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Not being able to get the attention of music industry heads fueled her weight loss goals.  She surmised if she lost the weight for herself, “they would then have to look me in my face and confirm whether I am talented or not, and not blame the weight.”

With her weight no longer her crutch, Tiffany laid out her plan to overcome it.  She’d experienced losing weight over the years on The Adkins diet, The Master Cleanse and through other quick fix diets. “I’d gained the weight over 7 years but I wanted it gone in 7 days!”  And when the weight didn’t come off in her time period, Tiffany threw up her hands up declaring her diet of choice was not working, and comforted herself with ice cream.

“So, I had to change my mindset, and there were a couple of things that I had to accept. One, I’m not going to lose the weight overnight. And, if I really want to lose the weight and keep it off, it may take as long as it did to put it on. And two, I can’t get to my goal of 100 pounds if I don’t lose one pound.”

Reading and educating herself through online forums, Tiffany became a student of nutrition and calorie counting.  “I learned I was addicted to sugar and lots of it!  I didn’t want to totally eliminate it, but I needed to understand what kind of carbohydrates and sugars I should eat – like wheat and grains instead of cookies and candies.”

She also decided to treat her weight loss as if it were a financial budget. “If you are going shopping and you can only spend $100, you can buy a bunch of stupid things and not get as much, or you can make wise choices.”  She budgeted her 1500 calorie per day comparably.  “I can go and get ice cream and blow 1000 calories leaving 500 calories for the rest of my day, or I can have some fruits and vegetables to eat all day with calories to spare.  Once I committed my mindset to that, the weight started to come off.”

Tiffany also incorporated exercise into her regimen by walking a neighborhood park that was 2.5 miles once around.  She initially gave herself a 10 minute goal to accomplish at a comfortable pace. Ten minutes became 20, and 20 led to 30 minutes.  “Over time,” Tiffany says, “not only are you exercising more, but you are becoming consistent.  And the only way we can be successful about losing weight and keeping it off is to become consistent.”

Tiffany admits her weight loss journey has also required a lifestyle change. Because she has conditioned her kitchen at home, Tiffany says it’s not hard to commit to her program.  “I make sure that anything that is going to tempt me to eat off of plan or eat too much of is not in my kitchen.  That can include healthy foods, too.  For instance, grapes are healthy for you, but you’re not supposed to eat the whole bag!”

Maintaining her new lifestyle proved more difficult when on the road performing.  “You can’t really plan your meals.  You’ll see the lettuce (from catering) but you will also see the cookies a

nd donuts.” And with the temptation of the band or crew sharing how good something is and prompting her to try one Tiffany confesses, “I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t.” But reality would quickly set back in when she gained access to a scale and found her weight loss efforts going backward.

So Tiffany created a new weight loss tool for herself while on the road.  “My reputation and how people perceived me have always been important to me.  Because I had lost weight and people were noticing and sharing their pride, I allowed their words to motivate me to keep on my program.”

“I couldn’t let them see me eating that doughnut, so I used that as a tool. When I can’t find it in myself to be strong, I find it in the support of others.”

After an 18 month weight loss journey, Tiffany is now comfortably in a size 8 and working toward her first full-length album in her pursuit of a solo presence.  With her musical team, including producer Kevin ‘Kwiz’ Ryan, Marlin Smith and Tony “T-Ro” Carter of Digital Khaoss Productions, Tiffany is soaring as an independent artist on her and Ryan’s own independent imprint label, the Rhythm 252 Music Group.

To learn more about Tiffany Monique and her music – visit her website at www.tiffanymonique.com where you can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Tiffany Monique: Making Her Musical Weight Known  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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