Radiant No.14, The Rebirth Issue

RADIANT

Health & Culture

Radiant Health Magazine is published by Radiant Rose Media, LLC

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The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.

- Rebecca West

photography by Ahmad Barber

model Sara N. of Ursula

Wiedmann Models

styling by Ray C'Mone

make-up by Christine Vasquez

hair by Andy Buckmire

wrap shirt dress by Off White

Nnenna Kalu Makanjuola, PharmD MPH FOUNDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & PUBLISHER

Ahmad Barber ART DIRECTOR

Bianca Kipp DESIGN

Nikki Igbo FEATURES EDITOR

LeeAnn Nielsen COPY EDITOR

Ray C’mone FASHION EDITOR

Chinyere Amobi DIGITAL EDITOR

Queendolly “Queenie” Verhoeven OPERATIONS MANAGER

Ken Nuarin WEB DESIGN & SUPPORT

Bebe Andrew-Jaja, Chinyere Amobi, Yvonne Ator, MD, MPH, Clarissa Bannor, Patrick Dale, Zora DeGrandpre, MS, ND, AdeOla Fadumiye, Gabriela Iancu, Yves Jeffcoat, Manseen Logan, Katie Schenk, Oreoluwa Ogunyemi, MD, Emily Rubin

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Akinloye Julius Makanjuola, MD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MY DEAR FRIEND NOZOMI had just returned from a retreat in Belize when we met up for our monthly-ish dinner. She was glowing. What was meant to be a business retreat had produced a deeply personal breakthrough she had not anticipated. I wanted to hear it all and I hung on to her every word, searching for something that could spark a breakthrough for me too.

You see, this was a dark period for me. I was slowly emerging from severe burnout, a condition I didn’t even think was possible until I experienced it. This was around the time our car insurance costs doubled because within a 12-month period I had managed to get into something like nine, shall we say, fender benders. In every case, I’d had my eyes on the road, seemingly focused, yet I would drive into a car in front of me, back out into a driving car behind me, etc., all the while looking at them but not seeing them. How was that even possible? Each time I would ask, Where did that car come from?

I was run ragged from managing a business, mothering two very young kids, caregiving for aged parents, and everything else in between. My body was falling apart, ballooned beyond recognition, and lethargic to a point of total exhaustion.

It felt like I both knew everything I needed to do to change yet at the same time knew nothing. Where do I start? How? Can someone just tell me what to do? Save me?

As Nozomi dished about her experience, she said something that hit a nerve. The retreat director had challenged the attendees to think in terms of transformation, not just about individual changes they wanted to make.

That got me thinking. What would my life look like with a total transformation?

I know that Nozomi shared a lot of wisdom with me that night, but the only word I remembered was “transformation.” Even today I don’t know why that word held so much power for me, but it did, and that’s what it took to motivate me to action.

Truth be told, I had a lot of false starts and setbacks as I began my transformation journey, but each one led to a greater lesson that made the next try a bit more successful, until finally I landed on what became my holy grail for transformation: a maniacal focus on consistent daily actions. Simple— but not easy.

Now, I hardly recognize the woman I was two years ago. Mentally, physically, spiritually, I am a woman transformed.

As is often the case, it took another lifealtering event to put it all in perspective. Four months ago, I lost my father. Longtime Radiant readers will know that his 30-plusyear health battle inspired me to start Radiant (Dad’s story is featured in Radiant No. 11, The Survivor Issue). To say the loss was crushing would be an understatement. The months leading up to dad’s passing were intense. We were constantly in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices until finally the fiercely independent man, who kept driving until a few short weeks before his last breath, could no longer hold himself up.

I envy the people who are able to capture the pain of loss in words. I have not yet found the words to describe this abyss of pain. What I know for sure is that two years ago, I—my parent’s only daughter and Daddy’s girl— would not have been able to bear it. I might have fallen apart.

I have learned a lot about myself these last two years. I have learned what the women featured in this issue, The Rebirth Issue, know to be true: that rebirth is inevitable, that we are all capable of engineering our transformation, and that no transformation will go unchallenged.

Be well,

FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @NNENNAKALUM

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

Maya Angelou

IN 2010, AMERICAN MISSIONARY Renee Bach opened the doors of her nutritional health center in Jinja, Uganda. She felt a calling to provide food and a space for malnourished children and their mothers to rest and recuperate. Money was raised through fundraising activities in the US, and as the project grew in size, it also grew in scope. Bach began offering severely ill patients medical treatments, including invasive procedures.

It should have been a good thing, except for the fact that Bach had no medical training. She was 22 years old and her only qualification was a high school diploma. She had neither the legal authorization nor the necessary skills to perform blood transfusions. During the five years her mission was open, 105 children died.

Currently living in the US, Renee Bach is now being sued by the mothers of two of the deceased children, with a hearing scheduled for January 2020. Bach’s case demonstrates not only the perils of performing medicine without the proper qualifications, but also that African governments are no longer prepared to tolerate such arrogance and abuse. Go to #ReneeBach to learn more.

illustrations by Bianca Kipp

1. AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY PERFORMED TREATMENTS ON UGANDAN PATIENTS AND 105 CHILDREN DIED

WORLD AIDS DAY is observed annually on December 1, and this year might mark a turning point for the condition and our fight against it.

Twelve years ago, Timothy Ray Brown (known then as “the Berlin patient”) was effectually cured of HIV/AIDS. Following a bone marrow transplant, Brown’s condition went into remission and no trace of the disease has been detected in his body since. In 2018 the procedure was repeated in another patient, and 19 months later, the London patient (who wishes to remain anonymous) has also been functionally cured. The success of these procedures is based on bone marrow donors who carry a relatively rare HIV-resistant gene mutation that replicates and spreads throughout the host’s body.

Both cured patients underwent their procedures to treat cancer, not HIV/AIDS. As bone marrow transplants are both complicated and costly, significant research is necessary to determine how these successes can be widely replicated. But the success of these treatments offers hope for the future.

THE AVERAGE TANZANIAN woman has five children. But President John Magufuli feels that number should be higher. Citing the rapid economic growth of countries with exceptionally high population growth rates, such as Nigeria and India, Magufuli has publicly encouraged women to “set their ovaries free” in order to fuel further growth.

On top of the patriarchal suggestion that women should serve as breeders for a cause, Magufuli’s plan for economic expansion doesn’t line up with reality. Public services, including schools and hospitals, are already stretched; recently matriculated young adults battle to find employment; and the number of Tanzanians living on less than $1 a day hasn’t dropped. Both experts and activists believe that higher birth rates would increase disparity within the country.

You might also be interested to know that the 58-year-old president (who also called for plural marriage in 2018 as a way to decrease the need for sex workers) has only two children himself.

3. TANZANIA’S PRESIDENT WANTS WOMEN TO SET THEIR OVARIES FREE

2. WE MIGHT HAVE A CURE FOR AIDS

The Great Salt Debate: How Much Is Really Too Much?

YOU’VE HEARD IT FROM your doctor and from your friends, and it’s on every list of healthy habits: cut back on your salt intake. With Google returning over 166 million search results for “low-salt diet,” many of us have banned the salt shaker permanently.

Are You Salt Sensitive?

Historically, research has shown that individuals of African descent are salt sensitive, meaning that eating salty foods increases our blood pressure more than that of people of other backgrounds. Sadly, the problem only worsens the older we get. High blood pressure, often called “the silent killer,” should especially concern women as it puts us at higher risk for heart disease, a condition that is less likely to be diagnosed early in women—with dire consequences.

There are additional reasons to hide the salt shaker: a low-salt diet helps blood pressure medicines work better, not to mention that too much salt increases our risk of other ailments, including kidney stones, stomach cancer, and even osteoporosis.

How Much Is Too Much?

A little background: about 90% of the salt we eat is in the form of sodium chloride. Recommendations concerning salt intake are generally given in milligrams (mg) of sodium. To convert grams of salt into milligrams of sodium, simply multiply the number grams of salt by 393. (For example, 2 grams of salt multiplied by 393 equals 786 milligrams of sodium.)

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends less than 2,000 mg of sodium (1 teaspoon of salt) per day, while the American Heart Association (AHA) is even more restrictive, slashing our recommended sodium consumption to less than 1,500 mg per day.

But the salt debate is not so cut and dried. While we’ve been told for decades to lower our salt intake, and new guidelines indicate that half of all Americans have high blood pressure, there hasn’t been much change in how much salt we’re eating. Despite these recommendations, the average sodium intake in the US hovers around 3,400 to 3,500 mg per day and has ranged from an average of 3,000 to 5,000 mg per day globally for decades.

Some scientists flat-out disagree with recommendations to restrict sodium. A study recently published in The Lancet followed nearly 100,000 individuals worldwide for about eight years and found that salt consumption only becomes a problem if we exceed 5,000 mg per day!

Why is there such a difference? The truth is that the tests measuring our salt intake are often inaccurate and most of us are just not that good at reducing our salt intake over the long term.

As a result, some studies declare that we must slash our salt intake, while others find that salt doesn’t make much of a difference for the majority of us.

So, What Should I Do?

First, remember that it’s not all about sodium. Potassium matters too, because eating more of it is clearly linked to lower blood pressure. In fact, eating foods high in potassium, including leafy vegetables, fruits, and potatoes, tends to make us less salt sensitive and can reduce our risk of heart disease.

Know that small, consistent changes make the greatest impact. Yes, keep an eye on your salt intake, but also take a more active role in your health in other ways:

Get your blood pressure checked regularly, especially if you have high blood pressure.

Ask your family members if they have high blood pressure and at what age they were diagnosed. Having an immediate family member (a parent or sibling) who has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, especially before the age of 60, doubles your risk of having high blood pressure. If your family eats high-sodium foods and has a history of high blood pressure, you may be salt sensitive.

If you already have high blood pressure or are salt sensitive, stick to lower sodium recommendations.

· Eat more whole foods—fruits, veggies, and homecooked meals—that are high in potassium and lower in salt, preservatives, added sugars, and saturated fats.

These are healthy habits that we can all incorporate into our lives!

AFRICANS AND PEOPLE OF African descent are disproportionately affected by sickle cell disorder. For every 1,000 live births in the US, the number of white newborns affected by sickle cell is 3, whereas the number of black newborns affected by the disorder is 73.1. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence rate ranges from 20% to 40%.

Rather than having rounded blood cells, people with this genetic condition have hard, sticky, sickleshaped cells that move awkwardly through the blood vessels, often becoming stuck. Without the necessary oxygen moving through the body, the result is often excruciating pain. Treatments are available to manage the condition, but a cure could finally be on the horizon in the form of gene-editing therapy. The first sickle cell test subject, Victoria Gray, has begun treatment trials in Nashville, Tennessee.

After extracting blood cell-producing bone marrow from Gray, scientists genetically altered the material using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology, resulting in the production of a protein only found in utero and shortly after birth. Gray’s own altered bone marrow was then reintroduced to her body with the hope that the new protein would compensate for and overtake sickle cell production, essentially reversing the condition and eliminating the resulting pain.

While genetic modification with CRISPR has proved successful in the lab, the scientific and sickle cell treatment communities must now wait several months to determine whether this new treatment will move beyond theory and petri dishes and become a cure.

IF YOU’RE NOT LIVING for something, you might be dying for nothing. At least that’s what a University of Michigan doctoral study published in the 2019 issue of the Jama Network Open suggests. Nearly 7,000 Americans aged 51 to 61 completed psychological questionnaires which were then analyzed to determine the link between life purpose and mortality. As it turns out, you’re twice as likely to die prematurely if you don’t have a strong reason for living.

The risk of death was consistent regardless of gender or race. In fact, this study demonstrates that life purpose stands as a better indicator of mortality than does smoking or drinking. Perhaps even more interesting, the study didn’t show one purpose to be more significant than another; whether your goal is family or faith, community or country, it’s enough just to have it. So, what’s your life’s purpose?

5, WHAT ARE YOU LIVING FOR?

4. US PATIENT UNDERGOES A PROMISING NEW THERAPY FOR SICKLE CELL

FOLLOWING A VOLUNTARY GLOBAL recall of Allergan textured breast implants, many women are rushing to have theirs removed. The fear is real: these implants have been linked to breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a rare blood cancer. Worldwide, 573 cases of BIA-ALCL have led to 33 deaths. However, the US Federal Food and Drug Association (FDA) doesn’t yet recommend elective removal of the implants in question, despite its request that the manufacturer initiate a recall.

Are you wondering whether your breast implants could lead to the development of cancer? The majority of BIA-ALCL cases (481 of 573) are linked to the manufacturer Allergan. In addition, only textured, rather than smooth, implants are causing concern. Textured implants are more commonly used for reconstructive purposes than for elective augmentations in the US, but they are the more popular option for any breast implantation in the rest of the world. If you have any type of implant, now is a great time to follow up with your surgeon to discuss your risks and appropriate cancer screenings.

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING, but in February of 2019 the US Food and Drug Administration finally requested toxicity testing of sunscreen products commonly found on the market—not because the products as a whole or any specific ingredients have been deemed unsafe, but because their absorption levels are typically higher than the current safety testing thresholds.

Of the 16 active ingredients commonly found in a range of sunscreens, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are already deemed safe. However, four other rapidly absorbed ingredients—avobenzone, octocrylene, ecamsule, and oxybenzone—are being considered more closely. Oxybenzone is the most concerning, as it may have an estrogenic hormone-like effect once it enters the bloodstream, with effects that could potentially include endometriosis, earlier puberty in girls, and reduced male fertility.

While we await the results of these safety studies, however, remember that sunscreen remains one of the most effective methods of skin cancer prevention and that the FDA has only called for this review because many of these products came onto the market before the development of today’s rigorous testing methods.

6. THESE BREAST IMPLANTS HAVE BEEN RECALLED—SHOULD YOU REMOVE YOURS?

6. SUNSCREEN GOES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Metformin for Anti-Aging— Is It for You?

words by Zora DeGrandpre, MS, ND

“THERE’S A PILL FOR THAT.”

How often have you heard that from your doctor? For high blood pressure, for diabetes, for arthritis. Never mind that there are safer ways to address all of these ailments, including diet, exercise, acupuncture, relaxation techniques, and others. After all, we all know that with medications come risks—of side effects, costs, injury, even death. It all comes down to a cost-benefit analysis, and for many the risks are worth the known, potential, and perceived benefits.

So what about aging? People have always taken steps to look and feel as young as possible, from face lifts, makeup, and hair coloring to dating and marrying younger partners in order to turn back the clock. But now there may be a pill for that, too.

Metformin

Metformin is an anti-diabetes drug that is also known by the brand names Fortamet, Glucophage, Glucophage XR, Glumetza, and Riomet. The drug is derived from a flower: the French lilac. Metformin helps to lower blood sugar levels by decreasing liver glucose (sugar) production, increasing absorption of sugars from the diet, and improving insulin sensitivity.

Metformin also activates a specific enzyme known as AMPK, which increases the energy output of many cells. Metformin is used primarily to help control type 2 diabetes but has recently been heralded as an anti-aging miracle drug. Is it? Let’s look at what we know and what we don’t know.

We know that metformin is an effective drug used to lower blood sugar levels. We also know that, like most medications, it has side effects. Deciding to prescribe or to take any medication is always a cost-benefit analysis that bluntly comes down to the question “Will I be worse off taking the drug or not taking the drug?” When it comes to deciding whether to take a medication for diabetes, there are some really good and safe

alternatives, such as adopting a low-sugar and healthyfat diet with increased exercise, movement, and physical activity. But for some this is not enough, and for these people metformin can be a good choice for controlling blood sugar levels. The side effects of metformin range from the mild to the potentially serious, including:

∙ Fatigue and physical weakness (muscle weakness or pain)

∙ Diarrhea

∙ Gas

∙ Increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections

∙ Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

∙ Abdominal discomfort or pain

Decreased levels of vitamin B-12

∙ Nausea

∙ Vomiting

∙ Chest discomfort and heart palpitations

∙ Chills

∙ Dizziness

∙ Bloating or abdominal distention

∙ Constipation

∙ Heartburn

Metformin and Aging

When it comes to aging versus diabetes, there are similarities and differences. First the similarities: a healthy diet—especially one heavy on vegetables, fruit, and omega-3 rich fish—a healthy lifestyle, and regular physical activity can slow down both processes. However, while diabetes is preventable and treatable, aging is not … or is it?

Metformin has been used in the UK since 1958 and in the US since 1995. This long track record has allowed researchers to look at the drug’s long-term effects. But the first hints of metformin’s anti-aging properties came from animal studies, specifically in roundworms, nematodes, and mice.

These studies indicated that metformin, through the enzyme AMPK and the signaling molecule mTOR and other mechanisms, could effectively increase lifespan by reducing fat and sugar storage in cells and

increasing energy output while also acting as an antioxidant to protect cells from a specific type of damage known as oxidative stress. Another way that metformin may increase lifespan is by inducing autophagy, a process that removes dysfunctional cellular material and maintains the balance of energy.

Researchers found that the patients taking metformin tended to live longer by up to 15% and to have decreased risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and neurocognitive decline. One recent study showed that metformin may improve memory recall in older adults with a form of mild cognitive impairment.

Currently, there is a small ongoing clinical study called the Metformin in Longevity Study (MILES) which is looking at increased lifespan and some biomarkers of longevity. The results have not yet been published but larger studies are already being planned.

So … ?

Some physicians are already using metformin as an anti-aging drug, though there are no formal studies yet available that support this use. There is evidence that metformin may reduce certain biomarkers (quantitative measurements) of aging in some people, but decreased biomarkers are not the same thing as fewer wrinkles. We also don’t know exactly for whom metformin might prove beneficial, nor what role a healthier lifestyle also played for the people it seemed to have an effect on.

In the end, metformin for anti-aging falls under the category of “It’s too early to tell.” As far as the data shows so far, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and a healthy weight, lifestyle, diet, and exercise routine may be the ultimate approach for reducing the signs of aging—metformin might just make it all a little easier, more convenient, and possibly more effective.

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models styling by Ray C'Mone make-up by Christine Vasquez

hair by Andy Buckmire dress by Tootsies

The good stuff doesn’t have to stop when you close your copy of Radiant. On RadiantHealthMag.com you’ll find more inspiration, including feature stories, fitness tips, healthy recipes, behind-the-scenes videos & breaking news you won’t want to miss.

She’s a holistic psychotherapist and hatha yoga teacher, but Kala Lacy is also ready to #CancelCareCulture.

It’s not what you think. Kala is actually all about self-care—and the hard work that goes into treating yourself with respect and giving yourself a break when you need one. She’s just not into the consumer culture that promotes fabulous yoga mats and expensive bath bombs (though like all of us, she will indulge when the time is right).

Learn what you’re doing wrong, what self-care really means, and how to spoil yourself without making a show of it.

RADIANTHEALTHMAG.COM/CANCELCARECULTURE

The truth is you’ll still be you even if you want to tackle new projects. You’ll always be you, no matter how many fitness challenges you overcome. No matter how much time you spend in self-reflection, you can’t be a totally new you. But you can be a fantastic version of you.

Avoid resolution burnout and learn how to cultivate the most fully integrated, best you yet. Here’s what you need to know for an incredible you in 2020

RADIANTHEALTHMAG.COM/BESTYOU

A diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer isn’t a reason to fall apart; it’s a time to pull yourself together. VeRitta Smith did just that, from becoming a self-health advocate to fighting past the inevitable fears. You’ve heard success stories in the past but never like this.

RADIANTHEALTHMAG.COM/VERITTASTORY

WHO WILL YOU BE IN 2020? THIS WELLNESS EDUCATOR IS DONE WITH SELF-CARE! WELL, ALMOST.

I’VE HAD SIX SURGERIES AND NOW I’M ON CHEMOTHERAPY, BUT RECOVERY IS THE REAL BEAST.

healthy eating

page 26.

CURBING THAT SWEET TOOTH Finding a sweet spot with sugar

page 30.

INTERVIEW LORRAINE PASCAL

A supermodel’s delicious second act

page 38.

LOCAL CHAMP PALM OIL

A familiar flavor shared by generations

page 42.

PALM OIL RECIPES

Savory dishes for warmth and comfort

CurbingTh a tSweet Tooth

words by Zora DeGrandpre ND, MS

Finding a sweet spot with sugar

IN 2015, THE Journal of Drug Abuse published an article titled “Is Sugar a Gateway Drug?” Wow—not many people think they are using a drug when they reach for that second doughnut of the morning or have a candy bar during a midafternoon slump, yet the authors of this review state that “intermittent binging with sugar triggers neurochemical responses in the MLP that parallel those produced by DOA.”

The MLP refers to the mesolimbic pathway, a critical system in addiction development, and DOA stands for “drugs of abuse.” Essentially, the authors suggest that since sugar “lights up” the same areas

of the brain as various DOA, along with producing similar DOA-like biochemical changes in the brain after large amounts are ingested, sugar can act as a gateway drug in some people. Move over, cannabis!

Because sugar activates the brain’s reward centers (the MLP), your brain tells you it feels good after you have fed it and encourages you to eat even more sugar. You can also develop a sugar tolerance, which means that over time you require more and more sugar to get that same feeling of reward. In addition, you can experience sugar withdrawal. In light of all this, sugar really does sound very much like a gateway drug.

Sugar in the Body, Sugar on the Brain

Sugar, a term usually used to describe table sugar (sucrose) is more technically a class of chemical compounds. In chemistry, sugars are the simplest form of carbohydrates, which are themselves chains of individual sugar molecules.

Carbohydrates are also known as saccharides. Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose, while glucose—blood sugar—is a monosaccharide. Complex carbohydrates such as cellulose and glycogen are large, complicated chains of various sugars found in whole grains, high-fiber vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Simple carbohydrates like sucrose are found in processed foods, candies, and other sweets.

Nutritionists generally recommend a diet high in complex carbohydrates for several reasons—they take longer to digest, release their sugars more slowly and more smoothly as they are digested (preventing sugar highs and lows), and provide the energy you need each day more effectively and efficiently. A diet of complex carbohydrates is also associated with a decreased risk of several different diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.

What Does Sugar Do in the Body?

Sugar in the form of glucose is our body’s main energy source, and glucose is stored as glycogen. Glucose is also used by the body to make other molecules, including DNA, enzymes, and various cofactors needed for metabolism. When necessary, glucose can also be converted into amino acids and used to make protein. Glucose also inhibits the use of fats (lipids) as an alternative energy source.

Those are the good and natural things that glucose does. But, as with just about everything, along with the good comes the not so good. When it comes to sugar, you can definitely have too much of a good thing, resulting in a wide range of negative effects:

∙ Sugar highs and lows can result in mood swings and changes in behavior. These altered states aren’t great for you, and others may also find them difficult to deal with.

∙ The highs and lows can also result in headaches, fatigue, and malaise—an overall “sick and tired” feeling.

High levels of sugar over a period of time increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity or being overweight. High levels of sugar can also increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and stroke. Cancer may also be linked to high levels of sugar—and remember, cancer is the

uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, and cancer cells use sugar as fuel.

The immune system may be adversely affected by high levels of blood sugar.

∙ High levels of sugar are associated with increased signs of aging.

∙ High sugar levels are considered toxic to the nerves; in diabetes, the nerve disorder peripheral neuropathy is thought to be the direct result of the toxic effects of sugar on the nerves.

Where Sugar Cravings Come From

The body does best with a smooth and steady supply of glucose; this is the main reason that nutritionists and dieticians recommend complex carbohydrates over simple carbohydrates. When you eat foods that contain simple sugars, such as doughnuts, candy, and so forth, you get a sugar rush because those simple sugars just whoosh into your blood. In contrast, when you eat a piece of whole grain bread, a banana, or an apple, the sugars are released more slowly and evenly because of the fiber contained within the fruit or whole grain bread.

Sugar cravings occur for lots of reasons, and most people just enjoy a sweet taste—even if you don’t eat much sugar, your brain still recognizes it and is happy! However, sugar cravings can also be the result of high or low blood sugar levels caused by poor eating habits; nutrient deficiencies (low protein intake can stimulate sugar cravings); or possibly even an addiction (biological or psychological) to sugar, which is many people’s idea of comfort food.

Sugar cravings can also occur in those suffering from sleep disorders or depression; in these cases, people may be self-medicating with sugar, as it does activate the brain’s reward center—and who doesn’t like a nice reward from time to time?

The Many Faces of Sugar

Table sugar (sucrose) is one of the many faces of sugar. Fructose is another. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is one of the newer faces of sugar, and according to the most recent research, it can be a problem. HFCS is found in many, many processed foods, and is another good reason to stop eating processed and prepared foods. Why?

It turns out that HFCS increases blood flow in the areas of the brain known to be associated with appetite—in other words, eating foods with HFCS stimulates your appetite and tends to actually make you gain weight. Beverages

sweetened with HFCS do the same thing, and diet sodas sweetened with artificial sweeteners are a problem too; studies have indicated that these artificial sweeteners make sweet cravings even worse.

So, if you want to curb your sweet tooth, stay away from anything that contains either HFCS or most artificial sweeteners. Instead, for that occasional sweet treat, try the herb stevia, sucralose (an artificial sweetener which—so far at least—has not been linked to any adverse health effects), or sugar alcohols such as sorbitol or xylitol. Be aware that sugar alcohols can cause diarrhea and bloating in some people, though.

In addition, keep an eye out for the other faces of sugar— HFCS is just one of them. According to the University of California’s SugarScience website, 74% of packaged foods contain added sugars such as barley malt, dextrose, maltose, rice syrup, trehalose, and others. Check for total sugars and see if the label says anything about “added sugars”— currently, they are not required to. The chemical suffix for sugars is -ose, so if any ingredient ends in -ose, you can be reasonably certain it is a sugar.

Getting Off the Sugar Roller Coaster

Whatever the specific reason you crave sugar, what can you do about getting rid of these cravings and curbing your sweet tooth? First off, don’t forget—you want to substitute complex carbohydrates (like those found in whole grain foods, vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds) for the simple sugars found in candies, pastries, doughnuts, chocolate bars, cookies, cakes, pies, nearly all processed foods, soft drinks, etc.

Your body does need sugar, but make your body work for that sugar! You don’t want to drop any needed nutrients, but just change the form those nutrients arrive in. One of the added benefits of dropping sugars in their simplest form is that you could very well end up losing weight— along with decreasing your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and other serious medical conditions.

It’s also important to understand that just as people can develop a tolerance to sugar, for some, withdrawal can also be a real concern. The length and type of symptoms you might experience after quitting sugar vary, but the following are the most common signs and symptoms associated with dropping sugar from your diet:

Cravings

Lethargy or lack of energy

Anxiety

Headaches

Muscle pain Insomnia

Many people don’t go through sugar withdrawal, but for those who do, these symptoms—while not much fun— usually only last a few days and are often relatively mild, though for some they can be more severe. Just be aware that you may experience them.

