November 12, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode of Across Generations, host Tiffany Cross delves into the deeply personal and societal aspects of weight and health, exploring how these issues impact Black women across generations. Joined by guests Kathy Hampton, a wellness advocate and attorney, and Brandi Richardson, a body-positive influencer, the discussion sheds light on the unique challenges and health disparities faced by Black communities. Through candid conversations, the guests share their personal weight journeys, the importance of self-love, and the obstacles of maintaining health in a world of processed foods and limited access to quality nutrition. Whether through gastric bypass, lifestyle changes, or managing health setbacks, these women exemplify resilience, offering inspiration to listeners navigating their own wellness paths.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to a Cross Generations where the voices of black
women unite. I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross, we
gather a season elder myself as a middle generation and
a vibrant young soul for engaging intergenerational conversations. Prepared to
engage or hear perspectives that no one else is happening.
(00:26):
You know how we do. We create magic Cate magic. Hi, everybody,
welcome to another episode of Across Generations. I'm your host,
Tiffany Cross, and today we're discussing something that impacts nearly everyone,
and that is weight. I will tell you guys, I
have always struggled with a weight. Now, I may have
(00:47):
never been morbidly obese, but I have certainly felt like it.
And sometimes when you're on camera, you can look like it.
And working in an industry where people see you before
they hear you what you look like matters a great deal.
But even if we table vanity for a second, there's
also just the issue of health. It seems like everywhere
I look, people are freebasing some sort of weight loss drug.
(01:08):
For black folks, we have had higher and average rates
of chronic disease for reasons that include disparities and income
and education, less access to health, insurance, housing, healthy food,
living in food deserts, and really basically just the weathering
of racism related issues. So, according to federal Health data,
twelve percent of Black adults had diagnosed diabetes in twenty
(01:31):
twenty one. Now this is a rate that's only surpassed
by American Indigenous populations. Black adults also have the highest
rates of obesity based on a body mass index at
nearly fifty percent. So today we want to talk about why,
what we can do about it, and to do that
we need to get into how our lives and diets
have changed across generations. The help we get into this conversation.
(01:53):
Kathy Hampton. She's a fifty five year old Spelman College
graduate and also a graduate of Harvard Law School. She
currently works out multiple times a week and believes in
achieving health through wellness and exercise and influenced by the
elite athletes she represents, I'm one of them. No, I'm kidding.
We'll get into that later. Brandy Richison she is better
(02:15):
known as be Rich. She say it's her last name.
She's be rich, but sometimes she's broke. We'll get into that.
She's a twenty nine year old beauty, lifestyle and body
positive influencer. She embarked on her weight loss journey through
traditional methods and then decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery
to assist with her weight loss goals. So lots to
get into, ladies. I'm so happy you're joining me. Thank you,
(02:37):
thank you, thank you. This is going to be a
very honest conversation. So I will first will I will
be honest about my weight loss journey, and I will say, like,
since I was young, I just always struggled with weight,
and it just came on like suddenly. I think when
I got to college. This is all Atlanta University Center
of Panel Yes with Clanta Clark, Atlanta Spelman and that
(02:58):
freshman fifteen turned into sophomore twenty and then turned into
twenty something thirty, and it's like there was just a
layering that happened. So I've always fluctuated with my weight
and it's so frustrating, you know, because there are parts
that that we don't like, and then sometimes you know,
man like we like some pushing for the cushion, you know.
(03:20):
So I don't know, I'll start with you be rich
because you you have such an ever spirit. Gash bypass
is a pretty serious and major surgery. So what made
you have that operation? Was it medical? Did your doctor
say you need to or was it your own personal choice? Sure,
(03:40):
so it was a little bit of both medical and personal.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
First, I love myself, you know me, I'm texting some
like Everything's Figger from Texas.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
That just that me, right.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So the first thing that happened, my eyesight kind of
got like fuzzy, and I was like very sensitive tolight. Wow,
you know, I'm a girl. I got insurance. I'm going
to doctor, like, tell me what's going on with my eye? Yeah,
And I got a sprinted and pretty much I had
idopathic hypertension. So really that's bound in a lot of
ob swimen. It's just like an unknown tumor that pops
up minds was behind my eyes.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So it was kind of like restricting my eyesight a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So that's why I was so sensitive to like, so
that was my first gear, like, ah, oh my god.
And they're like, well, maybe you should lose weight. You know,
every time I go to the doctors, you should lose weight.
So I'm like, okay, I don't know if I want
to take them serious, but I want to be able
to see. So I thought that that was pretty serious.
And then second it came behind my ear, like I
got that taken care of, and then I couldn't hear
out of my right ears. I'm like, Okay, I really
have to do something serious, and I need to do
(04:34):
something fast because I want to be able to see here,
you know. So that was my medical portion of it.
And then just like personally, like going to the airport
always happened to AX break standard or going to six Flags,
I can't ride roller coasters with my friends, like that
kind of started to take a toll on me, and
I think my last straw, Like I love to travel
and it was my birthday. All my friends got the
(04:54):
zip line and then I get up there They're like,
oh no, my no, too much move no, Like I
was literally hot. I'm like, okay, yeah, that's my last row.
I'm going to get on the table, and it just
is what it is. So that was my decision was
medical and personal a little.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I'm so happy you shared that because I'm certain there
are a lot of people out there who maybe having
vision challenges, challenges what they're hearing. I didn't even know
that your weight could impact all that, and you you
literally walked us through the thesis because it was your health,
but also just the toll it took on your spirit
to have to go through that. But let me say,
you look amazing. When when she first came down and
(05:31):
we were looking at everybody's outfits, I saw her and said,
you are giving You are a surgery. So I'm happy
that you're healthy and feeling better. Now do you still
have any issues at all? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
No, all that went away, even gird like acid reflects
like you really don't realize how much your weight affects,
like your everyday life until you actually lose weight. So
I don't have any of those problems anywhere medically. Yeah,
so the surgery worked for you, is okay?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Good? Yeah, Now you did not have any kind of surgery.
