Two Guys Lose Weight: Soul food that’s not sinful

NOTE: This is a blog about two guys attempting to lose weight over a six-week period. They kicked off their weight loss “strategies” last Monday.

They said I’d never go to my gym across town, but they were wrong.

They’re always wrong.

Another thing they were wrong about was soul food.

Being a proud African American who has always been slightly confused as to what exactly do on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday (other than double-check that I could get it off), on Monday I decided to see if I could eat healthy soul food.

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My favorite dish at my favorite soul food restaurant is a baked chicken delight smothered with thick brown gravy. In order to keep off the two pounds that I have lost so far in this exercise, I substituted half a grilled chicken from El Pollo Loco for the smothered chicken from Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen’ .

Yes, it’s a downgrade in soul, but I get a half a chicken for a little more than 700 calories. Hot. Off the grill, through a window, and sitting in the passenger’s seat in mere moments.

“Would you like some tortillas?” the young women at the window lady asked, and I just blinked and peeled out before giving into temptation.

Waiting at home were the vegetables. They awaited in cans because once I called my mother and said, “Hey, what’s the secret of your greens? Mine are always so plain.”

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My mom said, “Go to the store, get a can of Glory mixed greens, put the can of greens in a pot, and stir.”

On Monday, I turned the can around, read the label and was ecstatic: just 35 calories per serving (half a cup), no fat and no cholesterol. It did have 20% of the daily allotment of salt, but that, and the aroma that some have deemed “smelly,” are the only negatives of the portion of the meal that typically brings the most soul.

The other vegetable was sweet potatoes from Princella. Two-thirds of a cup (a little less than half a can) will run you 160 calories.

Now some people have recommended kicking the sugary habit. The theory is that if you don’t eat anything sweet, you can train your tongue to stop craving it.

No thanks, I’ll just go to the gym one more time a week. And sometimes there are pretty girls there.

Food: Breakfast: Bacon omelet, small orange juice, grits. Lunch: Turkey sandwich. Didn’t eat much of the bread. Water. Dinner: half a chicken, small portions of greens and sweet potatoes. Two diet Dr. Peppers.

Exercise: 90 minutes at the gym. Stair climber, spinning, various weight machines.

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