About Me

With the exception of my wonderfully blended family and awesome husband I’ve always had three loves; thick healthy hair, cooking up a storm and the beauty of a chiseled feminine physique. I grew up on the heels of my grandmother, learning to make mouthwatering meals from scratch. From homemade pies to soulful Sunday dinners cooking has become a vehicle of expressing love to those I care about. Recently I’ve prided myself on transforming butter laden soul food meals into healthier alternatives and tricking my family into thinking it’s the “original” dish.  If I can fool them, that’s a gold star in my book.

Growing up in the early days of weight lifting my eyes were drawn to the amazing physique of Gladys Portuguese. She was my first girl crush, how could a woman display such femininity and strength in one petite package? In high school I regularly checked out the book “Hard Bodies” and gazed at the images for hours on end. Oh how I wished I could build a body like that, funny thing is I was prime for that body at that age. Now here I am more than twenty years later give or take a few and more determined than ever to build the body of my dreams.

Finally, the passion that keeps me in my kitchen cooking up more than food, the vision that taught me consistency and the pride of seeing my effort pay off – healthy hair. Much like the dream of putting on muscle having long, healthy hair was something I had always longed for. Growing up I was surrounded by women with long hair, but that growth gene seemed to pass me by. After determining that a head full of weave would not be my fate I decided to make a change. Together with my baby girl, a high school senior at the time,  we set about growing and creating a healthy hair regimen for our relaxed hair. That journey would take us down different paths one choosing natural and the other texlaxed hair. The important part is together we experimented and low and behold our hair grew.  Bit by bit every three months we experienced significant growth. My healthy hair journey, the consistency and determination, lead me to my weight loss journey. After asking myself why I could be consistent in one part of my health but not the other I determined that I would change- period. Just like my hair journey with consistency and patience the weight started coming off and my body began changing.  So that’s me in a nutshell-  a wife and mother than can cook up a mean batch of chicken wings, homemade mac & cheese that will make you slap your momma and a peach cobbler that will melt in your mouth. The best part? I don’t feel like I have to eat every last drop anymore, HA! Along with cooking I love mixing up homemade hair potions and challenging my body in new ways by lifting heavy. 
My husband is my biggest fan and honorary photographer and together we’re a trip. What else can I say? Oh, there is another love that I’ve cultivated late in life- travel! This Midwest girl (Go Bucks!) has a hot and ready passport begging for its next stamp!  All the things I love mix and mingle in the words of my blog Braidouts and Barbells, everything else you’ll learn on the way.