You just look fabulous on your own. Is that what
I'm to understand. But it's a lot of work. Yes.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
So there's this great scene I love if you've ever
seen The forty year Old Virgin where he looks in
the camera and says, this takes a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yes, that's what I've found. And as i've.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Grown older, it takes even more work. Yeah, So it
really has to be a priority, so that when you're
planning your day, the workouts have to be in there.
If you're going out to eat with your friends, you
look at the menu in advance so that you can
start thinking about it. So I find that it's just
taken more work to look good with aging.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Now, were you overweights? Yes, okay, significantly overweights. Do you
mind sharing how much weight you lost?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I've lost thirty five okay, but I've done it very slowly,
so it's not as noticeable except for folks who haven't
seen you in a long time. Yeah, because it took
me almost two years to do it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And so for me, the impetus was COVID when we
were all hunkered down talking about cooking. So I grew
up in Mississippi, where food is love. Yeah, and we
all hunkered down in Mississippi and we were cooking daily.
We had four generations all under one roof, and to
keep everybody healthy, we didn't go out, we didn't mix
a lot, but what we did do was.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Cook and bake.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, cakes, pies, we were baking and cooking, and so
by the end of COVID.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It showed so you were baking and cooking across generations. Ah,
I love it. So that's interesting because I think a
lot of people during COVID that's when a lot of
weight gain happened. I mean they basically said, go stock
up on food and stay in the house. You know, yes, yeah,
and then people, you know, when we came back outside,
(07:35):
it was like, oh, I have to get it together.
You know, there is something and this is listen for
all of you all tuning in at home. This is
no judgment. However, you choose to feel good about yourself
and be healthy. We salute it. But I do think
it says something about our culture that in America, specifically
the standard American diet it's literally sad, sad, that's what
(07:58):
they call the standard American diet, and the amount of
processed foods we consume that impacts our health and our weight.
I know, for me, I don't want to say because
I'm not endorsing any pill or any brand, but I
recently started taking a pill that is supposed to help
with weight loss, and every day I feel a little nauseous.
(08:21):
And when I first started taking it, I felt like
it was looking at the stomach flue. For like three
or four days, I was no good and I was
just thinking is it worth looking good and feeling bad?
Like I just don't know. At some point my body regulated,
but it has changed how I consume food like that
it's I have for like salt or sugar because I
(08:41):
can take both. It just kind of went away. The
thought of drinking alcohol is like, look, I can't have
alcohol now. I am concerned though about the long term
impact of some of these things, So I'm navigating my
own weight loss. The biggest success I found to be. However,
y'all doing it is to you, But what I found
work best is not eating a lot of processed food,
(09:02):
working out consistently you have to burn more calories than
you consume, and just making responsible choices. There is no
magic way, you know do it. Yeah, I take your
point that it's work. And I do think the older
you get, like I do, feel my body is a
layering to my body, you know, the older I get,
And it's really yes, yes, yeah, And I just it's
(09:28):
a it's an interesting terrain to navigate as your you know,
because I eat my emotion. So sometimes it's like I
had an amazing day. I deserve this, Or I had
a rough day. I deserve this, or I had a
regular day. So my meal is gonna be my exciting thing.
I deserve this. You know, how did you gain the weight?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I would say, like lack of mobility, Like I played
sports all throughout high school management like just school period,
and I think that kind of helps you the weight off.
So it's like, yeah, I want to McDonald's and eight food,
but I just ran a whole bunch of suicides.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Like it's okay, yeah, you kind of like maintaining weight
in a sense.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
And then when I went to college, I stopped playing basketball,
stopped being active like you said, freshman fifteen, sophomore thirty,
like it just kept going from there. And I just
think like just lack of mobility was like my issue.
Not that I couldn't move, I just didn't have the
I don't know what word to use, like yeah, like
(10:29):
I'm gonna just catch the shuttle instead of walking on
the way down.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Y'all know, walking down the Parmenie. Yeah, I'm gonna catch
the shuttle.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah, then get off then go to call mayor where
like that was very lazy or I'm gonna take the
elevator instead of just taking the stairs, like it's only
on the second floor. So I think just lack of
like moving around was like my issue when it By
the time I realized it was like oh potato, yea.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It was like big at that point. Yeah. So if
you don't mind, how much weight did you lose?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So around like one hundred and thirty pounds, So it
happened like really fast. So I think when I first
started my journey or starting to go like consultations and stuff,
I was around like three hundred and eighty pounds and
then I got the surgery, like I want to say,
literally the first the next day, I had already lost
sixteen pounds.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So it happened really fast.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So within like six months, I was already down almost
one hundred pounds and then it just kept going from there.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So like in total, like one hundred and thirty pounds.
Oh wow, and then you feel lighter, Oh yeah, of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Like I said, now I don't have to ask for
the extend it. I'll just be walking down I don't
have to worry about bucket people with my bag. Yeah,
I can roll roller coasters again. So that's the best thing,
so of course I felt much lighter, much better.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Did you change your diet?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, so you kind of are forced to do it too.
So oh I forgot that part. They took my gallbladder too.
I didn't know I had golstones, so I had a
lot going off, Yeah to my gawbladder. They fixed my gird,
my assid reflex, so I got like the three and
one special. But yeah, I changed my diet so I
don't drink like soda. I can't really eat for my food.
