Running into Myself: How I Lost 85 Pounds and Came Back to Life

It was 2010.  In the midst of one of the worst recessions in US history, I was 24, jobless with a college degree, living at my step dad’s house, and deeply depressed.  Aside from spending hours each day submitting job application after job application, I sat in seclusion, stuffing my face and sitting comatose in front of the television.  Finally, after months of searching, I landed a position at a travel agency.  The job was far from ideal and the pay was subpar, but it was a job. 

A few weeks after starting the job, I started to shake off the cage of self-pity and despair that had kept me prisoner for so long.  I was keeping myself busy, engaged, earning a living, and I had even made a few friends.  Still, I looked in the mirror and felt like a failure.  I was the heaviest I had ever been.  I started to worry about my health and decided that if I wanted to live a full, happy life, I needed to do something about my weight and eating issues.

Food had long been the enemy.  Growing up, I was always thin and was obsessive about my eating habits. From college until several years into adulthood, I struggled to maintain a healthy weight and to develop a healthy relationship with food.  Then, when I had this epiphany in 2010, I slowly learned how to fuel my body, focusing less on weight loss and more on health.  A close friend of mine wanted to try vegetarianism, so I decided to join her challenge.  I also started exercising on a regular basis, starting with brisk walks – small steps.  After a few months of this new regimen, I lost about 25 pounds.  I felt better, mentally and physically.  After keeping that up for about a year, I lost a total of 65 pounds.  Then, when I began to feel too weak and tired, I decided it was time to add meat back into my diet.

I continued focusing on eating mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, lean meat and fish.  I ate dairy in small quantities.  I never worried about counting calories and never starved myself; I just listened to what my body needed and made sure to get moving at least a few times per week.  The most effective – and the most challenging – part of it all: learning not to eat my feelings.  With the help of regular sessions with a professional counselor, journaling, personal research on emotional eating, and learning to seek more emotional support from family and friends, I managed to get a handle on my emotional eating and lost a total of 85 pounds. 

I have kept the weight off for over 4 years, and I am more active and healthy than ever.  Since that first day of my journey, I have developed a love of running. I have completed numerous races over the last several months, including my first half marathon.  I went from feeling lifeless, struggling to get through each day - let alone getting off the couch - to finding a true passion.  If I go a few days without a run, I feel out of sorts.  Nothing beats that runner’s high and the solace of the outdoors – just you and your thoughts, spending some quality time with Mother Nature.                          

I must emphasize that I am not an expert on health, fitness, or life in general.  Anyone close to me knows that I am a huge dork with a sense of humor who just happens to be a runner.  This story is not intended to provide professional advice, but hopefully it gives someone some motivation to take that first step.

 

 

Gail Perry-Mason - Intown Detroit Magazine - July 2012

Born into the foster care system, Gail Perry-Mason was labeled special needs and hard to place.  Adopted by a woman in her 50s, she learned that all a child needs is love and attention to thrive.

Years later, while working at an investment firm, Perry-Mason saw an advertisement for a camp that taught students about financial literacy.  The cost to enroll in the camp was $10,000, and Perry-Mason wanted to provide a more affordable option.  This led her to establish Gail Perry-Mason’s Youth Money Camp.  Through grants from individuals and businesses, she is able to charge only $75 per student.  Now in its 17^th year, the camp is aimed at teaching children valuable skills to help them succeed in business.

 

Erica Uzzle first met Perry-Mason when she moved to Michigan at the age of 12.  She started as a student and now helps run the camp.  Uzzle has greatly benefited from Perry-Mason’s guidance.

“She has helped me tremendously,” said Uzzle. “The most important thing she has taught me is networking.  Stay in contact.  You never know when you might need that person.”

This year 150 students are registered for the camp, which will be held from July 30 through August 3 at Wayne County Community College’s Eastern Campus. 

Organized by Uzzle, Perry-Mason, and three others, the goals for the camp are to reach as many students as they can to teach them the tools they need to succeed.

According to Perry-Mason, “Kids are like Kodak film.  All they need is exposure.”

