Better Body Goals-Accountability Thread

[Mermaid Oshun]

As a multiracial black woman I have a strange body shape, even though I'm losing weight from the way my spine is curved inward, I look fat or pregnant, not to meantion I'm a very tall woman, with four different skin colors.

I'm not the prettiest thing out here, I suffer from a disease known as pcos that affects the hormones and endocrine system, which makes me have male patterned hair, a very unsightly skin disease that looks like dirt which is called ancanthosis nigericans, and other things, so yes not a very pretty mermaid at all sadly.

Hello Black Akira. I also am a woman of color. 1/2 Black and 1/2 Italian. I also noticed what you are referring to even among attractive women of color. I recently saw that during Merfest a merman Typhoon posted a video of a very attractive Black mermaid (not Caribbean Pearl). It was ignored and received no complements. Similarly a photo of a black mermaid who purchased a tail was posted on Sirenalia's fb and some guy responded..."I have to say this but is she sitting on the boat bc she can't swim?" Meanwhile, Sirenalia posted photos of herself sitting in a tail also and no one saw reason to create a lame joke about her.
I honestly don't know what to tell you. To deny that severe preferences exist in mermaiding based on certain intangible factors is like denying that the sky is blue. Either that or you are unaware of the realities involved and prefer to remain in lala land.
Luckily there are some things which can be done. You can purchase a lace wig for your ovarian syndrome that affects your hair. I included a photo of a merhair in one of my threads and another mermaid started a snarky thread about why anyone would wear a wig for mermaiding when all you have to do is grow your hair. Well I am doing just that and my hair is currently approaching waist length. But everyone can not so lace wigs are an option for you.
With regard to the skin issue, there are some great cover up makeups for folk with vitiligo and those who wish to cover tattoos which may be helpful for your skin condition. If you would like to talk feel free to write me.
Blessings sister

[Black Akira]

That's ok its character that counts.

Thank you.

[Black Akira]

Hello Black Akira. I also am a woman of color. 1/2 Black and 1/2 Italian. I also noticed what you are referring to even among attractive women of color. I recently saw that during Merfest a merman Typhoon posted a video of a very attractive Black mermaid (not Caribbean Pearl). It was ignored and received no complements. Similarly a photo of a black mermaid who purchased a tail was posted on Sirenalia's fb and some guy responded..."I have to say this but is she sitting on the boat bc she can't swim?" Meanwhile, Sirenalia posted photos of herself sitting in a tail also and no one saw reason to create a lame joke about her.
I honestly don't know what to tell you. To deny that severe preferences exist in mermaiding based on certain intangible factors is like denying that the sky is blue. Either that or you are unaware of the realities involved and prefer to remain in lala land.
Luckily there are some things which can be done. You can purchase a lace wig for your ovarian syndrome that affects your hair. I included a photo of a merhair in one of my threads and another mermaid started a snarky thread about why anyone would wear a wig for mermaiding when all you have to do is grow your hair. Well I am doing just that and my hair is currently approaching waist length. But everyone can not so lace wigs are an option for you.
With regard to the skin issue, there are some great cover up makeups for folk with vitiligo and those who wish to cover tattoos which may be helpful for your skin condition. If you would like to talk feel free to write me.
Blessings sister

I'm not in la la land, I'm very unaware of these things.

Male patterned hair I should have said that my hair on my head is unaffected as it's always grown so well, however I'm a very hairy woman shaving doesn't help.

I was wondering was there any negativity towards mers of color.

It's been a long time since I swum, however I was able to breathe underwater for some time, also holding my breath for an impressive 8 minutes.

My problem is mainly weight, hair, and skin.

I'm terribly shy as tall as I am.

So far people I've told about wanting to be a mermaid are very supportive as everyone tells me I'm very attractive.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Oh, hey! This thread!
I kinda forgot about it for a while...
I left it because I got pregnant, and you can't really work on body goals when that happens, but I got furiously sick, and spent two months pretty much just throwing up and sleeping, drinking what fluids I could. I ended up so sick that I miscarried, unfortunately. It was very sad.
Now that I have remembered that this is here, though, maybe I'll get back to it.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I was wondering was there any negativity towards mers of color.
.

not on this forum i dont think. we're quite open. lots of mers with many races, mixed ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientation. outside the forum.. well.. that's a different story .__.

[Black Akira]

not on this forum i dont think. we're quite open. lots of mers with many races, mixed ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientation. outside the forum.. well.. that's a different story .__.

Hmm I see, I really don't care what others do as long as they leave me alone.

[deepblue]

Ok so I started controlling portions of my meal (actually eating meat the size of a deck of cards, picking brown rice instead if white rice, eating more veggies, eating fruit to satisfy sweettooth ..)

Guys I swear my skin is clearing up too!!!!