(12:00):
Of course, I don't have a gall bladder like everybody else,
so if I'm gonna eat bad, I need to be
right by restaurrooms.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I really don't know that in public at all.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And then I took a lot of sugar free things,
so all my friends make fun of me and they like, oh,
go get some of the drink, but wo go to
be rich house because they know I only have sugar
free things.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah. So yeah, just water and that really changed, like
my skin, like everything changed, honestly, Are you still losing?
Not really?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I feel like I'm like consistent now, okay, I'm like
forty three. Now I'll be checking every day, like, yeah,
I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I still got it.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, but yeah, I'm not like actively trying to lose
more weight by I'm trying to get.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Like a little must Well, here's what I'll say about
that weight loss, Like you have to be careful looking
at numbers. It's really sometimes it's inches muscles way more
than that. I will tell y'all. Hopefully by the time
y'all see this, it'll go down. But I think you're
a like one forty six now. But I'm five too,
so that's a lot for somebody five to two. So
I need to lose probably like fifteen more pounds. And
(12:59):
there are people who look amazing who weigh one hundred
and fifty pounds and they're smaller than me. They're tighter
than me. So you can't get so caught up, you know,
in the numbers. Yeah, do you know how often do
you weigh yourself? Oh? Daily?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But I had a question for you before I forget
this is the other thing about the middle aged brain.
So you mentioned skin. I would imagine, because you're so
young and beautiful, that your skin was supple and that
it bounced back.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
In terms of little weight loss.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, and no, I think more parts like I think
really just my arm, since you lose it so fast,
like you skin, it's like, okay this my arms have
like a little sagging skin, But like everywhere else was fine.
I was like, okay, good, I can do this, you know,
so yes, yes and no. You know you see my face,
but yeah, I think in just different parts. Everybody's body
(13:45):
is different. So yeah, did it impact your hair? Yes,
good and bad. So Originally, like you know, since I
don't have the same amount of stomach as everybody else,
I don't get as many nutrients, so I have to
keep up with like vitamin intake, so my hair should
start falling out. So like my hair started falling out.
My teeth was like really brittle because like I wasn't
(14:06):
getting a calcium and a vitamin D I need, like
all those things are really important and you can't really
get that through vitamins all the time. Sometimes it's the
Fooji eat, so like I had to eat like a
little more meat than usual to help with my ron
like I was super I was already anemic, but like
it got really bad, like to the point where I
had to always take cold blankets, like I was always cold.
(14:27):
So yeah, it definitely affected like my whole body system,
like my hair, my teeth, everything that is. I mean
its a lie, that right, right, you know, But speaking
about your workouts, like you work out all the time,
and that is something we have to talk about Black
women in our hair. That is a big reason why
some of us don't work out as routinely.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And I remember it's just a friend of mine, Lakita.
She is like amazing shape. And I used to always
tell her like you just look so awesome, and you know,
like he's like, yeah, I work out, I run. I left,
and I was saying, but my hair, and she said,
you got to decide do you care about your hair?
Are you about it? And it was a issue for me.
I'm like, that is so true. Do you I care
(15:08):
about my hair or my body? So some days, unless
I'm on the air speaking, I walk around DC looking
real crackash chek. Sometimes you got you know, like I
can't keep it tight all the time. How do you
manage you look beautiful today? How do you manage with
the hair, the workout, the look. You know, sometimes you
(15:30):
don't have the privilege of like I got thirty minutes
between meetings, I'm gonna run on the treadmill because like
I sweat when I work out. How do you manage? No,
I did this for you. This is not the normal
look at all. Well, you look beautiful, thank you.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Thank you. As a matter of fact, the reason I
needed more work than usual to get ready is that
I did get my hair done, but I forgot and
I went out and played tennis yesterday and I got
caught up. I choked myself. Don't run too hard. You
don't have to get after every vault. That's not how
it works. Yeah, the competitive juice kicks in and I'm
out there running. The next thing I know, I'm drenched,
my hair is all over my head, and I'm thinking,
(16:03):
oh my god, I'm going to look crazy on the
podcast tomorrow. So that's why I had to get up
a little bit extra earlier.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
This just glass, Like w t A what that glass
was on that it was in the bottle, And I
mean this could be like the beginning of the fly.
There is an unsettled spirit in this room. Angel, okay,
in the name of right, Oh my gosh, I think
(16:35):
we should keep that in the episode. Yeah, I think
that bottle popped out as a reminder for us to
say alcohol is also full of empty calories. Yeah, drinking
It is like there is is no good that comes
from drinking, but it's just empty calories. So do you
do you drink occasionally? Yeah? Yes, did you have to
(16:57):
cut it out or producer? You've always only drink occasionally.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'm the person who if I'm going to drink out
to make it count. You know, I'm a champagne person. Okay,
I drink. I want it to be really good champagne.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, yeah, this is okay, this is a motivator. I
think I really think this makes a difference with women
in weight loss. When somebody is seeing your body on
the regular, like, you really do think about eating less.
So if somebody got to see you naked. I know
for me, I'm less hungry. I don't eat as much
if I know somebody's seeing me tonight. Does that impact
(17:30):
that you at all? Yes and no.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yes, because if you're with someone for a while, then
you can get comfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's true. I could go both ways. Yeah, Well are
you even being with somebody? And because it's somebody who
sees you all the time, you can in and out
the shower eight thousand times, you know, do you ever
feel like does that is it a motivator to stay
fit or is it permission to let yourself go.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
It shouldn't be permission to let yourself go, but sometimes
it can be.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
You get too comfortable.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, what I find is when you're attracting people who
also work out. So if you have someone who works
out with you, and you work out together and then
you're eating healthy together, then you're motivating each other.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's true. I just think relationship
challenges can make you gain weight too. You know, if
you're having a hard time with somebody and you know,
you become that cliche eat an ice cream out, that
mad about something that can happen, does that motivate you
either way? Like you said, depends.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I live in a life of delusion, and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
You know, eventually I'm gonna have my gym in, you know,
and then there's me, you know, and I'm gonna be
nice a fit. But also like when I'm dating, like
you knew that I was less, like I'm not. Yeah,
if I want something to eat, I'm eat it, yeah,
but not over indulged.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
You know. So like yeah, well something that helps me.
