G E M I N ISpring 201 2

Brittany JemisonLiving Life

100PoundsLighter

Model Brittany JemisonStyled by Faithe Dennis and Crystal SmithHair and Makeup by Kortney Moffett of Dull to DivaPhotography by James Lewis of Noire 3000.

O n T h e C o v e r

G E M I N IGemini Magazine, LLC

Atlanta, GAwww.thegeminimag.com

(c) Copywritten by Gemini Magazine, LLC2012

All rights reserved

Are you interested in becoming a part ofthe Gemini team?

We are currently taking photograph andarticle submissions for the Summer andFall. For more information, please visit

www.thegeminimag.com.

Celebrate your business! Allow Gemini toplay an important

part in marketing your company. Formore information please

visit www.thegeminimag.com

So this is what mile 1 0 looks l ike. What can be

seen is the salt-fi lm mustache (no way to avoid

that one), the dazed look (the bright sun wasn’t

helping much either), and the sweat drenched

headband. What cannot be seen is the 3.1 miles

left to go. I have challenged myself to a lot of

things during this time of change in my life, but

this particular 1 3.1 meant more to me than any

other mile I have ever run. . .walked. . .or crawled.

Never in a mil l ion years did I ever think running

anything would become a passion (let alone 1 3.1

miles), but at this moment--this 1 0 mile moment--

the change I had implemented in my life was ever

so apparent. This was a milestone. I t was the

mark of change being a very good thing.

Our first issue of 201 2 (yes. . . it’s real ly been that

long) is dedicated to al l of the women who stood

at mile 1 0 because they decided to take a step

toward change. Of course not every l ife change comes in the form of 1 0k’s and half

marathons. Our cover girl , Brittany Jemison, took on the challenge of healing her pain and

dropping over 1 00 pounds! Her story of transformation is honest and inspiring.

Gemini has been transforming too! We added a new section (Fast 5) that al lows you to get

our top picks for Beauty, Skin, Fashion, Food, and (a personal favorite) my Perfect Pick of

the month.

I am so excited about the ideas and changes that wil l come as the months pass. This June,

in conjunction with Natural ly Me, Gemini wil l be challenging al l of you to become a better,

healthier version of yourself (and win prizes too). This summer we wil l begin to incorporate

more pages with more amazing things to be read and shared.

Change is good. I t should be welcomed with open arms. Do not be afraid of that huge

journey. Anything is possible with a l ittle faith, a l ittle strength, and a little change. Good

luck!

Next Issue:

Gemini Magazine, in

conjunction with

Natural ly Me and

Honey Bun Boutique,

wil l reveal our

challenge to women

of every shape, size

and color to get 5k or

1 0k ready for the first

ever Black Girls Run!

Race in Atlanta, GA

this September. Dust

off the tennis shoes,

pul l out those sports

bras, and get ready

to be open, honest,

and very sweaty.

Change Is Good

Sommer J.

Ever finished working out and noticed that sweat has reeked havoc onyour edges? The EdgeStick is a professional heated hair styling toolsuitable for all hair types and textures. What makes this so different fromyour trusty flat iron? NO BURNS! The EdgeStick's double­comb designprotects the skin while catching the smallest hair at the hairline.Oringinaledgestick.com, $80

B e a u t yFast 5

The best solution to battling the summer heat and a post­workout do is thedrawstring pony. It is simple to use and adds a smash of color, curl, length,and shine to the ordinary ponytail. They come in all different lengths,colors, and styles. Visit your local beauty supply store and have fun withdifferent styles.Local Beauty Supply Stores, $10

For your skin, there is a battlebetween the sunny summer daysand keeping its moisture. Luckily,there is a perfect solution to helpprotect skin from daily sunexposure that is specificallyformulated to moisturize andprotect (and who doesn't wantthat). This light, fast­absorbingformula with SPF 15 sunscreenprovides 24­hour moisture andhelps defend against sunburn.Eucerinus.com, $10

