BLACK AMERICAN WOMEN - SPIRIT of OBESITY

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 Glory to God everyone for giving me as well as you another day to repent of our sins! This subject matter really bothers me and I feel the need to talk about it. I love every and all races including Black American women. I had to question myself a few times regarding if I should blog about this or not because some women may be very sensitive to where they may accuse me of bashing when that is not what I do and not the reason behind this blog.

     It is so sad to see so many black women obese! Let me say it again that IT IS SO SAD TO SEE SO MANY BLACK WOMEN OBESE! Growing up in Detroit it was not this bad but as the years flew by I began to see more and more black women become over weight. I really thought that once I moved out to Los Angeles that I would not see that many over weight women but I was totally wrong! I see way more than I ever imagined! It really bothers me when I'm out with my family at some of the great outdoor malls in L.A. or at one of the beaches and while walking around I see all of these beautiful temples meaning in shape, but then I look and see black women walking around very slow being obese with stomachs hanging out of their clothes! Almost every time I look up there they are again, more obese black American women walking slow because they are out of breath! This is sad to me and not a joke!!! I was talking with a group of black women regarding fitness because I was asked to give some advice on weight loss. I noticed that one of the black women that was obese stood silent. Then she finally speaks in the conversation and says this, "I'm a fat azz, I'm a fat azz and I don't care and I'm not giving up food cause I love to eat!" Ladies and gentlemen I am not making this up as God is listening to me I am telling you the truth! SAD! I hear so many women make excuses for why they are huge. They will even say that it is not what's on the outside but what's on the inside that counts! I'm sorry but the outside does count! Why? BECAUSE YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD! YOUR BODY IS GOD'S TEMPLE!

1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

  
God did not give you that temple for you to mistreat it! I know that mistakes happen and that there are women out there who regret letting their temple become obese and are honestly trying to do something about it but many of you aren't honestly trying to do a thing about it. The problem is is that many of you are too weak in your flesh to give up fatty foods and drinks and sodas that contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! The spirit of obesity is a stronghold of Satan. I hear many black women say I love myself, and that's good but try loving yourself much more and honestly turn to God in prayer and ask for help. I believe that I hear in my spirit women saying I do pray and ask God to help me everyday. Here is why shedding those pounds is not working for you:

#1 Before you pray to God you should remove all doubt because if you pray in doubt then you are telling God that you have no faith in Him. Hebrews 11

#2 You expect God to make it easy for you by doing all of the work but you must do your part.

#3 You have to stay consistent.

Other excuses that some black women use is that this is how God made me? WHAT?!?! I hear that it is just in our genes! I hear big is beautiful, big is sexy so this is how I'm going to be. To me those are just lazy excuses to honestly put in your best effort to shed pounds because many can't turn down unhealthy fatty food and still over eat. I keep hearing that fat is sexy?? I'm sorry but to me big is not sexy and is not beautiful.

Lets take a look at this report on black women having the highest obesity rate. This report is from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services:

WAKE UP CALL
African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.
In 2010, African Americans were 1.4 times as likely to be obese as Non- Hispanic Whites.
In 2010, African American women were 70% more likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic White women.
In 2007-2010, African American girls were 80% more likely to be overweight than Non-Hispanic White girls.


     I share this a lot with my wife of the conversations that I have with men learning that over weight black women are just one of the top reasons why they are dating other races. They feel that black women don't care about themselves any more.You say black is beautiful but you don't show it. It is not a pretty sight to see our black female race walking around with huge arms, huge thighs, stomach flowing out of their top, face fat making them look much older than what they really are, turkey neck and fat feet with fat toes sticking out of their shoes! When people of other races talk bad about black women then you guys are ready to riot. I don't believe in bashing people but at the same time you can't give people reasons to say negative things. Yes people are always going to say bad things but stop giving them the power to do so! You say that you are a beautiful black woman then show it, wear it! Go get a workout partner, do your research of foods to avoid, ask God for strength and workout hard. My wife had weight issues in the past but she loved herself enough to say hey enough is enough and I must take care of my temple and keep it in shape. My wife is a very beautiful petite black barbie that knows how to dress and wear those high heels that causes my mouth to drop open still after being together since the year 2000! My wife wants to represent the black race and show that there are still some beautiful black women out there by using herself as an example. Men love women that are in shape and the way the black men are on these women here in Southern California is no joke. I see many photos that people post on these social networks of groups of black women posing but in these photos they are all fat. I also see groups of other races in photos and they are in shape and looking great. Will the real beautiful black women please come out?