Tips for Curbing Your Sweet Tooth

Once you have decided to break your sugar habit, here are a few tips that may help:

Remember to eat a well-balanced and nutritious diet— staying healthy is one of the best ways to help yourself during the time it takes to get you off sugar.

· A few weeks before your quit date, start using stevia or another healthier sugar substitute. You may even want to try out some recipes using sugar substitutes to see how well they work. (Note: lots of people substitute honey or molasses when they are trying to stop using sugar. These are better options than table sugar, but not much more complex. It’s best to avoid using these because they are likely to prolong the process.)

· Start reading all the labels on the foods you buy to make certain you are not getting any “hidden” sugars like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Stop buying any products that contain HFCS.

A few days or so before your quit date, go through your cabinets and make sure that there are no more sweet foods hidden away.

· Stock up on fruits, nuts, seeds, raw vegetables, and other healthy snacks.

Try either drinking unsweetened beverages such as tea, black coffee, water, and fruit teas or sweeten them yourself with stevia or another sugar substitute. Also, try unsweetened yogurt along with unsweetened cereals and other foods.

· Keep healthy snacks with you all the time, and when you get a craving, eat a handful of nuts or a few carrots.

Get the people around to support you—or even join you in your journey!

Good luck!

Lorraine Pascal

Fostering Health & the Art of the Pivot

Celebrity chef is not the first thing that comes to mind when you see Lorraine Pascale. She clearly looks like she hopped right off the pages of a magazine spread. I took one look at Lorraine’s sculpted high cheekbones, smooth cocoa skin, and lean physique and wondered how she came to be a judge on the Holiday Baking Championship show my kids and I watched on Netflix. Turns out she’s been slaying the culinary game for more than a decade. She got her start from unconventional roots, first turning up the heat in print and television ads as a model and then later turning up the heat in the kitchen.

words by Clarissa Bannor

photos by Jessica Castro

This supermodel-turned-entrepreneur, television personality, national bestselling author, and celebrity chef has made a name for herself through her mouthwatering recipes, health and wellness guidance, and countless television appearances. To go from high-stakes modeling to baking for a living seems an unlikely pivot, but Lorraine is no newcomer to reinventing herself over and over again, and she has quite a knack for making delicious meals out of a short list of ingredients.

Making it through life is like trying to cook your way through your favorite cookbook. There are lots of recipes; some work out and some don’t. You get to a few where you don’t have the right ingredients, cookware, or tools and have to try to figure out how to make do. Necessity being the mother of all invention, you learn how to substitute ingredients or modify the recipe or just throw in whatever you have, hope for the best, and see how it turns out. Through this process you discover your own recipes, create your own twists, and gain confidence in your ability to push forward.

Lorraine’s ability to rummage through the fridge of life and make magic without having all the necessary ingredients, while also creating a magazine-worthy recipe for her life, is inspirational. Though her resilience isn’t easily visible from the television screen, Lorraine has something to teach us all about reaching within ourselves and learning how to make good with what we have at our disposal—and making the outcome taste better than we ever expected.

Resilience Against the Odds

Born to Jamaican parents in Hackney, England, Lorraine was fostered right after birth. At 18 months old, she was adopted by a white couple from Witney, Oxfordshire. Her adoptive parents divorced when she was 3 years old and she remained with her adoptive mother until she fell ill and could no longer care for her.

By age 8, Lorraine ended up back in foster care, living with various families until she was reunited with her adoptive mother again, a year later. As she explains it, “I spent my first eight years moving from children’s homes, to foster homes, to an adopted home, and back into [foster] care again when my adoptive mother decided she couldn’t cope and handed me back too.”

According to The Fostering Network, one of the UK’s leading fostering charities, approximately 65,000 children live with almost 55,000 foster families across the UK daily. There are many reasons that children end up in foster care, but in most cases, situations outside of the child’s control are the culprit, such as abuse (physical, emotional, sexual), incarceration, abandonment, illness, death, or various forms of parental neglect. And though it may seem as though these children are being handed a lifeline, there are many pitfalls as well.

Foster children around the world share some disadvantageous statistics when it comes to outcomes for how their lives can turn out. In the US, for example, data suggests that fostered youth are more at risk for teenage pregnancy, lower grade point averages, incarceration, and addiction—all barriers to employment and success. Despite these odds and other challenges children may face growing up in foster care, there are some like Lorraine who are able to somehow navigate those challenges and find a pathway to success.

She credits the natural resilience of children and learning to adapt and rely on herself as qualities that helped pull her through the experience. “I can only speak for myself, and from what I know, children can be surprisingly resilient. There is no other choice, so you just get on with it and do your best. You only rely on yourself and you get used to having to do this,” she explains.

Given the way her life started out, Lorraine could have had a pretty predictable future, but she realized early on that how her life began didn’t have to determine how it played out. “I knew that how my story evolved and ended was down to me.” So she did what any good chef would do and kept moving forward with the ingredients she was given.

How to Turn a Pumpkin into a Stagecoach

At just 16 years old, Lorraine was discovered as a model and skyrocketed to fame throughout the 1990s, becoming the first black British model to be featured on the cover of Elle magazine in the US and appearing in the renowned Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 1998. She was the face of several highprofile design houses, including Versace, Donna Karan, Katharine Hamnett, and The Gap, regularly working alongside Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, and influential fashion editor Edward Enninful.

On the surface, her rise to fame seemed like a modern-day Cinderella story, but in truth there were a lot of disappointments and struggles along her journey. When Lorraine first started modeling, she didn’t initially believe it was something she should be doing. There were also times, when dealing with the industry, that she didn’t feel good about herself, but because she believed in herself she never felt like an imposter. By working hard, she found that with opportunity, a bit of luck, and good timing she was able to make it.

Even with all of her success, Lorraine admits, “Modeling was really difficult. It took a long time to be recognized and noted. There were many rejections, many things not happening

that were about to or maybe happen. There were many times I wanted to—and could have—given up, but I didn’t. I just kept on going. You just have to believe in yourself, because you’re always gonna get knocked back. You’re always gonna get things not happening. They either come at the start of your career or in the middle, but you just have to keep going regardless, and you have to believe in yourself even if maybe other people don’t.”

While the job kept Lorraine busy, she knew that models generally have a short shelf life. Being hardworking and ambitious, she knew she had to lay the foundation for what she was going to do after her modeling career was over. She didn’t want to be stuck at the ball after midnight without a backup plan.

If the Apron Fits, Wear It

Perhaps Lorraine’s early childhood experiences made her comfortable with changing course, or maybe it was her modeling career that made her uniquely adept at trying new things on for size. Whatever the case, Lorraine tried a series of very different careers, including that of an auto mechanic, an interior designer, and even a hypnotherapist. But somehow, baking was the right fit. When asked what got her interested in baking in the first place, Lorraine often says, “I used to be a model and I guess I got hungry. I wanted to change careers and do something that involved lots of food.”

Lorraine wasn’t just motivated by a serious case of the munchies, either; her desire to pivot into a different career was also motivated by her status as a new mother. “When my daughter was born, I wanted to bring her up in the

“...you just have to keep going regardless, and you have to believe in yourself even if maybe other people don’t.”

United Kingdom and be closer to family. So I needed to find a job, because most of my work was in the States. I needed to find a job that was going to make sense and allow me to be at home more. That’s when I tried all sorts of different courses to find what it was I really liked. The one I enjoyed most was cooking, so that’s why I gave it a shot.”

Lorraine enrolled in Leiths School of Food and Wine in London, where she sparked her passion for baking. Her newfound love of cooking led her to graduate with first class honors (summa cum laude) with a degree in culinary arts management from the University of West London. During Lorraine’s final year of school, she opened her first bakery in Covent Garden selling cakes, tray bakes, and cupcakes. She also filmed her first television series, Baking Made Easy, for BBC Two.

Since then, Lorraine has gone on to film several television shows that have aired in more than 70 countries worldwide. Her debut cookbook, Baking Made Easy, was released in 2011. Altogether she has published seven books, including Home Cooking Made Easy; Lorraine Pascale’s Fast, Fresh and Easy Food; A Lighter Way to Bake; How to Be a Better Cook; Eating Well Made Easy; Best of Lorraine; and Bake: 125 ShowStopping Recipes, Made Simple. Her books have sold nearly 1 million copies in the UK alone, and she is working on her eighth book, in which she lays out a blueprint to help people become the best version of themselves while doing good for themselves and others.

Currently, Lorraine judges contestants on the Food Network’s popular baking competition shows Spring Baking Championship and Holiday Baking Championship and coaches some of America’s worst bakers on Worst Bakers in America. While she’s busy tasting decadent

confections made by seasoned and amateur bakers alike, one can’t help but wonder how she manages to maintain her svelte, lean figure in her world of cakes and icing.

“I exercise five times a week. I do lots of cardio, I lift weights—lots of weights—and I’m very careful about what I eat and drink,” Lorraine says, letting out a hearty chuckle. And while it looks like she gets to indulge in everything made on the competition shows she judges; she admits that she really only tastes a little bit of what’s made.

Adding to a Repertoire of Success

It’s no surprise that Lorraine remains healthconscious despite her line of work. A number of her cookbooks focus on eating well and healthily, which for her, as a baker living in a world that disparages sugar, means indulging in moderation.

“My advice is everything in moderation. If you are trying to lose weight, then it’s important to know your portion sizes because portion control is super important. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we’re really eating. So, it’s a good idea to keep a food diary to see what’s really going on with the food. Eat a lot more vegetables and just a few berry fruits a day. Fill your plate with your favorite vegetables and salads and also eat lean meat.”

She refrains from banning herself from whole food groups and advises people who want to get healthy by eliminating sugar, meat, carbs, and/or other foods from their diets to seek out a healthy balance of whole foods such as fish, chicken, vegetables, and—every now and again—an indulgent sweet. She also tries not to snack between meals even though she admits it’s difficult at times. She has a few words of wisdom for those trying to lose weight and

searching for the perfect diet to help get them across the finish line:

“The best diet is the one that you can stick to. That’s number one. And number two, all of these diets work because they create a calorie deficit. So if it’s the Whole 30 or Weight Watchers or intermittent fasting or Keto, the only reason that they would work is because you’re eating less food. There’s no magic. It’s just math. People think that there’s some magic trick, but there isn’t. If you create a continuous, safe calorie deficit—safe being the key word—you will lose the weight. That’s why all of these hundreds of diets work. There’s no magic. Working out is great, but you can’t outexercise a bad diet.”

And if you are looking for more amazing tips on staying healthy, then Lorraine’s got you covered there as well. She recently started a new fitness account on Instagram called Lorraine Pascale Fitness where she shares her tips and secrets to getting and staying in shape. From the sounds of things, Lorraine may have a budding career brewing in the fitness and health industry. She’s clearly a person who’s always pursuing new endeavors and reinventing herself via her personal brand of alchemy, and to hear her tell it, taking on new challenges is just a part of who she is. “I always like to evolve. When I do one thing, as far as my career is concerned, and I think I’ve

learned everything I need to learn, I like to kind of move on … that’s always been me—I don’t like to be stagnant.”

Even though taking on new challenges can be difficult, the difficulties and setbacks she’s overcome in her past have given her the selfconfidence to push through. “I guess it’s just always been in my spirit as a person to keep changing and keep pushing through and keep believing in myself regardless of whatever the situation is and be successful because of what’s happening rather than in spite of it. I think it’s really important, when we go through tragic experiences, to try and see the message in it or the gift in it; then what we went through doesn’t go to waste. I always look for the gift in whatever situation I’m going through.”

Lorraine takes this motivational message of hope with her wherever she goes. Her story of rebirth inspires many who have come after her and struggle to snatch success from the jaws of despair. Lorraine is the first patron of The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT), the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity, and she serves as an ambassador for the Rays of Sunshine and The Prince’s Trust, both charities that support England’s youth. Through her work she hopes to share some of her recipes for success by spreading her special dose of positivity and motivation.

“I think it’s really important, when we go through tragic experiences, to try and see the message in it or the gift in it; then what we went through doesn’t go to waste.”

She remembered who she was and the game changed.

– Lalah Delia

›› Our Local Champ series celebrates the diversity of the African kitchen by highlighting a different traditional, indigenous food in each issue.

Palm Oil

Many of us have fond memories of palm oil sizzling as our mothers and grandmothers made mouthwatering groundnut or mbanga stew. We watched transfixed as the dishes took on a deep red hue and left us dreaming of the rich, earthy flavor we would soon enjoy.

Nutritional Friend or Foe?

Palm fruit oil, which is derived from the flesh of the palm fruit, offers more benefits than just its distinctive taste. It shouldn’t be mistaken for palm kernel oil, a less nutritious oil derived from the fruit’s seed. Palm fruit oil’s deep red color comes from its high levels of carotenoids, plantbased antioxidants that fight inflammation.

The oil is one of the richest natural sources of vitamin E, an important nutrient for brain health. Palm fruit oil contains an especially potent type of vitamin E compared to the types found in other vegetable oils, such as corn, peanut, and olive oils. The vitamin E specifically found in palm fruit oil, called α-tocotrienol, is a powerhouse of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, meaning it helps stop damage to our bodies’ cells that can eventually lead to a host of conditions, from heart disease to cancer.

Studies show that regularly eating the α-tocotrienol found in palm fruit oil can help decrease our risk of dementia, stroke, and other

serious brain problems. It uniquely protects our brain cells from damage by blocking the highly inflammatory pathways that get activated when the brain suffers stress, as after a stroke. Some research even suggests that α-tocotrienol is unique among vitamin E subtypes at slowing the growth of breast cancer and decreasing damage from radiation exposure, although the research is still preliminary.

Carotenoid-rich palm fruit oil also boosts your body’s levels of vitamin A, which is vital for optimal vision and immunity. That’s because it contains a heaping dose of beta-carotene— about 15 times as much as carrots—which our body then converts into vitamin A. In fact, palm oil can act as a natural supplement for pregnant women and children who are deficient in the vitamin, and may do a better job at achieving normal blood levels than vitamin A supplements.

While there is some conflicting evidence, several studies show that in otherwise healthy people, eating palm fruit oil can be just as hearthealthy as olive oil. Eating two tablespoons of

A Closer Look at a Traditional Tropical Oil words by Oreoluwa Ogunyemi, MD

palm fruit oil each day bumped up levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, the “good” cholesterol) while decreasing levels of lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL, the “bad cholesterol”) in the same group. In fact, vitamin E-rich palm fruit oil works in our bodies in the same way as the most commonly prescribed medicines used to treat high cholesterol.

However, one small study suggests that in women who already suffer from high cholesterol levels, palm oil consumption increases small dense LDL, one of the most egregious forms of cholesterol. Since this specific type of cholesterol really ramps up your heart disease risk, if you already have high cholesterol, you may choose to reach for oils with a lower saturated fat content. In addition, other research shows that eating repeatedly reheated palm fruit oil bumps up the risk of atherosclerosis, the artery-hardening condition that leads to heart disease.

It is also important to remember that palm fruit oil is made up of about 50% saturated fat (compared to 90% in coconut oil and 14% in olive oil). Considering that a single tablespoon of palm fruit oil contains nearly a third of women’s daily allowance for saturated fat, it makes sense to use moderation when cooking with palm oil.

What About the Environment?

Palm oil (both the fruit and kernel varieties) has come under quite a bit of fire from an environmental standpoint. As it turns out, palm oil

is not only used as the secret ingredient in some of our favorite dishes, but is also added to a range of commercial soaps, snack foods (including peanut butter, baked goods, and protein bars), and even cleaning agents.

While palm oil was originally harvested in West Africa, as worldwide dependence on the crop has grown, palm fruit cultivation has exploded in Southeast Asia, where about 80% of the world’s palm oil is produced. There is widespread concern that palm oil plantations are destroying our tropical forests—more than half of industrial palm oil plantations sit on lands that were forests only 30 years ago.

The loss of tropical forests directly adds to the impact of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change and destroying the habitats of diverse animal and plant species. In fact, numerous organizations, governments, and activists have increasingly called for more sustainable practices for palm oil production, as environmental concerns are not always top priority for large corporations.

A Little Goes a Long Way

To sum up, palm fruit oil has proven health benefits and is a great addition to bring out the rich flavor of traditional dishes. However, you don’t need much of this nutrient-dense oil to reap its flavor and health benefits. Just don’t overindulge, and make sure the palm oil you buy is produced using sustainable practices that won’t add to deforestation and climate change.

In the Palm of Our Hands

recipes & photography by Gabriela Iancu

Chickpea and Carrot Cakes with Harissa Yogurt

Makes 16 small servings

These elegant, gluten-free starters are the perfect way to fall in love with carrots. The nutty flavor of chickpeas combined with nutrient-rich carrots make these cakes a tasty and healthful side dish to a main course. They can even be used as a veggie burger on a bun.

NUTRITION FACTS servings: 16

INGREDIENTS

4 carrots, sliced 1/2 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup green onions or chives, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon palm oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon harissa

1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

PREPARATION

1. Cook carrots in a pan of simmering water for 20 minutes or until just tender. Drain, then add the chickpeas and roughly mash.

2. Transfer to a bowl, cool slightly, then mix with coriander, cumin, green onion, oil, and egg. Season to taste. Use your hands to form into 16 small patties. Chill for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then bake until golden in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and serve with yogurt mixed with harissa.

South African Pepper Steak Pies

Serves 4 single-serving pies

Discover the authentic flavor of South African comfort food! A perfect winter warmer, this homemade steak pie begins with a delicious, bright yellow crust infused with palm oil and has a rich filling of tender chunks of slow-cooked beef topped with a puff pastry lid. This scrumptious dish is baked in four individual 5x5” pie pans.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons palm oil

1/2 pound stew meat, cubed

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1 cayenne pepper, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons red wine

2 cups beef stock

1 cup tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 cup button mushrooms, sliced

Puff pastry, thawed

*Shortcrust pastry dough

Egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water)

PREPARATION

1. Heat palm oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add beef and cook until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Deglaze pan with wine, scraping the base, and then transfer meat to a bowl.

2. In the same pan, add the onion, garlic, cayenne, and thyme, stirring over low heat until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and stir until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in half the stock and simmer approximately 5 minutes until flavors combine.

3. Add tomato, remaining stock, and beef, then season to taste with salt, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, and allspice. Simmer covered over low heat until meat is almost tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and simmer until softened, about 10 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of sauce from the pan with 2 tablespoons of flour until smooth, then stir it through the beef mixture to combine. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the crust base.

*SHORTCRUST PASTRY DOUGH

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup palm oil

DIRECTIONS:

Daily percentage value based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Data analyzed from verywell.com

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

4 tablespoons water

1. Combine flour, oil, and salt in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Whisk egg with 4 tablespoons of water and add to the flour mixture. Pulse a couple of times until the dough comes together. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Loosely drape dough over each pie pan and crimp the edges. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ASSEMBLY

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Fill each pie pan with the beef filling. Brush crust edges with egg wash and top with a puff pastry lid. Pierce the center to allow steam to escape. Trim the edges, press all the way around to seal, and brush the tops with egg wash. Use trimmings to create decorations and brush with egg wash again. Bake until the pies are deep golden, the pastry is cooked through, and the filling is hot, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Ofada Stew with Quail Eggs (Ayamase)

Serves 2

When cold weather hits, embrace it with a comforting stew. Ayamase makes use of classic African ingredients, including a variety of spicy and sweet peppers, eggs, and meat, and is typically served with locally grown ofada rice. Popular in Southwest Nigeria, this delicious indigenous staple is packed with a unique flavor and is the undisputed king of all stews. It’s a glorious dish in both its intense flavor and its visual presentation.

INGREDIENTS

3 bell red peppers, roasted

2 scotch bonnet peppers

1 cayenne pepper

2 red onions, diced

1/2 cup palm oil

1/2 pound stew meat, cubed

1 cup beef stock

6 pre-cooked quail eggs

Salt to taste

PREPARATION

1. Cut the peppers and one red onion into small chunks and blend roughly using your food processor. Cook this mixture over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until it reduces to a paste, then set aside.

2. In the meantime, pour the palm oil into a saucepan over low heat. Cover pan with lid and allow the oil to brown for about 10 minutes.

3. Once the oil has darkened, add the cubed beef and cook until browned, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Add remaining diced onions to the hot oil and sauté until caramelized (this should take about 10 minutes).

4. Turn up the heat to medium, stir in the blended peppers, and cook for about 5 minutes.

5. Add 1 cup of beef stock to deglaze, then salt to taste. Leave to cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Finally, add the pre-cooked quail eggs, stir thoroughly to combine, and allow the dish to cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with ofada rice.

Vegan Koeksisters Pastry

Serves 10 —

Koeksisters, also known as African doughnuts, are a South African dessert that is traditionally fried and drenched in a sticky syrup. This braided pastry is easier to make than you might think. Desserts can be indulgent without being super sweet, so we’ve replaced the traditional syrup with honey or agave syrup and sprinkled this delicacy with black sesame powder to intensify the flavors without adding too many calories. This version is also gluten-free and is absolutely perfect for breakfast or tea time.

INGREDIENTS

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup rice milk

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon muscovado sugar

1/4 cup palm oil

Honey or agave syrup

Toasted *black sesame powder

PREPARATION

1. In a bowl, combine the lukewarm rice milk, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until the mixture foams on top, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flours and make a well in the center. Gradually add the yeast mixture and the palm oil and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Lightly knead the dough for a few minutes or until the dough comes off the sides of the bowl.

3. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes in a warm and draft-free area.

*How to make black sesame powder

Slowly roast black sesame seeds in a frying pan over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a coffee grinder or food processor, grind the sesame seeds for 2 to 3 minutes until they form a fine powder.

4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly floured work surface and roll out to about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into 10 rectangles, then cut each rectangle lengthwise into three strips, leaving one side uncut. Braid the 3 strips and press the cut ends together firmly.

5. Place the braided pastry onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until dark golden in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and brush with honey or agave syrup while hot. Sprinkle each pastry with black sesame powder.

fitness

page 54.

FASTED WORKOUTS

Holy grail or hangry girl?

page 58.

HOW TO FIND (AND KEEP) YOUR FITNESS GROOVE

Strategies for lifelong fitness

page 62.

A FOUR-WEEK WORKOUT PLAN

Baby steps for getting back in shape

page 70.

INTERVIEW ELLEN & LANA ECTOR

Fitness as a family affair

Fasted Workouts

holy grail or hangry girl?

worcds by Patrick Dale

LOSING WEIGHT AND BURNING FAT can be tough, and many of us are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve these goals. Strict diets, intense workouts, and even supplements are all part and parcel of our weight-loss efforts. Some people even turn to things like hypnosis and acupuncture in their battle against the belly bulge.

One of the latest, greatest weight-loss trends is fasted exercise. Celebrities and trainers alike are championing this popular approach in the belief that it enhances fat loss.

Should you jump on the fasted exercise bandwagon? Or is this weight-loss method all hype? Let’s investigate!

What Is Fasted Exercise?

Fasted exercise simply means working out on an empty stomach. Like a lot of seemingly new fitness trends, fasted exercise has actually been around for decades. Boxers, jockeys, wrestlers, rowers, bodybuilders, and other sportspeople have traditionally used fasted exercise for fat loss and especially for “making weight” before a competition.

Most experts agree that to be in a fasted state, you should have eaten your last meal eight to ten hours before you are due to start exercising. For most people, this means working out first thing in the morning before breakfast. While you could do fasted exercise later in the day, this would mean skipping breakfast and/or lunch to ensure that you are in a truly fasted state. Early morning fasted workouts are usually more convenient and are subsequently the most widely used form of fasted exercise.

Fasted exercise can involve any type of workout, from yoga to running to hitting the gym. However, because cardio is inextricably linked to fat burning, most fasted exercisers do their cardio on an empty stomach. When talking about fasted exercise, most people really mean fasted cardio.

Fasted Exercise Theory

On paper, fasted exercise makes a lot of sense. It just seems logical. That’s part of the reason it’s both a popular and widely accepted weight-loss method—it sounds like it should work. The main theories that support fasted exercise are relatively straightforward.

During exercise, your body likes to use glucose and glycogen for energy, both of which are forms of carbohydrate. It uses these substances in conjunction with varying amounts of fat. The ratio of glycogen, glucose, and fat utilized for energy depends on the type of exercise you do. Cardio uses more fat for fuel, while things like high-intensity interval training and strength training use more glycogen and glucose.

After a period of fasting, your blood glucose and muscle glycogen levels are lower than usual. Not eating means your body will have had to use these substances for energy, even while you were sleeping. With less glucose

and glycogen available, your body has no choice but to use more fat for fuel during your fasted workout, which should lead to faster fat and weight loss.

Fasted Exercise—What the Studies Say

Fasted exercise certainly makes sense, and it’s popular because it appears to work for some people. But does science support this weight loss method? The answer is a resounding ... maybe!

It seems that for every study that supports the effectiveness of fasted exercise, there is another study that refutes it. Some studies claim that fasted exercise increases fat oxidation by as much as 20%, while other studies find no statistical difference between fasted and non-fasted exercise for fat burning.

For example, a study conducted by the Department of Kinesiology at Samford University in Birmingham concluded that exercising after a fast (in this case a daylight fast for Ramadan) resulted in increased fat oxidation during exercise.

In contrast, another study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, found no evidence that fasted exercise resulted in increased fat burning or calorie expenditure.

It seems that every article that supports fasted exercise can find studies supporting that viewpoint while every article that dismisses it is also backed by scientific studies. It all depends on how hard you are prepared to look!

Why are the studies so contradictory and inconclusive? It’s hard to say, but some possible reasons include:

∙ Small study groups

Very short studies

Subjects all from the same demographic—usually young, healthy students

No standardized evening meal

∙ Lack of controls for other daily physical activity

Genetic differences (some people seem more suited to fasted exercise than others)

The takeaway from all of these studies is that fasted exercise might help you burn more fat or it might not offer any benefits at all. Because of this, it’s up to you to give it a try to determine if it’s right for you.

How to Do Fasted Exercise

If you want to try fasted exercise for yourself, follow these guidelines to make sure your workout goes as smoothly as possible.

1. Eat a nutritious pre-exercise meal 8 to 12 hours before your workout

While you want your stomach to be empty, your body still needs an abundance of nutrients to function properly. If you are skipping breakfast, make sure your evening meal is rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, lean protein, healthy fats, and slow-releasing carbs. Don’t be tempted to overeat during this meal. That would cancel out the benefits of fasted exercise.