Whether you are running a 13.1 or walking to the car,the summer heat can suck the life out of your skin. Bythe time you finish your workout or running your errands,your face feels dirty from all of the sticky heat (andsweat). La Fresh Eco­Beauty wipes are the perfectsolution. With a blend of Aloe, Cucumber, Papaya,Pineapple, Marshmallow, Jojoba, Vitamin C & Vitamin Ehow could you go wrong? Free of oil, parabens,sulfates, alcohol, petrochemicals, glycols, dyes, PEGs,fragrances & animal byproducts. A perfect quick facialcleanser for your on­the­go summer lifestyle.Lafreshgroup.com, $10

Summer heat does not just effect your skin. It canalso effect your lips and in a big big way. No matterthe weather, hot or cold, Yes To Carrots USDAOrganic Lip Butters conditions, invigorates, andrevitalizes your lips, moisturizing to keep them thesmooth and soft.Yestocarrots.com, $13 for 5

S k i n

When doing high impact activity,compression is your friend. Thematerial holds most jiggly parts inplace while you get to work. TheBCG™ Women's CompressionContrast Stitch Short is constructedfrom 79% polyester and 21% spandexmoisture­wicking material for tightcompression with a 4­way stretch.The short features contrast flatlockstitching and a full elastic, coveredwaistband.Academy.com, $13

When working out, every piece of your fitness wear wardrobe is important...yes, even the socks. Thisrevolutionary sock from Balega is built around a new cushioning material that promises to add a little"bounce" to your step, Soft Tread. Anatomically shaped pads of Soft Tread protect your feet in highimpact areas. Extreme vibration damping allowing you to cross all terrain with ease and comfort. The SoftTread by Balega promotes rapid evaporation and keeps your feet cool and dry.Runningwarehouse.com, $13

With the heat already beamingthis summer, staying cool isparamount during a workout.This Nike top is made with Dri­FIT fabric technology that helpswick­away moisture to keepyou cool and dry during yourworkout.Academy.com, $12

F a s h i o n

We all sleep late. We all get absent minded when it comes to breakfast (or lunch).Bolthouse Farms Protein Plus shakes are the perfect option for an on­the­go meal (orsnack). Snag a refreshing Mango Protein Plus and head out of the door without thefear of tearing through the doughnuts in the office kitchen. Its packed with 30gprotein per 15.2 oz. bottle, made with 90% real fruit juice, no preservatives, nothingartificial, and no GMO.Local Retailer, $3

Shirataki (shee­rah­TAH­kee) noodles are thin, lowcarb, chewy, and translucent traditional Japanesenoodles. They are also sometimes called konnyakunoodles. Shirataki noodles are thinner than wheatnoodles, do not break as easily, and have a differenttexture. They are mostly composed of a dietary fibercalled glucomannan and contain very few calories andcarbohydrates (sometimes even zero). They do nothave much flavor by themselves, but absorb flavors wellfrom other ingredients you can combine them with.Shirataki noodles are made from Konjac flour, whichcomes from the roots of the yam­like Konjac plantgrown in Japan and China.

Shirataki noodles are packaged "wet", that is, youpurchase them pre­packaged in liquid, and they areready­to­eat out of the package. You can prepare themby boiling them briefly or running them under hot water,then combining them with other dishes, or adding thingslike tofu, garlic, spinach, or soy sauce to enhance theflavor.Local Retailer, $3

F o o d

P e r f e c t P i c kFor the readers who may not

know, I am an easy kinda gal.

I l ike the pretty fri l ly stuff, sure,

but a good old tee suits me

just fine on any day ending in

'y'. Being an active mother of

two and wife of one, I have to

be ready at a moments notice

for just about anything and

this Old Navy Ribbed Knit

Henley ($9) does the job oh

so well .

I can throw it on before taking

the kids to school in the

morning, or I can unbotton a

few buttons before taking the

Husband on an easy night of

dinner and movies. The light

breezy material is perfect for

afternoon ball games at the

stadium. This is indeed my

perfect pick for spring and

summer--for $9 with lots of

juicy colors it cannot be beat.

