

If only we could all wake up in the morning and magically have our personal body goals. Maybe you'd kill to have abs like Teyana Taylor or the knee balance of Megan Thee Stallion. It's time to make some health adjustments mentally and physically in order to get the body shapes we desire. This can take a lot of hard work and dedication but it'll be worth it.
As the saying goes, summer bodies are indeed made in the winter. So, in order to get those waist goals you've been hoping for, here are a few tricks to commit to ASAP. Let's get into it!
Keep a Food Diary
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A food diary can be very beneficial when it comes to tracking your eating habits. You can log the foods you eat daily in your planner, the note section of your phone, or even an app like Lifesum. The beauty of the food diary is it forces you to reflect on your food choices, whether right or wrong. The more you track your diet, the more inspired you'll be to eat healthily. Feel free to get creative with your food diary by including healthy recipes, body goal pics, and progress. Make sure that you are being completely honest with yourself. If you eat something that you feel like you shouldn't have eaten, don't beat yourself up about it. Improve and make yourself proud with your next meal.
Here is a snippet of my food diary:
Healthy Recipes to Try:
- Zucchini, hazelnuts and ricotta
- Shrimp, Mexican corn, peppers
- Cucumber, onion, pepper salad, avocado dressing
- Pita chips, tzatziki sauce, chickpeas, garlic and corn
- Cabbage, sweet mayo dressing, and carrots
- Squash, red onion, and feta cheese
- Grilled carrots, avocado, and green beans
Date: 12/2
Breakfast: Peppermint tea, Oatmeal and bananas
Lunch: Spicy steak sandwich w/ plain chips
Dinner: Shrimp, spinach and peppers
Date: 12/3
Breakfast: Banana and peppermint tea (sinus infection and no appetite)
Lunch: Shrimp/veggies/pesto pasta
Dinner: Chicken and dumplings
Date: 12/4
Breakfast: 2 bananas, carrot cake, white cheddar cheese crackers, and peppermint tea
Lunch: Seafood salad
Dinner: Shrimp w/ spinach and chickpeas
Invest in an Ab Exercise App
Establishing the proper diet is more than half the battle. In order to see drastic results to your stomach area, try to incorporate some ab work. There are a wide variety of free ab workout apps that you can download to your phone. The ab workout apps are cool because they are only 7-10 minutes long, so you can pretty much do them anywhere.
Set yourself a daily schedule or an alarm on your phone to commit 7-10 minutes of your time to ab work. It can be strenuous and annoying in the beginning, but once you start seeing results of your commitment to ab workouts, you'll make yourself proud. You never know, you might even start to push yourself to go harder. So, stop scrolling on Instagram and get to those abs, sis!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Drinking apple cider vinegar reduces belly fat, boosts weight loss, and suppresses your appetite. "Before drinking the apple cider vinegar, dilute it in 1 c (240 ml) of water. Do not drink the apple cider vinegar by itself. Apple cider vinegar is extremely acidic and could harm your teeth and throat if taken alone."
Due to its acidic nature, it is advised to dilute apple cider vinegar with 100 ml of water per 15 ml of apple cider vinegar. This is important because drinking ACV straight can cause eventual harm to your throat or teeth. Trust and believe, you don't want the thing you're doing to improve your health to unintentionally become a detriment. You can drink the apple cider vinegar before you have your meals. Try to incorporate apple cider vinegar into your diet. It may taste bitter but implementing it into your daily regimen pays off.
Running and Cycling
A good run or cycling session is a great way to start your day. Running and cycling benefits include weight loss, burning calories, and building stamina. As you continue through your stomach snatched journey, it is essential to focus not only on weight loss but also muscle toning. When it comes to running and cycling, one exercise option is not necessarily ranked higher than the other. Choose the workout option that best suits your lifestyle.
30-Day Diet
Fasting and diets can assist you with acquiring self-discipline, commitment and breaking old eating habits. Once I tried a 30-day diet that included eliminating bread, pasta, rice and sugar. Also, I only ate meat once a day and natural fruits. I drank tea every morning and stayed hydrated throughout the day. In the beginning, my body went through a slight shock and I could not stay out of the bathroom due to all of the vegetables I was eating. However, not only did my stomach get snatched but I also started to feel better internally.
As time progressed, I started to feel more energized and less tired throughout the day. My spirits were high and my body looked right. Whenever people ask how did I do it, I shared this 30-day diet. It's easy to remember and it works. You have to stay dedicated, be willing to change, and get creative with your diet.
Overall, the key to making it all work is dedication and commitment to better eating habits and finding the exercise that best suits your personality. Let's get that stomach snatched, sis!
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter here and check out the related reads below:
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Eva Marcille On Starring In 'Jason’s Lyric Live' & Being An Audacious Black Woman
Eva Marcille has taken her talents to the stage. The model-turned-actress is starring in her first play, Jason’s Lyric Live alongside Allen Payne, K. Michelle, Treach, and others.
The play, produced by Je’Caryous Johnson, is an adaptation of the film, which starred Allen Payne as Jason and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lyric. Allen reprised his role as Jason for the play and Eva plays Lyric.
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Feature image by Leon Bennett/WireImage
A Celebration Of Black Voices: What You Missed At The 3rd Annual Black Effect Podcast Festival
Over the weekend, iHeart Radio held its third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival in Atlanta, attracting a star-studded lineup of personalities and shows. Charlamagne tha God, founder of the Black Effect podcast network was in attendance along with other notable personalities like Mandii B and Weezy WTF, the hosts of the popular Decisions, Decisions podcast, who also served as the festival's hosts.
Sarah Jakes Roberts, the esteemed pastor and host of Woman Evolve podcast, singers and co-hosts of the R&B Money podcast, Tank and J. Valentine, former NFL star and Funky Friday host Cam Newton and many more further rounded out the festivals' lineup.
The festival hosted panels that focused on mental health and the future of podcasting as well as many live shows. Good Moms, Bad Choices hosts, Erica and Milah, welcomed Dreka Gates and held a live dating show that was nothing short of hilarious. Naked Sports host Cari Champion sat down with Iman Shumpert and they discussed sports and dating.
Tank and J. Valentine surprised the audience with Jacquees, Cam had a live conversation with Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams, and Sarah closed out the festival with reality star Toya Johnson. Check out photos from the festival below:
(L-R) Shawn Bethea, Jay Barnett, Devi Brown, Charlamagne tha God and Amber Grimes
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Jamilah Mapp, Dreka Gates and Erica Dickerson
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Mandii B and Weezy WTF
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Porsha Williams and Cam Newton
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Iman Shumpert and Cari Champion
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Tank, Jacquees and J. Valentine
Photo by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image by Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network