Interview featuring food blogger Sasha Mercedes

My blog is about people helping people. I know this purpose is a little broad but it’s that way for a simple reason: helping others comes in many forms, shapes and types. And this is the reason I decided to feature someone that is determined to help others eat better using a different approach.

Sasha Mercedes, founder of Fit Foods for Thought blog, is a Cornell University alumna with a strong passion for helping others. She manages a Google Group known as Fit & Fabulous where she provides advice and support to those interested in losing weight in a healthy way. When she is not helping others, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, listening to music, eating, and making the world a better place, in any way she can. She is also a weight loss coach at Lucille Roberts and an aspiring graphic designer who helped plan environmentally-conscious events at Cornell University such as The Crayon Carnival: Go Green Project and Betas Go Green Campaign, as well as the developer of http://www.cornellbetas.com/.

Fit Foods for Thought educates people about the health and environmental benefits of acquiring a healthy lifestyle primarily by eating better quality food. Fit Foods provides advice, tools, resources, and opportunities for weight management (loss and maintenance); food product and restaurant reviews; news reports and opinions about food-related issues; other information regarding food, health, nutrition, fitness, wellness, healthy living, agriculture, and the environment.

Tell me a little bit about where your passion for being fit and more health conscious came from?

My passion came from my younger sister. Inspired by Dr. Oz, who she learned about while watching Oprah, she changed the foods she ate - not to lose weight, but to become a stronger and healthier person and live her life the best way possible. She began to educate the family about nutrition but it was not until after I graduated from college that I truly decided to listen. It was then that I began focusing on improving my own health and, in doing so, successfully lost weight in a healthy manner.

How did Fit Foods for Thought come about?

I had been managing my Fit & Fabulous Google Group for about 3 months when I realized I had way too much information to share with the group. Rather than risk becoming spam in their inboxes, I sought a means of sharing my knowledge and ideas in a less invasive manner. While spending a weekend at my older sister's apartment, her fiancé (who had also committed to losing weight) brought up the idea of starting a food blog as an outlet for expressing random food thoughts he encountered during his day-to-day weight loss journey. A light went off in my head and I immediately created Fit Foods for Thought, which was originally meant to be a collaborative blog between myself, my younger sister, and my older sister's fiancé but ended up being just my own endeavor.

Has your perspective about food changed since you created Fit Foods for Thought?

No it hasn’t. What I can say, however, is that I have learned so much more about health and nutrition because of my blog. This blog has really enriched my life and cultivated a passion within me for nutrition that I never thought I would have and I am very grateful for that.

Why is it important for you that people educate themselves about eating fit foods?

Plain and simple: FOOD IS LIFE; we cannot survive without it. Moreover, food affects us more than we think. The quality and amount of food as well as the frequency in which we eat determines so much for us. To be frank, our food choices can make or break us: choosing to eat unhealthy foods can worsen the quality of our lives and decrease our longevity.

How is your blog different from other nutrition blogs?

I think I relate and appeal more to my readers primarily because I LOVE FOOD and I am not afraid to show it! I used to be overweight. I used to overeat. I used to eat really unhealthy food. But I made a change; and if I can do it, so can they. Additionally, because staying informed is essential to keeping my blog up-and-running, I conduct a lot of research about food and food-related issues on a regular basis. Thus, I learn and grow alongside my readers rather than act as an all-knowing encyclopedia of food. One thing I stress in my posts that other nutrition blogs and programs do not emphasize is that people can eat the foods they love, just a better quality version of it. I do not believe in recommending what I call "superficially healthy" products like those 100-calorie snack packs and other popular dieting foods. I actually look deep into the products I recommend and make sure that they are not only delicious but also packed with vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function properly. Lastly, and most importantly, I eat and practice what I preach.

Lastly, what do you recommend is the first thing someone needs to do to start being healthier and actually act on it?

Know your numbers and know your body which can be achieved by getting a routine physical exam at the doctor's office and going for blood work. The key is not just going for the checkup but also analyzing the results in comparison to normal (low health risk) statistics. As I wrote in a recent post, these statistics are more than just numbers; they tell us a lot about ourselves. Knowing our numbers is essential in taking better care of ourselves. Do not just go by what the doctor says as he/she flips through the file, because "you are fine" or "you have nothing to worry about" is subjective and does not hold any real value. This is where knowing your body comes into play because we are our best doctors sometimes; we are the ones who know firsthand when something is a little off with our bodies. But in order to best act upon it we must be well informed. Knowing your family's medical history is also very helpful.

For more info about Sasha’s work, nutritional resources, her awesome Food Review Fridays, and her NEW Tip Tuesday posts, visit http://fitfoodsforthought.wordpress.com/ or follow her at http://twitter.com/fitfood4thought

Stay tuned for our upcoming giveaway!

Happy, healthier eating!