Ebony

Ebony describes herself as quiet,spunky,detailed oriented,tech savy and loner. She lives with her husband in a large Midwestern city, works in healthcare at a hospital and is taking prerequisite courses to become a registered nurse. Her hobbies are DIY projects and extreme couponing; after four years of couponing for essentials, she now sells some of her stockpile. Her neighborhood makes her careful, early in the morning on the way to her car: i try to wait until my husband is home.

She lives with polycystic ovary syndrome. there is no cure for pcos and many doctors brush you off and say weight loss and birth control pills are the answer. And: it affects my relationships because i cant attend baby showers without crying. She is trying a holistic approach. She names this grief once, briefly, and moves on; this portrait does the same.

Her defining moments begin with her parents’ divorce when she was young, and a later discovery: i didnt know my father had a substance abuse issue and i realized i didn't want that in my life. After the divorce she and her mother lived with family, and i never saw her break down. She began a career in healthcare young. Then, at thirty, came eating healthy again … which resulted in me losing 80 pounds . i finally stuck to my goal. The reason was plain: I was tired of hiding in family pictures because of my weight. She did cardio and weights five times a week, gave up soda and fried food, and kept her before and after photos close.

It was just her and her mother growing up, and her mother didn't believe in wasting food; baked chicken is still her favorite. Now she aims for 50 grams of protein a day: a shake, a chicken salad, tuna and greens, mandarins. She learned carb cycling online. my food is a recipe that usually has a lot of different peppers and onions because i love color and a hint of spice. She loves her air fryer, and you can make anything with cauliflower as long as you season it well. A vegan diet is not for her: i like cheese. Her niece eats the same way, and is also her 2 a.m. person: she will tell me if i'm overreacting about a situation.

In 2020 her hospital’s allied health staff faced a possible unpaid strike. Her lesson: always have savings account and supplemental income. Her superpower is a poker face at work, because patients can sense if you're unsure about something. Her weakness: i always take on other peoples issues and put mine on the back burner. That week she began to silence her phone for an hour after work, which helps my headaches. She counts her blessings concretely: i have a place to sleep, the ability to pay for food, reliable transportation, warm clothes and family that loves me.

Her Day 5 goal is the most specific in her diary: to stop eating junk food when premenstrual cravings come. She will use a period app to note emotions, cravings and weight changes, and meal prep once a week. At stake, my weight loss of 80 pounds which took me a year to achieve. Her vision board reads health is wealth and shows nursing school and a home with a greenhouse. Her plan is a nurse’s plan: observe, record, then act. Her letter imagines graduation day: im happy that you didn't stop trying to achieve your goal no matter how many times others told you to stop wasting your time.