Intown Detroit Magazine - Issue 1 - June 2012

http://www.intowndetroitmagazine.com/NEWfinalrevised1.pdf

In the Spotlight - April 2012 - Intown Detroit Magazine

With hunger and homelessness on the rise in Detroit, one local organization and an area resident are fighting to raise awareness and bridge the food gap. 

One of the most efficient food rescue organizations in the United States, Forgotten Harvest was founded in 1990 to fight hunger and waste.  The organization is committed to rescuing fresh, healthy food and making it available to those in need.  The organization rescues food items from farms and retailers and deliver them to neighborhoods where they lack grocery stores or transportation.  Their primary focus is children and the elderly.  Pickup and delivery are both free of charge.

Russ Russell, Chief Development Officer of Forgotten Harvest since 2009, joined the team because wanted to work with an organization with the most impact.  According to a 2008 study by McKinsey, the food gap is expected to grow to 3 million meals annually by 2013.  Russell and the rest of the Forgotten Harvest team are determined to grow their organization to help fill that need. 

“We know it’s not filling the entire gap, but we’re going to continue to fight until everyone that needs food gets it,” said Russell.

In the past three years, Forgotten Harvest has made significant strides towards that goal.  The organization has grown from delivering 9.5 million meals in 2009 to 42 millions meals today.  Russell credited the organization’s innovation as the key to its success.  Forgotten Harvest pioneered grocery rescue, where retailers allow food relief organizations to rescue food that was not able to be sold in stores.  This program started with Kroger and has now gone nationwide, with 90 percent of stores across the country in participation. 

Russell also attributes the increase to the hard work of the Forgotten Harvest team as well as their volunteers, who help repack food every day.  Volunteers come from many of the local churches as well as GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Kroger.  Since 2009, Forgotten Harvest’s number of annual volunteers has increased from 500 over 5,000.  Forgotten Harvest welcomes anyone aged 12 years or older who would like to volunteer.  For more information, contact Krista Poole, Volunteer Coordinator, at 248-967-1500 or Kpoole@forgottenharvest.org. 

“We could not do our work without the volunteers that we have,” said Russell.

In addition to volunteers, Forgotten Harvest is able to continue its mission with the help of donors.  Forgotten Harvest has increased its donors from 15,000 in 2009 to 80,000 annually today.  On April 27^th 2012, Forgotten Harvest will host its 20^th Annual Comedy Night at Orchestra Hall.  All proceeds from the event, which Russell estimates this year to be $350,000, will go towards food rescue.  Every dollar donated equals five more meals Forgotten Harvest is able to provide.  This year’s event will be hosted by Seth Meyers, head writer of Saturday Night Live and anchor of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.

“We are grateful to the people of metro Detroit that support us every day,” said Russell. “[With their support], we are able to keep our mission alive when the need is so great.”

Sharing Forgotten Harvest’s mission to combat hunger in Detroit is resident Jerrold Boykin.  Every Wednesday, Boykin goes to four different locations in the city and delivers approximately 300 meals.  He also passes out meals to a lot of people just walking around.  He buys bread, lunch meat, water, fruit, and other snacks from Kroger and a farmer’s market on Curtis and Wyoming, and he pays for everything entirely out of his pocket. 

The values of service and compassion for others were instilled in Boykin as a child growing up in Detroit.  His father first took him to deliver meals to the homeless when he was 14 years old.  At that young age, Boykin was inspired to help out in his community as an adult.  Now 36, Boykin has recruited a lot of his friends and family, including his 14-year-old son, who helps prepare sandwiches. 

Eight months ago, Boykin began his mission when he decided to reconnect with his faith.  He described his first time delivering meals as a real adjustment. “It was just so bad. I was not aware so many people in Detroit were homeless,” he said.

Boykin, a carpenter, plans to start a non-profit organization, which will include offering his carpentry services free of charge to those in the area in need.

“These are some really good guys.  They’re not on drugs or alcoholics,” Boykin added.  “They had bad things happen or tragedy tested their sanity, and they couldn’t hold on. Everything we have can be taken away so quickly.”

For more information about Forgotten Harvest and the problem of hunger and homelessness in Detroit, visit www.forgottenharvest.org.