I walk a lot, so that helps with hair because
I'm not floating out my hair and souf and I
say walk, I mean like five to six miles. Oh wow,
yeah I can. I love. It's one of my favorite
things to do. I can walk a lot. And after
I've walked, I don't it changes my taste buds, Like
I don't want to eat the same thing. You know,
(19:08):
I can't walk and then eat a burger. Actually, don't
eat meat either. I stopped eating meat. I went to
Ghana in twenty twenty two, and I've never been a
big meat eater, but in Ghana, I was eating every
kind of meat. It was just so good. And then
when I got back to America, I cannot untaste whatever
it is we do to our meat. Yes, it does
not taste yet. In Ghana, the chicken you were eating
(19:31):
was the chicken that you saw walking out. Now, do
they have an FDA, And you know there's no, there's
not a lot of regulation, but it's still tasted different.
The wings were like this big, you know, they were
tiny little wings size of my pinky in America, these
big ass steroid wings. You know that we're it's just
not normal, right, all the chemicals, so again that standard
(19:51):
American diet. That sad diet. I think the food that
we eat is killing us. But then there's also the
issue of the over accomplished. Well, I'm in you know,
we're busy, We're on a flight, we're in a meeting,
we're doing this. How do you find the time to
work out?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So what I do is plan it and build it
into the schedule. And I also work out with other people.
So I mentioned tennis. I'm on a tennis team. So
if I don't show up and we lose that line
that I have fifteen sixteen people mad at me. So
I love working out in groups so that you have accountability.
And the beauty of playing tennis on a team is
(20:27):
that I know what time I'm supposed to show up
and play my best so that my team can win,
so that we can go to the playoffs. That makes
it so. It makes you have an athletic mentality. And
I find when you tell people that you will get
back to them tomorrow because you're working out or you
have a tennis match, people do support that. So I'm
surprised pleasantly when I tell clients, especially my athletes, that
(20:51):
I'm going to work out or that I have a match.
They're very excited and they want to know how it went,
what was the score, and how did you play. I'm
finding it as a good way to engage with people,
and folks want to talk about workouts.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
In the morning. I think if you get something out
the way in the morning, if you work out in
the evening, it's too many things that can go left.
But if you say you know, by seven am, I'm
in the gym, or I'm going for a walk or
a run or whatever it is for you, then it's
already out the way, it's done. You don't have to
worry about it. So I think that makes a difference,
you know. I also though this is just me. I'm
(21:23):
not an expert or anything, but I do think there
is something about just loving yourself where you are. I
honestly think that helps with our diet. So I know,
for me, every morning, when I get out the shower,
I make a point. This might sound a little klooky
and quirky, but I make a point to spend at
least one minute with myself in the mirror with no lashes.
Hair ain't done. You know nothing on my face, my
(21:45):
raw self, what I look like, and I just check
in with myself. Do you like yourself? Do you like
how you look today? You like how you feel? You
like this body? And embracing myself and it makes me,
you know, because if I look and say no, I
don't like it, then why try? You know, I'm going
to eat whatever wan I'm not motivated. And so just
connecting with myself in the morning and making sure that yeah,
(22:06):
I do I love myself, you know, I like what
I see. It just makes me make better choices. So
I think everything comes back to loving ourselves. In this
celebrity rock world, though the culture of I feel like
everybody competing with an extra filtered photo of some celebrity.
It reminds me of a moment's iconic moment that we,
(22:30):
well we on this side might remember. I don't know
if you remember. Okay, y'all already know the streets are talking,
all right, let's get to the street to talking. There
was big news that happened this year. It was big
news for me. I was super into it because some
people are on this stuff and they want to pretend like, no,
I just ate juices and berries and I got small. Well,
the Queen Deity Oprah herself admitted that she She didn't
(22:54):
say what she was on, but she did reveal the people.
According to People magazine, that she was using way Lost
medication as a maintenance tool, which a lot of people do.
Like there's no shame in it. But I am happy
that Oprah admitted that. So she didn't owe it to us.
You know, her business is her business. But I am
happy because it humanizes her and makes us feel, you know, like, okay,
(23:15):
well we relate because we have, you know, weight issues too.
That she's always always been that way. She's in her
seventies now, which you know, I remember when Oprah debuted
on air, and now she's in her seventies, but she
has dealt with yo yoing weight for over five decades,
which I also completely understand. And one quote that she
(23:36):
said is she I realized I'd been blaming myself all
these years for being overweight. And I have a predisposition
that no amount of will power is going to control
obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower, it's about
the brain. I completely understand that, like there, and it's
also the food that we eat here. It is designed
(23:58):
to be addictive. So she hadn't she has not opted
to publicly say which weight loss medication she's on. But
when she came out and said this, this moment in
the eighties, I think it was nineteen eighty eight where
she basically starved herself and lost a ton of weight.
When Oprah first came out, she was heavyweight and then
(24:21):
slowly but surely, she was losing weight. But we didn't
see her for a while, and she starved herself and
had this big reveal a liquid diet, yes, and had
this big reveal on the Oprah Windry Show, and she
literally wheeled out this wagon of fat that our executive
producer just told me it was like animal parts, Like
it was literal large that was out on that wagon.
