There is a young man with whom I am acquainted who had the nickname Tiny for a very long time. It's the way I was introduced to him and I thought it was his preferred form of address. This was a very big man in both height and width. He is smart, sweet and always a little bit angry. He had auditioned for Biggest Loser at least twice and was always rejected. Once in the final cut before the TV show was to start. One day I noticed he started to post weekly accomplishments towards his new goal of losing weight, exercising and eating more healthily.
Every week without fail he would post about his workouts and account for how much weight he had lost. He would talk about how many hours he spent at the gym and that he was there to work hard and get results. He became impatient and frustrated with those who came to his gym and got in his way or slowed him down. He had very lofty goals of 10 pounds or more to lose each week. He was disappointed when didn't make it and elated when he topped his weekly weight loss goal. More and more people took the time write comments and cheer him on, offer encouragement and keep him going. I looked forward to his posts and every week I kept thinking that if HE can do it, I can do it.
At around the 12 week mark he announced that he had succeeded in losing his first 100 pounds. He celebrated by going out and enjoyed a few drinks. He was so proud of himself and those of us who followed his journey were proud of him too. I think it was that week when I asked him what got him to the point that he finally took control and started changing his life. His answer startled me as it was not what I expected, not that I knew what I thought he was going to answer.
His motivation he said came from being fed up. He was fed up with being fat, fed up with people judging him because of his weight, fed up with being kept from jobs and relationships, you name it. He was really pissed off and he wasn't going to take it anymore! He was going to change once and for all, and he did just that. He did it with great effort and unwavering tenacity and he did it the view of his friends, family and acquaintances on Facebook.
His answer to my question caused quite a rash of comments and follow-up questions by some of his friends. It was during that exchanged that he talked about how he got the nickname Tiny in middle school and how he had always hated it. He always hated it and yet people were introducing him to others by that name, just as I was introduced to him that way. In fact I did not know his real name for many months! There are many people who will never call him that name again. We have too much respect for him and the journey he chose to take.
It didn't end at the 100 lb. milestone. He kept going and he got a little frustrated as the weight was coming off more slowly, which it does as you get closer to your goal weight. He still had 80 lbs to go when he announced that he was moving to a new city 1500 miles away to pursue his chosen career of being a chef. I knew that he had culinary training and it was what he truly loved, but to hear him taking control of that part of his life as well just blew me away. I nearly exploded with joy for him and felt like a proud surrogate mama with no motive other than to see him do it all and get what he wants and to be truly happy with the life he is creating for himself.
Next up: My relationship with my fat and my search for motivation.
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