the Metformin, I'm not sure, but I'm loving it.  As of lately I started walking to help aid my weight loss, and like magic, I lost a few more pounds (10 to be exact).




    I'm now 196 and more motivated than ever.

    I'm not quite motivated to go and buy a Gym Membership, BUT I am motivated to get up Monday-Saturday at 5am to do a brisk walk.


    That's a start, and I'm happy with it.