2. Drink plenty of water before and during your fasted workout

Your body can function well without food, but you still need to drink plenty of water. Drinking water won’t break your fast and it will make sure you stay hydrated. Dehydration could impair fat burning and could also bring your workout to a premature end. Skip the highsugar sports drinks, but do make sure you drink plenty of water before, during, and after your fasted workout.

3. Take it easy at first

Some people find fasted exercise harder than normal exercise. In contrast, other people notice little or no difference. It seems that plays a part in how well you perform in a fasted state.

If you are new to fasted cardio, dial back your workout to see how your body responds. Don’t head out on a long run or bike ride only to run out of gas partway through. Instead, plan a short, easy workout and increase exercise intensity and duration gradually to see how you feel. If everything goes well, feel free to do a little more.

4. Monitor your performance

While fasted cardio may increase fat burning, if exercising on an empty stomach reduces either the duration or

intensity of your workout, it’s not for you. For example, if you can run for 40 minutes after a proper pre-exercise meal but flake out after only three miles on an empty stomach, fasted exercise won’t speed your fat loss.

Ultimately, while fasted exercise may favor fat burning, it’s still the number of calories you use during your workout that matters. If you burn a higher percentage of fat but fewer total calories, you won’t lose weight any faster than you would with unfasted exercise.

5. Break your fast with a small meal

Assuming that fasted exercise works for you, don’t undo the fat-burning benefits of your workout by eating more than usual when you finally break your fast. Also, make sure you don’t eat more during the rest of your day. If fasted exercise works at all, any benefits will be minimal, and you could easily wipe them out by eating more than usual.

Closing Thoughts

As with a lot of fitness trends, exercise and fitness experts have been very quick to jump on the fasted exercise bandwagon and say that it is the best way to work out for fat loss. The truth is that fasted exercise is just one possible weight loss intervention, and while it may work for some people, for others it could actually be detrimental.

If fasted cardio does work, any increase in fat burning is only very small. You need to ask yourself whether it’s actually worth the bother. In many cases, drinking one less glass of wine or cutting down on sugar is a much more effective way to achieve fat loss.

Of course, if exercising first thing in the morning on an empty stomach fits your schedule, then why not give it a try. But if you usually work out at night and fasted exercise is impractical, don’t worry about it and carry on as normal. Not wanting or being able to do fasted exercise is not a deal breaker for successful weight loss.

Fasted exercise may help you burn fat faster, but it’s not the miracle cure that many people think it is. Ultimately, the food you consume and the amount of physical activity you do is much more important than when you eat and exercise.

How to Find (and Keep) Your Fitness Groove

words by Patrick Dale

Everyone knows that exercise is important. It’s good for your health, makes it easier to manage your weight, is good for your brain, and may even help you live longer. But despite these proven benefits, a lot of people still find it hard to maintain a regular workout program.

When it comes to exercise, a lot of us are great at getting started but not so good at persisting. Initially we’re full of enthusiasm and work out regularly for a few days or even weeks in a row. Unfortunately, that momentum seldom lasts. The occasional missed workout turns into a longer break from exercise, and before you know it you are a non-exerciser again and all your good intentions have evaporated.

This cycle of behavior is especially evident in January, when so many of us make New Year’s resolutions. Statistically, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail before the end of February.

Some exercisers are naturally self-motivated. These are the people who, if they turn up at the gym and find it closed, will work out in the parking lot instead. On vacation, they’ll be the ones swimming laps before breakfast and hitting the hotel gym instead of the all-youcan-eat buffet. To them, exercise is just something you do, rain or shine. It’s a part of their life and they can’t imagine not doing it. These people are an anomaly!

The good news is that the ability to exercise regularly is a habit you can develop. This article will reveal some tried-and-tested strategies that will not only help you find your fitness groove but keep you in it. Don’t expect miracles—it takes time to develop any habit. But if you put these strategies into action, you too can become a self-motivated exerciser.

Find Activities You Enjoy

Of all the advice in this article, this is arguably the most important: find fitness activities you enjoy. If you enjoy what you do, you are more likely to do it regularly. Unfortunately, a lot of us base our workout choices on what we are told is best. This often means that we end up doing things we don’t enjoy. If you have to force yourself to do your chosen workout, you have one more excuse for giving it up.

In contrast, if you actually look forward to your workout, you are already well on your way to developing a regular exercise habit. After all, most habits are things we like doing, even if they are unhealthy!

Fitness experts love to argue about which workouts are best. They’ll debate the differences between steady-state cardio and high-intensity interval training, argue over whether Pilates is better than yoga, and are quick to label some workouts as ineffective.

The reality is that while some workouts are better than others, the differences are often minimal and even insignificant. Yes, interval training does burn more calories than steady-state cardio, but not enough more to make regular cardio redundant. And yes, lifting weights at the gym is good for your muscles, but so too are bodyweight exercises you can do at home, such as push-ups and lunges. While there are differences, those differences are not

significant enough to worry about. It really doesn’t matter how good a workout is if you don’t do it.

The best workout will always be the one you do regularly, and that will be the one you enjoy.

Take It Slow and Easy at First

Most new and returning exercisers start off by doing too much too soon. While this enthusiasm is to be applauded, it’s also a common reason for breaking a new exercise habit before it gets the chance to take hold.

Exercise is a form of stress, and like any stress, too much can be detrimental. If you work out too hard too soon, you’ll be rewarded with severe post-exercise muscle soreness, and that’s no one’s idea of fun. Deconditioned muscles and joints are also more prone to injury.

While not serious or permanent, post-exercise muscle soreness can be debilitating enough to make simply daily tasks like walking and bending over all but impossible. It can take several days to pass and can be bad enough to put some exercisers off working out for good. If nothing else, severe post-exercise muscle soreness will stop you from exercising again for a few days, during which most of the benefits of your workout will wear off.

If you are new or returning to exercise, rein in your enthusiasm and take it slow and easy at first. Do much less than you think you are capable of, and finish your workout knowing that you still have plenty of gas left in the tank. Increase the duration and intensity of your workouts gradually over the coming weeks and months. You’ll get much better results from increasing your workouts gradually than you will from jumping in at the deep end too soon and then abruptly stopping.

Runners often talk about the 10% rule, which states that you should never increase the length of a single run or your weekly running distance by more than 10%. While you may not be able to apply the 10% rule to your preferred workout, it’s a useful illustration of how small increases in workout intensity and duration are best for long-term exercise adherence.

Focus on the Short-Term Benefits of Exercise

A lot of people start working out because they have a longterm goal—often weight loss or toning up. Long-term goals may be a source of motivation for some exercisers, but for others they can be detrimental.

If you are currently out of shape, reaching your goals could take months or even years. Long-term goals are often so far away that you may feel you’ll never reach them. That can be very demoralizing. Losing 1 pound (0.45 kilos) per week is great progress. But if you need to lose 50 pounds (22.7 kilos) to reach your target weight, that achievement suddenly seems far less impressive.

After a few weeks of seeing such slow progress, it’s all too easy to conclude that you’ll never reach your goal and that you are wasting your time and energy trying to do so. With no progress to speak of, a lot of exercisers soon quit. Focusing on your progress toward your long-term goals can blind you to the fact that every workout you do has a positive effect on your body as you do it. When it comes to exercise, the journey is just as beneficial as the destination.

While you don’t need to forget your long-term exercise goals, make sure you remind yourself that exercise has instant positive effects on your body, including:

1. Better mood

2. Improved sleep

3. Greater self-esteem

4. Increased creativity and productivity

5. Elevated metabolism

6. Better circulation

7. Lower blood pressure

8. Lower blood glucose

9. More flexible joints

10. Less pain

Be Active Every Day

A lot of popular exercise methods are very intense and thus cannot be performed daily. They take so much out of your body that you can only do them three to four times per week. While these types of workouts are undeniably effective, they are not a good way to develop the exercise habit, because for something to become habitual, you need to do it frequently.

While accomplishing three to four workouts per week is a laudable achievement, it’s not really enough to keep you healthy. Modern life is often very sedentary. With 168 hours in a week, even if you exercise four times per week for an hour at a time, you could still be sedentary for the remaining 164 hours. Sedentarism is a leading risk

factor for many health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even cancer.

Exercise is a vital part of fitness, but you’ll get better results if you do some form of physical activity every day. If your workout leaves you so tired that you cannot get up and go for a walk the following day, you have done too much. Instead, you should strive to be physically active every day of the week.

But what about rest days? A lot of workouts prescribe days off to allow for recovery. That’s fine if you have the discipline to get back on the workout wagon once your rest day has passed. However, a lot of people are guilty of turning a rest day into a rest weekend, and a rest weekend into a rest week! Avoid this trap by doing a small amount of physical activity every single day, and especially on the days that you do not do a more formalized workout.

For example:

Monday 40-minute gym workout*

Tuesday hike in the countryside

Wednesday 30-minute swim

Thursday aerobics class*

Friday 40-minute gym workout*

Saturday play tennis

Sunday 30 minutes of yoga/stretching at home

* Structured workout

While this schedule might look intense, it actually contains only three structured workouts. The other days are just examples of additional physical activity you can do to supplement your exercise. The aim of these days is to get you up and moving to maintain your momentum. It really doesn’t matter what you do just as long as you move your body and enjoy yourself.

Remember, the benefits of exercise are cumulative and fitness cannot be stored. While a single workout will do you good, you’ll get more meaningful results if you exercise regularly. Even the best workout in the world won’t do much for you if you don’t do it frequently and consistently. Use these strategies to ensure that your next resolution to start exercising is the last one you’ll ever need to make. You too can develop a lifelong exercise habit!

A Four-Week Plan to Get Your Fitness Groove Back

words by Patrick Dale

Baby Steps for Getting Back in Shape

The hardest part of any workout program is sticking to it. A lot of new and returning exercisers make the mistake of doing too much too soon. While such enthusiasm is to be applauded, the accompanying fatigue and muscle soreness can be enough to put you off exercise for good!

This four-week program is designed to gradually ease you back into exercise and help you develop the exercise habit. Once you’ve established your fitness groove, feel free to embark on a more challenging workout program. But for now, just focus on increasing your activity level and getting your body up and moving every day for the next month or so.

Here’s your schedule for the next four weeks:

*On the Get active! days, your goal is to clock 30+ minutes of general physical activity. You can go for a walk, do some gardening, play sports anything that gets you up and moving is fine. The aim of these sessions is to prevent sedentarism, a leading cause of illness and weight gain.

Week 1 Week 2

CARDIO — 23 MINUTES

Jog at a comfortable pace; you should be slightly out of breath but still able to maintain a conversation. For the walks, stride out with purpose, swinging your arms and maintaining an upright, determined posture. Don’t dawdle!

∙

Walk for five minutes to warm up, increasing your speed gradually

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for five minutes to cool down, decreasing speed gradually

YOGA

After your sun salutations, hold each of the following poses for the prescribed number of breaths. Do two laps of the yoga poses after the sun salutations.

*POSE

1.

2. Tree

3.

4.

5.

STRENGTH & TONE

Walk for five minutes to warm up, increasing your speed gradually

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

*POSE

Squats 10

2.

YOGA

After your sun salutations, hold each of the following poses for the prescribed number of breaths. Do three laps of the yoga poses after the sun salutations.

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for two minutes

Jog for one minute

Walk for five minutes to cool down, decreasing speed gradually

DURATION

1.

After walking, jogging, or jumping rope for five minutes to warm up, do three laps of the following bodyweight exercises. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between laps, but try to move briskly from one exercise to the next.

*See page 69 for poses and descriptions

*POSE DURATION/COUNTS

12 2.

Week 3

CARDIO — 27 MINUTES Walk for five minutes to warm up, increasing your speed gradually

Jog for two minutes

Walk for three minutes

Jog for two minutes

Walk for three minutes

∙ Jog for two minutes

Walk for three minutes

Jog for two minutes

Walk for five minutes to cool down, decreasing speed gradually

YOGA

After your sun salutations, hold each of the following poses for the prescribed number of breaths. Do three laps of the yoga poses after the sun salutations.

*POSE

1. Sun salutations 10 cycles

2. Triangle 5 breaths per side

3. Balancing the cat 5 breaths

4. Kneeling lunge

5. Cat and dog 5 breaths

6. Corpse 10 breaths

STRENGTH & TONE

After walking, jogging, or jumping rope for five minutes to warm up, do three laps of the following bodyweight exercises. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between laps, but try to move briskly from one exercise to the next.

Week 4

CARDIO — 32 MINUTES Walk for five minutes to warm up, increasing your speed gradually

Jog for two minutes Walk for three minutes

*POSE

1. Squats 15

2. Push-ups 15

3. Hip thrusts 15

4. Planks 35 seconds

5. Lunges 15 per leg

6. Chair dips 15

YOGA

After your sun salutations, hold each of the following poses for the prescribed number of breaths. Do three laps of the yoga poses after the sun salutations.

Jog for two minutes

Walk for three minutes

Jog for two minutes

Walk for three minutes

Jog for two minutes

*POSE

Walk for three minutes Jog for two minutes Walk for five minutes to cool down, decreasing speed gradually

1. Sun salutations 10 cycles

2. Standing forward bend 5 breaths per side

3. Tree

4. Chair

5. Triangle

6. Downward dog

7. Child

breaths

STRENGTH & TONE

After walking, jogging, or jumping rope for five minutes to warm up, do three laps of the following bodyweight exercises. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between laps, but try to move briskly from one exercise to the next.

*POSE DURATION/COUNTS

1. Squats 20

2. Push-ups 20

3. Hip thrusts 20

4. Planks 45 seconds

5. Lunges 20 per leg

6. Chair dips 20

7. Alternating elbows to knees 20

Yoga Poses

Sun salutations — Warm your body up with this classic yoga sequence.

1. Stand with your feet together and your hands in the prayer position in front of your chest.

2. Inhale and raise your arms above your head, palms turned inward.

3. Exhale and fold forward, bending your knees slightly as you do.

4. Inhale and lift your back up toward the ceiling, fingertips touching the floor.

5. Exhale, bend your knees, put your hands flat on the floor, and step back into the push-up position.

6. Bend your arms, and lower your body to just above the floor.

7. Inhale, extend your arms, and lift your chest off the floor. Keep your legs and hips down.

8. Exhale and push your hips back and up toward the ceiling.

9. Inhale and step or jump your feet back up to your hands.

10. Exhale and fold over, legs slightly bent, fingertips touching the floor.

11. Inhale and stand with your arms raised over your head.

12. Exhale and lower your arms back to your sides.

Tree

1. Stand erect with good posture with your arms by your sides.

2. Shift your weight to one leg.

3. Raise your other leg and place the sole of your foot on the inside of your supporting thigh. Open your hips. Focus on a single point in front of you.

4. Extend your arms out level with your shoulders or above your head as preferred.

Bound angle

1. Sit on the floor with your back straight. Place the soles of your feet together and interlace your fingers around your toes.

2. Move your heels in as close to your body as you can without forcing it.

3. Roll your shoulders down and back.

4. Gently lower your knees down toward the floor.

5. Sit on a cushion if you are unable to maintain a straight back.

Downward dog

1. Kneel on all fours with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees.

2. Exhale and straighten your legs, lifting your bottom up toward the ceiling.

3. Push your palms into the floor and let your head hang down.

4. Try to push your heels down and into the floor.

5. Bend your knees slightly if necessary.

Corpse

1. Lie flat on your back.

2. Keep your legs about hip-width apart.

3. Rest your arms on the floor, palms up.

4. Feel your body pressing into the floor, from your heels to the back of your head.

5. Relax and breathe!

3. Chair

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms raised in front to shoulder level.

2. Exhale and slowly sit down into a squat, as though sitting in a chair.

3. Keep your feet flat, chest up, and look forward. Your feet should be flat and your knees over your ankles.

4. Hold for the prescribed number of breaths.

Half moon

1. Stand tall with your feet together..

2. Raise both arms and clasp your hands overhead.

3. From the waist, bend slowly to the left.

4. Return to the center.

5. From the waist, bend slowly to the right.

6. Return to the center.

1. Lie face down on the floor, forehead resting on your mat.

2. Place your hands flat on the floor beneath your shoulders

3. Inhale, extend your arms, and push your upper body off the floor. Your hips and legs should remain down. Keep your shoulders down and back.

6. Child

1. Kneel down and sit back onto your calves.

2. Lean forward and fold your upper body onto your thighs.

3. Place your arms next to your legs, palms turned up.

4. Relax and allow your upper body to press against your legs, lowering your head toward the floor.

5. Cobra

Balancing the cat

1. Kneel on all fours with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees.

2. Simultaneously lift your right leg out behind you and reach forward with your left hand.

3. Hold for one breath and then return to the starting position.

4. Swap sides and repeat.

Kneeling Lunge

1. Kneel on all fours with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees.

2. Move your right foot forward and place it between your hands.

3. Make sure your front shin is vertical, knee over your ankle.

4. Keep your hands flat on the floor.

5. Gently allow your hips to sink forward, extending your rear leg behind you as you do so.

6. Return to the starting position, swap sides, and repeat.

Cat and dog

1. Kneel on all fours with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees.

2. Exhale and drop your head and tailbone, lifting the middle of your back up toward the ceiling (cat).

3. Inhale and raise your head and tailbone, arching your back and pushing your abdomen down toward the floor (dog).

4. Alternate between cat and dog breath by breath.

Standing forward bend

1. Stand with your back about 1 foot (30 cm) from a wall, feet hip-width apart.

2. Let your bottom touch the wall.

3. Bend forward from your hips, knees slightly flexed. Let your upper body and head hang down.

4. Bend your arms and take hold of the elbow with the opposite hand.

5. With each breath, allow your spine to lengthen.

Strength & Tone

Squats

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms crossed and hands on opposite shoulders.

2. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back.

3. Stand back up and repeat.

Push-ups

1. Kneel on the floor with your shoulders over your hands and your hips over your knees. Straighten your legs and brace your abs.

2. Keeping your body straight, bend your arms and lower your chest to the floor.

3. Push back up and repeat.

4. Can’t do full push-ups? Bend your legs and rest your knees on the floor.

Hip thrusts

1. Lie on your back with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor close to your bottom.

2. Push your hips up toward the ceiling so that your weight is supported on your feet and shoulders only.

3. Lower your bottom back down to the floor and repeat.

Planks

1. Lie on your front and rest your upper body on your elbows and forearms

2. With your legs straight, lift your hips off the floor and brace your abs.

3. Hold this position (but not your breath) for the prescribed duration.

Lunges

1. Stand with your feet together, hands by your sides.

2. Take a large step forward.

3. Bend your legs and lower your rearmost knee to within an inch (3 cm) of the floor. Keep your body upright.

4. Push off your front leg and return to the starting position.

5. Repeat with the opposite leg.

Chair dips

1. Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair. Place your hands on the chair seat on either side of your hips.

2. Bend your legs and put your feet flat on the floor.

3. Straighten your arms and lift your bottom forward and clear of the chair.

4. Bend your arms until your elbows reach 90 degrees. Extend your arms and repeat.

5. Make this exercise more demanding by moving your feet further forward.

Alternating elbows to knees

1. Lie on your back with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor. Place your hands lightly against your temples.

2. Lift your head and shoulders off the floor and cross your left elbow over toward your right knee. Lift your right leg at the same time until they touch.

3. Lie back down and repeat on the opposite side.

Mother-daughter fitness duo. Lana (left) and Ellen (right)

Ellen & Lana Ector

Fitness as a Family Affair

words by Nikki Igbo

When I visited Gymnetics to meet with certified personal trainers and nutritionists Ellen and Lana Ector, I could see right away that the space was a special place for black women to achieve their personal fitness goals. The all-black interior showcased oversized posters of a sultry Beyoncé and a beaming Janet Jackson, both touting exquisitely sculpted bodies in bikinis. To my right, medicine balls and exercise bikes neatly awaited the next routine. To the left a row of punching bags hung from the ceiling, and the following declaration in bold lettering graced the wall:

I will know my worth. I will work hard toward my goal. I will accomplish my dreams. I will not give up … I am a winner.

photos by Robert Ector

Ellen and Lana greeted me with smiles and warm handshakes as they pulled up chairs. They looked exactly like the images I’d seen of them online. Glowing, toned, and fit as hell. Clad in their workout gear and ready to get it in. The word “statuesque” came to mind. So did the word “relatable.” Neither of them gave off the “I’m better than you” vibe one notices when encountering a wannabe Jillian Michaels or Tony Horton type in the gym. Instead it was more like, “I see you. I know you. I am you,” and there was something comforting in that.

We slid into an easy, flowing conversation and I could tell right away that they were definitely a mother/daughter team with a lot of mutual love and respect between them. Throughout our conversation, they often completed each other’s thoughts or picked up where the other left off. They listened attentively to one another’s responses and offered support with a nod or a thoughtful glance.

I realized their relationship was more than just that of a parent and a child. More than that of business partners. They had a true friendship and a sisterhood. And that’s exactly why so many black women have been able to seek and find an improved version of themselves with these ladies.

How Ellen’s 25-Year Journey Began

Ellen, the senior Ector, originally hailed from Cleveland, Ohio’s second-largest city, known for its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and its mile-high corned beef sandwiches. It was also the first major American city to elect a black mayor—Carl B. Stokes was his name.

The sole sister to four brothers, Ellen had been a tomboyish tyke who was into sports and running. She grew up watching Paige Palmer, the pioneering female fitness and exercise expert who hosted the first daily fitness show in the US and was subsequently honored by Congress for improving the quality of life for American women.

“She’d be on TV every morning,” Ellen recounted. “I’d just sit there and watch her and see her do little simple exercises. It was a very popular show.” Perhaps Ellen should have known that Paige Palmer was an omen of things to come, but as a youngster Ellen was none the wiser.

“When I was 5, I remember looking in the mirror and wanting to know who I was and what I was going to become,” Ellen shared, a wistful note in her voice. Eventually the answer would reveal itself, but in the meantime Ellen grew up, got married, had five children, and launched a career as a social worker.

“I started gaining weight, started doing a little bit of partying. There was a picture a guy had taken of me and I looked at the picture and said, ‘Dang, why didn’t any of my friends tell me I was getting fat?’ I had butt and gut.”

Quite unwittingly, Ellen had reached a weight of about 205 pounds. She did not like the way she looked.

“I started going to the gym and I do remember watching that Tina Turner movie What’s Love Got to Do with It. In it, Angela Bassett had these beautiful arms. I’d been working out for almost nine months and I’m watching this movie and I’m seeing that I’ve got those same arms!” She said this with such joy in her voice, as if reliving that episode of self-discovery.

I couldn’t help but smile at the passage of time she noted—nine months. She’d been born anew in that time and had come to discover a new direction in both her lifestyle and career that meant something bigger than the personal gains she’d made.

“I realized this was my purpose in my life—to show other African American women. We’re talking about 1994 when there were hardly any African American women in the gym. None at all. All you’d see is big burly white guys throwing weights down and doing the stepper.”

Under advisement from a fellow gym member, Ellen adopted a fitness regimen of cardio and resistance training combined with healthy eating to maintain her new appearance and fit lifestyle.

“I started loving the way I looked and having people come to me saying, ‘Dang, you have the most beautiful arms.’ That’s when I decided to share this with our community. It was my purpose in life to become a health nut, health guru, fitness woman, whatever you want to call me. I had to let African American women know that we don’t have to go out eating all that bad soul food.”

Along with enjoying Cleveland’s corned beef, Ellen had grown up eating a steady diet of the kind of fare that may taste good but definitely doesn’t support good health.

“I’m talking about chitterlings, pig’s feet, hot dogs. I knew that’s what made it possible for four out of five African American women to be considered obese, fat, overweight,” Ellen said, referring to statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. Another key motivator for Ellen to share her lifestyle with others was the loss of her mother.

“My mom died of uterine cancer when I was in my 40s. I remember her being overweight and reading her medical report. It stated, ‘62-year-old African American woman, overweight, obese,’ and it just hurt my heart. I wondered why this doctor was calling my mom overweight and obese. I started thinking that being overweight and eating bad is [what was] giving us these types of diseases because we’re leading in strokes, we’re leading in high blood pressure, leading in cancer. And I still say to this day it’s because of the things we are brought up to eat. I wasn’t going out like that.”

Countless studies have noted the etiological link between diet and health, with foods high in salt, fat, and calories contributing to an increased risk for hypertension or high blood pressure which can lead to stroke, heart failure, kidney failure and other life-threatening conditions. Throughout the black population in the United States, we point to soul food as the culprit—those buttery, fried, salty, meaty foods we make a beeline for at Sunday dinner and during holiday meals. But honestly, I’ve yet to meet anyone of African descent—on or off the Continent—who doesn’t enjoy flavorful food. And it’s typically salty spices (hello Maggi cubes), animal fat, or a combination of the two that produce the itis-inducing taste we all crave in our food. And sadly, it’s killing us.

Throughout both the US and Africa, hypertension is a serious problem whose contributing factors include age, genetics, weight, diet, inactivity, and dangerous habits like smoking and alcohol consumption. In America, adults of African descent are twice as likely as their white counterparts to develop hypertension by age 55, according to the American Heart Association. In Africa, anywhere from 15% to 54% of the population is at risk depending on region, nation, and socioeconomic

conditions. That risk is further compounded by people being unaware of their blood pressure levels and/or not receiving proper treatment.

Ellen had all this in mind as she settled deeper into health consciousness. “That’s exactly why I maintained my weight loss and opened a gym when I came to Atlanta,” she noted.

But the story of Gymnetics isn’t complete without Ellen’s daughter Lana.

Lana’s Road to Wellness

Lana Ector never recalled her mother ever being overweight.

“The earliest memory of my mom is rice cakes. That’s what I would snack on when I was a little kid, rice cakes. That was a treat for me. I also remember being in the daycare at the gym and waiting for my mom to be done with her workout. I grew up around fitness and I did play sports.”

But Lana also experienced her own lifestyle transition.

“When I went off to college, I gained my freshman 15. I would say that I gained about a freshman 20 because I had all this food that I wasn’t used to having at home with my mom. I’d eat fried chicken and all this stuff, but I knew when I went home for winter break that my mom was going to be upset that I gained all this weight.”

Lana was right. Ellen wasn’t having any of that.

“Woooo. I got checked,” said Lana. “Like, ‘What the H-EL-L have you been doing?’ But I didn’t like the way I felt. I went from eating healthy and living in a healthy household to being on my own, independent, and eating whatever I could get my hands on. When I did go back [home] for Christmas break, I started working out.”