(24:42):
And she was to say, I can't believe I carried
all this weight around. And it was a celebrat like
America celebrated, like, oh my god, did you see Oprah,
She's so small? Do you remember watching that episode?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We all watched together. I was on campus at Spelman
at the time. Wow, So we all watched that together
in the dorm because back then we had a TV room.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Everybody in the video TVs.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
And these tricked out sweets like I see now, but
back then you had a small dorm room and then
everybody watched TV together, and so we would all watch
Oprah together. Yeah, the class and so I remember that
being a big deal on Spelman's campus. When she rolled out,
it was a wagon, like a children's wagon full of fat.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
And how tiny she was in the type ge.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Yes, yes, yeahn high waisted Levi's and a black turtle neck.
And I'm not gonna lie. Oprah looked good. I mean
we saw her face. Everything looked good. And she talked
about on that show. I remember she talked about she
wanted to eat so bad. In the middle of the night,
she called somebody, maybe it was girl's husband at the time,
I don't remember who it was, somebody in her circle,
(25:46):
and they had to talk her through, like don't do it,
you know, just drink something. But the humiliation of what
it's like after those kind of trickery diets don't work,
and then you slowly gain the weight back, and how
she talked about, you know, how she felt during that process.
I've been through that, you know, where I've lost weight,
I've gotten down on the size six and you know,
in a kind of like a confidence booster, you know,
(26:08):
it's like, I'm gonna get rid of these cloths because
I don't ever plan on wearing these sides tens again.
And you know that moves You're gone, and then slowly
but surely those sixes and that zipper re screaming for
dear life trying to zip everything in. It's an awful feeling.
It takes such a toll. Did you ever fluctuate? Yes?
I was about to say, I definitely understand how you feel.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So like, originally I lost like all this weight super fast,
and then like slowly, I wouldn't say like all started
to gain a lot of weight. I think I've only
gained ten pounds within like two years, so like completely.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Which I feel like is okay.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, people it's like, oh my god, I like go
like they beat themselves up about it, but I'm like, well,
because I'm happy and my clothes is still cheap, I
don't care.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
That's like the biggest scene to me being able to
walk into like Target, Walmart anywhere and I can buy clothes.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah. Before and then I couldn't do that, Like it
was even laying Bryant and.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You know, no, if it's everybody who's shopped there, but
I don't want to be going to church every day
like you know, you know, so I definitely experienced that, like,
oh my god, if.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
It's that large, let me go get the ex large.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
And yeah, I'm okay with that because I'm like, I
want my clothes to fit. I want to feel good
when I go out, So it doesn't really bother me
long as I'm comfortable and I'm not overdoing it, like
I'm not gaining twenty pounds in a month or in
a few months, like make sure I'm maintaining my weight
in it.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, case. One thing that I hear some people talk
about is like body positivity, you know, particularly for black women,
because we navigate this country where we feel, you know, unattractive.
Sometimes we're told we're unattractive from everything to our skin
tone to our hair. Through the decades, you know, it's
(27:49):
always been something about why we're just undesirable. And so
now in this space of yes, if you're a big, small, overweight, underweight, whatever,
celebrate yourself. I wonder how we walk that slippery slope
of yes, body positivity but also health, you know, like, yes,
we want to celebrate you and want you to feel
(28:09):
good about yourself. But if you're having vision challenges and
here like all the things that are impacting your health,
because you were on the side of dealing with those
health challenges, what do you say to women, young women
in particular, who may feel like, yeah, it's okay, I'm
going to eat all the things I you know, I
like my body and I'm fine with this. We don't
(28:30):
want them to feel not fine, But what would you
say to them about the health challenges of them that
kind of outlet.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
So basically what you just said earlier about African American community,
and then like me being in nursing school, like I'm
almost there, but thank you, and you walk out to
these man search floors and it's nothing but black older
people there or you know that take a tote on
you because you like, I don't want to be.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Like big Mama. I want all my toes, I want
all my things, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So when you see somebody that's in a different position,
it's like, I want you to be happy. I want
you to eat, but there's better options. Like I never
stopped eating candy. I just started eating candy that has
three grams of sugar, Like, enjoy those things, but in
a healthier way, because you have to be real and
be like do you want to be like this?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Do you want to have all these health complications?
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Like not in the mean way, but like kind of
just give them the overview of what they can look
like in a few years or ten years, twenty years.
You don't want to be not being able to play
with your kids or your grandkids because you'll have a
leg anymore. Right, you want to eat all day, you know,
So just being real and being transparent and giving better options,
(29:37):
I think, yeah, I would say to somebody else that's
going through that.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
We have to make sure we have that message. And
quite honestly, Kathy, look, being healthy is a privilege sometimes
because I think about all the black folks this used
to look. I might lose my a man corner out there.
But I'm gonna have to talk about President Obama for
a minute because it used to drive me crazy when
he would, you know, lecture black folks on their diet
and it's like, yeah, not everybody lives with the whole
(30:01):
foods around the corner like you do. And sometimes the
bodega is your grocery store, the neighborhood corner store at
your grocery store, you don't have access to fresh produce
all the time. Sometimes, if you're trying to feed a
family of five or six on a limited budget, you
do not have the privilege of being able to buy
fresh produce or lean meat products. Sometimes it's just a
(30:22):
big old five pound thing, a ground beef and some pasta,
right food chicken, you know, all the things that you know,
we didn't grow up well and so we didn't always
have a diet, and sometimes you're drinking those sugary sodas
and not water. So you know, I don't know if
we're still navigating those spaces among the three of us,
(30:42):
but surely there are millions of people out there who
live in food deserts, and any advice or thoughts on
what those folks can do. Not that we're nutrition experts, guy,
We're just talking about our own lives here and how
we navigate that space. Well.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I try to modify recipes, so if there's something I'm cooking,
maybe it'll say half cup of sugar, try it with
a quarter cup and maybe it'll taste the same, right.
