I feel you totally with this post. Keep up the good work.

Oh so true! I have no idea why fitness isn't apart of our culture as is others. Quite honestly, when we change our diet and exercise practices we see changes faster in my opinion. No amount of booty curve will have me going back to my old habits. What's more important, as you point out, is the damage we can't see on the inside. Our blood vessels and organs are screaming for attention. Unfortunately they are only taken seriously once the damage is done. Stay strong! Keep it up. You never know who may become motivated from watching you!

I agree with you! I use FB and 'check in' every time I go to the gym or use my treadmill..I also post about healthy topics/ pictures of healthy food etc. and respond to other status' talking about healthy things. I know for a fact that I've motivated some of my friends to start or continue their journey. So, we just have to continue leading by example and share our stories whenever we can.

Black people in general deal with more issues than non-blacks. Someone mentioned hair as being one. I know its a challenge to willingly sweat out a fresh $60 do. (not that I have this problem) Also, there are a lot of single mothers out there raising kids, working multiple jobs, and if they are like me a gym membership is simply not feasible. I know a lot of black males who manage to stay in shape by hooping or plain old manual labor....

Sure none of these things are valid reasons for not taking care of ones self. And of course I'm not saying that there aren't many people who are fit and in shape despite all of these issues, but for some its enough to keep them from a healthier way of life.

That is wonderful. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations on your weight loss. I think that people have other options besides the gym for losing weight. Not everyone can afford gym memberships. Some people use videos, parks, or school jogging tracks to get their workout in. Quite frankly, looking at the mass of people at the gym and some of their un-sanitary habits, I too am thinking about using the outdoors as a fitness resource. In addition, you may see less people in the gym with the rise of Zumba and other cardio classes that are now offered outside of gym facilities. We tend to give ourselves a lot of flack about exercise, but I think if we are doing things as simple as walking for 30 minutes a day, its a start. We must first start with a serious look at what we eat, how we prepare it and when we consume it. Keep up the good work.

I go to a gym for women of color, appropriately called Brick House Fitness. They have Zumba, CrossFit, urban line dance, pole fitness, salsa, belly dancing, bootcamp and other interesting classes. It's more expensive then a regular gym, but I appreciate the diverse community of women on their own fitness journeys. If I were an entrepreneur, I'd open gyms like these around the country.

But like cmadison381 said, I think that some of us can first start with walking around the block, taking the stairs and parking at the far end. My mother lost about 20 pounds just doing the Wii Fit. Now she's a crazy competitor and can kill anyone in Wii boxing or tennis.

I have a few friends, which feel intimidated, that because they are unhealthy that they don’t want to be made fun of by going to the gym, I always tell them if you’re going to the Gym, no one will laugh, they will be like here is person that is taking their health seriously. I hear all the time, I have too much to do, or I don’t want to sweat, my hair will get nappy, I like to eat, so it doesn’t do me any good and/or I don’t want to lose my curves. It’s like a losing battle, something major has to happen to us, before we even look to being healthy, I, myself don’t want to take medications because I’m too fat, that’s something I created. I have known a person who has died from being obese and that was a heartbreaker. Not too be judgmental or bias, if we can spend billions, yes billions on black hair supplies, we can spend billions to get awareness out, and healthy programs to combat obesity in our neighborhoods. It all sounds good, but in reality people will have to want it for themselves. There are a lot of people who are stuck in their ways as far as food choices are concerned, don’t want to forego taste. The one thing I dislike to see is an obese mother and children, especially little girls that are obese too. That hurts because that child is innocent to what is happening to them, and the mother either isn’t aware of food choices, or could care less.