Lord make me over

Day 356- I was not able to blog last night as my laptop crashed and uninstalled Windows. To my dismay I was not able to upload what I had written from my Blackberry as well. I can't wait until my new Mac comes sometimes next week...ahhh. Thanks to all of you who are faithfully following me even though you haven't signed on to signify that you are. Your messages really are an encouragement to me.

My Saturday started off with a 8:00 hair appointment that lasted four and a half hours. I was quite bothered and expressed this to my sister during her daily check in from Chicago as I lingered under the dryer. My hair stylist overheard me and instead of feeling compelled to apologize for the inconvenience she chose to be angry with. She felt that since it had never happened before in her mind I should just have been patience.

I told her I was sorry and to please charge it to my head and not my heart. While her mouth said “okay sure" her body language said I'm mad as hell at you. As I got ready to leave I asked her if she was going to talk about me when I left. She said, “you better believe it." I laughed and said “so be it and see you next week." At that moment, I was reminded I had changed my stylist and salon of more than 12 years in swanky Buckhead for Candler Road and the hood. I chuckled at the experience all the way home to my hood in Midtown.

If you want to get a drink with no chase of what the African American experience is like just visit your local hair salon or neighborhood barber shop on a Saturday. Since my laptop had crashed I had an inordinate amount of time to actually take in what was happening all around me. One of the glaring eye openers was how very diverse we as women are and how we come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, the overarching theme for me was that we as African American women are very overweight.

I know this challenge is quite daunting already but unless I change my relationship with food and exercise all this is for naught. As I looked at these beautiful sisters in all ages I knew part of falling in love with me meant the outside as well. The word says our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit as such we should treat it as royalty. A couple of weeks ago I got the pun Bishop Long shot out through his message about the diet we were always going to start on Monday. I was instantly reminded of just how many Monday diets I had started over the years.

My mother Sarah Taylor died almost three years ago of heart failure but her heart surgeon said 99% of her problems stemmed from obesity. She loved food and could never get away from eating slave food…all things pork and all things fating. She tried so many times to change but in the end settled into her desire to eat whatever she wanted.

My mother left this earth before her assignment was up. In the spirit of finishing strong I have decided it’s time to take personal control of my health and fitness. I want to be a living example to all the women in my bloodline who still love slave food. More important, my deepest desire is to love myself on the inside and out. I just added the Monday diet challenge to the transition to Rita Love. I am so totally out here now- I am releasing into the atmosphere my personal challenge to lose 50 pounds by September 2010.