About Me

I’m a 20 something marketing professional living in Richmond, VA. I love food, cooking, baking, and reading cookbooks. I enjoy finding new recipes, exercise ideas, and meeting others who are interested in these topics. When I’m not online or in the kitchen, I like to be active. Whether it’s running, hiking, walking, taking an aerobics class, doing yoga, strength training, cleaning, shopping, or simply walking my dog- the activity doesn’t really matter so long as I’m moving. I started reading other food blogs and soon wanted to have space of my own so I began Eating Bird Food in March 2008.

How I got to where I am now:

I didn’t always eat healthy. Growing up my mom cooked in a very southern fashion and you better believe that butter was put on everything (even frozen vegetables), iced tea was made with at least 1/2 cup of sugar and biscuits with chocolate jam, cornbread, and fried potatoes were normal occurrences in our house (you get the idea).

High school and Beyond:

During high school I ended up weighing the most I have ever weighed. Although I never really thought I looked overweight or felt big, I look back on pictures now and realize that I was. I also think back to my eating habits and thoughts on eating healthy and realize I was a little confused. For one, I thought tortilla chips were more nutritious than regular chips so I would pack those in my lunch, I thought bagels were the healthiest thing you could eat for breakfast, and my favorite snack was Little Debbie Nutty Buddy bars (the ones with the peanut butter and crispy wafers) or oatmeal cream pies, or Easy Mac, sugary cereals, chips, or Chex Mix. I ate fast food often, I loved french fries and I used to order BIG MACS from McDonald’s and think nothing of it. And, Chick-fil-a was my all time favorite. I seriously went there any chance I got. I loved their nuggets, waffle fries, and special sauce.

My senior year of high school I started working at the Kid’s Zone at a local gym so I was able to use the facilities for free. I tinkered with working out and started running a little bit, but didn’t really change my eating habits.

Fall 2003- Just starting college:

The Start of a Healthier Lifestyle:

When I went away to college I knew I couldn’t gain the infamous “freshman 15″ so I began working out  and eating healthier. When I say working out everyday this means moderate exercise daily, such as running  or walking 30 minutes on the treadmill/elliptical and doing random strength training moves, most commonly arms and abs. I definitely wasn’t doing intense workouts each day. Instead of gaining 15 pounds my freshman year, I lost about 20. I finally came to the realization that the foods I was eating before were weighing me down- having a ton of healthy options at school and not eating fast food really helped. It didn’t hurt that I went to the gym often, had to walk up 3 flights of stairs to get to my dorm room and did a lot of walking all over campus for classes!

Being from a small town, I had never been introduced to ethnic foods, the only ethnic restaurant I had ever been to was a small take-out Chinese place. Since I was at one of the most diverse colleges in the US, my options for ethnic foods were widen tremendously. I tried a ton of different foods and developed a strong love for Sushi, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indian Cuisine. Now, I would much rather eat out at an ethnic restaurant than one with standard American fare. I also like to experiment with ethnic cooking at home. Check out some of my featured recipes to see what I mean.

To sum it all up, I lost a considerable amount of weight my freshman year of college without dieting- just eating healthier and working out. It was a slow and healthy loss, but after losing the 20 pounds I felt much more confident, happier with myself, and most of all healthier.

Today:

I have stayed consistently at the same weight by keeping up with the habits I started 6 years ago. On a regular basis I try to eat healthy and workout 5 to 6 days a week. I have also started to enjoy running – I have ran quite a few races- 5K, a 5 mile, and a 10K race and most recently a half marathon November 2008.

Currently I work as a Marketing Project Manager, but have often considered going back to school for something health, fitness, or nutrition related. After seeing how small changes can make such a big difference in myself, I’d love to help others that are striving to live healthier and happier lives. Whether that means going back to school or combining my degree in marketing with my passion for food, fitness, and overall healthy living- only time will tell!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me: eatingbirdfood at gmail dot com.