It's the Food

Posted by Ashley:

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been running. I run 2-3 times a week these days. I started to notice that my body was slimming as fat was turning to muscle. However, the scale wasn’t budging…I wasn’t losing any weight. How does someone go from barely exercising to running up to 12 miles a week and not see a dramatic drop in the poundage? I asked one of my good friends who is also a runner if she had the same issue and she said, “It’s the food…If you change your eating habits, you’ll see results.” I talked to a few other folks, including my dad who is getting skinnier and skinnier every time I see him and they concurred…it’s the food.

I don’t eat a lot really, but I don’t eat the right things. My fiancé is West African and craves high carbohydrate foods like rice and fufu so that’s what we eat almost daily. Fortunately, he also makes a lot of healthy soups and sauces to go over the rice. Although carbs in general are good for runners, they’re horrible for weight loss. In fact, one psychologist that I’ve talked to who specializes in the black female psyche, told me that carbs and sugars help contribute to depression. I needed to make some dramatic changes, not just for my weight but for my overall health.

My same runner friend introduced me to an awesome website called myfitnesspal.com. It’s essentially a food diary that tracks your caloric and nutritional intake as well as your weight loss. There are tons of other websites out there that do the same thing so if you decide to go this route, be sure to check them all out before you settle. I’ve never been good at keeping a food diary but there’s something about being able to input all my information online, or on my ipod (there’s an app for that) that makes it simple and enjoyable. I typed in my current weight and goal weight and the program mapped out how many calories I should aim for every day and how many minutes of exercise. So yes, I’ve become one of those people who obsesses about how many calories they eat everyday. But the cool thing is I’m not on a diet. I can eat what I want as long as it’s in moderation and I stay within my goals (check out the new recipes I posted!) I make sure I still get my essential vitamins and minerals and I exercise. In my first week, I lost 1.5 lbs. The scale actually changed! It’s a few weeks later and I haven’t weighed in…partially because I don’t own a digital scale yet but also because I want to see a super dramatic change when I do decide to weigh in. Counting calories isn’t for everyone but so far I think it’s working for me. My clothes fit loosely and people have asked me if I’ve lost weight. I just hope that this food diary thing can stick for awhile…even after I’ve met my goal.

Are there methods you use to help lose or maintain your weight? Comment and let’s get a conversation started about this.