Or if you were using seed oils, why not try
an olive oil. Just looking for ways to modify and
sometimes those incremental changes over time, you'll really see a difference. Yeah,
(31:17):
I'm finding working out is something that everybody can do.
You mentioned walking, everybody can walk. Walking is free, running
is free. So there are so many things we can
do outdoors so that we can get that vitamin D,
get the sunshine, and we're out there and we're moving,
and a lot of that's free.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
My grandmother, she was the cook in our family, like
our immediate family, our extended family, everybody, we would come
in her kitchen and instead of getting a recipe from her,
we would all stand around and watch our cook. And
I've had to moderate, like some of the things because
she there was nothing to just throw a stick of
butter something, you know, and then it tastes better so good, Yes,
yes that butter. Like you better not put no olive
(31:55):
oil on my com bread. Like, give me some butter,
you know, in that corn bread. And it was just
so tasty. The dressing she made, the mac and cheese
she made. Now something you can't always like make a
vegan version of something that's good. But a lot of
things I do find altering it just a little bit,
but it makes you a huge difference. Yeah, Cottage cheese
(32:15):
is a heavy protein you know that you can do
and use as an aggregate instead of you know, maybe
milk or just different products. There are small things to do,
so I encourage folks out there to do it. I
know it's hard. You say, you know, vitamin D. A
lot of people are vitamin D deficient, another kind of
vitamin D or somebody looking at your body and by
lose some weight. You know all of that. Yes, Well,
(32:39):
sex is exercise. I don't know how many calories you burn,
but it's exercise. You know, it's something, so whatever, whatever,
but whatever works. Well, this has been great. I'm really
happy that you guys were so honest and forthcoming with
your weight loss journeys. I know, you know, for me,
I'm still on the journey. I don't know how long
(33:00):
I'll last on these pills, to be quite honest, but
it really is about health at the end of the day.
So wherever you are tuning in at home on your
weight loss journey, we just wanted to offer testimony and
encouragement to you keep going do something little every day.
Something I do also is if I'm in a building,
instead of taking the elevator, I might take the stairs.
(33:21):
Even at my lowest moment, I make myself get outside
and walk around the block, just the one block. And
then if you feel like doing two, do you do two.
You know I've never only done one block. I tell
myself that's all I have to do. Then it's like, oh,
have I done two? I can do three. If I've
done three, I can do five. So whatever you can do.
Healthier decisions. I love that you said you plan the meal.
If you know you're going to a restaurant, you look
(33:43):
at the menu in advance and plan the meal. Depriving
myself of think depravity doesn't work for me, so sometimes
I just taste something. Sharing meals help. You know, my
friends and I, you know, I might want the pasta,
but we might get a pasta for the table. So
all of those things are just little suggestions. It's three
people who are not nutritionist or diet experts, but we
just wanted to share our testimony. I encourage everybody wherever
(34:04):
you are on your journey to stay the course. Be healthy.
Most importantly, love yourself. Look in the mirror, love yourself,
love what you see, and step into a new you
as often as you need. Thank you so much for
tuning into this episode of Across Generations, I'm Your Host
Tiffany Cross, and we will see you back next week
on another episode of Across Generations. Across Generations is brought
(34:26):
to you by wolf Packer and Wolfpacker Media in partnership
with iHeart Podcast. I'm Your Host and executive producer Tiffany D. Cross,
from Idea to Launch Productions Executive producer Carla willmeris produced
by Mandy Be and Angel Forte. Editing, sound design and
mixed by Gaza Forte. Original music by Epidemic Sound, Video
(34:47):
editing by Kathon Alexander and Court Meeting
Welcome to a Cross Generations where the voices of black
women unite. I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross, we
gather a season elder myself as a middle generation and
a vibrant young soul for engaging intergenerational conversations. Prepared to
engage or hear perspectives that no one else is happening.
(00:26):
You know how we do. We create magic Cate magic. Hi, everybody,
welcome to another episode of Across Generations. I'm your host,
Tiffany Cross, and today we're discussing something that impacts nearly everyone,
and that is weight. I will tell you guys, I
have always struggled with a weight. Now, I may have
(00:47):
never been morbidly obese, but I have certainly felt like it.
And sometimes when you're on camera, you can look like it.
And working in an industry where people see you before
they hear you what you look like matters a great deal.
But even if we table vanity for a second, there's
also just the issue of health. It seems like everywhere
I look, people are freebasing some sort of weight loss drug.
(01:08):
For black folks, we have had higher and average rates
of chronic disease for reasons that include disparities and income
and education, less access to health, insurance, housing, healthy food,
living in food deserts, and really basically just the weathering
of racism related issues. So, according to federal Health data,
twelve percent of Black adults had diagnosed diabetes in twenty
(01:31):
twenty one. Now this is a rate that's only surpassed
by American Indigenous populations. Black adults also have the highest
rates of obesity based on a body mass index at
nearly fifty percent. So today we want to talk about why,
what we can do about it, and to do that
we need to get into how our lives and diets
have changed across generations. The help we get into this conversation.
(01:53):
Kathy Hampton. She's a fifty five year old Spelman College
graduate and also a graduate of Harvard Law School. She
currently works out multiple times a week and believes in
achieving health through wellness and exercise and influenced by the
elite athletes she represents, I'm one of them. No, I'm kidding.