Once Lana returned to college, she visited the gym between classes and brought a gallon of water with her to her various lectures. Lana’s roommates and friends took notice and began to seek Lana out for fitness advice.

“I started being their trainer. I’d be like, ‘Nope, y’all shouldn’t be eating that.’”

Lana was not yet aware that personal training was also her calling. And she had no idea that she and Ellen would join forces.

“I did a fitness competition in college and placed pretty well,” said Lana. “I really liked it. Then I had my daughter and got over a tough relationship with her dad and I just needed something to do. I started thinking about what I wanted. College didn’t work out for me, but I always knew two things: I was good at working out and I was good with women. I always loved communicating with and motivating women.”

“Remember when you were sitting on the couch one day,” Ellen chimed in.

“Yeah, I was sitting on the couch,” Lana agreed.

“We were training people at their apartments,” Ellen interjected.

“We were training people at your apartment and we would meet people at your gym,” Lana continued.

For both ladies, their personal fitness commitment turned into independent hustles before transforming into a friendly competition.

“We would see who could get the most clients in a month,” Lana explained. “My mom was a social worker at the time and she’d work one week on and one week off. Then it turned into me training her clients when she had to go to work. We decided we just needed to be a team.”

As partners, the Ectors reasoned that they could train women of all different ages. They felt that any woman at any fitness level could relate to either of them.

“This was in 2008, where we sat on our couch figuring it out,” Ellen resumed. “We wanted to come up with something that was going to make this a movement. And Lana said, ‘Black Girls Work Out Too.’ In 2009 that became our trademark. To this day in 2019, over 300,000 women have added that hashtag to their workouts.”

Ellen and Lana went on to open Gymnetics, a gym that offers affordable personal training services as well as group training fitness classes.

“We just love it,” Ellen smiled. “It doesn’t even seem like work. We could just work out all day long.”

“It doesn’t seem like work,” echoed Lana.

I regarded them and thought #NoLiesDetected.

And the Last Shall Become the First

As I continued speaking with Ellen and Lana, I did indeed feel a connection with both ladies. I thought back to my own freshmen year in New Orleans spent consuming far too many beignets and Popeye’s. But I’d managed to stay relatively slim by remembering my affinity for fresh fruits and vegetables. I also remained on the move, holding down both a full-time job and a full class schedule while doing my fair share of dancing at parties throughout the Crescent City.

Like Ellen, however, I’d packed on a lot of weight following the birth of my two children. I’d become more sedentary with my writing career, eating as much meat as my husband and allowing the accumulated pounds to go unnoticed until I saw a picture of myself and barely recognized the woman in it. I didn’t understand how or when I’d let myself go until Lana said it for me.

“Black women put everything before themselves.”

I cooked meals that my husband enjoyed—not necessarily what I liked to eat or what was good for my body. I consumed whatever I could to provide a steady supply of breastmilk for my sons. When I wasn’t tending to my family, I worked to fulfill assignments I’d promised to my clients. That meant staying up into the wee hours of the night and carelessly snacking to keep the words flowing. Self-care was a foreign concept to me, and I really believed that putting everything else first was the best way to express the love and dedication I had for everyone and everything else.

Lana insisted, “As far as targeting black women in fitness, many corporations believe that black women aren’t going to work out. We do put everything above ourselves and most likely we are single mothers. But with it now being 2019, 2020, they’re beginning to see that maybe we do care about ourselves.”

I cringed inside at the single mother comment, but it was the truth. According to data collected over the last decade by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an average of 66% of black children under the age of 18 are being raised in single-parent households. This compares to an average of 25% of white children. It’s a big disparity with many implications for the prospective fitness audience.

Added Lana, “Most fitness magazines know that many white women with husbands are stay-athome moms who have more time for themselves, which is amazing. So why not put somebody on the cover who ‘looks’ like they’re actually going to buy the magazine. But there has been a change in the last 10 years and I think we’ve helped make it normal for us to work out as black women. There’s also a lot of black-owned gyms.”

As far as black women gracing the covers of fitness magazines, Radiant is certainly doing its part.

Regarding physical activity in black adults, four national studies supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) revealed that there has indeed been an increase. Between the years of 2008 and 2018, 27% to 41% of women of African descent (depending on age) met the physical activity recommendations set forth by the DHHS.

“We are seeing more and more women getting into the fitness industry,” Ellen maintained. “But

there should be more. And when I do see another, I congratulate her because I know it’s hard.”

No Excuse for Not Being Healthy

Before I made up my mind to reclaim and reinvent my body, I’d resigned myself to thinking that the way I looked and felt was normal for a mother of two at my age. It was a twisted concept—to somehow feel like I’d earned the right to be overweight and tired with chronic joint and back pain. I reasoned that it was okay because I’d seen my mother and my aunts grow rounder with age and motherhood. I didn’t have any real expectation of looking any different than they did.

“We need to break the cycle of the generations. I’ve seen generations of families—Grandma is overweight, Mama is overweight, come to the 10-year-old child and the baby is just as big,” Ellen said. “That has to change.”

“I like to compare [our bodies] to a house,” Lana spoke up. “When we traveled back home to Cleveland, we saw all of these houses that were so ran down. The roofs tipping off, paint chipped, grass all high, everything [spilling out] into the front yard. At one time, that was a nice house. Who wants to look like a rundown house that hasn’t had lawn care or upkeep in 20 years? Just like that house, you have to do something for yourself every day. And it’s not always about how you look; it’s about the feeling. There’s no way

“As far as targeting black women in fitness, many corporations believe that black women aren’t going to work out. We do put everything above ourselves and most likely we are single mothers. But with it now being 2019, 2020, they’re beginning to see that maybe we do care about ourselves.”

you can be the best employee, the best boss, the best mother, the best wife, if you don’t feel good. You can’t be your best self without feeling good.”

“It’s also about the environment,” Ellen insisted. As Ellen prepared to move to Georgia from Ohio, it was important for her to settle in a community that provided a safe space—such as a park or trail—for running and biking.

“I wanted to be able to see other runners where I lived,” Ellen emphasized. “Once we see this stuff, see others like us doing it, it changes minds.”

Again, like Ellen all those years ago, I wasn’t happy with my reflection. I was fortunate to see several of my neighbors making the time for morning or evening walks and jogs. There was no reason why I couldn’t load my kids into their stroller and do the same.

But then I thought about my hair. Personally, I’d figured out the style that worked best for me and how to maintain it even through a sweat-inducing exercise session, but I especially appreciated what Lana tells Gymnetics clients.

“I’m not putting hair above anything. My body is my best accessory,” Lana said. “That’s what I’m worried about. If I’m going to the doctor, they’re not going to tell me that I have high blood pressure and my hair ain’t done.”

Ellen continued, “Nowadays there are so many fit-friendly hairstyles and accessories. Naturals, sister locs, braids. I’ll throw on a wig; I don’t care. It’s not about how your hair looks. Like Lana said, your body is your best accessory. It makes me so mad when I see a woman hopping out of her car, high heels on, hair laid, nails out to here with designs everywhere but she can hardly walk a few feet without pausing to take a breath.”

Being taxed simply walking from my car into a Barnes and Noble? No, that wasn’t a good look for me either. I chuckled and nodded in agreement.

The last hurdle I overcame to embrace fitness again was giving myself permission to start my journey at the level that worked best for me. I didn’t need to jog up a mountain or be able to deadlift 200 kilos during my first exercise session.

“I’d rather take two stairs a day than two pills,” Ellen declared. “The most important thing is to move and start making healthier eating decisions. Get your body moving. Even if it’s just going out your front door for a walk. Go to a high school

track and walk it. Get your best friend and tag team with her to keep each other accountable.”

“You just have to start somewhere,” Lana said reassuringly. “If you’re going to a group gym like Gymnetics and you see other women that look like you with similar goals, you can build a sisterhood. You get the idea that if they can do it, then you can do it too. If you can just get that first day out of the way, that’s all you need. We tell women all the time that we don’t expect this to be their lifestyle on day one. Just give it a try, take your baby steps, and you’ll start seeing the benefits.”

Not a Diet, Not a Phase, but a Lifestyle

Since opening Gymnetics, the Ector fitness duo has only grown more committed to promoting fitness for all black women. On their website, you’ll find several workout DVDs along with fitness gear to promote safety, improved form, and enhanced workout results. But my favorite has to be their site’s “Transformations” page.

While anyone can go to Ellen and Lana’s Instagram feeds (@ gymneticsfitness and @lanaectorfit) and see before and after pictures of their clients, there was something wonderful about seeing so much success in one place. Scrolling down, there’s example after example of ladies with incredibly familiar body shapes morphing into healthier versions of themselves. Healthier didn’t necessarily mean a size 2; it meant whatever was right for the individual. And that gave me so much life and inspiration.

Ellen and Lana are far from being done when it comes to spreading their fitness message. Next on the menu is their vegan cookbook.

Lana expounded, “This project included my daughter—she’s 10 years old—so it was a three-generation project. It’s called Black Girls Gone Vegan. For the last two years, we’ve led a plant-based lifestyle and have been transitioning our clients to a plant-based lifestyle. In this cookbook, we discuss all the benefits of being plant based. We’ve taken African American recipe favorites, veganized them, and made them healthy. We’re trying to take it full circle with letting our community know that it’s not that hard to be vegan.”

Three generations of Ectors will join forces to share more info on plant-based dieting.

The cookbook features a foreword written by vegan actress and comedian Niecy Nash as well as a 30-day plant-based meal plan complete with detailed recipes. In it, the ladies explain the ins and outs of transitioning and how easy it can be.

Just as their fitness training business was inspired by personal reinvention, so was this cookbook. The Ectors noticed an increased incidence of obesity among school-aged children, and that same trend was affecting Lana’s daughter.

Lana recalled, “I was like, wow, I’m a personal trainer and a big fitness person and my daughter was on her way to becoming overweight because I was a typical mom rushing from work, too tired to cook, going through a drive-thru, going to Chick-fil-A and thinking that Chick-fil-A was okay. Chicken nuggets. French fries. Lemonade.”

Lana wasn’t going to let that stand, so she got back in the kitchen and began preparing vegan meals for her daughter without her daughter even noticing the absence of meat. The meals were such a hit that all three Ector ladies made the switch and became excited about sharing their cooking successes with a broader audience.

“The food is amazing,” Lana gushed. “We looked good. I cleared my skin of hormonal acne.”

At that point, Lana showed me a picture of the acne she experienced before she embraced veganism, and I totally understood why there had been such emotion in her voice. The picture she showed me revealed an emotional heaviness no longer present in the young woman who sat before me.

“Your entire energy is different,” I said.

“She was so sad,” Ellen sighed.

“I was sad,” Lana smiled. “But just the whole energy of it. The outer is good but just the inside … I’m so much happier.”

“It keeps my joints light,” Ellen added. “I was on the borderline of having high blood pressure. It’s hereditary. They always say your genes

have a lot to do with your physical. My blood pressure went down since I’ve become vegan. I have no problems with it and I don’t take medication either.”

Another reason that Ellen forgoes poultry, beef, fish, and dairy also has a lot do with energy.

Ellen maintained, “I don’t believe you should kill an animal and put that energy in your body. I know of one football coach who prohibited his football players from eating any chicken because he didn’t want that [frenetic] energy in their bodies.”

I think the Ectors are onto something. Ellen, age 67, recently completed a 5K in 30 minutes. Definitely not bad.

Neither lady expected the benefits they experienced, which is why they are so eager to educate others who may also be unaware.

“There’s definitely an inner and outer change,” Lana emphasized. “If you go vegan and you stick with it, it’s like you tap into something and you don’t want to go back. I haven’t had any type of flu or cold. No weird discharges or anything since I’ve been plant-based. Nothing. Even sex is better … ooh, I shouldn’t say that in front of my mom.”

“You know your mom has had five kids,” I said, laughing, as Ellen gave Lana a knowing glance.

“I guess I’m the Virgin Mary,” Ellen chided.

Lana resumed, with a sidelong glance at Ellen, “Going into 2020, we feel like there is a lack education and awareness about the benefits of leading a plant-based lifestyle so we want to share this with our community. It really is the easiest and the best.”

Black Girls Gone Vegan is now available in all major bookstores throughout the United States as well as at major online book retailers.

For more information on Gymnetics and the Ectors, visit gymneticsfitness.com.

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page 84. DR. TERERAI TRENT

A life that is greater

page 90.

THE MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT CONNECTION

Are you putting yourself last?

Dr. Tererai Trent A Life That is Greater

words by Nikki Igbo

Decades before Dr. Tererai Trent became globally recognized as a women’s empowerment and education advocate, as well as Oprah Winfrey’s all-time favorite guest, she was a girl born in rural Zimbabwe, impoverished and with practically no formal education. For the bride price of a cow, she was traded into marriage at the age of 11 to a physically abusive man. And she spent 12 years in that reality, bearing five children—three by the age of 18—and losing one pregnancy to miscarriage.

When Heifer International, a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty, visited her village, Tererai met the organization’s president and was inspired to break free of the generational poverty that had existed in her family for the last three generations. She dared to dream five sacred dreams and launched a journey to realize them, which began with working as a community organizer with Heifer International and saving as much of her earnings as she could. Having taught herself to read and write, she applied to Oklahoma State University in the United States and was accepted. With support from family and neighbors, Tererai went to the school in America, taking her children and husband with her.

FEEDING THE SOUL'S LARGER HUNGER

photo courtesy of Gillie and Marc

Her husband’s ongoing abuse eventually got him arrested and sent right back to Zimbabwe. Hence, Tererai found herself alone in a foreign land with five children, all but broke, living in squalor and surviving off of discarded food. Still, she persevered and received help along the way. There was the university official who gathered donations to help with Tererai’s tuition. The church that provided food. The housing provided by Habitat for Humanity.

Eventually, Tererai achieved her first four sacred dreams: study abroad, a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. And while doing so, she managed to provide endof-life care for her husband, who’d returned to America from Zimbabwe after being diagnosed with AIDS.

Dr. Trent’s fifth sacred dream was to build a school in Zimbabwe. In 2009 she launched what would come to be known as Tererai Trent International, a foundation dedicated

to the vision of equal opportunity and quality education for all. Two years later, Oprah donated $1.5 million to Dr. Trent, who completed construction on the school in 2014.

Dr. Trent has since spoken before the United Nations on multiple occasions, written The Awakened Woman: Remembering & Reigniting Our Sacred Dreams, built and refurbished several more schools in Zimbabwe, and spread a truly inspiring message of self-empowerment and selfreinvention. Her story, perseverance, and desire to live and speak for more than just herself easily made her one of the first ten women to be honored with a life-sized statue as a part of the global Statues for Equality project.

Radiant Health was fortunate to grab a moment to speak with Dr. Trent in advance of her statue’s unveiling in New York. And during our conversation, we learned even more about her amazing journey as well as the creative force for good that resides within us all.

Radiant Health: First, I wanted to congratulate you on your statue. What an honor!

Dr. Tererai Trent: Oh, my goodness, it’s unbelievable. Sometimes I close my eyes and think to myself, Really? Is this happening? I always think of my great grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother. Among these three women, there was a baton of poverty and a baton of silence being passed down from one to another. I decided not to take on that baton of silence and carry a different baton so I can pass that on to my beautiful daughters. And now getting a statue is just beyond my imagination.

RH: I had the pleasure of reading your book, The Awakened Woman. Toward the beginning of it, you share a story that your grandmother told you about the importance of finding what best resonates with your soul. You also cited examples of different women arriving at a point in their lives where they had a very specific hunger beyond what your grandmother described as “little hungers.” Your story is a perfect example of moving toward a bigger, heart-centered desire. You could not simply stop at escaping an abusive marriage or educating yourself or creating a better life and future for your children. You also had to reach your fifth sacred dream of helping your community in Zimbabwe. Why was it so necessary for you to pursue and find that hunger that truly resonated with your soul?

Dr. Trent: When we attach a higher purpose to our lives, we live a life that is greater. I truly believe that those who are not finding their purpose, they end up getting more concerned with the little hungers. Drug abuse, prostitution, and other things. In the book, I wrote about our inner good being connected with our outer good. This hunger that I have is also coming from my own wounding as a woman, because not only did I want to get an education, but I also realized that I needed to help others. When one of us is being silenced, there are also a ton of us being silenced as well. My mother told me that I wouldn’t find happiness and joy until my purpose was bigger than myself. That’s the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing.

RH: From the moment you buried your dreams to the moment you received funding to accomplish your fifth sacred dream—the purpose that was greater than yourself—20 years elapsed. So many of us have the false impression that success

happens overnight or that the path is supposed to be easy if it is indeed meant to happen. In reality, however, there are many complications. There are moments of self-doubt. There are times when a situation may seem impossible to overcome. You experienced those moments and you kept going. In another interview you described this type of adversity as a gift. How did you come to have such a view of adversity and what would you say to those who have trouble viewing challenges in that way?

Dr. Trent: It is very difficult when you are facing challenges, but look at it this way. You have to shine light on your challenges in order to realize whether or not you are living the life that you want. Without challenges, we’d never truly be able to recognize the strength that we all have. With challenges, we learn a lot and we gain a lot of experience. I want women to embrace their challenges and embrace their vulnerabilities because it is through these things that we gain the light we need to change our lives.

RH: Your story is so important for this issue because the way you changed your life is a bright, shining example of rebirth and reinvention. Your rebirth wasn’t just for yourself and your country but for women all around the world, and we are in awe of and inspired by that.

As you experienced this rebirth, you did not achieve your new state of being on your own. There was help along the way. We often forget that just as we are not born alone, we don’t experience rebirth alone either. What would you say to those who may believe that facing transformation is a lonely journey?

Dr. Trent: Just to go back to adversity. Every pregnant mother goes through labor pains, which is part of the challenge. But in the end, they go through the pain and receive a beautiful baby in most cases.

The rebirth of who I am today was never an easy process. It was very challenging. But I carried on. The school project brought in people who were in harmony with my dreams. And as I always say, I stand on the shoulders of giants. I stand on the shoulders of those who looked straight into my eyes and saw something that I wasn’t seeing. It is important for women to reconnect ourselves to those who support us. And to run away from toxic environments because we need

“The rebirth of who I am today was never an easy process. It was very challenging. But I carried on.”

to be cheered. We need people who believe in us. We need friends for life who can say yes, it’s doable. Yes, any problem, we can deal with it.

RH: That is absolutely beautiful. Earlier in our conversation, you talked about not remaining silent. In your book, you talk about being vocal. In previous interviews you’ve talked about being vocal about issues and being vocal about solutions as well. You also talk about ululation, writing down your dreams, writing down thanks, and talking about various forms of expression. And so yes, it makes perfect sense that you’ve partnered with global Swedish design and stationery company kikki-K to launch a line of journals and stationery that supports your mission. Why is speaking out and expressing oneself in all of these various ways so vital to positive change and growth?

Dr. Trent: If we learn to reclaim or own voices, then we allow others to tell their stories. And I encourage women in every way conceivable to share their stories. Whatever it is, if that is what you want to tell the world, just share it. Because [your story] is a part of our healing. As we work on our issues, there remains these wounds within us. And when we cry out, when we share our stories—whether they are stories of joy or stories of pain—we are helping others who may be going through the same situation as we are. It’s always important for women, or for anyone, to share their stories. And that way we can help someone give a narrative to their own stories.

RH: You also talk about various rituals. You discuss rituals all throughout your book and explain how important they are to reconnecting mind, body, and soul to the collective creative force that exists within us, within our sisterhood, and in the world around us. The word “ritual” can sometimes invoke a wariness in some because they don’t understand its purpose or its use. But you articulate rituals in such clear and relatable ways. Why did you feel it was so important to include rituals in your book?

Dr. Trent: When you think about an organization or any society, a church or a corporation, there are certain

rules they abide by. That’s what grounds them. That’s what brings them together. Some may call them “habits” but I use the word “ritual.” Everything that I do is based on ritual. When I wake up in the morning, I practice a set of rituals that will ground me for the day. I really think that we need to go back to the source. Why hide away from the rituals that will ground us? Like meditation. If you can do it on a daily basis or whenever you have the time to do it, make sure you ritualize those processes, because that’s what will ground you.

RH: For anyone who has been following you, we’ve seen you speak before the UN and, of course, talk to Oprah and receive this amazing gift from her to establish a school in Zimbabwe. When I first heard about you realizing your school, I didn’t understand the depth and breadth of what you were doing until I dug a little deeper. From the number of lives you’ve touched to the implications of your work, could you please describe what kind of impact your partnership with Oprah and all that you have done has made?

Dr. Trent: The partnership with Oprah has truly changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of women and children in my community. Today we have 11 schools and we’re rebuilding 12 schools in Zimbabwe. In excess of 38,000 students have gone through our schools. Before the partnership with Oprah, the schools were dilapidated and sometimes there wasn’t even a structure. Many kids couldn’t attend the school because there were no resources. Unfortunately, many girls were not attending school.

Now we have put schools and infrastructure in place, training the teachers, and now we’ve got girls going to local universities, which is unheard of. The schools that I attended myself were built during the colonial era and almost 60 years of age. And for 60 years, no child had gone to university up until I came onboard. Now we have girls and boys attending university. In many ways, we have changed the tradition of the baton that is being passed down from [these children] to their own children. And I think it is going to provide more education, especially in rural Africa.

“I’m not a period at the end of a sentence. I always remain a comma because there is more to be done.”

RH: I’m so blown away. I’m just so blown away because you know what’s happening in the news right now with America’s immigration issues and the person who’s currently in the Oval Office. A lot of Americans and Westerners don’t understand the hoops newcomers jump through and the bravery it takes to come here and believe in the American dream in order to change the world for the better. I cannot help but be floored by how you came here and worked and studied and achieved what you did. Did you even speak English when you first arrived?

Dr. Trent: No, I could not speak English. But I learned my English from reading romance novels. It’s funny. A friend would say to me if you read romance novels, you’ll get so attached to the story but in many ways it will improve your English. That’s how I learned my English.

I love reading. I love to make connections between pictures and words. I remember the first book that I bought. It was for my brother. It was a geography book. I could not read it. And when he showed me that book, I cried and said, “Please tell me, I need to understand what’s happening.” And I could see these beautiful pictures and these words and I wanted to know what the words were saying about these pictures. So that pushed me into wanting to read. And up to now, I read a lot and it helps me with my English. I’m not an eloquent speaker.

RH: Oh, yes you are! [laughs] Yes, you are.

Dr. Trent: [laughs] I try my best. When I came to this country, my English was very, very poor but I never gave up. I was the oldest student in every class I attended and sometimes older than the professor. But I never cared because I knew I was on a second journey, not only to change and redefine my life but also to change the life of women and girls and boys in my community. It was my responsibility and I needed to do it no matter what it took.

RH: I mean … just dealing with the language barrier alone. And you brought five kids with you!

Dr. Trent: Yes, I brought my kids with me and I left the one child in Zimbabwe. I was too poor to raise enough funding, but guess what, he was able to come here and be with his brothers and sisters. It was amazing.

RH: Wow. Just every possible challenge one can imagine, you faced. Not having enough food to eat. Working all those jobs. And I know with your kids, once they got here, I’m sure they wanted all the stuff they saw other children with. And you had to tell them no, we can’t do that.

Dr. Trent: Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. Those were the years, but you know, despite the suffering that I went through picking food from the trash can and living a life that was just horrible because it was hard, I learned a lot about this country, I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about my kids, and in many ways I laid a foundation of how we can work together, of how we can embrace adversity and still become champions at the end of the day.

RH: You are so my hero. How old is your youngest now?

Dr. Trent: My youngest is 22. We’re in New York right now and she just came this morning from school for the unveiling on Monday and we are so excited.

RH: Now I know that your work is far from being done as you’re continuing to open your schools and open doors for people all over the world. What’s next and how can we support your efforts?

Dr. Trent: You are so right. I’m not a period at the end of a sentence. I always remain a comma because there is more to be done. So what’s next for me? The question has always been how we can sustain education in rural Africa. And that’s the reason why I’m creating the She Shines collection with kikki-K. The proceeds will help sustain our schools, help more girls attend, and create employment for women. You can visit tererai. net to learn more about what you can do and also you can go to kikki-k.com and buy some of the products we have come up with. Most of the products have been inspired by the work we’re doing. There are readings and journals and other beautiful things women would love to have in their homes.

The Awakened Woman: Remembering & Reigniting Our Sacred Dreams is available on tererai.net and all major booksellers.

MI N D

P RI I T

B O D Y

ARE YOU PUTTING YOURSELF LAST?

words by Zora DeGrandpre, MS, ND

Look around and you are very likely to see lots of articles, podcasts, and talk shows about the connections between the mindbody-spirit. You may have seen people getting all dreamy-eyed, waving their hands about, or getting flowery with their speech about the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit. S

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models styling by Ray C'Mone make-up by Christine Vasquez hair by Andy Buckmire

THAT APPROACH CAN BE a bit much for some, especially to those in mainstream healthcare, but the basic scientific and medical research supports the concept of the critical overlap of the mind, the body, and—most difficult to explain—the spirit.

Let’s start with some basic definitions of how these terms are used here.

Mind describes the part of you that empowers you with awareness of your internal and external environment and gives you the capacity of thought, memory, and the ability to make choices. For the most part, the mind is housed in the brain, but it can be compared to the hub of a computer network receiving input from a large variety of sources and communicating responses back to the network. The mind is not only a set of reactions to neurotransmitters sending signals from one brain cell to another, but also includes both conscious and unconscious processes that give and get input from various parts of the body and from the set of experiences and the perception of those experiences held in the spirit or core essence of who you are.

Body refers to your physical form, which encompasses all the cells, tissues, and organs that compose your various physiological systems, such as the endocrine (hormonal), immune, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems.

Spirit can be defined in many ways, but because it can be a bit mystifying, let’s make it clear that spirit—and spirituality—is not religion, though a person’s set of religious beliefs can influence their spiritual life. Not all people are part of a specific religion, but all people have a spiritual life. Spirit can be thought of as the soul, your energetic core essence, and the principles that define your character, your emotions, your attitudes, and your overall view of life and living.

The mind, body, and spirit are interacting all the time and in many ways; for instance, your emotions are expressed not only on your face, but in your body language as well. When you are physically sick, your spirit is often not at its best either—most of us can be pretty irritable and even downright thoughtless and selfish when we are feeling ill. And when your mind is ill, your body and your spirit both show signs of that illness. Some of the interactions are more obvious than others, but if you take a moment to think about it, you can see it happening all the time.

How Does the Mind-Body-Spirit System Work?

