Understanding Calorie Counting: A Final Word

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

by Erika

For our first series ever, Black Girl’s Guide To Weight Loss will be explaining calorie counting, and ways to win the war. This is post 6 of the series – post 1, Defining The Basics of Calorie Counting, can be found here. Comments are always welcomed, and questions will always be answered to the best of my ability.

onion Believe me, I know just how exhaustive this guide is. I know how daunting this task is. I KNOW how easy it is to talk yourself out of bothering with this mess – “I’m already sexy, I already have a man… what do I need to put myself through this for?” or even “I’m skinny now.. I don’t need to lose weight… why do I need to know this?” I know. I KNOW how much of a struggle this can be for the woman who is used to having everything she wants… food included. I know! But for me, the breaking point was my desire to be healthier (and – I won’t lie – skinnier) became larger than my desire to eat a whole Bloomin’ Onion at Outback (2,310 calories, 134g of fat, 241g of carbs; thanks chowbaby) for dinner instead of an actual dish.

Becoming healthier is about a commitment to self. It’s about committing the same to ourselves as we commit to others. Are we not worth it? As much as I love my daughter, and as much as I give up for her (giving her my last ginger snap? now, that is love) I had to realize that taking time to work out wasn’t about selfishness… it’s about her just as much as it is me. It’s about being around to watch her walk down the aisle. To be there for her when she and her hubby give me grandchildren… 30 years from now. It’s about making sure that I’m in optimal health when I’m in my 50s, so that I’m not bedridden and 600lbs overweight because I wanted to overdo it on the Oreo Shakes from Baskin Robbins (2600 calories, 135g fat, 263g sugars, 1700mg sodium – yes… all of that in a shake.)

I’m not trying to live that life. Once it hit me that every little step I take makes a difference, that each little step built upon the last? I was on it. Before I knew it, my snowflake was a snowball… and was causing an avalanche. So no, my adventure in calorie counting didn’t last a couple of weeks, with me starting by going cold turkey and stopping with a vengeance. It lasted months, with lots of failures. In some ways, it’s still going on… it’s simply evolved along with my journey and my goals.

This isn’t simple. As evidenced by the mass number of women who tell me allllll the time, “I know what to do, I just don’t know how to do it.” If it were that easy, all of these women who know WHAT to do, wouldn’t be lost on how to begin. Start slow. Take your time. Accept your failures and use them to make yourself stronger. Admit that you can’t drive down a certain road. Admit that you can’t visit a certain restaurant. You may even need to admit that you need a friend to go with you to the grocery. That is perfectly okay. It’s intention is to make you healthier. Use it to get you there, and I have every faith in the world that you will, indeed, get there.

Be healthy!

Looking for other posts in the Understanding Calorie Counting series? Check the links below!

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3 Comments

Oct 23, 2009

Reecie

you definitely used a shake as your example on purpose. I knows it! LOL. But yeah, I know I won’t count calories everyday, but doing it reaffirmed that I was pretty accurate in my mental estimations. I will try to keep it up especially on days I think that I want to “treat myself”. and as you said its a good way to be knowledgeable about the gross amount of calories some of our favorite foods have! and encourage you to live healthier.

good series.
Oct 23, 2009

Erika

LOLOL Reecie, I swear I didn’t, but damn if it wasn’t appropriate!

I feel you, though – some of us have that gauge already, and simply benefit from the occasional tune up. If you know your day might be light on the calorie side and you can tame your cravings, you’ll probably be good to hit up the donut joint or The Cookout (I’m snarling as I type that, by the way LOL) and can keep that in mind.

I’m also with you on the treating yourself thing! That one little sentence said a lot! It was a long time before I could understand that “treating yourself” didn’t mean “every day with the junk food,” so I have a new appreciation for that! Planning that in advance, being mindful of it thru the day, building excitement and still being able to indulge at evening time? Definitely. Sounds like it might be a new post, lol.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jul 1, 2010

cynthia

ericka Im going back thru the post for the correct cals for my weight. if you have it handy can I have it . please

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