Cool Places and Princess Zaria - Intown Detroit Magazine April 2012

Two Detroit women have channeled their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to create their own local businesses.

Cheryl Lynn Pope grew up dreaming of becoming a writer.  She worked for several years as a freelance writer covering stories on community organizations.  Every year she wrote a list of New Year’s resolutions, and each year that list would include getting a book published.  Finally, in 2006, her dream was realized with the publication of her first book, 25 Ways to Make Your Child Feel Special, a parenting guide.

“I was the only girl growing up.  My parents were from the old school and really didn’t know a lot about organizations for girls,” Pope said. “I really didn’t do girly type things, but I always knew that I was loved.  I was made to feel special and everything.  When I had a daughter, I decided I would do those things that I didn’t necessarily have.”

She then turned her focus to children’s books and created the Princess Zaria series, inspired by her daughter, Zaria, who was then 6 years old.  To market her book series, Pope created the Princess Zaria Fan Club.  “Zaria” means princess in Africa and Latin America, which inspired the princess theme. 

“We tell all the girls that they are special, whether they’re short, tall, thin, or not-so-thin. They enjoy knowing that they’re princesses,” Pope said, “In the media there are so many negative things. We just wanted to have something that the girls could feel good about themselves.”

A new addition for the Princess Zaria Fan Club will be the first annual Princess Ball, which will take place on Sunday, April 29^th, in Dearborn.  All girls ages 4 to 17 are welcome to attend.  The event will honor girls helping out in their community and excelling academically.  Only 11 years old, Hannah Turner, of Ohio, founded a non-profit that provides socks to homeless men, women, children.  Amaya Alexandra, a Detroit resident and only 12 ½ years old, founded a mobile dance studio where she teaches dance to other young girls.  This year’s Princess of the Year is Erica Lowe of Inkster.  Also, several girls from Detroit Public Schools who have significantly raised their grades will be awarded Visa gift cards. 

“We’re really excited about the ball.  We plan to do this every year in April,” said Pope, who chose that month because it is the Month of the Young Child, which celebrates children and recognizes the needs and rights of children and their families.

Pope would like to expand the Princess Zaria fan club internationally and to open a store catered to young girls where they can do arts and craft projects, dress up, and be free to do girl things.  She is working on her latest book, Best Friends and the Bee, about best friends entering a spelling bee together. 

For more information on Cheryl Lynn Pope and the Princess Zaria Fan Club, visit http://www.princesszaria.com/.

Karyn McCray, born and raised in Detroit’s Conant Gardens neighborhood, worked for years as a leasing agent and then a property manager.  When her contract position ended, she could not draw unemployment and was unemployed for a year until she decided to become her own boss. 

“I wanted to do something for myself,” McCray said, “I didn’t want to work that hard for anyone else.”

With that idea in mind, in November 2011, McCray created Cool Places to Live, a full service apartment locating service that assists in locating apartments in the Corktown, Downtown, Midtown, and New Center Detroit areas. McCray is working on building a client base, but her target clientele is people in their twenties who are established in their careers, too busy to look for apartments, and have a certain amount of income

While living in the suburbs for several years, McCray came to the city to socialize with her sister.  In 2009, she decided to move back to Detroit.  She recalled the difficulty she had when searching for her place in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.  Her goal with Cool Places to Live is to make the process of finding a place to live in the city easier. 

“I have the best of both worlds being a both a resident and a business owner,” McCray said. “There are a lot of things developing that people on the outside really don’t know about.” 

Along with building her client base, McCray is setting up tours with Wayne State University graduate students.  She would like to work with companies that are offering incentives to move to Detroit. 

“I think there are a lot of good things actually happening in the city,” McCray said. “[People] just have to wait and see.”

For more information on Cool Places to Live Detroit, visit http://coolplacestolive.com/.

Women Fly it Forward - March 2011

Article published in Village Connector on March 2nd, 2011

http://villageconnector.com/frederickcountymd/?p=5608

Frederick Women Fly Higher- March 2011

Article published in Village Connector - March 26th, 2011

http://villageconnector.com/frederickcountymd/?p=5683