Everyone has probably experienced goosebumps, butterflies in the stomach, or a dry mouth during some unpleasant or traumatic experience. Most have also experienced grief or joy on hearing bad or good news. We have all heard or said things like “I felt it in my gut,” “My stomach just dropped when I heard the news,” and “My skin crawled when I saw that.” These are all verbal expressions of the connections

between the mind, body, and spirit and facets of the mindbody-spirit connection. Some of these experiences are felt more on the level of the body and the spirit. Others may be felt more on the level of the spirit and the mind. Still others may be felt more on the level of the body and the mind.

It is likely that every experience is felt or sensed at each level but may be expressed more at one level or another— or at any combination of levels. This may depend in part on past experiences, individual character traits, family history, and other factors.

The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) studies the connections between mental health and the nervous and immune systems, and it has provided us with some of the first scientifically based evidence of the mind-bodyspirit interconnections.

PNI has produced evidence that chronic stress can induce a variety of conditions, including fertility issues, sexual performance difficulties, heart irregularities, digestive issues, immune system dysfunction, tension headaches, depression and anxiety (which many would also consider spiritual distress), tensed or spastic muscles, high and low blood sugar levels, and other disruptions in health and wellness.

Other studies have revealed the positive effects of combining mind-body-spirit interventions in surviving breast cancer, stress-related diseases, and many other conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood trauma.

Burnout

One particularly good example of the mind-body-spirit connection is the correlation between stress and what is commonly known as “burnout.”

Burnout can be defined as a state of mind-body-spirit exhaustion that is caused by a number of factors, but which always includes a state of chronic stress. It is marked by physical, mental, and spiritual and emotional exhaustion; a sense of cynicism about one’s own life, its purpose, and its meaning; a feeling of detachment from one’s family, friends, and other loved ones; a sense of frustration, ineffectiveness, and helplessness; and a loss of compassion and empathy for others.

Burnout is the end stage of the continuum of chronic stress. If chronic stress is identified and dealt with early enough, it doesn’t have to end in burnout, but the signs and symptoms of chronic stress are often ignored and it does end in burnout for many. In the worst-case scenario, burnout can mean the end of a career, the end of a relationship, or the end of a person’s overall health. It is also important to know that you can recover from burnout and that the sooner you start dealing with chronic stress and its effects, the less likely it is that you will experience burnout.

earrings by Humans Before Handles

Stress itself is a continuum. Simply put, it has three stages, all of which involve aspects of the mind, the body, and the spirit.

Stage 1 – Stress Arousal

Physically, the adrenal glands are called on to produce stress hormones and neurotransmitters, primarily represented by cortisol, adrenaline (epinephrine), and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). These substances evolved over the millennia to help humans protect themselves through a choice of two actions: fight or flight. But—and this is an important but— these responses evolved to deal with acute stress, as from a sudden attack by a dangerous animal or another human, a flash flood, or a fire. The fight or flight response does not work well in situations of chronic stress, and it is chronic stress that most of us are dealing with on an everyday basis.

During Stage 1, you may experience a variety of symptoms:

Physical symptoms Headaches, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, peaks and troughs of blood sugar levels, stomach and digestive issues, a depressed immune response, a change in appetite, and muscle tension.

∙ Mental symptoms Increased depression, anxiety and insomnia due to racing thoughts and worries, and difficulty concentrating.

Spiritual symptoms Decreased empathy, doubts about one’s own abilities, frustration, and feeling alone.

Stage 2 – Energy Conservation

Humans find all sorts of conscious and unconscious ways to protect themselves, and in the case of chronic stress, protecting yourself often involves avoiding the source of stress, even in ways that make little sense, offer little protection, or are actually counterproductive. It’s as if your mind-body-spirit is dragging itself into the fetal position to protect what it can, when and however it can.

During Stage 2, you may experience some of the Stage 1 signs and symptoms along with:

Physical symptoms Decreased libido, an increased need for stimulants, insomnia, fatigue, and increased infections due to a depressed immune system.

Mental symptoms Increased forgetfulness and other memory issues as well as greater difficulty with concentration and focus.

Spiritual symptoms Social withdrawal, apathy, cynicism, and feelings of isolation, sadness, and resentment.

Stage 3 – Exhaustion or Burnout

At this stage, all of the signs and symptoms are worse, and the physical symptoms may become disorders or diseases such as chronic heart disease, high blood pressure, digestive disease, diabetes, obesity, or others.

Mental symptoms may be frank depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.

Spiritual symptoms may move to breaks in relationships of all kinds, loss of compassion and empathy, degradation of your spiritual belief system, and suicidal ideations due to a sense of futility, uselessness, and isolation.

Burnout reflects all the characteristics of the holism of mindbody-spirit. It involves physical symptoms affecting the nervous, digestive, immune, hormonal, and other systems. It involves mental symptoms including general mental health, self-esteem, and problems with concentration and memory. And it involves spiritual symptoms such as a sense of futility, helplessness, detachment, frustration, and a loss of the sense of one’s place in the world or the universe.

The process can be stopped and reversed at any one of these stages, but life being what it is, burnout is often only recognized in the third stage. For women, especially, recognition often comes in the third stage. Why? Probably for several reasons. For one, women tend to care for others before addressing their own needs. For another, there is a bias in the diagnostic process for women in general, and for women of color in particular. And since each of the stages can last for months or even years, many women “reach their limit” during perimenopause and their symptoms are dismissed as just part of the process.

Stress is often treated symptomatically rather than holistically. You might get treatment for depression or high blood pressure, but no advice on how to deal with the underlying cause—stress. It is interesting that the burnout process has been largely studied in members of the health profession; this may be part of the reason it is considered a “real thing” as opposed to other conditions that have primarily affected women in the past, such as fibromyalgia, adrenal fatigue (related to and part of the burnout process), and gluten sensitivity.

Treatment

Whatever the reason or reasons, if you are experiencing chronic stress, regardless of the source of that stress, and you are experiencing symptoms of any of the stages, it is important to get the help you need to stop and reverse the process.

There is also a lot—repeat, a lot—that you can do to help yourself if you think you are showing signs of stress:

∙ Make certain you eat well—consider increasing the amounts of fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, lean poultry, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds you eat, and reduce your intake of red meat and fatty, fried, and processed foods.

∙ Give yourself time to rest and relax—put this at the top of your priority list! If you’re worried that you might spend less time caring for others, think about how much more effective you can be when you are feeling cared for yourself—when you are rested, relaxed, and ready to do what you need to for them.

Make a sleep schedule and stick to it. If that extra chore is waiting, let it wait! Again, you will accomplish that chore much better if you are rested, and the world will go on if your dishes aren’t done or that last “t” has to be crossed tomorrow at work.

∙ Prioritize what absolutely needs to be done over what can or should be done. Take care of the most important duties, and then take care of the rest when you can.

∙ Find time to increase your physical activity. This can be as simple as parking a bit farther from work or school

to get in a bit of extra walking or taking the stairs rather than the elevator. The more you exercise, the better you will feel and the better you will be able to deal with whatever stress comes along.

∙ Consider active stress-management techniques that support your spiritual self. Pray, learn to meditate, or take up tai chi, yoga, or qigong. Find a pastime that you enjoy and express that beautiful inner you. This can include anything you love to do, such as art, literature, dance, creative crafts, gardening, working with people, cooking—anything that works for you!

∙ You can also consider using herbal adaptogens, which are herbs that help your body adapt to stress. Some of the most well-researched and commonly used adaptogens come from traditional forms of medicine, including traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and Western herbal medicine, and are designed to support and protect the nervous, immune, and hormonal systems. Some herbal adaptogens include:

| Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)

| Arctic root (Rhodtiola rosea)

| Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)

| Ashwaganda (Withania somnifera)

| Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

| Holy basil, Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum)

“Anything that works for you” is an important motto. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to dealing with stress. This is where the spirit is so important and too often ignored. Your own spirit can give you clues as to how to best manage and deal with the stress in your life—you just may need enough quiet time so that you can hear your spirit talk to you.

These are all relatively simple steps that you can take, but simple does not necessarily mean easy. It has taken a long time, probably years, for the stress to have built up to the point of burnout, and it may take some time for you to regain your health, wellness, and energy levels after burnout.

Our current culture of instant gratification looks for a magic bullet—a single pill, supplement, or diet that will allow us to recover overnight. But nature and the body do not often work that way. These selfcare methods will work, but you have to stick to the dietary and lifestyle approaches described and try to be patient. The most important advice a physician can give to a person experiencing burnout is, “Be kind to yourself!”

SECTION health & wellness

page 98.

THE NOT-SO-SILENT KILLER Black women share their experiences with high blood pressure

page 102.

UNDER WRAPS Black women and alopecia

The Not-So-Silent Killer

Black Women Share Their Experiences with High Blood Pressure

words by Chinyere Amobi High blood pressure (HBP) is often called a silent killer because it rarely begins as a painful condition that draws attention to itself. “You can live for years and sometimes decades and not have a major event that would bring you to the hospital, even though you’re having uncontrolled HBP,” says Dr. B. J. Hicks, a U.S. vascular neurologist and co-director of the Comprehensive Stroke Program at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Ohio.

REGARDLESS OF ITS STEALTHY MONIKER, HBP’s effects on the human body can be devastating. Most people know someone with HBP, but the condition is far less feared than afflictions like cancer and heart disease.

But increased pressure on your arteries over time can damage your heart, brain, and even your kidneys, leading to potentially catastrophic events such as stroke, heart attack, and cognitive impairment and dementia.

African Americans in the US have some of the highest prevalence rates of HBP in the world, and tend to get more severe cases earlier in life, but it’s also a problem that plagues those in the African diaspora around the world.

HBP affects women in a unique way, as factors such as pregnancy, pregnancy prevention (birth control), and menopause can increase the risk of developing it. The added stressors many black women face (juggling career and household, relationships, discrimination, etc.) only add to the need to stay on top of this condition.

Black women of childbearing age should pay particular attention, because pregnancy increases the risk of conditions such as preeclampsia, marked by high blood pressure during pregnancy, which can hurt both the baby and the mother by causing damage to vital organs and even strokes.

According to Dr. Hicks, it’s never too early to start regularly checking your blood pressure:

“You feel invincible in your 20s, but I’ve seen far too many people at that early age that have devastating conditions because they’re not aware, and they thought in their twenties they were not prone to these negative effects.”

Know Your Numbers

For 50-year-old broadcast journalist Kat Carney, HBP was anything but silent. After an unusually sedentary couple of months, she felt unwell enough to take herself to the emergency room to seek answers.

It took two separate trips to the ER to convince medical staff that her numbers were high enough for concern, even though both times her systolic blood pressure was above 140, a marker for HBP. After the second visit, Kat decided not to take any chances, and bought a home blood pressure monitor to record her numbers daily, along with adopting new workouts and healthy eating habits.

“There had been lots of recent high-profile media people who had strokes and died, such as John Singleton, Luke Perry, and a local news anchor, so I knew it was something I needed to take seriously,” says Kat. “It was really the wakeup call I needed to pay attention, no slipping.”

By the time she met with her primary care doctor, Kat was armed with enough personal data for them to work out a treatment plan, which included her goal of getting off medication within the year. She saw a clear correlation

between following a healthy lifestyle and feeling better, including less stress and sleeping well.

“This isn’t some type of bacterial infection where I can take an antibiotic and be fine. This is something I’m going to have to constantly keep an eye on,” Kat says.

Educate Yourself

Many black women learn quickly that they have to be their own advocate within the healthcare system. While women’s health is largely mishandled globally, black women in particular often suffer from antiquated beliefs in the medical field about everything from personal agency to our perception of pain.

Just as Kat decided to take her health into her own hands by carefully monitoring trends in her blood pressure and lifestyle, many women are forced to educate themselves once they’re diagnosed with chronic diseases for which medication only covers a fraction of what’s necessary to live well.

After witnessing the murder of two coworkers at her job, 47-year-old Jamila Choyce saw her blood pressure skyrocket. Her first doctor's visit was less than helpful. “He really didn’t explain to me that I could have a stroke, or how bad high blood pressure is on the body,” Jamila says.

Instead, she modeled her response to the diagnosis on what her dad had done when he discovered he had HBP. Prior to being diagnosed, Jamila’s diet was filled with lots of meat and fast food. She knew what she had to do now.

“I knew that the salt and pork and fried foods had to be limited and that I needed to start drinking more water and exercising,” Jamila explains.

The transition hasn’t been easy. Jamila has found meditation to be highly useful for calming her down in high-stress situations, including each time she has to sit down for a doctor’s visit. Finding small things that she can do daily has helped her create an action plan that works for her.

“I’m very conscious, as I get older, of what I eat, and that you have to find some kind of exercise that you enjoy that’ll get you moving,” she says.

Know Your Limits

While Jamila’s diagnosis was spurred by a traumatic event, everyday stressors are far more likely to drive up blood pressure. Registered nurse Amelia Roberts was diagnosed with HBP at just 24, despite being raised with a plant-based diet and active lifestyle. She decided to get her blood pressure checked after feeling “flushed in the head” and “off.”

The shock of her diagnosis was quickly replaced by a feeling of helplessness. “The doctor’s advice frustrated me because I was already very healthy with eating, so reducing sodium and taking in more plants did not apply to me,” Amelia says. “I was also fairly active, so there was not much to change. This made me feel like I was stuck with something I couldn’t change.”

Amelia felt like her HBP was not taken as seriously as it should have been by her medical team because of her young age. But her father had died from cardiac issues before the age of 50, so she knew that something had to give.

Amelia recognized that her work as a full-time nurse was a major stressor in her life, so she made the hard decision to work part time, picking up extra work on the side only when finances required her to. She also began to realize that her days off could not be filled with people and activities, and that caffeine was not her friend.

“Recognize that stress is real and impacts our body in frightening ways, and focus on managing situations, commitments, and people that add stress to your life,” Amelia warns.

Know Your History

While in the doctor’s office for a different condition, 43-year-old Danita Morales Ramos was shocked to also learn that her blood pressure was high. At the time, she was working out four times a week for at least an hour and she believed her diet was in good shape.

“I was angry because I thought I was healthy, and did not understand genetics at the time,” Danita says. Her doctor explained that even though her lifestyle was fairly healthy, she could still be more sensitive to high blood pressure because it runs in her family.

“Recognize that stress is real and impacts our body in frightening ways, and focus on managing situations, commitments, and people that add stress to your life.”

Additionally, though only a size 8, Danita was considered by medical standards obese at 5 foot 4 and 170 pounds. Getting diagnosed led to her losing weight and adopting a cleaner diet, which improved her quality of life all around.

Because most black people are likely to have at least one family member with HBP, and most likely several, it can be easy to see the disease as common, not too serious, and even inevitable.

“I was surprised it took as long as it did for me to be diagnosed,” says 33-year-old Latagia Copeland-Tyronce, who was diagnosed with HBP at age 29. “Most of my family get diagnosed in their early 20s.”

Growing up low-income in Detroit, Michigan, Latagia was accustomed to a diet of salty, fried foods with few fresh vegetables or fruits. A high-stress lifestyle as a single mother led Latagia to believe that feeling rundown and tired was just a normal state of being. She also suffered from periodic swelling and headaches.

It wasn’t until a routine screening during her pregnancy with her last child, when Latagia’s doctor noticed she consistently had high blood pressure, that she realized there was a problem. Google became her best friend as personal research into the condition filled in the gaps between her doctor’s recommendations.

Seeing how her health crashed and rose depending on her religious adherence to a healthy diet and medication regimen cemented the seriousness of her new chronic condition. “I think about the mortality. My mother died from it at 58 with a stroke; my sister died at 44 from a stroke. It’s very important to make those changes stick.”

Maintaining a Healthy Blood Pressure, Free of Charge

"The biggest thing you can do to prevent or treat HBP is to know your numbers and check them often. “It doesn’t work to think, ‘Oh in my 20s and 30s my blood pressure was fine; I can go 20 years and expect it to be the same,’” says Dr. Hicks. “Our lives change. Everything changes. And blood pressure changes as well.”

A reading of anything greater than 130 systolic over 80 diastolic is considered to be high blood pressure. “A normal blood pressure reading is less than 120 on top and less than 80 on the bottom,” explains Dr. Hicks. Those who fall in the middle have elevated blood pressure.

While there are more than 60 drugs on the market for treating high blood pressure, healing doesn’t begin and end with medication. “There are a lot of ways to lower blood pressure that don’t involve taking a pill,” says Dr. Hicks. These include:

Sleeping adequately and monitoring for underlying conditions such as sleep apnea.

Getting at least five days a week of moderate exercise that lasts more than 30 minutes at a given time.

∙ Monitoring your diet, especially salt intake, and drinking adequate water; research has found that black people may have a gene that makes them more salt sensitive.

And Take It from Those Who’ve Been Through It

“You can change your ‘forever career’ to something less stressful if you need to; protect your mental and emotional energy.” – Amelia Roberts

“Buying the blood pressure monitor and checking it regularly was definitely one of the best things for me. We all think we have to do high intensity workouts, but we overlook the benefits of something simple like walking.”

– Kat Carney

“Educate yourself on a clean-food diet. I believe diet contributes to some of the health issues that black women face.” – Danita Morales Ramos

“HBP is so common that it’s an afterthought. Go to the doctor, get tested, and be persistent with them.” – Latagia Copeland-Tyronce

“It’s the little things you can do to save your life. It doesn’t have to be too drastic.” – Jamila Choyce

wraps

BLACK WOMEN AND ALOPECIA

words by Yves Jeffcoat

“ALOPECIA USED TO BE MY CLOUD. Now, it’s my gateway to confidence,” says singer and songwriter Keya Trammell.

Keya has had alopecia since she was 2 years old. She’s one of about 6.8 million people in the United States living with alopecia areata, a condition believed to be autoimmune that causes hair loss on the scalp, face, or elsewhere on the body. When Keya was young, she was insecure about her patchy hair, and there were times when she felt ugly.

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models styling by Ray C'Mone make-up by Christine Vasquez hair by Andy Buckmire dress by Proenza Schouler

Now, she embraces her bald head and is an outspoken advocate for alopecia awareness. But there are millions of other black girls and women worldwide who are figuring out how to navigate life with alopecia in societies that uplift narrow ideals of beauty and devalue black skin.

Usually people with alopecia areata lose their hair in patches. But there are different types of alopecia areata, including alopecia totalis, in which a person loses all the hair on the scalp, and alopecia universalis, which causes the loss of hair all over the body. And alopecia areata itself is just one type of alopecia, an umbrella term that means hair loss.

According to Dr. Amy McMichael, a professor and chair of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, African American women face the same kinds of hair loss as women in general, such as female pattern hair loss, telogen effluvium (temporary hair loss after stress), and scarring forms of hair loss. But African American women are especially affected by hair breakage, traction alopecia, and central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA).

Traction alopecia is caused by the hair being pulled, often by tight hairstyles. “Traction alopecia affects the frontal hairline with thinning and ultimately permanent hair loss,” says Dr. McMichael. “It occurs in many women who [wear] tight hairstyles [and] can begin as early as childhood. Treatments with a board-certified dermatologist can help if the traction is [caught] early.”

She says that CCCA usually presents between the ages of 30 and 50, but can start much earlier. It causes hair loss on the crown of the scalp that gets larger over time, and it is permanent. Research has confirmed that CCCA is genetic. Symptoms can improve if it is treated early, but like other types of alopecia, it does not have a cure.

Treatments for alopecia vary depending on the type of hair loss. “Scarring forms of hair loss are usually treated with anti-inflammatory treatments, including oral antibiotics, topical steroids, [and] intralesional steroids, and hairstyles may have to be changed if they are contributing to hair loss,” says Dr. McMichael. “Other forms of hair loss require different systemic forms of treatment and topical treatment, such as minoxidil.”

Doctors have also used platelet-rich plasma therapy—a procedure that involves drawing a person’s blood,

processing it, then injecting it into the scalp—to treat hair loss. Hair transplantation is also an option in some cases of hair loss.

Living with Hair Loss

But beyond all the doctor’s appointments and treatments, black women with alopecia must reckon with the superficial effects of the diagnosis, too. Having alopecia can mean having a receding hairline, bald spots, patchy and thin hair, or no eyebrows. It can even mean being bald. Considering all the different kinds of makeup, wigs, and weaves available today, it might not seem like a big deal.

“My mom made my very first headband wig,” says Ebony Jean, who was diagnosed with alopecia universalis at age 4. “Starting at age 9, wigs played a huge role in my everyday routine. Having to wake up an hour early to style my hair so that I could feel beautiful.”

Black women with alopecia often turn to beauty products to help them achieve the look they want. Though people should feel empowered to enhance their appearance in any way they choose, the reality is that black women with alopecia often desire to wear wigs and weaves because of insecurity, shame, or teasing. People who do not have alopecia, and those who have hair that is considered acceptable by mainstream society, often stigmatize hair loss.

Tamara Flake, founder of the social media support group iRockitBald, says that it was hard to find good wigs when she was a child in the 1980s. Her only options were adult wigs from the beauty supply store, and she lived in constant fear of her wig falling or being snatched off.

“I was always thinking of a way to hide my baldness under wigs, hats, wraps, and weaves,” says Tamara. “So I was obsessed with keeping my secret, even though it was blatantly obvious that the hair on my head was not mine and I was clearly wearing a wig or weave. As I grew older, I was more conscious of making the wigs and weaves look more natural, which was extremely expensive but worth it to me to avoid the stares, embarrassment, and questions.”

The awkward glances and conversations are just some of many problematic and intrusive interactions black women with alopecia have to put up with. Tamara says that she is frequently mistaken for a cancer patient. Keya

says that many black women have told her that they do not take their wigs off in front of their husbands, often because they do not want to feel rejection. And Ebony says that kids and educators would harass her for wearing hats and wigs, and people have been afraid to touch her because they thought her condition was contagious and they did not want to get sick.

Keeping up with the medical requirements of alopecia is already a demanding responsibility. “Hair loss affects black women very severely in terms of psychosocial health,” says Dr. McMichael. “It is stressful to try to cover it, to afford treatments, and to find a board-certified dermatologist who understands hair loss enough to give good medical recommendations.”

Add to that the bullying, harassment, teasing, denigration, and shaming that people with alopecia are often put through, and it’s clear that moving through the world with alopecia can be taxing—physically, mentally, and emotionally. In an ideal world, people with alopecia would not be subjected to abuse brought on by people’s misconceptions and ignorance about the condition. But because this persecution persists, women with alopecia have had to find different ways to rise above it.

“I vented to my mom. I always had a friend who protected me at school. I wrote poetry. I sang and danced in the mirror,” says Keya. “I had to be tough at school. I watched [Victoria’s] Secret fashion shows with my mommy, watched Beyoncé/Destiny’s Child performances on YouTube. I spent my childhood in my aunt’s hair salon, where black women were serviced by black excellence in a positive environment.”

Hidden Blessings, Unforeseen Strength

Life with alopecia is not just about the struggle, the bad days, or the cruelty of other people. Alopecia is a big part of a person’s life, but it is not the only part, and having alopecia does not necessitate a miserable existence. Plenty of black women with alopecia live healthy, successful, and fulfilling lives.

Ebony says that there are “hidden blessings” in having alopecia, and that black women with alopecia can use their story to change other people’s lives. “Hair loss brings forth versatility, so you can rock your baldness one day, or put on a wig, hat, or scarf the next,” she says. “Alopecia does not define your existence. Do not allow

this to stop you from living your best life. Surround yourself with people who genuinely love and accept you.”

Support and community can be immensely helpful for black women on their journey with alopecia. Tamara works to connect people with medical professionals and resources through her online platforms and by hosting meet and greets, seminars, fundraisers, fashion shows, trips, and other events. Keya mentors black girls. Ebony is a legislative liaison for one of the largest alopecia organizations in the US, and she says her family has been her number one support system.

There are many people who are working, advocating, and rooting for black women with alopecia. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Chesahna Kindred recommends seeing a dermatologist as early as possible when dealing with hair loss. She also suggests visiting a mental health counselor, psychologist, or a psychiatrist if needed. It’s important to be aware that there are “unethical profiteers that convince hair loss patients to waste time and money,” says Dr. Kindred.

There are also hairstylists who are educated in hair loss and are connected with dermatologists. Jasmine Collins, a stylist with expertise in working with clients with hair loss, launched a hair-loss tour because she “noticed so many women [were] using extensions because of convenience and shame of having hair loss, which were further worsening their hair-loss issues.”

Jasmine says she often uses a short haircut with coloring to camouflage hair loss, and depending on the hair type she might also give a client with alopecia a texturizer or relaxer. A beauty regimen that instills confidence can be helpful when navigating a world where “hair is your birthright to being a black woman,” as Keya puts it.

But what’s really important for many black women with alopecia is loving yourself and living your truth. Every black woman with alopecia has her own story, and no story is less valid than the next. “Loving yourself means knowing that you are enough to accomplish anything you desire,” says Keya.

“I love the beauty mark in the middle of my forehead. I love my hips. I love my smile. I love that I chose music/ entertainment/mentorship to be my career,” she says. “I love that alopecia areata chose me.”

hat by Clyde sunglasses by Loewe gloves by Marine Serre purse by Jacquemus

SECTION style

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REINVENTING VINTAGE

Pairing old favorites with modern finds

page 116.

INTERVIEW KORTO MOMOLU Curves and color designs for an inclusive world

REINVENTING VINTAGE

Pairing Old Favorites with Modern Finds

IT’S THAT PERFECT BOBBLE grifted from Mom’s ’80s costume jewelry collection. That steel blue cashmere turtleneck dress somehow found on the cluttered racks of the local Salvation Army. That inexplicably perfect-fitting pair of jeans dug up from the storage bins from a decade and a half prior. It’s vintage, and it’s the secret key to unlocking your true fashion persona while ideally saving a few dollars and cents along the way.

words by Emily Rubin photography by Ahmad Barber model Jailan of MP Management styling by Ray C’mone make-up by Christine Vazquez hair by Andy Buckmire

shoes by misbhv ring by humans before handles

shirt by Low Classic pants by Y/Project shoes by Misbhv

Why Vintage?

Curating the dream closet can be an expensive and lengthy process. It takes years of pulling in the perfect pieces, shopping around for the right prices, finding colors that speak to you, silhouettes that complement you, and more. While the basics have likely been slotted into your drawer units by now, vintage items offer up a chance to infuse a little extra personality at a lower cost.

With fashion serving as the second highest polluting industry after petroleum, the opportunity to give a second life to a fashion item represents a positive social choice as well. The world is catching up, and options for picking up a secondhand piece are on the rise. Of course, as always, you can repurpose from a friend or family member, dig something up from your own personal style archives, or browse the local thrift shop.