Eating cleaner is the best skin treatment there is. Skin being the largest organ, and it releasing so many toxins. For me, it's eating clean and drinking lots of water that keeps my skin nice most of the time. Not right now unfortunately. My hormones are going nuts.

This is a great idea for a thread! I don't hate my body, but I am looking to lose around 60 lbs total. I'm 10 down so far, and very excited to lose more

I'm using a website & app called MyFitnessPal to help me. You can track your calories and nutrition, your exercises, and there's a whole social aspect to it (you can have friends, post statuses, there are groups and forums....) I highly recommend it if any of you lovelies are interested! If you do sign up and you'd like to be friends on there, PM me and I'll share my username !

I'm going to look into that again- I don't recall why, but it didn't seem that MyFitnessPal would work for me, but I'm really lacking the motivation lately.

I just learned an extremely rare intestinal illness causes this.
There are only 3 cases known world-wide, Valeria seems to be one of them
(the other 2 victims look like her body- and skin-wise).
Also she mentioned anorexia was NOT the way she came to this.

So the video's title is wrong and misleading.

THANK YOU. So appreciated.

As a multiracial black woman I have a strange body shape, even though I'm losing weight from the way my spine is curved inward, I look fat or pregnant, not to meantion I'm a very tall woman, with four different skin colors.

I'm not the prettiest thing out here, I suffer from a disease known as pcos that affects the hormones and endocrine system, which makes me have male patterned hair (male patterned hair meaning hair growing everywhere on my body very thickly), a very unsightly skin disease that looks like dirt which is called ancanthosis nigericans, and other things, so yes not a very pretty mermaid at all sadly.

Sorry to hear of the PCOS- that's a really tough thing to live with. Did your doctor/s recommend the low glycemic index diet? That isn't me trying to give advice, I'm asking because a friend of mine finally got a diagnosis of PCOS, and when she sticks to a low GI diet, it improves greatly. But the minute she comes off it, things go wonky again. I don't know how across the board it works.

That doesn't matter as long as you're a mermaid!

What she said! ^

I was wondering was there any negativity towards mers of color.

It's been a long time since I swum, however I was able to breathe underwater for some time, also holding my breath for an impressive 8 minutes.

So far people I've told about wanting to be a mermaid are very supportive as everyone tells me I'm very attractive.

1. Not here on the forum- I've never actually seen it and I've been here for long enough to have noticed if there was. There have been a few threads on the subject of being a mer of color, and people on the threads have discussed dealing with issues out in the world, however. Because there will always be asshats. But here on the forum... I see the most open minded, accepting group of people, generally speaking, that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing online.

2. 8 minutes! I'm envious! That's amazing.

3. Sometimes others see us as we never would. I have all sorts of hangups about a particular aspect of myself- nothing I can work on because I can't afford to have orthodontic work- but I'm still told I'm beautiful or hot or whatever often enough to make it seem like, hey maybe people aren't noticing... lol and not just by my boyfriend. haha So I figure, eh, I'll take it, and accept that others aren't noticing the flaw the way I seem to be. I in no way expect to be perfect, I just wish my teeth weren't so messed up.

My body work is really about my health- being stronger is the best, breathing well, being able to blow up a balloon for my daughter, being able to run and play with her. And I do like the way my body looks better when I'm stronger and healthier.

[SeaGlass Siren]

ooooo deepbluuuuue i was wondering whoooo!

[deepblue]

I finally got a name change. It matches me in other places, but it's not a mersona. That I think will come with (if I ever make) my tail. It's in the plan stage.

[SeaGlass Siren]

i have too many personas i want to do, but alas i cannot swim underwater properly. just dogpaddle swimming xD

[deepblue]

Read Raina's book! She started off about right there, too!

[samabell]

Moved. Keep exercising.

[Mermaid Ellowyn]

I hope MFP works for you now, SurlySeaNymph! It really is a fantastic way to keep accountable. Speaking of being accountable, I'm now 12+ lbs down, yay Hope you all are doing well too!

[Black Akira]

Eating cleaner is the best skin treatment there is. Skin being the largest organ, and it releasing so many toxins. For me, it's eating clean and drinking lots of water that keeps my skin nice most of the time. Not right now unfortunately. My hormones are going nuts.




I'm going to look into that again- I don't recall why, but it didn't seem that MyFitnessPal would work for me, but I'm really lacking the motivation lately.



THANK YOU. So appreciated.



Sorry to hear of the PCOS- that's a really tough thing to live with. Did your doctor/s recommend the low glycemic index diet? That isn't me trying to give advice, I'm asking because a friend of mine finally got a diagnosis of PCOS, and when she sticks to a low GI diet, it improves greatly. But the minute she comes off it, things go wonky again. I don't know how across the board it works.



