Influence

The scale at work finally showed mercy and dropped my weight to under 200 lbs. I'm now at 197, a first since September. Thank God, I did 3 miles on Saturday and 3 miles on Sunday, in addition to scaling my diet back tremendously. I'm actually okay with this. I'm not hungry, and if I get hungry, a few almonds, pistachios, or an apple tend to do the trick. Too damned cold to work out though. At least for now. My blood sugar dropped by 30 since yesterday, so I'm on track for a comeback. I actually enjoy health food and I think this may have to be a new way of life for me.

When I first met Ted, about 4 years ago, he was all belly. He was adamant about his refusal to work out. The only working out he was interested in was of a sexual nature, which, truth be told, I was more than okay with. He is the heaviest guy I've been with, registering around 280 at his heaviest during our time together. But then one day during the summer, Ted started working out.

I mean, Ted and I have shared our mutual desire to lose weight (although he prefers me heavier), but he, much like myself, would always fall back into bad habits. But not this time. Ted has lost over 50 pounds. I'm amazed watching this transition. I complimented the jeans I last saw him in and said "oh my God! No more dad jeans!" He laughed and shared that apparently those jeans brought about a loud chorus of people that saw them and remarked on his now-too-big dad jeans. I keep telling him that I have to definitely lose weight now because I can't have him being the only slim hottie between us. I mean, this man works out 2 times a day, and it seems like 80% of the time when I call him, he's in the gym.

Its so funny to me that Ted and Fred (again, complete coincidence their names rhyme) managed to be so on top of their weight. I mean, true, men lose fat quicker than women (due in part to their muscle tone). Fred isn't a case of weight loss though. He was a high school all star, pretty much excelling in any sport he tried. Fred and I often visited Whole Foods and shared a love of their vegan chocolate cake.

Moving forward, I certainly wish he was close by to help me kick this into gear. After I gained my weight back previously, I knew that I'd eventually lose it again. And as much as I resent that I put it back on, I was always thankful for the experience of regaining the weight, because it showed me firsthand how simple it is to fall back into bad habits. Sometimes we need people to keep us inspired to do our best. I'm so blessed to not just have one or two people, but a boatload of people to inspire me to stay my best.

Graduate school was a difficult time for me. Sometimes I feel like I made it look easy, but that shit was rough!! I saw more politicking, backbiting, hunger, misery, and utter disrespect than I've seen in any portion of my life while attending a historically Black university. I was moved to start a food pantry that serves Morehouse, Clark, and Spelman, and so help me God, it was a doozey.

What amazed me was that shortly after I finished, I'd had 4 separate people tell me that I'd inspired them to go to school. Word? Me? One is currently finishing up her bachelor's degree, while the other is my ever-so-hardheaded mentee who I've been working with since she was in 7th grade. She should be a sophomore in college now.

As I look at my recent health challenges, and my renewed faith that I can overcome this, I guess I'm reminded how much we're all connected in trying to find someone to influence us. Sometimes we inspire, sometimes we need the inspiration. That's okay with me.