New avenues now allow you to shop preloved luxury from brick and mortar or online consignment shops, show up to an estate sale, bid online, and so much more. While shopping secondhand may not be any faster than traditional shopping, the expanse of offerings is significantly larger, with a host of pieces not strictly keeping to the current defined trends. This provides more variety and a more inclusive fashion arena for style lovers to play around in.

How to Mix In

There are plenty of ways to tastefully blend in a vintage piece, whether it’s dripping in retro nostalgia or a mere hemline away from the current season’s pieces. It can be snuck in quietly, highlighted in full force, or integrated as an equal outfit partner. There’s no true “wrong” way, only varying degrees of “right for you”—a subjective personal choice. Let’s dive into the wear possibilities.

Contrast Statement

For a bold approach to remixing a vintage item, consider it the main event of your outfit. Tailor the other elements to a subdued and modern color palette and silhouette. This allows the balance of the look to read as sophisticated if not unsensational. It leaves room for the shining star of the day’s put-together: the preloved statement.

Whether it’s a total throwback plaid shoulder-padded oversized blazer or an almost-current stark bell bottom to today’s flared-leg flavor, a modern combination will allow the piece to scream confidence. The other part of the equation is beauty styling that is clean and unquestioningly du jour. A sleek ponytail and a near nude lip will always guarantee you’re not veering on a dated aesthetic.

Small Detail

Another approach on the opposite end of the spectrum is a subtle nod to vintage with a little infusion of an accessory or a piece of jewelry. Think little black dress courtesy of Zara, navy suede Jeffrey Campbell pumps, and a vintage Chanel cuff bracelet. Or perhaps you go current with the sparkles, but try your luck at refurbished ’40s dancing shoes. The small statement will grab attention while still leaving the overall look feeling very “today.”

Rethought

Adjust the mode of wear. Nothing has to live just in the space that the tag declares it to be. Style your pieces to your taste and reimagine the item to your ensemble. A neckerchief can be worn in the hair for a softer feminine prep-light look. A romper can be worn under a top to serve as a pair of pants. A necklace can be wrapped into a bracelet. The possibilities are near endless!

Reworked

Repurpose the piece entirely—rip, stitch, restitch! Deconstruct a denim jacket and patch the sleeve panels onto the inseam of a pair of beige slim-fit chinos. Break apart a pair of earrings and utilize the gems as a pendant to anchor onto a new necklace. A little DIY bravery or the discovery of a talented local tailor can allow you to turn vintage into true one of a kind.

With a myriad of ways to find incredible vintage pieces in wonderful condition, and even more styling possibilities, there’s no longer any reason to hold back. Call it thrifting, environmentalism, style hunting, or whatever you like. This is your trend to interpret and define!

jacket by Balenciaga

dress by monse

How Korto Momolu’s Setbacks Set Her Up for Fashion Success

words by Manseen Logan

Curves and color—designs for an inclusive world

Fashion designer Korto Momolu is not one to shy away from her past. In fact, she’s candidly shared her story on many media platforms and brought her fans on a journey spanning three different countries she’s called home—Liberia, Canada, and the United States.

photo courtesy of Korto Momolu

Liberia, West Africa

When Korto Momolu shares her history, it’s like listening to an intricate plot in an award-winning film. First, there’s the opening scene set in the coastal West African nation of Liberia. There Korto grew up living between her family’s farm in the rural countryside and Monrovia, the nation’s capital. Her father’s government job offered her a comfortable life in which she went to school and took an early liking to art. On the other side, her family’s farm gave her access to a village and a culture that would become the foundation of her creativity.

I can relate to Korto’s past. Though I never knew a pre-war Liberia, my parents are also Liberian and have shared stories about the country before the 1980 coup. Their narrative is filled with food, fun, family, and friends. If I had to sum up in one word pre-war Liberia for those with means, that word would be “enjoyment.” Liberians always have and always will love a good time. Even today, as the country continues to rebuild without basic necessities, every December thousands return home for “enjoyment season.” It was under these enjoyable conditions that Korto spent her early childhood.

To put Korto’s native country in greater context, think of a close-knit neighborhood. That’s Liberia. An entire country where the bond between people is so strong it’s passed down through generations. An older Liberian from anywhere in the world could run into a younger Liberian and the first thing they’d ask would be, “Who your ma? Who your pa?” From there, the conversation would lead to some type of shared friend or family ties.

As an artsy African child from a communal background, Korto’s story started as a family-friendly film, but we all know what followed. Almost out of nowhere, her homeland was hurled into a coup that would launch a devastating 14-year civil war. Just like that, Korto’s fairytale became filled with the horrors of war, the adventure of exile, and the drama of having to start over after losing everything.

Ottawa, Canada

Almost 4,700 miles away, Korto’s family had escaped Liberia and resettled in Ottawa, Canada, one of the top refugee resettlement countries in the world. Canada was Korto’s new home and where she gave birth to her fashion dream. In a revealing documentary with

the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Korto shared that had it not been for Canada, she might have never learned about her natural ability to design apparel.

“My art teacher actually picked up on it and said, ‘It seems like you’re kind of going into fashion design,’” Korto told PBS.

Right then, at 15 years of age, Korto was introduced to her future. Up until that point, she had had her mind set on being a choreographer, but time and circumstances redirected her path.

Time. Circumstances. Path. These three variables are constant life themes that vary from person to person. While we cannot harness time and often experience circumstances beyond our control, we can usually choose the path we take to reach our goals. For Korto, practicing her sketches and following her art teacher’s guidance became her new path.

Ultimately she sketched her way into Ryerson University’s design program. With her mother’s encouragement, her strong faith, and a churchmate’s financial support, Korto was able to attend the Torontobased institution and further her design knowledge.

Canada gave rise not only to a professional dream, but also to a young romance. Korto’s now husband was living on a US military base in Canada when they met in a local mall. Their relationship developed over the course of two years before Korto decided to get married and relocate to her husband’s hometown in the US.

And so, in Little Rock, Arkansas—an unlikely locale for fashion—Korto established herself as “Korto Momolu the Designer,” and the rest of her story unfolded in front of 3.58 million total viewers on the hit fashion reality show Project Runway. Today, she is one of the most notable African fashion designers in the US.

Little Rock, Arkansas, and Project Runway

When I first heard about Korto Momolu in 2008, she was “the Liberian girl on Project Runway who’s killing it.” While most of us were just learning about Korto, she actually had been around for a while, and her designs had already graced almost every fashion magazine in Little Rock. Still, Project Runway gave her the nationwide visibility she deserved. Though she didn’t walk away with the cash prize, at just 33 years old Korto

became the runner-up and received an instant fan base. Since then, her career has taken a unique course that reflects how setbacks can also be setups for success.

I introduced myself to Korto as a fellow Liberian and instantly we had that LIB connection. She is from the Lorma ethnic group and her family originates from Lofa County, the Northeastern Liberian region that borders Sierra Leone and Guinea. At least, that’s all she knew before she took a DNA test that presented a rich background of other ethnicities. I shared that my grandmother’s mom was Gbandi and also came from Lofa County (Kolahun, to be exact) before Korto jokingly told me not to take a DNA test if I wanted to maintain everything I knew to be true about my identity. I agreed that I wouldn’t, and we began our conversation about inclusivity in fashion and her first experience as a Project Runway designer over 10 years ago.

“When I did Project Runway, they already knew my stance,” Korto told me. “When the casting came, the casting director already had a set of girls for me, and they looked like the girls I liked.”

That unconventional thinking is part of what makes her Korto Momolu. She doesn’t wait for trends or ride fashion waves. She just creates with the everyday woman in mind. Korto shared that, in addition to size, she made a point to request various ethnic backgrounds too. She demanded both curves and color— two rarities in the fashion industry. As a result, Project Runway gave Korto Puerto Rican model Katarina Munez to wear her designs.

Today, the industry could take a cue from Korto. According to the Fashion Spot’s Fall 2018 Diversity Report, 32.5% of New York, Milan, Paris, and London Fashion Week models were people of color, and only 0.4% of the non-plussize brands used plus-size models. Earlier in her career, an emotional moment in a boutique dressing room shaped Korto into the inclusive designer she has become.

“It was a turning point where I had my daughter and I had lost all this weight. [I] went to LA, went shopping with my girlfriends [and] none of the jeans I tried on fit me, and I just felt bad

and ugly. And I’m like, ‘You’re a designer. You’re sitting here crying—you can be the change you want to see,’” Korto said.

Now she is that change. Korto’s designs are less about size or ethnicity and more about style. On her Project Runway debut, the judges used two descriptions to characterize her first fashion challenge: “impeccably designed” and “chic.” How she turned a yellow tablecloth, a bunch of kale, and a pack of cherry tomatoes into a wearable couture gown with a leafy green cascading neckline and red seeded brooches is beyond my understanding. But again, that’s what makes her her. Working with what’s available to create something beautiful and new defines fashion, and Korto is fashion—no doubt.

Aside from her inclusivity and creativity, one of Korto’s greatest design assets is the inventive ideas she’s picked up along her way. Coming from Liberia, West Africa, where the majority of tailors were men, Korto didn’t grow up with women making her clothes. However what Liberia lacked in female fashion role models it made up for with its rich culture. That culture tends to peek through in her designs, but not in the full traditional wax print, tie dye, kente cloth, or animal pattern kind of way.

Her Africanness comes through in smart color choices, elegant draping, and clean lines paired with bold beaded jewelry and raffia fans. The detailed workmanship she learned in Canada paired with the experience and wide-ranging freedom she honed in Little Rock have certainly influenced her style as well. Staying true to that style did not win season five of Project Runway, but it inspired a number of young African women hoping to become designers, and it made Korto a Project Runway All Star six years after her first appearance.

“When I left the show, it was disappointing for me [that] I didn’t win. It was like a death,” Korto shared. “[Then] I started getting these emails from people and from all these little girls who were Liberian telling me, ‘I watched the show with my mom and she told me I couldn’t do fashion before, but because I watched the show with my mom, now she’s allowing me to go to design school.’”

pictured: Korto Momolu

photo by Jason Masters

photo by Phelan Marc Summer Spring Collection 2018

What felt like a painful ending turned out to be the beginning of the international fashion career 15-yearold Korto had been destined for. According to Korto, love came from every direction, with women from all walks embracing her story and designs. The logical next step would have been to jet off to a fashion capital like New York City or Los Angeles, but Korto took another unconventional route. She remained in Arkansas.

“Being a mom, you have to make choices. I was a mother when I went on Project Runway. After, with everything that was going on, I had to make sacrifices with my career to accommodate my family,” Korto said.

Little Rock does not rival the fashion scene found in New York City, LA, Paris, or Tokyo. However, the security that Little Rock offers overshadows the fashion opportunity that it lacks. Korto’s 5-year-old son and teenage daughter have cousins and friends they can grow up with. She and her husband have family there. Her brand has local patrons that make up 95% of her business. She even has her own holiday—November 13, Korto Momolu Day. In Little Rock, Korto is a big deal and her fashion business is proving that success can grow in unexpected places.

Still, as successful as Korto’s fashion brand has become, it has not developed without criticism.

Being an African Designer

“I’m African and if I do anything that’s African, I’m criticized for it or it’s not as groundbreaking,” Korto shared. “When my white counterparts do it, it’s amazing—‘Oh my God, it’s so innovative, it’s fresh.’ But I’ve been doing this stuff for years.”

Such is the case for all non-white designers. When an African American or African designer casts diverse models, it’s not met with the same excitement as when white designers do. Many affluent black designers have allowed both black and white models to open their runway shows. However, those shows won’t receive the same headlines that Prada’s did when the company allowed Anok Yai to become the second black model in history to open a Prada show in 2018.

Though disappointing, it makes sense. After all, these headlines are meant to celebrate the dismantling of racial barriers that never should have existed. And despite the criticism, Korto has found a way to design remarkable pieces that still carry her essence and impress her critics.

I can’t put Korto’s designs in a box with a label because

she has managed to blend heritage with innovation. In the end, she consistently creates a Korto Momolu.

I see her Liberian influence in the way her outfits are tailored to flatter any size, like a lappa suit. Both her bold and subtle color choices have been paired on the runway with statement headpieces or pronounced hairdos that replace the traditional African head tie. At the same time, Korto’s designs are influenced by national trends and European cuts. No matter the end result, her fashion will always be those two things: impeccably designed and chic.  Take Korto’s spring/summer 2020 collection for example. Her novel collaboration with Women Grow, a nonprofit that “cultivates women leaders in cannabis” further highlights her ability to fuse current events with her own creativity, adding even more purpose and depth to her designs.

“A mutual friend connected me to this organization, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to support other women and shine a light on the benefits of medicinal marijuana,” Korto said. “It’s not about just getting high. This is something that can really help people and positively affect lives.”

Gesturing to her shoulder after a successful New York Fashion Week showing, Korto shared that as a creative and a designer even she experiences pain and could benefit from medicinal cannabis. The fact that Women Grow helps people in need and supports women who want to enter a market that is projected to reach $66.3 billion (USD) within the next six years makes for an attractive collaboration. As a result, Korto crafted a stunning line using hemp fabric, linen, jute, and cork, making it both sustainable and fashionable.

Her authenticity and inventiveness shines through every aspect of her brand. She is a designer whose consistency breeds the unexpected, and she continues to amaze us. Right now, Korto’s business and life show that with every new experience, good or bad, comes a new opportunity. As she turns the unpredictable into positive moments and designs, her adventure continues.

When I asked Korto how she maintains her creativity, without hesitation she shared her faith in God and how she remains true to herself.

“It’s important to just be in your truth because when you try to be something else, you gotta keep up those appearances, but if you just stay true to who you are, you don’t have to do all that.”

page 126.

BUT DO YOU HAVE AN ESTHETICIAN? Do you need a skincare coach?

page 132.

INTERVIEW FUNLAYO ALABI

A beauty startup that’s full of heart

But Do You Have an Esthetician?

Do you need a skincare coach?

Hi there! I know you’re a skincare devotee. You’ve probably tried a zillion products and every home remedy under the sun in pursuit of that elusive radiant glow. You may think your skincare options are limited to either self-care or medical care, but there’s another option. This is where I come in.

I’m an esthetician. Estheticians study esthetics (also spelled “aesthetics”), which is from the Greek word aisthetikos, meaning “perceptible to the senses.” Esthetics is a branch of anatomical science that deals with the overall health and well-being of the skin, the largest organ of the human body.

As an esthetician, my main goal is preserving the health of skin on the entire body. We do this using various modalities or protocols such as facials, chemical peels, or laser therapy, depending on the skin condition. Besides offering treatments, estheticians are responsible for educating their clients on home care. For each client, I develop a personalized treatment program that includes a homecare plan and professional treatments that will treat their skincare conditions.

We are also trained to detect any skin concerns that may require medical attention, which is where a dermatologist comes in. A dermatologist is a physician trained to offer medical treatments to patients with skin diseases and conditions. In the United States, where I practice, a dermatologist can offer injectables and fillers and write

words by Bebe Andrew-Jaja

prescriptions for oral drugs and topical creams, whereas estheticians cannot and should not. Estheticians are trained to provide solutions through noninvasive methods.

Over the years, I have worked in a medical spa where I assisted the dermatologist in treatment rooms, and I have also had experience in environments without a medical director. The approach may be different, but the goal is always the same for dermatologists and estheticians: to deliver great results. It is up to the client to decide which approach they need and are most comfortable with.

The Benefits of Seeing an Esthetician

When you visit an esthetician, you receive an in-depth consultation, analysis, and facial treatments that can correct various skin conditions. For instance, a large percentage of my clients are acneic (acne-prone). Most times they come in to see me as a last resort, after they have tried different concoctions on their skin.

Unfortunately, at this point we are not only treating acne, but also have to address other conditions such as sensitized skin, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and discolorations caused by exposing the skin to harsh chemicals. These conditions could have been averted if the client had consulted early on with an esthetician to receive corrective treatments before or as soon as the inflammation presented itself.

Services Offered by Estheticians

A popular quote among skincare professionals defines an esthetician as “an educated professional trained to read your skin’s past, treat your skin’s present, and guide you to a healthy skin future.”

To me that quote sums it up. We are here for all skin types, and even those who may not have major issues with their skin today can benefit from preventative or anti-aging skin care.

There are a variety of treatments that you can receive from an esthetician, including facials, hot stone massages, body therapies, and radio frequency.

A facial is a professional service designed to improve and rejuvenate the skin. Facials help maintain the health of the skin and correct certain skin conditions through deep cleansing massages, the use of treatment products, and in some cases extractions. (I frequently get asked, “Do I need a facial?” The short answer is YES!)

Hot stone massage is used to ease muscle tension and reduce anxiety and stress through

the use of hot stones placed on key points on the body. Hot stone massage can be a offered as either a stand-alone or an add-on treatment.

Body therapies such as body wraps and scrubs, often followed by hydrotherapy, are procedures in which a product is applied to the body and then covered or wrapped up. Wraps are used to hydrate, stimulate, or detoxify as well as to promote relaxation.

Last but not least, radio-frequency therapy, such as Thermage, is a noninvasive treatment used to tighten, smooth, and contour the skin. Radiofrequency therapy is by no means a miracle treatment, and a series of sessions is required. I especially love to offer this therapy to new moms.

In addition to treatments, another advantage of visiting an esthetician is gaining access to professional-grade products only available to licensed professionals and generally more potent than over-the-counter products.

There are the lucky few who are genetically blessed and do not have any visible issues with their skin. Their life is great and I am happy for them! My philosophy is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, over the years I have noticed more positive results in the skin of clients who have invested time in preventive care for their skin than in those who come in much later. Their skin has a healthier glow, the texture is phenomenal, and the skin looks plump with less obvious facial wrinkles.

Those who take up skin care much later have to invest more in programs to slowly reverse their concerns. In some of these cases, more aggressive approaches might be required to achieve their goals, at which point I would refer them to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon who can either prescribe topicals, customize topicals, or perform more invasive treatments for them to achieve the results they seek.

Finally, visiting an esthetician can be very beneficial to your overall well-being. With the hustle and bustle we encounter daily, we all at some point or another must deal with stress and exhaustion, which can manifest as health problems if not properly addressed. Spa treatments are undeniably a great way to implement self-care, which consequently relieves stress and energizes you to face all of the challenges ahead.

Specializing in Skin of Color

I have clients who have a standing appointment to see me every six to eight weeks, as a treat for themselves. They come in looking and feeling tense, but by the end of the hour, they wake up relaxed and Zen-like. The key is finding the right clinic or spa that works for you and your budget, and finding the right professional to cater to your skin. It sounds like a cinch, but unfortunately it is not— especially for people of color.

There are professionals who do not have training or experience in treating skin of color. When I started in the industry over nine years ago, there was very limited education available on how to treat people of color. We had to make the effort to seek out the information through seminars and mentorship programs. But the United States is rapidly becoming a country in which the majority of citizens will have pigmented skin, which will require professionals to gain a thorough knowledge and understanding of skin of color. It’s great to see this shift in industry awareness.

It’s also important to mention the impact social media has had on the industry. Social networks have made it easier to find licensed professionals who are trained in treating skin of color. At the same

time, I would not recommend relying solely on social media when looking for a professional. A great resource for finding a reputable dermatologist with experience specifically in treating skin of color is the Skin of Color Society (skinofcolorsociety.org)

When you find a potential provider, call them up and do not be afraid to ask questions about their education, training (specifically in skin of color), and certification. A reputable professional should be more than willing to answer any question posed by a client. Visit their facility before you schedule an appointment and take note of the ambiance. Their license and certifications should be on display, as well as a list of the treatments they offer. Referrals from friends or family are also a great idea.

Now that you know more about estheticians and what we do, I’ll leave you skin enthusiasts with four skincare tips.

Always wear sunscreen: Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen daily and re-apply it every few hours or after exposure to water or sweating. Always use at least SPF 30 or 50. Everyone is susceptible to sun damage and skin cancer, and sunscreens reduce your overall UV exposure and lower your risk. When it comes to skin cancer, people with darker skin tones are often diagnosed late, which makes it very difficult to treat.

Nourish your skin from within: Healthy skin starts from within. What you eat (or don’t eat) reflects on your skin. I recommend eating a balanced diet, staying hydrated, and cutting out sugar and dairy as much as possible. A combination of the appropriate skincare program and a healthy diet results in optimum glow.

Visit a licensed esthetician: Always visit a licensed skin professional for all your skincare

concerns. Social media is a huge blessing to the beauty industry and our clients. However, it is also filled with a lot of misinformation, which leaves many people feeling overwhelmed and can result in more skin issues. Making an appointment with a reputable esthetician will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Finding an esthetician you love and trust is a big deal, especially if you are person of color. I would suggest doing some research online, specifically looking for local associations that specialize in skin of color. These could help point you in the right direction. And don’t forget to ask friends and family for referrals. Many of my own clients were referred by good old word of mouth.

After you do your research, set up a consultation. When you call or go in, be sure to ask if they have experience with skin of color. Do not be afraid to ask this directly. Any qualified professional will be more than willing to answer, because our job is to keep you at ease. Also ask what specific treatments they offer for skin of color. They should be able to explain some of the services they have available that will cater to your concerns.

Buy from authorized retailers: I always recommend that my clients purchase their products from an authorized retailer, especially medical-grade products, because they will be guaranteed to be authentic and therefore safer. I have had clients who were left with burns and scars on their skin after using counterfeit products. These products can be purchased both online and offline, so please do your research, ask questions, and see your esthetician, because as an esthetician I am here to serve you.

Bebe Andrew-Jaja, a licensed esthetician, is the founder of Krème, a skincare platform that provides curated skincare products and services for skin of color. Learn more at kreme.ng.

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models styling by Ray C'Mone make-up by Christine Vasquez hair by Andy Buckmire top Michael Kors

Shea Radiance Lavender Scented Whipped Shea Butter photography by Elyrose Photography

Funlayo Alabi

On How Her Sun Set to Rise Again

words by Nikki Igbo

From her home in Washington, D.C., Funlayo Alabi launched Shea Radiance beauty products, and the brand quickly grew. Then it failed. And then it grew again. We’ve heard the statistics before: many fledgling businesses fail within their first five years of operation. But then there are those companies who refuse to fade quietly into the night. Shea Radiance is exactly that kind of phoenix, and Funlayo that special type of entrepreneur. And today both are shining brightly because of it.

Shea butter—it’s a curious substance. Uniquely African. Coming from two oily kernels within the nuts of trees that grow up to 50 feet tall and take between 15 and 30 years to bear fruit. Shea trees grow across 21 nations in what is known as the “Shea Belt,” stretching from Guinea along a wide strip of the continent that reaches as far east as Ethiopia.

For centuries, shea butter producers have removed shea kernels from the seeds, ground them into a powder that is then boiled in water, and gathered the solids generated from this process. Completely edible, shea butter offers the most healthful source of saturated fat for ice cream, margarines, baking, and cocoa butter equivalents, among other dietary uses. In addition to being eaten, shea butter has long been a trusted cosmetic.

“This is a very simple ingredient my grandmother always had in the house,” says Funlayo Alabi during a call one summer afternoon. “I actually used to run away when she would try to put it on my skin because it wasn’t as cool as Avon or whatever product was in the nice shiny package. These were the things our grandparents used in Nigeria—they call it okuma. They would rub it on their joints to ease pain.”

Shea butter was also used to treat, cure, and prevent acne, eczema, dandruff, stretch marks, wounds, sinus infections, cuts, and wrinkles.

Funlayo notes, “Science shows that shea butter has natural sterols which act like steroids to soothe joint pain. Shea butter can be used as sports rub. It’s such an amazing ingredient.”

It’s funny how we reject the familiar. Expecting the glamorous and glitzy to somehow best the tried and true. When push comes to shove, we find ourselves appreciating generational wisdom anew. And that’s exactly what Funlayo did.

For Her Sons and for the Culture

“My oldest son, Femi, was born with damaged kidneys. He was losing a lot of fluid as a baby and his skin was always dry. Then we had Taluwa and he had cradle cap—eczema on his scalp and all over,” explains Funlayo.

Eczema (atopic dermatitis) causes red, itchy skin and is most common in children. Tending to flare up periodically, eczema can also be accompanied by asthma or hay fever. With no cure and no

Funlayo Alabi seated with Women Shea Producers shot in Tamale Ghana

known cause, the condition has been linked to the immune’s system overreaction to irritants and is commonly found in families who have a history of asthma and allergies.

Funlayo’s pediatrician recommended cortisol creams, which controlled the boys’ skin condition temporarily but was definitely not a longterm sustainable approach. Cortisol creams or topical corticosteroids are commonly used to treat dermatologic conditions. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, frequent use can cause diminished effectiveness and outright tolerance. The side effects for prolonged use include skin atrophy or thinner skin, as well as permanent wrinkling and thinning of skin, spider veins, stretch marks, rosacea, and other skin ailments.

“All these lotions and creams stack the shelves, and we’ve tried to use them and they’re not working,” says Funlayo. “We couldn’t find anything that helped our family’s dry skin.” Then, remembering her grandmother and okuma, Funlayo asked her Nigeria-based parents to bring back shea butter during their annual visits to the States. Upon working the butter into her children’s skin, Funlayo took note as the symptoms subsided.

“That’s how Shea Radiance got started—by falling in love with an ingredient that delivered great results to our family. Around about 2007, we started compounding in our kitchen and mixing essential oils. When friends came over for dinner, we’d offer it to them. They’d use it on their skin and love it. We saw a business opportunity.”

Their startup coincided with an increasing consciousness in the marketplace—a new outlook on personal care products that saw millions gained in profit by the top mass-market natural personal-care brands. Funlayo had also personally experienced this expanded awareness.

“I’d gone natural even before I had Toluwa. Around the time I stopped relaxing my hair, my mindset about what I was putting on my skin and what I was eating also changed. There was an intersectionality between going natural and really becoming more intentional about what I was serving my family and what we were using in the home.”

Even as Funlayo continued her full-time job, she and her husband made products to sell at their local famer’s market on the weekends.

“We set up our tent and sold the products. We were reaching a very diverse market. From the very beginning, I always felt that shea butter could be a global product—not just for Africans, not just for black people, but for anybody with skin and anybody who had dry skin challenges. The farmer’s market allowed me to get a really good

proof of concept that there was a diverse audience out there looking for effective skin-care products.”

Shea Radiance products were so effective because Funlayo took great care in sourcing her shea butter.

“One of the things that solidified the importance of what we were doing was, when we started taking trips back to West Africa, to make sure that we were tapping into a sustainable supply chain.”

With so many cosmetic ingredient companies selling and shipping shea butter from throughout West Africa and beyond, Funlayo wanted to know that her shea butter came from a high-quality, premium source.