Sommer J.

When I have read

weight loss stories they

always seemed too

good to be true. More

often than not they

gave me a false sense

of hope. Eat this, try

not to eat that, work

out this much, try not to

work out that muchIit

al l seemed so over the

top. Could our bodies

actual ly respond to

such torture? Were we

created to deprive

ourselves of one thing

over another for the

sake of being sl immer?

I guessed not and

decided to embark on

a journey that would

change my life in every

way. Sometimes, the

very thing we see on

the outside is more

than just too much or

too little of one thing.

Often times, it is a very

real hurt on the inside.

Welcome to the

Journey.

FindingBrittany

Hello, my name is Brittany Jemison

and I am addicted to food. The first

step to recovery is admitting there is a

problem, so I have been told. I f there

is one lesson I have held close

throughout this journey is to never be

ashamed of where you are in your l ife.

Acknowledging your current state is a

step forward towards where you want

to be. Too often the struggle between

where we are and where we want to

be makes starting or even accepting

the problem impossible thus we are

unable to move forward in the

process.

Morbidly obese—those are tough

words to hear and an even tougher

label to be slapped with, but at 300

pounds that is exactly what I was.

Honestly, I doubt I got there because

there is a fast food restaurant on every

corner or because I have an

obsessive love of sugary foods. I got

to morbidly obese status because I am

an emotional eater. What does that

mean? For me, that means for

everything I feel I deal with it in terms

of food. When I was happy I ate.

When I was sad I ate. When I was

angry I ate. When I was excited I ate.

When I was depressed I ate. When I

was stressed I ate. When I was

abusedII.I ate.

I discovered my obsession with food

when I real ized it consumed my

thoughts 24 hours/7 days a week, and

yes that does at times include dreams.

I could be eating a meal and half way

through I was already thinking about

the next one. Leftovers in the fridge

never stayed there long because they

would be on my mind unti l they were

in my belly. I f they were really good,

they would not even make it to the

fridge because I would eat unti l there

was nothing left, usually ignoring the

fact that I was so ful l my stomach hurt.

The breaking point came when I was

in college and I had gained so much

weight that I reached 300 pounds.

One evening, probably due to sadness

or depression more so than sheer lack

of judgment, I ordered a large pizza,

boneless buffalo wings, cheesy bread

and a 2 liter bottle of Sprite from Papa

Johns and ate it al l in one sitting. My

stomach hurt so badly and my heart

was racing so fast that I felt l ike if I ate

one more of anything I would die

(l iteral ly). I did not want to die eating.

That is not how I want to be

remembered. From that very moment I

decided I wanted to eat to l ive not l ive

to eat.

I have tried everything under the sun

to lose weight except surgery. The

Lemonade Diet, South Beach Diet,

Herbalife pil ls, Quick Weight Loss

Centers, Lipoloss, Xenadrine, and

Phentermine just to name a few. I

spent countless hours and money only

to arrive at the same result every

single time: I could drop dramatic

amounts of weight the first couple of

weeks (which was water weight by the

way) and then due to my own

unrealistic goals, I would get

discouraged and revert back to my old

ways. Needless to say all of the quick

This is me at my heaviest, 300 pounds.Do not get me wrong, I stil l looked good,

but I definitely was not healthy.

fixes resulted in major fai lure. I

gained the weight back plus more.

One of the many unfortunate side

effects of yo-yo dieting (besides

having your metabolism slow to a

crawl) is skin sagging. Sti l l unhappy

with the small results I had, the

realization came that I was searching

for a temporary solution to a

persistent problem instead of a

permanent solution for a deeply-

rooted, long term problem.

Imagine a car tire blowing out and

putting a spare on the car.

Instantaneously, the problem has

been solved, but there are l imitations.

The spare tire is designed to be used

as an emergency measure, not for

long term use. When using a spare,

you can only go so fast or travel so far

before the spare tire ceases to work.

