American Chronicle

October 19, 2007

The Kobina Wright Super Diet

Kobina Wright

For the past five years I have maintained my weight at 98 pounds and if I’m a little too stressed, I’ll jump down a few pounds to 95. Previously, I stayed between 100 and 110 pounds, and once, when I was almost pulling my hair out, I dropped down to 90. I’m 5’3” and I am not anorexic.

I live in a tucked away, cozy little upstairs apartment, and our laundry room is downstairs. I practice yoga at home, and I’m not afraid to park in a somewhat distant parking spot when parking in front of stores. I’m not a gym rat and I have absolutely no intention of ever becoming one. I don’t count calories and I don’t weigh my food portions.

Throughout my life, I’ve often heard curious people ask me how I stayed so small. In high school, I used to tell these people that I forgot to eat. This response, I had come to learn, just ticks them off. How can you forget to eat, they would ask me, sounding almost disgusted. I had no control over how they were feeling. It was the truth. I had a very high metabolism, and being the young vibrant and active teen that I was, sometimes I’d get so wrapped up in the activities I was involved in that food was not on my mind.

I’ve grown past the “too busy for food” phase of my life. I don’t forget to eat any more, however, I am currently lighter now than I was in high school. Since I had my daughter I haven’t been able to stay above 100 pounds. Again, when I share this, it kind of angers folks, especially women, when I tell them that I only gained 11 pounds during my pregnancy. I delivered a 7 pound, 8 ounce baby, when I myself only weighed 124 pounds.

Whenever I go to the doctors, I always have a bit of anxiety, because I know there’s always going to be a remark from the nurse – though never what I expect it to be. Even my own doctor makes comments about my weight that I’ve found rather odd. Once after looking at my chart, she said, “Oh, I wish I was small like you.” What? Why? I’m not petite, just svelte.

Though I also get the nasty negative comment too about my frame, I’ve always found it very interesting that so many people would rather be underweight. So for those interested in reviewing my complicated diet, you can decide for yourself if it is worth it.

No Red Meet

After I became pregnant with my daughter, just the smell of red meat cooking would make me want to throw up. I remember when my mother would cook sometimes I’d have to sit outside on the porch to keep from losing my lunch. I’ve never quite recovered.

No Milk Products

I am extremely lactose intolerant so I can’t eat anything with milk (although yogurt doesn’t bother me). No cheesecake, or cheese danishes or fettuccini alfredo because the lactaid pills hardly work. This means no pizza too. I miss ice cream the most, although Breyers ™ has a lactose free ice cream available in Vanilla Bean.

No Fries

The only time I even touch a fry is to get a couple from my daughter. I’m not a big fry person, so you can probably count the number of fries I’ve eaten in an entire year.

No Soda

I don’t keep them in the house, I don’t order any in restaurants and I try to keep them away from my daughter. Occasionally, maybe every three months or so, I’ll buy a Dr. Pepper.

No Pork

It’s not something I grew up eating, so it’s not something I feel that I’m even missing.

No Eating Out

The exception to this is, of course, on special occasions and in an emergency, but I generally tend to cook at home because I’m so easily nauseated by food and my surroundings.

Eat Plenty of Oatmeal

Though I prefer stove top, I usually throw a couple of packets of instant oatmeal in my purse because I can warm it up whenever I want to at work.

No Seconds

Once I’ve fixed my plate once, that’s it. You could probably count on one hand how many times I’ve gone back for seconds in the last two years.

Tea, Water or Juice

I used to drink coffee too, but in more recent months it has been bothering my stomach so I have limited my coffee intake as well and I try to stay away from sugar drinks altogether.

Of course there are other little eating habits I have, but for the most part, this is what I stick too. Now it doesn’t look so hard to maintain. Actually, it might even look very familiar, but the hard part is putting it into practice. I’ve been eating like this for years, so for me, it’s not a big deal, but you better believe that every now and then I get a hankering for a slice of white sauce chicken lasagna so bad I almost want to cry.

Kobina Wright

Wright is a second generation Southern California native and attended the University of Georgia for two years before transferring to California State University, Fullerton, where she earned her BA in journalism, minoring in Afro-Ethnic Studies.

Wright has written for publications such as LACMA Magazine, The Daily Titan, and CYH Magazine. In 2004 she wrote her third volume of poetry titled, "Say It! Say Gen-o-cide!!" − dedicated to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. In 2003 Wright created the Hodaoa-Anibo language and in 2004 published the first edition Hodaoa-Anibo Dictionary.