What she said! ^




1. Not here on the forum- I've never actually seen it and I've been here for long enough to have noticed if there was. There have been a few threads on the subject of being a mer of color, and people on the threads have discussed dealing with issues out in the world, however. Because there will always be asshats. But here on the forum... I see the most open minded, accepting group of people, generally speaking, that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing online.

2. 8 minutes! I'm envious! That's amazing.

3. Sometimes others see us as we never would. I have all sorts of hangups about a particular aspect of myself- nothing I can work on because I can't afford to have orthodontic work- but I'm still told I'm beautiful or hot or whatever often enough to make it seem like, hey maybe people aren't noticing... lol and not just by my boyfriend. haha So I figure, eh, I'll take it, and accept that others aren't noticing the flaw the way I seem to be. I in no way expect to be perfect, I just wish my teeth weren't so messed up.

My body work is really about my health- being stronger is the best, breathing well, being able to blow up a balloon for my daughter, being able to run and play with her. And I do like the way my body looks better when I'm stronger and healthier.

Yes I've been on a diet and it's working a little too well, now I'm melting out of my clothes.

[SeaGlass Siren]

^ is a wee but jealous of you. Just a wee bit. Isn't it bad to drop a large amount of weight in a short period?

[Black Akira]

^ is a wee but jealous of you. Just a wee bit. Isn't it bad to drop a large amount of weight in a short period?

I was under a great deal of stress, I was layed off my job and bills need to be paid.

Also I didn't have much of an appetite and at one time didn't eat anything for 4 full days under so much stress then 2 extra days after that, and having to work for an evil supervisor who happens to be my aunt by marriage I had to get out of there.

Sigh also how I feel around this handsome tall hunk of a man, 6 foot 8 to be exact.

I do hope my rent will be paid though.

Sorry for getting a little off topic there.

But it really helped me when I didn't eat alot of sugar, ate plenty of meat and drank TONS of water.

[SeaGlass Siren]

oh gosh i'm sorry akira :hugs:

[deepblue]

Yeah, I've been on those life-imposed 'diets' and they suck. I actually gained weight because I wasn't eating enough calories to work out, but because of the sudden halt in physical activity, metabolism went wonky and I gained.

My usual lifestyle is pretty healthy. But I've been having horrid migraines almost constantly. I can only guess as to why. But it's just bad. So I will get to working out when I can. And away from pixels for now.

[MermaidHyli]

I've been stalking this thread for awhile and I suppose I should add in my work out, but first a bit of history.

So fun fact some of you may or may not know, I was born without a thyroid. I know a lot of people have too much or too little thyroid well I have none, zip, zero. I've been on medication since I was three days old.If I'm off it for a few days I get very weak and sick. If I go weeks or months well I just cease to exist. Growing up it was VERY hard to get weight to stay on me. Enter child hood bullying for being too skinny. Not many people ever hear about the other side of the spectrum. But I'm here to say it sucks. People are people and they will act as such. In my case I was called twig or kids would literally blow on me to see if I would fall over -.- I could go on but you get the point. At the age of 14,weighing 60 pounds, I was entered into the hospital to have calories pumped into me because although I was eating literally pounds of food every day, it wasn't enough to keep up with my metabolism. By high school I was able to get my medication level and finally hit 100 pounds by my senior year. In college I actually started to hit puberty and so my body decided to put on weight, I even got up to 130 pounds. For me that was something I was not used too, not saying I thought I was fat it was just very different. I had a very major tragedy hit my family in my sophomore year so I dropped weight and was back down to about 90 pounds. Its been a very tough 23 years for me. I can never seem to get my weight to where I want it and also get the nutrients and exercise I need. On top of all of that I also have a ridiculous amount of allergies such as shellfish, dairy, variety of fruits and veggies, and now gluten. Any time I eat it literally causes me the worst pain ever. I sit in a ball for a few hours and let it pass. I'm faced with this decision every time I need to eat. I've learned to cook for myself and that has helped a lot but when we go out with friends or events its either eat and be in pain or don't and be grouchy then every one thinks I'm anorexic. Its sucked I'm not going to lie. Now fast forward to present day.

I've changed my diet to the Paleo diet (people have their different opinions this one works for me, also I get most of my meat from my parents farm so I know where it has come from) It has really really really improved my whole being. Its been two weeks and I can see the biggest change in my body and in my attitude. I'm able to eat healthy, work out, and maintain my weight. This is something I thought I could never achieve but slowly its coming around. I may never have the curves or the rear end but I'm happy with my body. Sure its hard at times and especially when it comes to my allergies but its so worth it! Just thought I would share my experience and encourage others that it can be done

[SeaGlass Siren]

looking forward to having before an after pictures. i think i'm getting thinner