We'll get into that later. Brandy Richison she is better
(02:15):
known as be Rich. She say it's her last name.
She's be rich, but sometimes she's broke. We'll get into that.
She's a twenty nine year old beauty, lifestyle and body
positive influencer. She embarked on her weight loss journey through
traditional methods and then decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery
to assist with her weight loss goals. So lots to
get into, ladies. I'm so happy you're joining me. Thank you,
(02:37):
thank you, thank you. This is going to be a
very honest conversation. So I will first will I will
be honest about my weight loss journey, and I will say, like,
since I was young, I just always struggled with weight,
and it just came on like suddenly. I think when
I got to college. This is all Atlanta University Center
of Panel Yes with Clanta Clark, Atlanta Spelman and that
(02:58):
freshman fifteen turned into sophomore twenty and then turned into
twenty something thirty, and it's like there was just a
layering that happened. So I've always fluctuated with my weight
and it's so frustrating, you know, because there are parts
that that we don't like, and then sometimes you know,
man like we like some pushing for the cushion, you know.
(03:20):
So I don't know, I'll start with you be rich
because you you have such an ever spirit. Gash bypass
is a pretty serious and major surgery. So what made
you have that operation? Was it medical? Did your doctor
say you need to or was it your own personal choice? Sure,
(03:40):
so it was a little bit of both medical and personal.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
First, I love myself, you know me, I'm texting some
like Everything's Figger from Texas.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
That just that me, right.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So the first thing that happened, my eyesight kind of
got like fuzzy, and I was like very sensitive tolight. Wow,
you know, I'm a girl. I got insurance. I'm going
to doctor, like, tell me what's going on with my eye? Yeah,
And I got a sprinted and pretty much I had
idopathic hypertension. So really that's bound in a lot of
ob swimen. It's just like an unknown tumor that pops
up minds was behind my eyes.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So it was kind of like restricting my eyesight a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So that's why I was so sensitive to like, so
that was my first gear, like, ah, oh my god.
And they're like, well, maybe you should lose weight. You know,
every time I go to the doctors, you should lose weight.
So I'm like, okay, I don't know if I want
to take them serious, but I want to be able
to see. So I thought that that was pretty serious.
And then second it came behind my ear, like I
got that taken care of, and then I couldn't hear
out of my right ears. I'm like, Okay, I really
have to do something serious, and I need to do
(04:34):
something fast because I want to be able to see here,
you know. So that was my medical portion of it.
And then just like personally, like going to the airport
always happened to AX break standard or going to six Flags,
I can't ride roller coasters with my friends, like that
kind of started to take a toll on me, and
I think my last straw, Like I love to travel
and it was my birthday. All my friends got the
(04:54):
zip line and then I get up there They're like,
oh no, my no, too much move no, Like I
was literally hot. I'm like, okay, yeah, that's my last row.
I'm going to get on the table, and it just
is what it is. So that was my decision was
medical and personal a little.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I'm so happy you shared that because I'm certain there
are a lot of people out there who maybe having
vision challenges, challenges what they're hearing. I didn't even know
that your weight could impact all that, and you you
literally walked us through the thesis because it was your health,
but also just the toll it took on your spirit
to have to go through that. But let me say,
you look amazing. When when she first came down and
(05:31):
we were looking at everybody's outfits, I saw her and said,
you are giving You are a surgery. So I'm happy
that you're healthy and feeling better. Now do you still
have any issues at all? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
No, all that went away, even gird like acid reflects
like you really don't realize how much your weight affects,
like your everyday life until you actually lose weight. So
I don't have any of those problems anywhere medically. Yeah,
so the surgery worked for you, is okay?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Good? Yeah, Now you did not have any kind of surgery.
You just look fabulous on your own. Is that what
I'm to understand. But it's a lot of work. Yes.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
So there's this great scene I love if you've ever
seen The forty year Old Virgin where he looks in
the camera and says, this takes a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yes, that's what I've found. And as i've.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Grown older, it takes even more work. Yeah, So it
really has to be a priority, so that when you're
planning your day, the workouts have to be in there.
If you're going out to eat with your friends, you
look at the menu in advance so that you can
start thinking about it. So I find that it's just
taken more work to look good with aging.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Now, were you overweights? Yes, okay, significantly overweights. Do you
mind sharing how much weight you lost?
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I've lost thirty five okay, but I've done it very slowly,
so it's not as noticeable except for folks who haven't
seen you in a long time. Yeah, because it took
me almost two years to do it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And so for me, the impetus was COVID when we
were all hunkered down talking about cooking. So I grew
up in Mississippi, where food is love. Yeah, and we
all hunkered down in Mississippi and we were cooking daily.
We had four generations all under one roof, and to
keep everybody healthy, we didn't go out, we didn't mix
a lot, but what we did do was.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Cook and bake.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, cakes, pies, we were baking and cooking, and so
by the end of COVID.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It showed so you were baking and cooking across generations. Ah,
I love it. So that's interesting because I think a
lot of people during COVID that's when a lot of
weight gain happened. I mean they basically said, go stock
up on food and stay in the house. You know, yes, yeah,
and then people, you know, when we came back outside,
(07:35):
it was like, oh, I have to get it together.
You know, there is something and this is listen for
all of you all tuning in at home. This is
no judgment. However, you choose to feel good about yourself
and be healthy. We salute it. But I do think
it says something about our culture that in America, specifically
the standard American diet it's literally sad, sad, that's what
(07:58):
they call the standard American diet, and the amount of
processed foods we consume that impacts our health and our weight.
I know, for me, I don't want to say because
I'm not endorsing any pill or any brand, but I
recently started taking a pill that is supposed to help
with weight loss, and every day I feel a little nauseous.