When dieting, you can only eat certain

things or do so little the diet does not

work. In both cases it boils down to

the responsibi l ity of the operator

(driver/dieter) to seek a permanent

solution. I have learned that you need

to find out the cause of the weight

gain and work through the issues.

For some of us, the answer to why

the weight gain occurred is simple.

We go through pregnancies, medical

traumas, and times of stress where

we either overeat or are affected by

an outside component l ike medication

which causes the gain. However, most

of us tend to bury things or pretend

we have gotten over issues when

deep down we know it is sti l l there

and it sti l l hurts.

I learned through therapy, which I

highly recommend, that burying and

pretending is just sweeping the issues

under the rug. Because you have not

dealt with them they are sti l l there,

you have just managed to suppress

them temporari ly. Unfortunately the

issues slowly creep back into your l ife

and show up in various areas—one of

which is weight. The purchase of a

new tire and the time it takes to get it

fixed properly may not be considered

a wanted (and fun) experience, but

piece of mind you experience getting

back on the road without concerns is

well worth it. The same can be said

about our bodies and the issues that

bleed into our l ives through weight

gain and emotional eating.

Personally, therapy was a major

turning point in my life to a healthier

Brittany. I t was hell rel iving traumatic

events and having to come face to

face with issues that I had no

intentions of acknowledging. I even

gained weight during this time. I was

dealing with some deeply rooted

issues I was not prepared for so I

turned to my best friend that never

judged me, expected anything from

me, and comforted meI.food. Food

was my best friend and my worst

enemy at the same time. Unlike a

smoker or drinker, I needed food to

survive so I could not cut it off, shut it

out or replace it with something else.

I had to stare it head on and make

some of the hardest decisions in my

life.

Therapy revealed that it was not the

food’s responsibi l ity to comfort me or

help me deal with my emotions. I ts

purpose is to fuel the body, and I had

unrealistic expectations for it. I t was

not the food who had betrayed me. I

had been misusing food because that

was the only thing I could control

when everyone around me was

misusing me.

The secret to shedding major pounds

is (drum roll please). . . EATING

HEALTHY AND EXCERCISING!! ! ! ! !

Who would have thought that real ly

worked right?! See the problem with

diets is that it is a temporary fix to a

l ifelong problem. We diet when we

want to get into a certain outfit, or for

a certain season or when we are just

fed up with being overweight, but the

Calorie Round UpWant to know just how

many cals Brittany took in

with her Papa Johns

extravaganza? We have

the numbers right here.

Large Cheese Pizza

2,320 Calories

720g Fat

Cheese Bread

1 ,295 Calories

56g Fat

Buffalo Wings

850 Calories

65g Fat

2 Liter Sprite

800 Calories

0g Fat

208g Sugar

Total Meal

5,265 Calories

841 g Fat

problem is that diets don’t work. I t is

about a l ifestyle change. Diets do not

last for l ife which is why they have

such a high fai lure rate. You must

learn how to eat properly and be

honest with yourself. Saying no more

eating cake, pizza, hamburgers or

drinking again because of being on a

diet is setting yourself up to fai l .

I have found that if I deprive myself ofthese things then it leads to cheats

which is the beginning to the end. We

always want what we cannot have

and the more it is considered off l imits

the more we want it. My plan of action

was to eat clean during the week and

allow myself to have what I wanted on

the weekend but for only one day.

Eating clean for me consists of fresh

fruits and veggies, lean meats such

as turkey and chicken, and anything

that is not processed, loaded with salt

and sugar, or prepackaged.

For the one day I chose to eat what I

please, in no way am I eating

whatever I want the whole day. I al low

myself to have what I want within

reason. For example, I love burritos,

pizza, and burgers. Instead of going

to Pizza Hut, McDonalds, or Taco Bell

I try to find a healthier version that sti l l

gives me the feeling and taste of

eating outside of my norm, but it stays

on the l ighter side. I eat at Chipotle

which serves all organic and fresh

ingredients for a healthier burrito. I

stop by Subway for a fresh veggie

pizza, and if I want a burger I find a

place that serves fresh turkey burgers.

