SheBlogs: a new series highlighting awesome bloggers you need to know and read
Erika Nicole Kendall writes on health, fitness and body confidence at A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss
Z&A: Why did you start your blog?
I needed a means of holding myself accountable for the information I was learning in my journey. All I knew when I first started out was to “exercise, exercise, exercise.” That didn’t work for me for several reasons, namely because I was still putting harmful foods into my body. Learning about the proper balance between food and exercise for a healthy life helped me change, but writing about it made sure I’d always have proof that I know better… thus compelling me to forever do better.
Z&A: Your blog takes a holistic approach to health that doesn’t assume that all women want or need to be thin. How did you learn to balance a desire to lose weight with understanding that your size is not necessarily an indication of your health?
I learned that my size wasn’t any indication of my health when I realized just what it means to be “healthy,” that “healthy” has nothing to do with “skinny,” and that “skinny” and “fit” have two completely different definitions. Once I learned the business and marketing aspects of food manufacturing, I paid closer attention to the messages society sends us as women about our bodies. The need to be skinny didn’t originate with our doctors (the people who should know what’s best for us as individuals)… it originated from images of what “everyone else” deems beautiful. Well, if “everyone else” is as unhealthy as I was and making as poor a set of choices as I was… should I really listen to them in regards to what decisions I make with my body? At that point, I did a lot of reading, set my own goals, and pursued them outside of society’s tendency to tell me what’s best for me. Even today, my goals are still fluid. I don’t need anything set in stone other than my desire to keep my insides in tip top shape.
Z&A: As black women, many of us come from families and cultures where food is an important part of how we relate and spend time together. And, of course, not all of our foods are healthy. What are some tips for enjoying the classic foods we love while staying healthy?
Honestly, I have a hard time with family get togethers, because someone is always commenting on how little of the food I eat. I mean, the pork in the greens, all the salt in the veggie dishes, all the store-bought pies with the high fructose corn syrup in them, all the dishes that I can smell and tell are more Betty Crocker than homemade… I’d rather just spend my time chatting with family or playing with the kids. I do avoid creamy things and anything I can assume came from a box. Others might do better to just shrink down their portion sizes, never letting a portion exceed what they could easily contain in the palm of their hand. I’d also make sure I used a smaller plate than normal, but I’d also allow myself to go for seconds. The amount of time it takes to decide I’m still hungry, get up situate a second plate would actually give the brain time to respond to the food you’ve eaten, and tell you that you’re full.
Z&A: You post a lot of great exercise and workout tips. What are your favorite types of exercises or exercise moves?
Booty exercises! I was soooo angry that my booty was trying to deflate once I was losing all that fat, that I had to work extra hard to get not only the slope of my upper booty back, but making sure that it wasn’t all saggy with that fold at the thigh again. So I live for good mornings, walking lunges and frog hop squats.
Z&A: What have been some of the biggest challenges or impediments to your blogging?
The biggest challenges I face include the fact that I’m a single parent and a business-owner. I wake up at the crack of dawn – trying to wake before my three year old daughter – to check on my clients, then try to blog, then I have to whip up my baby’s cheerios superhero style, then I have to perform the amazing feat of entertaining her while still managing to work, get in my exercise and avoid her becoming a couch potato. Funny enough, she now exercises with me.
Z&A: What have been the joys of blogging? How have you grown as a writer or person?
The joy I get from blogging is the excitement I feel in knowing I’ll be able to read today’s writings six months from now and measure my growth. When I look at things I’ve written in my blog’s earlier days, I get emotional. It’s humbling. It reminds me that I have struggled; so I should not only avoid turning my nose up at parts OF the struggle, but remember how I overcame that struggle and do what I can to help others hop that hurdle. The level of humility is.. powerful.
Z&A: What are your must-read blogs or websites?
Believe it or not? I’m addicted to food websites! The best way for me to avoid going back to the foods I was addicted to, was to learn exactly how good real food could be. So websites like Sea Salt With Food, The Kitchn, and Mark’s Daily Apple really do it for me. Alternet.com’s food and health sections as well as The Daily Bread also cover the issues that are at the core of my heart regarding food production and manufacturing in the United States. I try to keep tabs on this stuff because it keeps me honest – reminds me why I go out of my way to bake my apple pies from scratch, not just buying one at the grocery. Aside from the fact that mine are just better, of course. 
Z&A: And a little bit about you besides blogging:
- Last Movie I Saw: Imitation of Life, a movie my Mom insisted that I watch, and I cried like a baby the entire time. Great film.
- Last Book I Read: French Women Don’t Get Fat – Hey, I was curious.
- Last great meal I had: I cooked it myself! My white pepper pizza, which is just my pizza dough topped with tomato and zucchini slices, red and green peppers, onion, basil, oregano and chipotle flavored cheese. No sauce, baby!
Z&A: Any other information you’d like to share or anything you’d like our readers to know?
The weight loss and better health game is a rough one, but no matter who you are or what struggles you may be enduring, a little time to ourselves FOR ourselves can go a very long way. Taking as much as five seconds to think before we act does more for our health than any magic pill or item ever could. Better health, much like weight loss… is free.
