Obstacles to a Healthy Diet and Exercise

I grew up in a household in which a healthy diet was not a concern. My mom was a stay at home mom and she cooked everyday. But our meals were hardy country meals not necessarily nutritious. I am sure that my mom thought they were nutritious but she didn’t know any better. We did have vegetables everyday but the main entrée—the meats were fatty cuts.

And now I am a mom. I am responsible for planning and cooking meals. I’m a great cook but I learned how from my mom so I am limited. I really don’t know how to cook a good nutritious meal. Sure I can cook spaghetti, gumbo, ettoffee, roasts, stews, and the likes, but I don’t know how to cook low fat meals. My vegetable recipe knowledge is also limited. There are only so many veggies I can cook and that covers approximately one week worth of meals. I have tried new recipes by incorporating more grilled fish into our diets but my family prefers my usual meals. What do I do? I have accustomed my family to a fatty diet.

Besides my lack of cooking skills, I am very busy. The time to cook just isn’t there sometimes. So we eat out. I try to keep that to a minimum as much as possible

It’s hard to maintain a healthy diet and exercise. Deep down I know these are self-made obstacles but I try. Everyday I get better and better. I check labels at the grocery store. I avoid buying snacks and buy fruit instead. Some of my old meals like sausage and potatoes are off limits. And we eat more ground turkey, chicken, and fish, hardly any fatty beef cuts.

Mainly, maintaining a healthy diet and exercising is an everyday challenge for me. I have some set backs but I also have many of advances. As for exercise, this is especially challenging. I enjoy walking and riding my bike daily but as an African America I dread “sweating out” my hair. After all, I can’t get my hair done everyday. This is the biggest obstacle I face and I bet that many black women feel the same way. It’s very limiting.

Over the next few years, my main obstacles to a healthy diet and exercise may change. My kids will be moving out soon and it will be easier to cook for two. Quick, simple, and healthy meals should be easy to do. I suspect that the hair problem will always be an issue unless I wear braids. That's not going to happen. But eventually I will learn to deal with it. I can exercise when its cool and wear a head wrap but that's still limiting.