“You can’t build a brand when you’re not sure about the quality of the ingredients,” says Funlayo.

Shea Radiance Product Developer, Chemist & Funlayo Alabi's Husband, Shola Alabi, pictured with her and their youngest son Toluwa Alabi shot in Ghana

The women in these photographs are part of Shea Radiance's partnership with Shea Origin in Nigeria to provide 1,000 women with 1,000 cookstoves as a part of the 1000 Women Initiative . Through this initiative, the mission is to supply 1,000 women Shea producers with 1,000 clean cookstoves to increase their Shea production capabilities. Providing them with clean cookstoves will help to increase their Shea production and access to market without having to be exposed to toxic fumes caused by using traditional cookstoves that often leave Shea producers susceptible to developing cancer and other sicknesses. You can learn more about the mission at 1000womenproject.com

photography by MyPhotography.ng

“We were able to make connections with some amazing producer groups. These hardworking female producers rose sometimes before daybreak to gather shea nuts and return to their home factories for processing.

“I looked at these women and all their labor and the lack of resources, and this could have been me. They could be my aunts and other women who I know. After those visits, I saw the importance of not just sourcing directly from ‘this woman’ but also being able to tell the story behind shea butter in an authentically African voice.”

It was important for that story not to be patronizing or position her as some kind of savior of the world. She wanted to showcase the expertise.

“I didn’t want to be like, ‘Hey, look at me, I’m giving women free toothbrushes and free shoes.’ I wanted our audience to know that we were African women helping other African women. I wanted others to know that the women from whom we’re buying had been doing this for centuries. All they needed was an opportunity to find a good buyer.”

She saw herself in these women. The same hustle, drive, and determination. How many doors had they all knocked on looking for a chance to grow their business? Like her, they possessed a uniquely defined and long-developed approach to what they did. All Funlayo and those women needed was a foot in the door.

They did indeed receive that opportunity … and then things got interesting.

Falling Down and Getting Back Up

“A lot of it had to do with access for us,” Funlayo explains. “And I think that it’s something that women of color, African women in Africa, black people throughout the world have a constant challenge with. Access to capital to scale and grow in a sustainable way.”

The cosmetics industry has been a tough nut to crack for a while. According to research conducted by Statista, cosmetics and beauty goods production has been controlled by a tight group of multinational corporations (Procter & Gamble, Estée Lauder, Shiseido, Unilever) since the early 1900s, and huge brands such as Maybelline, L'Oréal, and Cover Girl enjoy the most favorable recognition. Competing with these giants is no joke.

“It’s a tough industry to be in. If you don’t have a background or a mentor or a lot of financing to scale as you grow, then it can be very challenging. That’s what we face and that’s what we continue to overcome. I don’t want to ever leave the impression that we’re this huge business that has it all

together. We’re still growing and we’re still figuring things out as we go.”

Shea Radiance learned firsthand just how tough it could get. As awareness and sales grew, they were eager to take advantage of every opportunity they could get.

“We had been growing and feeling that we were ready for this, but not realizing that we didn’t necessarily have the bandwidth for it.”

That opportunity was distribution in Target, a national US department store retailer with an average annual revenue of $72 billion. This was a huge undertaking. Shea Radiance moved on it and made its first appearance at more than 300 locations in the late summer of 2012—despite not having certain business necessities.

“Access to mentors, advisors, funders, door openers. Those were some of the critical things we lacked. We were so naïve about what wasn’t in place. We were like, ‘We [can] do this; this is an answer to a prayer. We got this.’ The thing is, when you’re going into a big box store, you should probably have raised some funds.”

With the country just emerging from the largest American recession since the Great Depression, banks that customarily lend only to an estimated 23% of small businesses were especially stingy, so Shea Radiance relied on the Alabis’ savings. Anytime anything went wrong in their supply chain, from delivery to ordering to production scheduling, it hurt.

“There was so much we didn’t know. And we didn’t have a buffer for when things were not working exactly as we had thought they would work. It turned out to be devastating.” Just shy of a year after launch, Funlayo decided to withdraw from Target. Shea Radiance’s experience at this point was not at all unusual. According to a 2011 report produced by the Startup Genome Project, as many as 70% to 90% of startups fail as a result of scaling up too early.

Funlayo was not interested in shutting down for good, however. In a nutshell, she reanalyzed her business and the landscape, gathered advisors and counselors, and headed toward a plan to regroup.

“We took stock and noticed we had a couple of things going. We had three products and did our own prototype formulation. We’re very creative and innovative. Customers still wanted our products. And we’d made promises to the women [producers in West Africa] that we were going to be successful.

“Entrepreneurs, especially women, no matter what you’re doing—whether you have amazing growth or slow growth—

you’re going to arrive at a crossroads where you’re going to have to make decisions about what to do. For us, clarity of mission, purpose, and values were the clincher. When you get to that point of crisis, declaring on these three things will help you decide whether you should continue.”

Funlayo thought back to their original motivation for the business: their desire to serve a higher purpose for their partners and their customers. She believed her cause was good and worthy, so she humbled herself to learn how to see that cause through—and that meant searching and asking for help.

“I actively started looking for people to fill in the gaps of what I didn’t know. When I started talking to people who were already successful in different fields, I realized that I wasn’t unique. I found out what I’d done wrong.”

Funlayo was accepted into an accelerator program and shared the classroom with complete business novices

as well as others like her who’d had more experience. She picked up insights on business models and various other strategies she’d never learned in her MBA classes. She began to build and surround herself with a team of individuals who shared her mission and vision. And she kept up that same hustling spirit.

“I’m on a mission. We look at our projections. We know where we are going. We’re working hard, we have targets, we’re hustling, we’re talking to people. We go to events. I’m out there with everybody else trying to get the ear of the speakers so I can learn new things. That’s all part of the process for us.

“I’m always learning from the younger people on my team. I love to surround myself with younger people. I’m 54, so obviously there are certain things that I didn’t get a chance to really become. But I have a very lively group of people around me. I don’t feel left behind.”

Shea Radiance Unscented African Black Soap Body Wash and Whipped Shea butter. photography by Elyrose Photography

The most important concept Funlayo took to heart was an unwillingness to be afraid or ashamed to start over.

“Don’t be embarrassed about the things you are going to have to sacrifice and overcome to build yourself and business up. Be okay knowing that your lifestyle may have to be a little simpler for a season when compared with your contemporaries. Keep your head up, do excellent work, and show up at every opportunity that is presented to you.”

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

America, land of independence, has a tendency to tout the idea that everything, including business, is a do-it-yourself undertaking, but that’s fake news.

“The truth is that we need each other. The businesses that are successful—yes, they might be working hard—but they are successful because they have a connection. Either family or the colleges they attended cracked open the door for them. That is one of the reasons why, as Africans and African Americans and women, we cannot fall into the hole of thinking that ‘She’s my competition.’ If we can’t help each other succeed, we’ll never be realized as a viable entrepreneurial community. If you’re ever in a room and

you’re the only successful person of color there, something is wrong.”

Two demographic studies of startup founders conducted in 2016 and 2018 revealed that businesses with women of color at the helm receive less than 1% of all venture capital funding each year.

“We have to support each other and leverage the friendships we have. Even if we’re selling almost the exact type of widget, people will buy based on their connection with the individual brand, not necessarily because that business may have a better product. It’s important to do the work to know what your unique selling proposition is. Once you know who you are, you should be really comfortable sharing and bringing people into the room. Being a door opener even as people open doors for me is really important.”

Funlayo believes sharing shouldn’t just stop at networking and making business introductions. When her family experienced a kidney transplant with her eldest son, she realized how important it was to share personal issues as well.

“I’ve been trying to share about all the health challenges we faced, because most people don’t talk about it until someone’s

Shea Radiance Citrus Blossom African Black Soap Body Wash, African Black Soap Bar, and Sisal Wash Cloth. photography by Elyrose Photography

dropped dead. Overcoming a transplant with my eldest son was a lot of things.”

Femi lost his hearing during the transplant hospitalization and his breathing was compromised. Just about every area of his life was impacted. Throughout most of his elementary and middle school education, Femi had to be in an individualized education program.

Funlayo viewed Femi’s survival as a miracle, but there were many new realities they had to adjust to and live with. Hearing aids. Immune suppressors following the transplant. Struggles with education. Though many might shy away from speaking openly about such challenges, Funlayo saw things differently, especially when it came to discovering learning and career options for Femi.

Support and teamwork continue to be key factors in Funlayo’s personal and professional progress. Both of her sons are flourishing in their own right, skin hydrated and aglow. And so is Shea Radiance.

The shea butter startup offers over 20 beauty products which are distributed to more than 7,000 stores throughout the US with plans to expand into digital and international commerce, Shea Radiance is projected to have very good returns in 2020.

On a Mission to Pay It Forward

Profits rock. But let’s not forget how wonderful healthy, moisturized skin is—or how the right kind of shea butter can help to achieve it.

“There are two types of shea butter you can find in products in the stores, refined shea butter and unrefined shea butter. The refined shea butter is a great moisturizing emollient but it’s also been stripped. A lot of large brands prefer to use the refined because it’s easy to find, odorless, and works well for whatever they’re doing. We work with women-run supply chains that provide us with handcrafted or cold-press shea butter. We like that this butter is unrefined, which means that all the healing properties haven’t been stripped away.”

Unrefined shea butter is the key ingredient in many of Shea Radiance’s products, which is exactly why loyal customers are hooked and Shea Radiance continues to grow.

“You can buy our products online. We have a hydrating duo set which is great for the summer and remaining hydrated throughout the year. We’re on Amazon Prime with most of our products. If you’re

on the East Coast (of the United States), you can find us at most natural grocery stores. You can find us at all Whole Foods stores in the mid-Atlantic and northeast. Next year [2020] we’ll be going into more of those regions. But anywhere you want to find us, go ahead and make a big fuss. We need ambassadors. Just call up the store and be like, ‘What? What do you mean you don’t have Shea Radiance?’”

No matter where Shea Radiance goes, its mission will remain the same, and the team is as excited about what that means as they are about disrupting the corporate-dominated status quo of the beauty industry.

“We see the future [as] a place where we can be investors in small womenowned enterprises. We’ve talked about how we all need to support each other. I see a gap, especially with African women in Africa. I know that women, especially women of color, globally face unique challenges that make fast growth and sustainable goals challenging because they don’t have access to good capital. What I mean by ‘good capital’ is the people who give you money and are not going to take your firstborn child, your kidneys, and your business from you.”

Funlayo wants to do her part in connecting businesses with investors who recognize their potential and appreciate their plans.

“In the next five years—oh Lord, you are hearing my prayer—the next five to seven years, we want to be able to have more of an impact on these women to be able to put in seed funding. We may not be the biggest investor, but we want to be the ‘hope’ investor.”

This means helping a small business that may be on the verge of quitting to become an outfit that can take their idea to the next level because Funlayo and Shea Radiance were there to lend a helping and well-moisturized hand.

“That’s what I want to see in our future. To get all the traction that we need to fuel something meaningful, wonderful, and everything, but really to be in a position to help other startups.”

For more information on Shea Radiance products, visit shearadiance.com.

Funlayo Alabi, Founder of Shea Radiance

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page 146.

SNL'S EGO NWODIM ON HITTING HER MARK Led by improv and intuition

page 152.

CULTURE ON THE GO Arts and ideas for intellectual revival

page 154.

MARRYAM MOMA

Renewal through color, balance and design

Ego Nwodim SNL's On

Hitting Her Mark

words by Nikki Igbo

LED BY IMPROV AND INTUITION

Egobunma “Ego” Kelechi Nwodim knew she wanted to be an actor at age 12. She got headshots for herself at age 14. Moved off to Los Angeles at age 18. And a little more than a decade later, she became a cast member on one of the longest running and most culturally influential television shows in American television history. How did she go from class-clowning in Baltimore to riding a bike on a roof in New York? Let’s just say that she was willing to improvise.

photo by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC

Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim during the "New Clothing Store" sketch photo by Katie McGowan/NBC

To Take Center Stage

Ego Nwodim has always loved entertaining. Between the ages of 7 and 17 she was a ballerina who lived for her recitals. She also played the violin. But it wasn’t the dancing or the music that thrilled her.

“I enjoyed the performance part of it,” Ego shared on an afternoon call in advance of her second-season premiere on Saturday Night Live

Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest child of four grew up often entertaining her siblings, her cousins, her mother. According to Ego, her attraction to and natural knack for performance made her career path clear.

“I just loved making people laugh. I used to get in trouble at school for doing that. It’s always been fun for me to perform. If you enjoy performing and you don’t shy away from that stage, seems like a match.”

As Ego chatted with me about her career journey from Baltimore to Los Angeles to New York, she spoke with a laser-sharp focus. Turned on and tuned in. Open and easy and listening while analyzing and conceptualizing and creating.

Yes, Ego was indeed focused. Which is why, when she selected a college, she chose the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Sure, she’d study biology to satisfy her mother’s wishes for a career in healthcare, but taking full advantage of LA’s rich acting community was always the main goal.

Having lived in Los Angeles myself, I was curious to hear Ego’s take on the City of Angels. For anyone who hasn’t been to the Southern Californian metropolis, it can be … different. Keep in mind that Ego was fresh out of high school when she moved to a city on the other side of the country, with no friends and no family.

“It was certainly jarring. But I’ve always been pretty independent and at times a bit of a loner. I wasn’t scared of it. I was really excited to get there. And once I got there, I sure as hell was shocked. But there was something intriguing to me about the challenge of sticking it out. I wanted to be an actor, so I was going to have to figure out a way to like and live in this place.”

Los Angeles is its own vibe. A sprawling metropolis teeming with pretty people and the promise of spoils to the individual who dares to dream big. It’s not simply a New York City with palm trees. Los Angeles is a city of twists and turns. Literally and figuratively.

“The culture is fairly different. There are stereotypes about East Coasters being mean or aggressive. I don’t consider that to be true. I think East Coasters have a little more directness.

You’ll find people in Southern California who are direct and I tend to hold on to them. But yeah, that’s the big difference. It’s just how people communicate with one another.”

That’s LA for you. Sometimes you have to take a left and two rights just to go straight.

To Learn to Let Go

As Ego earned her degree, she got a better sense of the landscape. Learned more about the industry. Secured talent agents and sought the skills and support she’d need to score a break. Following college graduation, at the behest of her agent, she took improv classes with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB), an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe known for such alumni as Amy Poehler and Donald Glover. She’d been initially apprehensive, but she left that first class completely in love. She positively swooned over the phone line as she described it.

“There’s so many lessons you’ll learn in improv that are parallel to your life. I truly feel everyone should take an improv class regardless of their line of work. It teaches you to let go. I’m a bit of an overthinker at times. In improv, there’s no time for that. You might say something that didn’t move your scene forward, but your scene partner will help make sense of it. And the audience will be forgiving. I feel so many parallels to life. How you can make a mistake, or what looks like a mistake and then turn it into gold.”

Ego enjoyed the collaborative nature of improv, the community it created, and the sense of freedom it stirred in her.

“The ability to just perform without having to wait for an agent or a manager or a TV or film gig. You get to just do it. You could do it by yourself, you know? It was really liberating in that way too. With improv you develop the skill, hone it, and do it. And that was very, very nice. Just to have that creativity flowing several times a week was so cathartic and rewarding.”

Letting the creativity flow is exactly what she did.

Ego performed at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival and the CBS Diversity Showcase in 2016. The following year, she penned and performed her one-woman show Great Black Women … and Then There’s Me, which boasted a soldout run. Then, in 2018, she was the new face in the opening credits of the 44th season of Saturday Night Live.

I recall watching that episode, noticing her, and thinking: Naija gal. I asked her how excited she must have been to get that call from SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels.

“It was a dream come true.”

Ego had auditioned twice—once in 2016 and again in 2018— before Lorne’s call, and she’d begun to believe that LA might be her forever home. Her apartment had a roach problem and she needed to find a new one.

“I was in limbo waiting to get this call to find out if I’d be moving to work or if I’m going to sign a lease in Los Angeles. And Lorne called me and said, ‘You’re going to have the same problem you’re having now trying to find an apartment. Only it’ll be in New York.’ I screamed.”

Her years of hard work had delivered in a big way.

“My mom is not the most in tune with entertainment. But she knows SNL. [My family] was so excited and proud. It was fun to celebrate with family and friends who supported me along the way. It was rewarding for all of us—me getting to share that with them.”

To Learn What Is Possible

Before my own call with Ego, I’d heard her flex her improv chops on the podcasts Yo! Is This Racist?, Comedy Bang! Bang!, and Good Christian Fun. I’ve enjoyed her talents on Saturday Night Live but I especially liked the stories she shared about her life. I appreciated the unapologetic honesty with which she responded to popular culture.

Ego was good with Ego. It was evident throughout our conversation. Not in a way that was self-satisfied or smug, but rather in an “I’m not perfect, but that’s perfectly okay” way. There’s an expression for that: self-awareness. As she intimated, becoming aware of self is a journey, not an event.

“To live our most fulfilled life, to achieve the things that are within us, we have to be happy with ourselves. It’s a level of self-actualization I don’t know that anyone ever reaches before they die. It’s a constant working to be proud of yourself in every aspect of who you are. And have no shame about who you are. But so much of society suggests that you should be ashamed of certain parts of yourself. Or hide some parts of yourself. Or change parts to be what we’ve decided is ‘right’ and ‘good.’”

She’s right. Value judgements are relative. It was once okay for pregnant women to smoke cigarettes. Drunk driving was once right. People owning other people was once good.

There is an easier way to get through all the moralistic confusion, as Ego shared.

“If you are in tune with who you are, happy about who you are, proud of who you are, you’re better equipped to face the challenges you come across in trying to pursue something.

Particularly in entertainment, if you don’t know your own voice, don’t know yourself, it’s hard for people to connect with anyone who isn’t in touch with themselves.”

There must also be vulnerability with that awareness and pride.

“If you’re not sharing, I’m not sharing. That just perpetuates a disconnect. People connect through shared experiences and shared emotions. Vulnerability is definitely a part of that.”

And there it was again, that parallel between improv and life. Nothing about this existence is scripted. The impossible is just as probable. All we can ever really know is ourselves. If we are willing to learn and to share that knowledge without fear of judgment, we can make the connections we need to realize something better, funnier, kinder.

And Be Okay with All of It

Now, I’ve been an SNL fan for a long time. I can distinctly remember watching Eddy Murphy’s Buckwheat assassination sketch in real time. Ego Nwodim’s presence on the show was an answer to an ongoing personal prayer for more diversity. And I hope she continues to grow and thrive there.

But I also look forward to her enjoying the same success in other avenues, much like SNL alums Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, and Chris Rock.

“My goal ultimately is to create my own content and roles for myself that I enjoy and dream of creating. I get to do a little bit of that every week on the show, which is very rewarding.”

Ego would also like to run her own production company and create a space to increase exposure for emerging performers.

“It would be very cool to keep my ear to the ground, see who’s up-and-coming and create a platform for these diverse voices to do comedy, drama, and whatever may be.”

Still, as Ego envisions that next step, she’s excited and happy right where she is.

“I’m learning all I can right now for what is possible in the future. I’m watching the little steps between to take as well. And I’m happy about taking those steps.”

Besides getting better acquainted with her New York digs and keeping an eye out for good cupcake shops, Ego is psyched about season 45 of SNL, among other developments.

“I’m going to be touring starting this fall. I’ll post about it on my social media.”

Saturday Night Live airs on Saturday nights on NBC. Ego can be followed on Twitter and Instragram (@eggy_boom).

Ego Nwodim as Tiffany Haddish during the "Oscar Host Auditions" sketch photo by Ava Williams/NBC

Power Rising 2020

Baltimore, Maryland: April 16-19, 2020

Coordinated around economic, cultural, social, political, educational, and wellness empowerment, this annual summit brings black women together for four days to transform our collective strength into solution-oriented action. Past guests have included AfriPac’s Nneka Achapu, political strategist Donna Brazile, and US Senator Kamala Harris. powerrising.org

Women & Girls Africa Summit 2020

Durban, South Africa: June 9-12, 2020

Happening at the Durban International Convention Centre, this summit includes a series of debates, talks, and workshop sessions designed to prepare today’s and tomorrow’s women for leadership across all industries throughout Africa. Participants also will have the exclusive opportunity to meet and mingle with key global leaders and influencers.

womenandgirlssummit.org

4th Annual Women in Africa Summit

Marrakesh, Morocco: June 23-24 & 25-26, 2020

representatives selected from each of Africa’s 54 nations.

Yes, 2019 definitely delivered an array of challenges in all shapes and sizes. And still we rise; the history of our culture has taught us time and again that every test is an opportunity to grow stronger, wiser, better. Hence, we’re going to take what we have experienced this year and go into 2020 with renewed zeal and clarity. In this spirt, the following cultural highlights center on stories and sources for inspired rebirth and reinvention.

Stories Without an End: Power, Beauty, and Wisdom in African Art of the Mehta Collection

Montgomery, Alabama: Now through January 26, 2020

Featuring hundreds of pieces from more than 25 ethnic groups across 12 African nations, this exhibition explores the relationship between the expression of traditional and current experiences of African women and girls. Themes include youthful beauty, fertility, maternity, motherhood, women in governance, and the priests and receptacles of power and ancestry. mmfa.org

Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL)

Marrakech, Morocco

With the mission of promoting and popularizing Moroccan and African art to younger audiences, this museum showcases a contemporary collection of paintings, sculpture, videos, digital art, and illustrations. macaal.org

Museum of the African Diaspora

San Francisco, California

For nearly 15 years, this flourishing fine arts institution has been one of the few museums on the planet to focus exclusively on the African diaspora. In addition to its breathtaking exhibits, the art center offers an array of public programs showcasing the survival, adaptation, and reinvention of people of African descent all around the world.

moadsf.org

A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa, by

Alexis Okeowo

Now Available

In this award-winning work of literary journalism, The New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo shares four little-known African narratives of everyday people doing exceptional work to resist and overcome religious fundamentalism throughout the continent. amazon.com

Housegirl, by Michael Donkor Now Available

Anyone who has ever left home to go live in a completely foreign place understands that the struggle to adjust is real. This book beautifully captures that struggle. Set in both Ghana and England, Donkor’s coming-of-age novel tells the tale of a relationship that blossoms between two young ladies when one leaves Kumasi to live in London. amazon.com

These Bones Will Rise Again, by Panashe Chigumadzi Now Available

Long before Mugabe and the nation known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, there was Mbuya Nehanda— the commanding woman spirit medium who promoted traditional Shona culture and resisted colonial rule. This book tells her story along with that of the author’s grandmother and a nation’s fight for liberation. amazon.com

African Festival Yokohama 2020

Yokohama, Japan: Early April 2020

Seeking to promote and maintain mutual friendship, trade, and investment and a robust exchange between African and Japanese culture, this 11-year-old annual festival offers arts and crafts, paintings, and specialties from all 54 African nations. The event also features traditional drumming, dancing, games, workshops, African cuisine, and much more. africanfestyokohama.com

Nosy Be Jazz Festival 2020

Nosybé, Madagascar: April 10-13, 2020

For the fourth time, the gorgeous island of Madagascar will be the site of this one-of-a-kind music festival featuring a mix of international jazz and urban genres. On top of grooving to sensational sounds, attendees can look forward to learning more about this Indian Ocean paradise and the rich history and culture of its people. nosybejazzfestival.com

Money Ha Ha Podcast

Now broadcasting

Hosted by comedians Dara M. Wilson and Yasmine Khan, this podcast digs into financial matters to have a thoughtful conversation about how and why we do the things we do with money. Listeners will get plenty of chuckles as well as helpful insights into how to establish, maintain, and promote financial wellness at every income level.

moneyhaha.simplecast.com

GO LISTEN

Marryam Moma

Renewal Through Color, Balance and Design

words by Nikki Igbo

HARNESSING SPACE, REASSEMBLING REALITY

Tanzanian-Nigerian visual artist Marryam Moma creates beautiful work with a focus on collage—a style of visual composition that repurposes and reassembles various forms to create an entirely new whole. Degreed in architecture, Marryam builds her pieces by drawing upon the practices she learned while studying at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University.

Evolution Revolution

She is Music to My Ears

The Gele

Flora Fauna

“Being in architecture, the discipline, the cleanliness of the lines, understanding physics, and balance and structure informs my designmaking decisions every single day. If you look up such collage artists as Romare Bearden, Lorna Simpson, or Mickalene Thomas, you can clearly see the influence of architecture.”

Employing a subtractive design strategy, Marryam is more interested in moving the overall design forward than incorporating more elements. She describes this as a “Frank Lloyd Wright mindset” approach to her work.

“Less is more. It really has to be built organically. It really has to give the energy of flowing out from itself.”

While pursuing her architectural degree, Marryam worked as a fashion and fit model at New York City’s Parsons School of Art and Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, and School of Visual Arts. Her exposure to the world of fashion design through modeling also plays a big role in her art.

“From light to texture to fabrics to balance with colors and hues, that influences my design as well.”

Developing collage art in addition to architectural art was a practice Marryam simply could not deny herself. “Just being around those fashion designers, playing with texture and paper, it really informed my decision to start playing with collage. There’s nothing like holding a pencil drawing firsthand or holding a blade and making a model and just really seeing it come to life. There’s something

organic and magical that happens from that process, and I fell in love with that.”

Following a seven-month stay in Shanghai, during which Marryam experienced a bit of healing, self-education, and self-discovery, she set her sights on Georgia and chose to make Atlanta her artistic home.

“Atlanta is completely different from the vibe in New York. I embrace it because here in Atlanta there’s so much space for emerging artists to flourish.”

Marryam often uses such elements as dried flowers, salvaged paper, and recycled imagery from books and periodicals to create her pieces. She has created several different series highlighting various ideas and moods, from selfcare and intimacy to dreams and ambition, and a constant and repeated theme in her work is the complexity and vibrancy of black femininity.

“I want to tell that story. I do have other pieces outside of black feminism or strengthening the core of the black woman, and I celebrate those too. But I have three older sisters and my mom—she’s a powerhouse. I just want to celebrate that every day.”

The art world has definitely taken notice. Marryam’s work has been featured in more than 30 exhibitions between 2018 and 2019 alone. Her collages are also on display in Georgia’s newest Starbucks Community Store.

To see more of Marryam’s work and upcoming exhibitions, visit marryammoma.com.

“Less is more. It really has to be built organically. It really has to give the energy of flowing out from itself.”

I am a flower breaking ground.

