Garbage in...

Yesterday, I had a rousing conversation with someone who took my Zumba Fitness class for the first

time. She wanted to know if the hour of movement she'd just completed could have possibly burned any of the cheeseburger, fries, onion rings and Coca-Cola she'd consumed during the day. I, of course could not provide her a true answer since I didn't know: how much she'd moved, the intensity of her movements, her weight, how much food she'd consumed, etc. But I had to let her know that she could not outrun a bad diet!

I get it...I have often convinced myself that I could eat something I really wanted since I was planning on working out later. It was usually something chock full of sugar which means that, I would have a "sugar crash" shortly afterwards, and unless I had a scheduled class would not want to do any kind of activity. Or when I did make it to the gym would put in only half the effort.

March is National Nutrition month (I'm not sure who comes up with these and why we buy into them, but hey, I read it somewhere) so I figured it would be a good time to talk about food, food, food.

We all love food...why not. I personally prefer my food dipped in chocolate and fried. Or doughy, cheesy and gooey...and dipped in chocolate and fried. Even though I'm vegetarian, I don't particularly care for the taste of vegetables (bean sprouts ewww...ok truthfully I've never tasted it, but it just looks
weird!), and it just takes so much effort!


But clearly my dietary choices have not particularly served me well and I've become more conscious of what I put into my body. GIGO works in the computer world as it does in our bodies: Garbage in, garbage out.

Or if you prefer, what you sow is what you reap.

Which  means that we can't eat foods high in simple sugars (chocolate, sodas/soft drinks, pastries, juice, candy, white bread, white rice, white pasta, white flour, etc) and unhealthy fats (deep fried anything)  and expect a beautiful heart forever. Or a pancreas that will continuously pump out insulin in an effective manner, or young looking beautiful skin. At some point, the garbage will come out, and health will be affected.

We are often surprised when athletes and people that are constantly in motion, are diagnosed with serious medical problems, but I've learned that oftentimes athletes are just as guilty as the rest of us in indulging in quick, unhealthy meals that do not support optimal body functions.

So I challenge you today to be mindful of what you eat....add a vegetable or two to each meal (yes even your breakfast). Increase your fiber intake (all fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes etc), and drink more water. Decrease your sugar, fat and sodium intake; avoid processed foods which are generally higher at least in sugar and sodium. And most importantly, savor each meal.

Happy healthy eating!
Half-stepping diva

P.S. Happy 58th Independence day, Ghana! 

Getting started

The last time I was in Ghana, everyone commented on how much weight I had gained. Most people hadn't seen me in years and immediately noticed that I was carrying some extra...ahem.."curves". I took this in stride though I had myself been having internal battles about my weight and resolved that something had to be done pronto.

My first time on the treadmill, I started a brisk walk at 3.5 mph; shortly after I had to take that down to 2.0 mph. I breathlessly stayed on there for about 15 minutes before giving up. A friend had started instructing a class called Zumba Fitness and had asked me to come to the class to support her. I had never heard of it but was delighted to be there at her debut. After the warm up song, I thought my heart was going to beat itself out of my chest and plop onto the floor. I hung in there, completely convinced that it would just take the next song to get me closer to my demise. It was a wonderful experience that had me wishing I could come back the next day for more!  I took my first yoga class shortly after Zumba. I was amazed that the instructor's gut stretched out further past mine; how could she be the instructor. I had to pick my face off the floor when she folded herself into a nice pretzel shortly afterwards...I had clearly misjudged that book by the cover! I struggled through the poses and noticed that I was the youngest in the class and the least flexible!

It took a few false starts for me to get to working out. Other than Zumba, I had a hard time getting to the gym. I would get home from work "exhausted", eat and sit in front of the TV for a few minutes which would quickly stretch into an hour and then two and then wow, the gym is closing in 30 minutes, I'll just have to wake up really early tomorrow so that I can go before work. Or other times I'll get home, change and eat something and then "let the food digest a bit". This digestion process would generally take about 2 hours and by the time I realized it was too late. Or sometimes it would rain...who wants to walk 20 brief seconds in the rain, drive 5 minutes and then take another brief 20 second walk in the rain, anyhow.

Many other times I would actually get into the gym, start working out only to experience a cramp, or my chest might start to hurt, or shin hurt or something else would flare up, like the heartburn that only showed up when I was working out...and well  I couldn't work out through any of that, so my run would slow into a walk and I would abandon the workout all together.

I soon realized that I wasn't going to get anywhere with this inconsistency at the gym. I was able to figure out all the self-placed obstacles/ excusese and worked on removing them. I prepped my food for the day to include a snack that I could eat shortly before my workout. I can't quite remember what I would eat during that beginning stage, but my pre-workout snacks have included a banana and peanuts/peanut butter, 8 oz chocolate milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, yogurt with pineapple, cereal with milk, trail mix, and a granola bar. I also started watching my spicy food intake: I realized that I could eat spicy foods until about 1pm after which I would need some kind of antacid to combat the heartburn. I learned breathing exercises that would help me through the side cramps and learned to ignore the pain anywhere else. I also organized my workout clothes separately so that I didn't have to spend time digging through to find something decent to wear.


As my workouts increased I subscribed to anything that had to do with weight loss. I read all those articles, you know which ones...10 things you must do at the gym, 10 other things you should be doing, Are you sabotaging your workout, 50 ways to eat fruit, 50 more ways to eat fruit, 10 superfoods of 2009, new superfoods of 2010, the superfoods of the future you should be eating now! Supplements, are they for you? Your 21 day workout plan, Your 21 day total body work plan, Your 21 day abs workout plan, Did you stretch your booty today?
What? Ok, i'm making them up, but I have read a lot of articles about health and fitness since 2009. I also signed up for various online journal sources, or health vaults and trackers and food diaries etc.

