About Me
My dear readers, welcome to Skinny Fit Mama, it’s an honor to have you in my humble space! Here you’ll learn everything about me and how this blog was born. My name is Erika, I’m 38 years old and a full-time mom of four wonderful children.
I’ve been married for 25 years to my husband and have been blogging for the past 8 years. I was born in Liberia, grew up in Massetchussetes, and have been living in Lebanon for the past 15 years.
I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical expertise but I love researching and strive to provide the most accurate information to my readers.
Here’s how it all started…
I’ve been overweight my whole life (or for as long as I can remember). I spent my teenage and young adult years obese and constipated from eating all the wrong foods.
My friends wore skinny jeans, went on joy rides, had social lives, and did a ton of activities while I spent my life hiding away and eating my face off.
I was ashamed of how I looked and disgusted with how I felt every time I ate. I tried to lose weight over the years but went right back to my old eating habits.
My whole life was a mess!
Fast forward to 3 years ago, I reached 130 kilograms at 5 feet 8″ to 130 kilograms after having my son.
I was going through mom burnout, had panic attacks, depressed, and all I wanted to do was sleep (which wasn’t an option).
I couldn’t move around as I used to, waking up at night to feed him felt like a chore. I was so tired all the time and was feeling pain all over my body.
It was unbearable, I had to do something so I went to see a dietician. After the first few weeks of dieting, the scale wasn’t budging.
So I went back to see her and she ordered some blood work. Here’s a picture of me at my worst before my health scare…
The Health Scare That Made Me Wake Up
My test results showed that I was pre-diabetic, and my cholesterol, CRP and cortisol levels were through the roof!
I was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which caused my elevated CRP (C-reactive protein) levels and joint pain.
That was when I realized that this wasn’t a joke anymore, I had to do something, dieting alone wasn’t getting me results.
I started going for 1-hour walks daily and removed processed, sugary foods and drinks from my diet. I also started researching a lot of healthy food options.
I found tips to reduce my inflamamtion, constipation, and prediabetes plus healthy and low-calorie recipes to lose weight.
How Skinny Fit Mama Was Born
I decided to do everything possible to nurse myself back to health and that’s how skinny fit mama was born. I made a plan to document my journey and share all the recipes, and tips I find with other moms like me.
That’s why you’ll find a lot of posts on this blog about low-calorie recipes, inflamamtion, constipation, weight loss, diet plans, and parenting.
When I started, I weighed 130kg, now I weigh 90kg. My goal weight is 70kg because I’m 5 feet, 8″ so I have 20kg to go! Wish me luck.
Here’s how I look now… (still trying to lose arm fat)
You can find me on Twitter, and Pinterest.
I hope the next picture I share, I’ll be the real skinny fit mama! I know there will be times of relapse but I’ll get there and you can too.
How I Conduct Research & Sources Of Information
When I start writing a blog post, the title is always personal. I start with conditions that I suffer from and what helps me reduce my symptoms.
For example, I’ve always been constipated and have tried a gazillion recipes and remedies to find relief. Some of them work and some don’t. The ones that do work, I write about them.
While writing, I find other keywords that people search for related to the topic I’m writing about. Most of the time, I do not have answers to these questions so I get them from trusted medical research sources like NHS, WebMD, Pubmed, etc.
I try my best to create high-quality posts with the most up-to-date trusted information for your health.