–Bethanee Epifani J. Bryant

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models styling by Ray C'Mone make-up by Christine Vasquez hair by Andy Buckmire lavendar silk feather dress by Cinq A Sept

SECTION body & mind

page 162. FINDING THE COURAGE TO REBUILD Mining for what matters most

page 172. RADIANT WOMAN WATCH Joyful Clemetine Wamariya

WORDS BY YVONNE ATOR, MD, MPH

Finding the Courage to Rebuild

MINING FOR WHAT MATTERS MOST

“Dear God, please help me HELP ME!”

I sat in the car sobbing, my hands shaking as I gripped the steering wheel. Tears flowing freely in the parking lot, a stolen moment of respite in the dark night. I could see my kids playing in the hotel lobby, oblivious to their mother’s breakdown out in the parking lot.

“How did I get here? Homeless? Me? How?”

I SAT THERE SHELL-SHOCKED as the scene from earlier that evening flashed through my mind.

Wham! Two fists struck my back as I turned to walk away from an argument with my mother-in-law.

Having been raised a good Nigerian daughter, I knew better than to argue or disagree with my elders. I had moved cross-country to begin a new life in California. To the disapproval of my own family, my kids and I had temporarily moved in with my in-laws, expecting my husband, their son, to join us in a couple of months.

It was the season of the rise of Trump, and there was a steady influx of his rhetoric of hate in their house. The increasingly oppressive air made it

move from the paralyzing numbness, and other days I was curled up in a ball on the floor of my bedroom, screaming to God in pain. Some days the fear of losing my kids in court nearly tore me apart. Other days I had no tears left and I would sit there heaving dry sobs.

My heart felt like an open wound. I thought the darkness would last forever.

Years passed, and grief began to flow freely, taking me on her roller-coaster ride. Numb. Angry. Sad. Bargaining. In denial.

Ashamed.

I isolated myself, too raw to interact with others,

difficult to stay there. But I was a guest and a dutiful daughter-in-law.

The blows reverberated through my body, their hateful message a stinging betrayal. Because the attack was from behind, and because I had been threatened before, I packed up and left with my kids while the in-laws were away at dinner.

I had only been in my new city for six weeks. I was on my own in the dark night with two young kids. I didn’t know where to go. I texted my new friends from the Bible study group I attended and they helped me get a room at a hotel for a few days to figure things out.

This event triggered a free fall to rock bottom, a series of devastating events that nearly destroyed me. It was as if my life had become a war zone and bombs were dropping left and right.

Homelessness. Eviction. Layoff. The death of my marriage. Divorce. The death of my stepmother. Financial destitution. A totaled car. The threat of losing my kids.

The descent into my unraveling was unrelenting.

Hit after hit came. Some days I could barely

even those who meant well. It was dark. So dark I couldn’t figure out which way was up or down, left or right.

Then one day, the sun came out.

How do you rebuild your life after everything falls apart?

Dare to Rebuild AGAIN

Imagine your life being blown apart by bombs in a war zone. For some, the explosions are so violent that even the foundations of the structures in that life are cracked or destroyed.

That is what happened to me. Within a few weeks, I was blindsided by divorce papers, got laid off, lost all financial income including any support for my children, lost my stepmother, and lost my car in a near-fatal brake failure.

Everything I was or thought I was or knew about the world was no longer true or the same.

I was certified as a personal and executive coach, helping others develop mental toughness and emotional resilience. I was educated as a physician with a Master of Public Health

“Your mindset is important for the journey ahead. Decide that no matter what it looks like right now, you will build again.”

degree and trained in the Daring Way counseling method. But no amount of training, education, or money can keep life from happening to you. As tough, educated, and resilient as I was, the devastation still brought me to my knees.

Like the fog of war, it was disorienting. I couldn’t see. I didn’t know who I was anymore or where I was going. I wanted to rebuild immediately—just brush off the dust and get going. I learned the hard way that there were some steps that needed to happen first. You can’t just get up and rebuild while there is fog, dust, fires burning, buildings crumbling. You can’t see. You don’t know what’s around you or where you are.

So what do you need to do?

In order to start over, you will need to decide to do so. Commit. Dig in to your will to live, anchor into that will, and decide to rebuild. The pain of grief can be crippling and you will probably be shell-shocked for a while, but you will need to make up your mind.

Your mindset is important for the journey ahead. Decide that no matter what it looks like right now, you will build again. So whip out your journal (or go to your nearest bookstore and get a pretty one!), fasten your seatbelt, and get ready to tackle some questions. Go at your own pace. Spend the next few weeks (or months) journaling through the questions. You have built your life before. Now be willing to do it again!

A-G-A-I-N

After the war is over or the storm has passed, it is time to build again. Using the acronym A-G-A-I-N, let’s break down what it will take to rebuild.

A – Assess the situation: After the bombs have left their mark and the storm has left its debris, there is chaos everywhere. The fog might be clearing and the dust settling, but you are still disoriented. You might know where you want to go, but you must first figure out where you are. So assess the situation. Check in with yourself and your surroundings.

First, assess yourself. Assess your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states.

∙ How are you physically? Check your body. Are you physically intact or are you injured or hurting? Check in with your sleeping and eating habits. Are you sleeping or eating too much or too little? Check your energy levels. Are you exhausted, tired, or just okay?

∙ How are you mentally? What are you thinking? What story are you telling yourself about what happened? It is normal to have trouble focusing or to feel distracted or disoriented. Are you able to mentally figure out what steps you need

to take, and do you know what resources are available to you and how to get to them? If you can’t think, don’t beat yourself up. It is normal. Checking in with your support system will be critical for navigating this mental fog.

∙ Also check in with your emotions. How are you feeling? It is normal to feel anxiety, sadness, anger, shame, regret, or even guilt. You might even feel nothing, or completely numb— that is also okay. In crisis, your body can go into survival mode and completely shut off your emotions for a while so you can get stuff done. Or you might be having mood swings, rapidly switching from one emotion to the next, a roller-coaster of feelings.

∙ Finally, check in spiritually. Do you feel connected to something greater than yourself, such as God, community, or nature? Some people struggle with feeling spiritually dry, isolated, and disconnected and find themselves unable to pray, while others experience deep spiritual breakthroughs after devastating events. How are you spiritually?

After checking in with yourself, check in with your surroundings. Where are you? Sometimes after a divorce, death, or illness, you might find that your living arrangements no longer suit you. Are you safe? Do you need to rearrange your current home or move to a new place for a while or permanently? What do you have? Check in to see what you have in the way of money, resources, supplies, and support. What is safe? What needs to be thrown away? What can be saved?

If you find that you still have needs, assess where you can fill them. It is critical to know who you can lean on for support. Who do you have in your corner? Who has left? Who can you still count on? Who do you need to let go of, at least for now? Some friends and family members are better in times of crisis than others. It is important to discern who you can trust. Some will be likely to blame you or make you feel more miserable.

You need people who are empathetic, kind, supportive, and completely focused on helping you, not those who look to you to take care of them while you are going through your challenges. You need all the energy you can muster for your rebuilding efforts. If someone or some activity is an energy drain, cut it out and let it go at least for now.

G – Grieve your losses: After life’s upheavals, you have to give yourself the time and space to grieve. You are worthy of it. Many of us feel like we don’t have time to grieve. But life happens— divorce, job loss, infidelity, the death of a loved one. Many of us expect to just pick up after a devastating event or a loss and keep moving. We stay busy, going from one activity to the next. But grief is tricky. If you don’t make time for grief, it will suddenly grab you and slam you to the ground, and one day you will wonder why you can’t get out of bed, or in my case, find yourself crying in the middle of the grocery store.

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models

styling by Ray C'Mone

make-up by Christine Vasquez

hair by Andy Buckmire

dress by Celine

Grief is not only necessary for our healing, it also shows that we cared deeply. Acknowledging the death of what you thought you had is the first step. Many of us are familiar with the Kübler-Ross stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We expect to go through these stages in a linear fashion, but grief is not linear. It is a roller-coaster through these stages, and it can go backward, forward, and zigzag. Other times it comes in waves, washing over you when you least expect. Learning how to ride the waves of emotion takes time, practice, and patience.

In her Rising Strong process for bouncing back, Dr. Brené Brown suggests five questions to consider when grieving: What have I lost? What am I longing for? In what way am I feeling lost? How am I coping with this grief? How can I grieve in a way that supports me?

A – Align with your values and strengths: After you have assessed the situation and grieved, you will need to recalibrate your inner compass and reorient yourself. It is time for some radical self-knowledge and rediscovery.

∙ Who are you? How are you wired and how are you weird? What’s your personality type? Knowing this will help you understand where you shine and where you don’t, what environments are suited for your gifts, abilities, tendencies, and talents and which are not. There are several personality tests online. My favorites are the Fascinate, MyersBriggs, Enneagram, and Sparketype tests.

∙ Why are you here? This is a tough one and requires time for reflection. What is your mission? What drives you? If this feels too hard, use Elizabeth Gilbert’s tip in Big Magic and ask “What am I curious about?”

∙ What are your values? How is your compass oriented? What is important to you? Creativity? Service? Connection? Adventure? Joy? Order? How do you define these values? What does it look like for you to live them? What steps can you take to live them? Google “values” and a list should pop up. Spend some time reflecting on them in silence and solitude and see the top five that resonate for you.

What are your strengths? What are you good at? What energizes you? What do people thank you for? There are several strength assessments online. My favorites are Gallup’s StrengthsFinder 2.0 and the VIA Character Strengths test. Knowing your strengths helps you know what activities to focus on that energize rather than drain you.

What are your weaknesses? What part of you needs support? What three values or habits if cultivated will strengthen you and help you build the life you want? For example, I chose to cultivate consistency, courage, and simplicity because I struggled with distractions, fear, and perfectionism. By focusing on just showing up again and again and keeping things simple, I was able to create momentum and move myself toward the life I wanted.

I – Imagine the life you want: One of the most beautiful gifts of life’s upheavals, losses, and transitions is the opportunity to imagine and create the life we really want. This brings such a redemptive quality to our lives. We often live lives dictated by the desires and expectations of our parents, spouses, and authority figures around us. Many of my clients in their 40's realize they have been living other people’s dreams. They discover in midlife that they can start again, and it can be the most gratifying experience. So allow yourself to dream. Questions to consider:

∙ What do you really want? Sorry for sounding like a Spice Girl, but tell me what you want, what you really really want. If I had a magic wand and could grant you three wishes, what would you ask for? Spend some time journaling about this. What kind of life do you want? Allow yourself to dream about the life you want in the following areas: personal growth, significant other, fun/creativity, home/ physical environment, money, health, family, friends, career, spirituality.

∙ What does your future self look like? Close your eyes and Imagine yourself in five years, then 10, then 25 years. Can you see your future self? What are you doing? What are you wearing? What are you feeling proud of? What have you accomplished?

What does your future self know that you don’t currently know? What questions do you have for her?

∙ Write your obituary: imagine yourself at your funeral after you have lived the life you want. What are people saying about you? What does your obituary say? What legacy did you leave? What do your family and friends miss about you? What difference did you make in your world? If you don’t know how to write an obituary, google them. And then create yours based on the life you want.

N – Nanogoal your dreams to fruition: You have imagined your future. Now it is time to reverse-engineer it. I can imagine you were probably surprised about the dreams, visions, and unexpressed desires that showed up for you during the exercises.

Now, spend some time thinking about next steps and create three to five goals for your life, considering these questions:

∙ What do I want to accomplish? What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in three months? One year? Five years? Twenty-five years?

∙ How can I take consistent action? Break your goals down. All the way down. What can I do in the next three minutes? Three hours? The next three weeks? For me, what is helpful is breaking it all the way down so I can show up daily. For example, I meditate. Usually I like to meditate for an hour, but I give myself permission to meditate for 2 minutes if I am very busy. Just show up and take tiny, consistent action.

∙ How can I hold myself accountable and be supported? You need people around you who will uplift you, challenge you, and support you. People who are in your corner and want to help you rebuild. This is

not the time for naysayers and miserable comforters who kick you when you are down thinking they are helping you. You need the yaysayers who believe in you and what you are trying to accomplish.

In what ways can I practice self-compassion and learn from my mistakes? Rebuilding is hard work. You will make mistakes. There will be delays. You will get frustrated and angry. You will get tired. It’s okay. You are doing the best you can. If you make a mistake or have a breakdown, give yourself grace, rest, be kind to yourself, get what you need, and try again. You are not alone. You are not broken. Others have been through this and made it through. You will too.

After you have gone through all the steps to build A-G-AI-N, you will have to repeat them—AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. The more you do this, the more lessons you will learn. You will make mistakes and you will learn from them, and with each cycle you will keep getting closer to the life you want.

That night in the car seemed like the end of my life, but it was just the beginning of the beautiful life I had always dreamed of but didn’t know I could have. I now have a thriving life doing what I love—coaching, speaking, and writing while raising my incredibly resilient daughters, performing music, and living in beautiful Southern California. I recently stumbled upon an old vision board and discovered I had accomplished 90% of what I had envisioned!

So are you ready to rebuild? It will take courage. It will take everything within you, but you have what it takes. No one is coming to save you. You are the one you have been waiting for, and your actions will be a positive legacy for you, your loved ones, and the world. You’ve got this. And we’ve got you.

“One of the most beautiful gifts of life’s upheavals, losses, and transitions is the opportunity to imagine and create the life we really want.”

photography by Ahmad Barber model Sara N. Of Ursula Wiedmann Models

styling by Ray C'Mone

make-up by Christine Vasquez

sequin top by Gianni sequin skirt by Dries Van Noten

photo by Jitske Schols

Radiant Woman Watch

Joyful Clemantine Wamariya

words by AdeOla Fadumiye

Clemantine Wamariya was introduced to the world in May 2006 on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the most Oprah-esque way possible: in a surprise reunion with a family she hadn’t seen for 12 years since they were separated during the Rwandan genocide. Clemantine fled her home in Kigali at the age of 6 with her 15-year-old sister, Claire, after the conflict broke out. They spent years traveling through African countries and living in refugee camps. In 2000, they were granted refugee status to the United States.

TODAY CLEMANTINE, also known as Joyful Clemantine, is a Yale University graduate, an international speaker, and a human rights advocate. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Smiled Beads, a memoir she wrote to take back her narrative and provide insight into who she is beyond a person who survived a genocide and who is now seen as a human rights symbol.

Radiant Health chatted with Clemantine about her memoir, life in the spotlight, and how she is navigating from a place of joy in the aftermath of war.

Radiant Health: How is your family?

Clemantine Wamariya: They are living their best life. All of us are just living our best life and learning how to really share our time, our space, and our energy. I can’t speak for them, and I realized that that’s so important now for me as a storyteller—to say, “I can’t speak for them.” But from my perspective, and in the little time that I spent with them, they are living their best life.

RH: So, you wrote that your memoir, The Girl Who Smiled Beads, is “my attempt to piece together the beauty and loss of the experience”—that is, the experience of living

Who Smiled Beads is, of course, a story of war and about what comes after, but I wrote it to free myself. In a way, The Girl Who Smiled Beads is my therapy note, and my co-author, Elizabeth Weil, guided and listened to all my remembrance and thoughts.

In writing this book, I was very lucky to have the means to create a space to grieve, to cry, to be angry, and to smile. Of course, the readers get my experiences from one country to another, but while I was doing that in writing this book, I was also being transformed from inside out.

While writing, I went to yoga every day. I was in a 100-degree room sweating as I stretched to try to remember my toes, my ankles, my legs, my hips, and my body. I tried to remember that I had teen years, and tried to remember where my pain is located. I remember going into this one position and I just had to stop because I was crying. I couldn’t stop crying at all, because in writing this book, and to remember, I had to open up different parts of my body where the different emotions that I did not engage with were stored. Writing this book was a release for me.

One person read my book and wrote a comment: “She just complained the whole time.” And I was like, “Heck yeah, I finally had a chance to express my emotions.” I didn’t have a day to complain in my life. However, it was not complaining. It is just a mishmash of feelings and words. What she [the commenter] felt in her voice and her experience was complaining was, in my experience, an honor. An honor to finally feel and be.

through three wars. Would you say you were successful in that attempt?

CW: No. Not at all! I feel like that is the beginning. It was like dipping into water. After being in a desert, it was like that first dip into fresh water. It’s just the beginning, because the experiences that I pieced together are a collection of many people’s stories. I haven’t even scratched the surface because I believe many others will come out. The Girl Who Smiled Beads is 1% of what the world has to share. Each one of us has a particular story of how we fit into this planet earth, and when I think about the beads, I think about them as the core of each person’s story.

RH: What would you say, then, that the writing of your book did for you?

CW: It relieved me and brought me back to my joy. Most of the time when you’ve gone through the kind of experiences that I have been through, and that many are experiencing right now, one person tells the story and everyone sees the story from that one lens. The Girl

RH: Speaking of pain, therapy, and relief, do you still find yourself shedding or shaving the burden of the trauma from your life journey and experience, or have you found a way to carry the burden and/or to distribute it among your body parts?

CW: I don’t carry anything. It’s out of my body. The day I turned in my final draft, I soaked myself in roses and rose oil, lit some candles, poured myself some rose tea, and released. I am like that red rose, that beautiful, fragrant, and radiant rose. That’s where I am. I don’t carry anything in my body, rather the opposite. I move the different parts of my body to a place of joy through music. I try my best to get myself out of feelings of sadness and disappointment, because sometimes I am so stuck in the place of some particular memory that makes me sad or disappointed. However, I have to remind myself that, “Hey girl, you know joy.”

It’s so incredibly wonderful, and I’m so excited to be able to create with everyone from that place of joy. When the

“I am like that red rose, that beautiful, fragrant, and radiant rose. That’s where I am. I don’t carry anything in my body, rather the opposite.”

book was released, it was traumatizing to get all these questions or interviews from different reporters reminding me of my trauma or trying to tell me I am still traumatized. Now, I just let The Girl Who Smiled Beads allow each reader to feel the way they want to feel it and they can create something out of the feeling. Let my unfiltered emotions in the book move you to do something. If you want to write a book, write a book. You don’t have to publish it. Read it for yourself. If you want to plant something, pick that thing and make something beautiful. For me, I let it go to make a new space in my creativity.

RH: Speaking of beautiful, you share the concept of mutual human sharing versus the act of giving and taking in your book. It was a very profound revelation for me personally. Could you share a personal experience of human sharing that you’ve been a part of?

CW: I’m going to give you an example, but it’s probably already in the book. Like one moment I remember is lining up to receive food. I used to line up for 10 hours. You get there at seven o’clock when they just opened all these portions of corn from USAID and UNHCR. We had to line up to receive corn and beans, and if we are lucky, soy.

I remember just waiting. We waited and the sun was scorching hot at that time. We waited and waited and waited, and there was no tree so we could not sit in the shade. We waited, waited, and waited, and I just could not believe it. Because I knew that not that far away from camp was way better food that we do not have to line up for. We could just go to the farm and the farmers will share their food with us. Later on, in Malawi, the farmers had grown a lot of different food and will bring food to us and we’ll just exchange.

So for me, fast forward to being in the United States and knowing that aid agencies are donating millions of dollars or giving food to people who are capable and have farms all around them. And I’m like, Wait a minute, hold on to that—that’s giving, right? I took some corn that looked like the corn and beans we lined up for and I cooked it at Yale and put it on a platter and said, “We’re going to eat it.” No one wanted to touch it.

It is being able to have that corn and having people line up in a place where there is food for everybody. There is enough food for every human because we are sitting on the soil that is constantly giving us food if we maintain it, if we use the tools right, and if we communicate about it. So for me, sharing is what the earth has been doing for us, what the sky has been doing for us, that’s sharing. Sharing is coming from a place of abundance that there is enough, and giving is “I have and you have not, so here, you can have some.”

RH: Wow. Thank you. So what is your favorite food?

CW: I love food from all over the world, and I eat different meals depending on mood. Right now, I am into food from Burma. Oh, my gosh. If you ever come to San Francisco, I will take you to Mandalay. It is Burmese food. I don’t know what they do to get their spices and food, but they know what’s up. Burmese food is for your soul. So right now, I’m into Burmese food, but not just any Burmese food, I am into Mandalay’s food. I eat super lean and healthy because I need to take care of my blood, my heart, and body, but I go there to celebrate life. When I want to have different types of explosion in my mouth, I go to Mandalay.

RH: How then would you encourage others to engage with people who have gone through or are going through traumatic experiences like war, homelessness, immigration and documentation issues, and so forth?

CW: Well, the first thing is to say is that I’m not the only one. I’m not the only one who has the answer. That’s the beauty. You have answers, I have answers, and the readers have answers. I’m not the only one. That’s number one. Number two is that we need to investigate the words we use to communicate and share each person’s emotional pain and joy, allowing people to come up with their own language and articulating how they felt about a particular experience. One of the things that I realized is that I don’t like those words like “refugees,” “genocide,” and “wars” because you don’t get a sense of what is being experienced.

I am among those people that wish we could truly feel beyond words. How can we communicate our experiences better without words? I write about wars, of course, because I have been in three wars. Civil wars with people killing each other, but there are a lot of internal wars, and that’s why I say we all have the answers for how to engage. I am not the only one who has external and internal wars, and we all need to connect between the internal and external to be able to go beyond and engage.

RH: You speak several languages, have lived in nine countries, and traveled to several more after you moved to the United States. How do you define home?

CW: Oh, my gosh. Home is anyplace—anywhere where I am is home. But where I’m able to really get clear and communicate with those that I love. Having the idea of home is weird. I don’t even have the definition yet.

RH: One thing that I do find very intriguing about you is I get a sense that you’re fighting to own yourself. One statement that you said in a talk or I read in the book was, “Even the kind of individual with the best intentions did not make room for the particular person I was.” My question is, what particular person is Joyful? Who is Joyful beyond the human rights symbol that we’ve all gotten to know so far?

CW: I am still piecing together the human that I am. There is no frozen Joyful form. I’m the millions and millions and millions of particles that are moving into time and space. I’m sound and colors.

RH: Let’s talk about the words “joy” and “joyful.” From visiting your website and social media profiles, reading your book and articles on Medium.com, and listening to your talks, I get the sense that accessing and processing joy is very important to you. I am curious to know— why joy?

CW: Hmm! I hope that I do a better job of expressing and communicating where my joy comes from. The day I turned in the final draft of my book, in December, I threw a party and no one knew what the party was about. They thought I gathered a lot of people and had dinner, and they thought it was really beautiful. But that day I had just turned in my final draft, and I invited people into my home who probably will never see eye to eye, and if they do, there might be some conflict.

I set up my intention to be, “I want to be in a world that reflects my ways of being.” Which means no matter where you come from, no matter what has happened to you, in my home you’re welcome. You are welcome to be at your highest and most beautiful self, beyond labels that we’ve created, beyond borders that we’ve created, and beyond all these different languages that we’ve created to segregate ourselves and make ourselves alone and lonely.

Everyone came, and I cooked. I grew up with so many people from everywhere, and as a child I felt joy rather than separation. This is my mother’s practice! It’s my grandparent’s practice. It’s not like I just came up with it, but there is depth and joy to it. People stayed, and so I continued the practice and kept it going. I’ve done these gatherings so many times now.

The biggest boom of all these gatherings that I was creating happened when I attended the Black Joy Parade. It was a space to be creative, open, present, and free. A friend of a friend said to me, while we were at brunch—don’t quote me on this, but it was something like “I

want to march for my joy. I want to march for black joy. I need to balance it with marching for Black Lives Matter.”

When I got to the parade, it was all children. The majority of the Black Joy Parade was kids from all kinds of backgrounds, but mostly of color. The street was filled with beautiful girls wearing beautiful pink colors and twirling, and little boys with other young teens riding bicycles, doing tricks, and the music was going on. I thought, What is this? I am so happy. This is my joy that kids can play in the street freely. That’s my highest joy, because that’s how I grew up. We played on the street freely, and I just went absolutely crazy with so much joy at the sight.

I couldn’t contain myself, so I needed to find a place to sit. I sat at the center around these beautiful artists working, and I sat next to a beautiful woman painting with different colors. It was almost like a rainbow. She had deep oranges, yellow, black, and all these beautiful colors. I just sat there and watched her paint.

As I sat down, like maybe ten minutes goes by, this little girl walks in with her mom and they sit next to me. I look at her feet, and she was wearing beautiful gold shoes, her toes were painted purple, she was wearing a velvet dress, and she had this beautiful paint on her face. I asked her, “Who are you?” and she answered, “I am Radiant.” She then looked at me and said, “Your name is Joyful.” I replied, “My name is Clemantine,” and she goes, “No, your name is Joyful.” I replied, “I’m Joyful? Yes, I’m Joyful.”

I got renamed Joyful at the Black Joy Parade. I don’t know how to describe it to you, but I’ve always been joyful, and names means so much in the Rwandan culture. I had been taking a journey from 2004 to 2018 to learn how to best share our experiences, and arriving to that day at the parade was magical. This was February 2018, and the book was coming out two months later. Gaining a new name was a symbol, a reflection where I am and have always longed to be. The Girl Who Smiled Beads smiles through all the things and all of it. You throw her into fire, she smiles. I am joy. My joy is radiant.

RH: That’s an incredible story. So how then do you move through the world with joy?

CW: My name is Joyful, so whatever comes to me is joyful. There is definitely an opposite of joy, but what comes to me now is joy, not the opposite. If it is not joyful, it’s not going to come my way. It’s completely blocked. Right now, one of my greatest and highest practices is the practice of body. Waking up in the morning, listening to what my body is in need of, and

throughout the day really feeling it all. My body needs beautiful sounds to evolve and evoke it. I’m always telling my friends to share music or food with me. I tell them to share things that bring me joy, and I receive it with immense gratitude. It is one of my beautiful practices.

I move through the world with joy by practicing listening to what my body is saying. I was sick, and I’m going to honor being sick and listen to what the body is telling me. The body is telling me to rest.

RH: What is your biggest treasure?

CW: I will not tell anyone. That’s why it’s a treasure. Like never, ever tell anyone your treasure.

RH: What are you up to lately in addition to promoting your book?

CW: After a full year of book tour, I’m taking a few months to rest and recharge.

RH: What is next for you?

CW: I continue to reflect and feel the impact of The Girl Who Smiled Beads, and it is giving me perspective on new angles and ways to share. Keep an eye out for Joyful Projects— creatives making a difference from a place of joy, peace, and love. Also, chapter 14 of my memoir can give readers hints on what I am up to next.

“I move through the world with joy by practicing listening to what my body is saying.”

She pulled herself window into the to her own

through the narrow darkness, midwife rebirth.

Nancy A. Collins

radianthealthmag.com

Full circle.