     I believe that black women have the most beautiful shapes but if they just keep that weight off then it will show. Trust me when you are slimmer and not over weight then you look much better in your clothes. It is not very attractive to see black women squeezing in to a dress while busting out of one at the same time. Back in the day us guys use to say that black women had bodies like a coca-cola bottle but seeing how now and the report states that 4 out of every 5 black women are obese there are not many coca-cola shapes any more. I will tell you this that it would be wise of you to honestly put in a great effort in getting into shape by exercising and proper dieting because it will catch up with you and I know first hand working in the medical field. Do you know that having all of that fat in your stomach pushes and squeezes your arteries keeping the blood from flowing properly to and from your heart? Your heart has to work harder than it should which places more strain on the heart. That will result in heart problems and help cause arterial hypertension! Having too much weight is also not good for your bones and joints. It wears down on your knees causing the cartilage to wear down quicker, and as a result you will have to have knee replacements at an early age. Your spine is and hips are being affected. Now you may feel just fine but trust and I've worked in Ortho in the Nursing department and when you have to have knee and hip replacements, it is not a good thing but painful.

     In conclusion here I am strongly urging and advising black women who are obese/overweight to love themselves enough to say enough is enough to make a complete change. Stop walking around saying that big is beautiful when it is not. It is very unhealthy and doesn't look good. Come out from under the stronghold of Satan pushing you to mess up God's temples that He so blessed you with and pray to God with all faith and do your part. When you are out, open up your eyes and see that others are obese and let that be a wake up call to yourselves to say hey I don't want to be like this anymore and I need to make a change! Don't accept being over weight just because you see others like that. Stop using the "it's in our genes" excuse because you don't see a lot of black women obese in these other countries? It is how this country eats. For all of the black American women who are in shape or over weight and are honestly putting in a great effort while shedding pounds with real time goals then I want to applaud you greatly.

Note: If you are a black woman who has weight issues and really wants help and would like extra prayer, please let me know. I would be more than happy to go with you before God for help and strength.

The following report was taken from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/01/african-american.aspx.
 Credit: Sadie Dingfelder

African-American women at risk

With the obesity epidemic disproportionally affecting black women, APA and the Association of Black Psychologists co-hosted a summit to explore the intersection of race, stress and social context — as well as the culturally sensitive interventions that can make a difference.

By Sadie Dingfelder
Monitor Staff
January 2013, Vol 44, No. 1
Print version: page 56

