OMG…4 WEEKS TO GET RID OF EATING & BLOATING I DID IN 48 HOURS

So, remember how AMAZING a time I told you I had at Essence Fest in New Orleans? I met so many inspiring celebrities like Nas, Kofi Siriboe, Big Freedia and Lynn Whitfield to name a few. Plus, to attend an event where Michelle Obama spoke motivational food into my soul, while eating the best New Orleans po boy sandwiches and gumbo on the planet – was all an ambitious thick fit Ethiopian girl could ask for.

Meeting Queen Sugar’s "Kofi Siriboe” at the OWN Essence Fest Party was so cool…but that 3rd drink in my hand instead of water in the 100 degree #Nawlins was something my body would pay for!

Meeting Queen Sugar’s "Kofi Siriboe” at the OWN Essence Fest Party was so cool…but that 3rd drink in my hand instead of water in the 100 degree #Nawlins was something my body would pay for!

When I touched down, I tried on the dress I planned on wearing that day and did the Wobble Dance like “Yes girl I’m about to kill the game in this dress.” But after devouring my first po boy sandwich and gumbo, it just took one hour for things to go left. When it was time to slay in my pink panther body con, I had BLOATED UP so much from my #Nawlins eating that I was doing the penguin Waddle Dance holding my breath like “Hey girl…ummmm, could you PLEAZZZZZE help me zip my dress.”

THE BLOATING EFFECT

That’s how fast I can bloat and swell …all within an hour. All I ate was a po boy sandwich and gumbo…but with no water which was thick fit suicide in the humid New Orleans heat. While I was getting my life at Essence Fest, I needed Iyana Vanzant to fix my life afterwards due to the damage I had done, throwing away my entire diet that weekend.

I picked up 10lbs just in 48 hours…and it’s taken me 4 weeks to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel from the damage of getting my body back.

That’s the effect of bloating. Foods high in sodium like the “po boys and gumbo” ya girl was going to town on lead to bloating.  Bloating leads to swelling which leads to high water retention which leads to weight gain – which leads to me being mad and frustrated as hell for screwing up my fitness gains. 

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TOP 10 CAUSES OF BLOATING

I should’ve had this list written on both of my hands in New Orleans to stay on point. Here’s my Top 10 causes of bloating:

  1. SALT! SALT IS THE #1 CAUSE OF BLOATING! (This includes popcorn because of the salt salt salt)

  2. Sugar

  3. Soda & Carbonation

  4. ALCOHOL ALCOHOL ALCOHOL. Dark liquor especially plus the mixers and sodas etc.

  5. Not enough fiber

  6. Not enough fruits & veggies

  7. Not enough water

  8. Carb overload

  9. Eating too fast (which increases gas in the body)

  10. Dairy (So sorry to break your heart, but dairy and carbs are a huge contribution to constipation, bloat, and pimples)

Bloating is an excess in gas that disturbs your digestive system. Once the gas reaches your intestines, there’s nowhere for it to go so it just stays there. Salt is so detrimental to bloating because it makes you hold on to water. This also makes you too full of air with no way to let it out. For someone like me the bloating leads to my stomach poking out.

You’ve got to know your body, and what you can and cannot do! For example, I can eat Brussels sprouts but not broccoli. As much as I love Chick-fil-A, I swell and bloat. Listen to your body. 

My body is not used to processing so much salt, so my stomach pays for it, and I end up paying even more by needing clothes in a bigger size.

The main signals of bloating are you feel awful and stuffed up, you constantly want to burp or pass gas, and you feel constipated. The perfect example is Thanksgiving. You know how you feel after several plates of Big Momma’s best? Yep, all that feeling just as stuffed as the turkey, getting the itis and wanting to stay stuck on the coach afterwards is often due to the bloating effect you’re feeling.

HOW TO GET RID OF THE POUNDS FROM BLOATING

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So, if you go on a girls trip like I did and screw up your entire diet in 48hrs, leaving you 10lbs bigger, what do you do? Here’s my 4-step get right & get rid of the bloating pounds regimen:

1.     CLEAN EATING

What I did immediately was went to clean eating by primarily decreasing my SALT INTAKE. This meant going back to creating a disciplined meal prep, incorporating fish, veggies and nothing high in salt & sugar.

2.     WATER INTAKE

This was so important. I bumped my water intake up to 1 gallon a day to flush out my system.

3.     HIT THE TREADMILL

For the first week after my binge, I hit the treadmill 6 days a week for 45 minutes a day. Then I went to 5 days a week for 30 minutes.

4.     DAILY PROBIOTIC

Taking a daily probiotic supplement helps to promote a balanced stomach to support digestive and immune health.

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4 weeks later I’m finally back to where I was before my Essence Excess Fest! Seeing how now New Orleans is my NEW HOME AWAY FROM HOME as of last week when my husband was signed with the Saints #WHODATWHODATNATION…ummmmm please pray for ya thick fit girl, and include Zion Williamson in them too. #ThouShallNotOverIndulgeOnNewOrleansPoBoys&Gumbo

 

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