Headstand

I’ve always struggled with my weight. I was a fat kid growing up, who developed into a fat teenager and an overweight adult. Seems I was/am always on a diet.

In school, I was, typically, the last person chosen for teams, the last person to cross the finish line in track and field day races (to this day, I feel slightly ill when I even see a hurdle on a track) and most likely to fake a sore knee in order to avoid any kind of exertion. I didn’t like being fat, but didn’t like going without Nestle Quik in quantity more.

But there have been times that I’ve stuck to various diets and exercise programs and have been able to lose weight and feel healthier. The first time I lost a significant amount of weight, I was in junior high school.

I can’t remember the exact numbers, but I must have lost about 30 pounds over the course of about 8 months. I gained confidence and even did better academically. Of course, as a teenaged girl, I was focused mainly on looking better. But one of the best parts of having lost that weight was being able to physically do things I’d never thought I could.

One day, in gym class, I did a headstand.

I never would have attempted it when I was overweight. So the thrill I felt when I realized that I had tried the headstand, and had achieved it, was indescribable. If I could do that headstand, I could do anything. I was lithe, I was a feather, I was Nadia Comanechi.

My pride was a bright little flame.