About 10 years ago, APA Past-President Suzanne Bennett Johnson, PhD, noticed an alarming trend in her University of Florida diabetes clinic: Many black children were developing Type 2 diabetes — a preventable, largely obesity-related disease that she'd only previously seen in adults. "Then I learned that 50 percent of African-American women develop Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. That's simply unacceptable," Johnson said at the Summit on Obesity in African American Women and Girls, an event that brought about 90 obesity researchers, health professionals and community leaders to the University of the District of Columbia on Oct. 22–23.
The first major collaboration between APA and the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi), the summit was "a call to action," said ABPsi President Cheryl Grills, PhD. "The issues facing the African-American community are immense, but if we don't have our health, not much else matters," she said.
The obesity epidemic has affected all Americans, but it has hit African-American women the hardest, said speaker Cynthia Ogden, PhD, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 60 percent of black women are obese, compared with 32 percent of white women and 41 percent of Hispanic women. The trend is decreasing black women's life expectancy and increasing their chances of developing a host of ailments, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis, Johnson noted.
The data also show a curious trend, Ogden said. White and Hispanic women with higher socioeconomic status and more education seem somewhat protected from rising obesity rates, but that doesn't hold true for black women. "It's not just the low-income African-American population that's experiencing this problem," Ogden said.
There are many possible causes for the disparity, and even more for the overall obesity epidemic, presenters said. But one thing is sure: To make a difference, psychologists will need to collaborate with one another and with experts from other disciplines. To that end, the summit organizers will create a report and work with presenters and other attendees to develop a list of concrete action items that all can agree to support, both of which will be available at ABPsi and APA's Public Interest Directorate. "The summit is a first step," said Gwendolyn Keita, PhD, one of the lead organizers and executive director of APA's Public Interest Directorate.
"If we are really going to solve this problem, we are going to have to be on interdisciplinary research teams, we are going to have to partner with community leaders and we are going to have to find allies ... every step of the way," Johnson said.

Interventions that work

Empowering black women to lead healthier lives is precisely the goal of "Prime Time Sister Circles," a 12-week program developed by former Assistant Surgeon General Marilyn Gaston, MD, and clinical psychologist Gayle Porter, PhD. So far, their program has helped more than 2,000 women lead healthier lives in Chicago, Philadelphia, Tampa, Fla., and Orlando, and throughout Maryland and the greater Washington, D.C., area.
Each "Sister Circle" consists of 23 middle-aged women who meet once a week — often in a church basement or community center — to support one another and share strategies for managing stress and taking better care of their health. Trained group leaders, usually women from the community who have graduated from past circles, facilitate discussions on a variety of topics. Visiting experts also lead discussions on stress management, nutrition and physical activity. But one of the toughest lessons is convincing the participants, most of whom are Christian, that it's OK to take care of themselves, Porter said.
"As Christian women, we're taught that taking care of our own health is selfish," Porter said.
The circles are changing behaviors, Gaston says. One participant, for example, told her grandson that she would begin eating healthier. Later, the grandson removed a bag of Cheetos from her shopping cart and told the check-out clerk, "My nana isn't buying any of this because she is going to live to see my grandchildren," Gaston recalled.
Creating supportive groups of women is also at the heart of "Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better," a national program that also brings together small groups of African-American women to brainstorm ways to improve their health, said Leslie Curtis of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The program identified a surprising barrier to exercise: hair. African American women, the group participants said, sometimes avoid exercising in order not to undo expensive hairstyles. To address that barrier, Curtis and her colleagues reached out to hairstylists and developed a brochure with tips for maintaining African-American hair while leading an active lifestyle.
Promoting healthy eating and physical activity in culturally sensitive ways has also been key to the success of "Challenge," an obesity-prevention program developed by Maureen Black, PhD, a psychologist and professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The first Challenge program, conducted in the homes of urban teens using college-age mentors, reduced the excessive weight gain that often occurs in adolescence. The second Challenge program, based in Baltimore middle schools, has enlisted the "cool," older students to lead the way.
"We recruited the popular eighth-grade girls to promote a healthier school environment, through healthy snack posters, physical activities such as jump rope sessions on the lawn, and culminating in a Health Fair," Black said.
At the suggestion of the students, the researchers also invited a rapper from west Baltimore to perform a song about healthy eating. The study is in progress, but it looks like the school's culture has changed, Black said.
"This intervention was at the community level, but it's going to take interventions at all levels to beat the obesity epidemic," said Black.
That includes fighting for policy changes that encourage healthy eating and exercise, Johnson said. "Psychologists also need to advocate for policies that increase access to affordable, healthy foods and recreation and that deal with the myriad environmental stressors that affect black women and girls," Grills added.
"My dream is ... we can work together and do something serious about this problem," Johnson said.
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