So with my new found dedication, my new knowledge about how to lose weight, I plowed ahead expecting pounds to fall off as easily as I'd gained them. After about a month of getting into my groove, I stepped on the scale to find that I had lost 0 pounds! I was completely shattered. It didn't work! I was eating like they said, I was working out....I was in the gym as much as those working there for goodness sakes!

Once I calmed down, well after I binged on some chocolate in response, I pulled out one of those articles...it promised that I would "Lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks". What? Sign me up! The program would meet me at whatever speed I could run, which by this time had climbed up to about 4.0mph or a 15 min mile pace on the treadmill. I started the 6 week challenge and by the end of the year run for 5 miles at 5.0mph or a 12 min mile. And the scale, she moved! Not quite 10 pounds, but I saw my first significant change.

Lessons learned.
1. Start where you are most comfortable; the beginning of your new lifestyle should not be when you try something new.
2. If you're not enjoying your workout, you will not be consistent
3. Spending time working out does not automatically result in change; effort is just as important as showing up
4. It's easy to make excuses as to why we don't do something, and it's easy to talk ourselves into believing the excuse
5. Some of us need a program to stay on course: for me the running program allowed me to try harder each day
6. Motivation is important and oftentimes in life, we have to learn how to motivate ourselves.

In the first few months of starting my new lifestyle, I learned that there was much work to be done. It wasn't as easy as it had been in the past and I had a lot to learn about myself and my body. I truly thought at the time that it wouldn't take me very long to get the weight off, but have since learned that like many other aspects of our life, weight loss requires finding the right formula for our individual situation. It has taken me about 4 years to find that formula and I certainly hope it takes you much less time than that.

Half-stepping diva

Your Vote is Your Power

I voted I voted!! This was my first year to be part of the selection process of the leadership of my country. I left Ghana when I was 15 and never got to participate in that process.  Last year I finally became eligible to vote in the country I’ve been calling home for almost 15 years. It was very exciting to be part of the process especially given the tension surrounding this particular election and the relevance of the leader selected for the next four years.

It took me about 3 tries to get registered…I finally realized I could register online and in a few clicks was officially registered. I waited nervously to receive a sample ballot in the mail, in the meantime I kept checking the registrar’s record online to see if my registration had gone through. Did that a few times before my name popped up and I got my poll location. Yay! Finally I was in! I absolutely enjoyed receiving the sample ballot and going through them and picking my choice. I had studied up on the propositions as well and was fully prepared to add my selection….Oooh this is what democracy feels like.

Election Day was like Christmas for me! It really felt good to perform my civic duty; I guess a big part of it was a sense of belonging that I finally felt. And it felt amazing! The actual process of voting was rather uneventful…the most exciting part was the overbearing poll worker that was helping the other poll workers get through what they had already done. And the poll pen that I used to pick my choices was capped and my slippery hands could not pry the cap open…I guess I was a tad nervous. So I called the overprotective poll worker over and in a few attempts, I was ready to go. The process reminded me a bit of a scantron test…the worst is to get to the end and realize that you had missed one or a couple of boxes…who came up with that idea anyway? There is so much room for error on a scantron sheet! Anyways, it didn’t take long and it was done. In fact I probably spent more time taking pictures than the whole process of voting! And I got to go into work a bit late so that I could exercise my right to vote!

November 6^th proved to be a day of smiles...until about 7pm when the tallies started coming in. I was at the gym where I had just finished teaching a Zumba® Fitness class. I watched nervously with other gym enthusiasts who obviously didn’t want election results to interrupt their workouts. At some point when Present Obama was projected to win, none of us believed it…we figured that they were just getting our hopes up...after all California had just closed the polls. The nervousness was quickly replaced by excitement when I called a friend who had more faith in our media than I…Yay! My preferred candidate had made it! And I felt proud to be a part of picking him. This is what democracy feels like!

As quickly as they came, the elections were over and the influx of stories replaced the excitement of the reelection of President Barack Obama. One of the stories was from a friend whose grandma, at age 79, had transported some voters to the polls to ensure that their voice could be heard and this got me thinking!

In all my excitement of being a part of the process, I had forgotten that as recently as the 1960’s many people in the United States were not allowed to be part of the election process. In many parts of Africa, people were still under colonial rule…which meant they had no rights in their own land. The significance of my participation in the election grew. It wasn’t just about getting my voice heard…after all ONE singular vote never determined the outcome of an election. It was also about being able to exercise my rights in this country.

When I was in college, I learned about the freedom fighters, the civil rights workers and how they tolled to ensure that people of color were recognized first as full human beings and then given the same rights as any and everyone else. I remember the outrage I felt…it was the same outrage I felt when I learned about the history of Ghana and how several European countries had come in and exchanged alcohol, tobacco and guns first gold and ivory and later for people.  My parents were born during the time of colonization and during a time when blacks in the United States did not have many rights….it really was not that long ago.

My pride in voting in 2012 has swelled since my actual participation. This is my way of thanking my fallen ancestors and letting them know that their fight was not in vain. This is not just for my African ancestors, but also my African American ancestors.

 

It was not coincidental that during the decade when blacks in America were earning rights, blacks in Africa were witnessing a glimmer of hope.  We have certainly come a long way and though there is much work to be done, it is wonderful to see the manifestation of all the blood, tears and sweat that went into our freedom.

 

 

 

This Veteran's Day, I'd like to thank all those who have been part of the fight to ensure that we continue in our quest for peace and freedom.

Half-stepping diva