One of the most important steps to

my successful weight loss has been

having a personal trainer. Many

people protest at the sound of those

two words “personal trainer” with an

immediate “I can’t afford it”, but when

we look at how much is spent on on

all the weight loss programs that

fai led, and how much is spent on

extracurricular activities such as

shopping or going out with the girls

the perception changes. I felt a trainer

was critical to keeping me alive, and,

yes, it was just that serious. I cut

back in the areas of financial

nonsense and made room in my

budget.

Personally, I needed someone to

push me, motivate me, and scold me,

but not everyone can make such

room, no matter how much they cut

out of their financial l ives. For those

people who cannot make the room,

there are tons and tons of workout

videos, programs, groups,

recreational centers, and so on that

can help with the fitness part of l iving

a healthier l ifestyle. . You might have

to kiss a few frogs before you find

your prince, meaning you might go

through a few trainers, groups, and

videos before you find one that fits

your needs and that is ok. I went

through three trainers before I found

the one for me, Davius Bil l ingslea of

MaxResults. I work out with him 3-4

times a week and it is far from easy,

even at this size. There are more

times than not that I do not want to

workout but I have to keep pushing

and my trainer helps. He always

encourages me to keep going.

Losing weight has been the most

difficult chal lenge I have ever faced in

my life. The stories I have read and

the many shows I have seen do not

truly represent a realistic view the

determination it takes to continue to

move forward on the journey to a

healthier l ife. My weight represents

every negative experience I have

gone through and shedding the weight

is letting go of al l the hurt, anger,

negativity and disappointment that

control led my life for so long. I am a

strong believer in others finding what

works for them. Some people turn to

surgery to correct their weight issues,

while others find success in other

ways. Some people choose to just

stay exactly where they are and I do

not judge. What ever chosen method

for a person to really happy in their

own skin, if the outcome is optimal

A MidsummerNight's

Dream

Oh, thesummer

night, Hasa smile oflight, Andshe sits ona sapphire

throne.~ Barry Cornwall

health and wellness that is al l that should matter.

With al l of the bad things at our disposal, there

are tons of good things for us to turn to as well .

Just remember no matter what keep moving and

putting one foot in front of the other. Weight loss

or not, make the effort to become the healthiest

version of yourself. Your l ife wil l thank you laterII

know mine did!

Brittany Jemison is a plus size model and healthy livingadvocate.

We would l ike to extend a special thank you to

Brittany Jemison for being brave enough to share

her story with the world. I t is not every day a woman

is wil l ing to share her scale numbers with complete

strangers.

We would also l ike to thank Faithe Dennis and

Crystal Smith for styl ing Brittany Jemison with the

perfect wardrobe for our cover. Kortney Moffett of

Dull to Diva did an amazing job on hair and make up

and we cannot thank her enough.

Mr. James Lewis of Noire 3000 has an amazingly

beautiful portfol io and we were so lucky to have the

abil ity to showcase his incredible work. We cannot

wait to work with al l of you in the very near future.

Gemini Magazine would not be what it is without the

diverse community of women who read the

publication. Our special thank you's go out to the

team of professionals who created such an amazing

look for the Haitian-American beauty, Diana Gaitirira,

and the Caucasion-Japanese beauty, Maya Nozaki

(the MUA for the shoot as well as the model). Thank

you to photographerQiao Qiao Jade, hair styl ist

Snacks Viva, and wardrobe styl ist Kelly D.

Campbell .

Do you have talent in front or behind a camera?

Are you extremely gifted with a pen (or keyboard

these days)? Do you know of a worthy cover

girl? We need you to showcase your amazing

work and to nominate a person of inspiration so

their story can be heard. Please send all inquiries

to Geminimagazine@gmail .com.

Finding Brittany continued from page 14

G E M I N I