Lean On Me: Surrounding Yourself With Supportive People

By: Shana Adams (@bbgtonline) “You’re fine the way you are, you don’t need to lose any more weight.” “What you going to the gym for?” “You lost 30lbs! Congratulations…you want a donut?”  You will be surprised what you hear from people when you go on a fitness journey, especially when you’ve been on one as long as I have. Don’t get me wrong, you will get positive reinforcement from people around you. But no one can prepare you for the shade that is thrown every now and again. Most of it is pure jealousy. Jealously that you look good, envy that you’re doing something they couldn’t, hating because of your success. 3LW said it best, “Haters, they gone hate.” In the meantime, you surround yourself with positive people so that when shade is thrown, you counterpunch with some sunshine. Here are a few tips from me to you:

1. Find friends at the gym! If you go to the gym regularly or attend classes, you are bound to interact with a few “regulars.” Obviously, these are like-minded people, otherwise they wouldn’t be at the gym in the first place. You stand a pretty good chance of meeting people who you have things in common with and if fitness is a priority, dedicated people are who you NEED to surround yourself with. When you fall off the wagon or plateau, they will give you the motivation you need to keep it up.
2. Blocking/unfriend/unfollow. If you’re a millennial like myself, you probably spend a majority of your time interacting with people on social media. I post things all the time on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and my blog about my weight loss, eating, and other fitness oriented things. I’ve gotten negative comments from people and while I don’t block him/her right away, when it gets excessive, I block. When I see someone who is constantly posting negative things in general, and it gets on my newsfeed, I unfollow. We all have bad days and I understand that but constant venting, cyberbullying, back and forth drama online is not something that I want to see. Reading it brings my energy down so I refuse to entertain it. Period.
3. Join a group (Black Girls RUN!, Fitocracy, Black Women Losing Weight) If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been thinking about joining a group like Black Girls Run! What are you waiting for? Surrounding yourself with positive people starts with doing just that. Don’t wait to join in on the fun. I’ve met so many people online that have helped me along and have been that little ray of sunshine that I’ve needed when the shade tree comes through trying to steal my thunder.

These are just a few things that I’ve done to keep me going when I’ve been a little down.  What about you? Shana is a 25 year old communications professional who took her health into her own hands and started her weight loss journey mid 2010, but really took charge when she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2012. She is the creator of the health and fitness blog Big Boned Gets Toned! You can also view her Big Boned Gets Toned! weight loss vlog on YouTube.

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