(08:21):
And when I first started taking it, I felt like
it was looking at the stomach flue. For like three
or four days, I was no good and I was
just thinking is it worth looking good and feeling bad?
Like I just don't know. At some point my body regulated,
but it has changed how I consume food like that
it's I have for like salt or sugar because I
(08:41):
can take both. It just kind of went away. The
thought of drinking alcohol is like, look, I can't have
alcohol now. I am concerned though about the long term
impact of some of these things, So I'm navigating my
own weight loss. The biggest success I found to be. However,
y'all doing it is to you, But what I found
work best is not eating a lot of processed food,
(09:02):
working out consistently you have to burn more calories than
you consume, and just making responsible choices. There is no
magic way, you know do it. Yeah, I take your
point that it's work. And I do think the older
you get, like I do, feel my body is a
layering to my body, you know, the older I get,
And it's really yes, yes, yeah, And I just it's
(09:28):
a it's an interesting terrain to navigate as your you know,
because I eat my emotion. So sometimes it's like I
had an amazing day. I deserve this, Or I had
a rough day. I deserve this, or I had a
regular day. So my meal is gonna be my exciting thing.
I deserve this. You know, how did you gain the weight?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I would say, like lack of mobility, Like I played
sports all throughout high school management like just school period,
and I think that kind of helps you the weight off.
So it's like, yeah, I want to McDonald's and eight food,
but I just ran a whole bunch of suicides.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Like it's okay, yeah, you kind of like maintaining weight
in a sense.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
And then when I went to college, I stopped playing basketball,
stopped being active like you said, freshman fifteen, sophomore thirty,
like it just kept going from there. And I just
think like just lack of mobility was like my issue.
Not that I couldn't move, I just didn't have the
I don't know what word to use, like yeah, like
(10:29):
I'm gonna just catch the shuttle instead of walking on
the way down.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Y'all know, walking down the Parmenie. Yeah, I'm gonna catch
the shuttle.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah, then get off then go to call mayor where
like that was very lazy or I'm gonna take the
elevator instead of just taking the stairs, like it's only
on the second floor. So I think just lack of
like moving around was like my issue when it By
the time I realized it was like oh potato, yea.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It was like big at that point. Yeah. So if
you don't mind, how much weight did you lose?
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So around like one hundred and thirty pounds, So it
happened like really fast. So I think when I first
started my journey or starting to go like consultations and stuff,
I was around like three hundred and eighty pounds and
then I got the surgery, like I want to say,
literally the first the next day, I had already lost
sixteen pounds.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So it happened really fast.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So within like six months, I was already down almost
one hundred pounds and then it just kept going from there.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So like in total, like one hundred and thirty pounds.
Oh wow, and then you feel lighter, Oh yeah, of course. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Like I said, now I don't have to ask for
the extend it. I'll just be walking down I don't
have to worry about bucket people with my bag. Yeah,
I can roll roller coasters again. So that's the best thing,
so of course I felt much lighter, much better.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Did you change your diet?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, so you kind of are forced to do it too.
So oh I forgot that part. They took my gallbladder too.
I didn't know I had golstones, so I had a
lot going off, Yeah to my gawbladder. They fixed my gird,
my assid reflex, so I got like the three and
one special. But yeah, I changed my diet so I
don't drink like soda. I can't really eat for my food.
(12:00):
Of course, I don't have a gall bladder like everybody else,
so if I'm gonna eat bad, I need to be
right by restaurrooms.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I really don't know that in public at all.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And then I took a lot of sugar free things,
so all my friends make fun of me and they like, oh,
go get some of the drink, but wo go to
be rich house because they know I only have sugar
free things.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah. So yeah, just water and that really changed, like
my skin, like everything changed, honestly, Are you still losing?
Not really?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I feel like I'm like consistent now, okay, I'm like
forty three. Now I'll be checking every day, like, yeah,
I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I still got it.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, but yeah, I'm not like actively trying to lose
more weight by I'm trying to get.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Like a little must Well, here's what I'll say about
that weight loss, Like you have to be careful looking
at numbers. It's really sometimes it's inches muscles way more
than that. I will tell y'all. Hopefully by the time
y'all see this, it'll go down. But I think you're
a like one forty six now. But I'm five too,
so that's a lot for somebody five to two. So
I need to lose probably like fifteen more pounds. And
(12:59):
there are people who look amazing who weigh one hundred
and fifty pounds and they're smaller than me. They're tighter
than me. So you can't get so caught up, you know,
in the numbers. Yeah, do you know how often do
you weigh yourself? Oh? Daily?
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But I had a question for you before I forget
this is the other thing about the middle aged brain.
So you mentioned skin. I would imagine, because you're so
young and beautiful, that your skin was supple and that
it bounced back.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
In terms of little weight loss.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Yes, and no, I think more parts like I think
really just my arm, since you lose it so fast,
like you skin, it's like, okay this my arms have
like a little sagging skin, But like everywhere else was fine.
I was like, okay, good, I can do this, you know,
so yes, yes and no. You know you see my face,
but yeah, I think in just different parts. Everybody's body
(13:45):
is different. So yeah, did it impact your hair? Yes,
good and bad. So Originally, like you know, since I
don't have the same amount of stomach as everybody else,
I don't get as many nutrients, so I have to
keep up with like vitamin intake, so my hair should
start falling out. So like my hair started falling out.
My teeth was like really brittle because like I wasn't
(14:06):
getting a calcium and a vitamin D I need, like
all those things are really important and you can't really
get that through vitamins all the time. Sometimes it's the
Fooji eat, so like I had to eat like a
little more meat than usual to help with my ron
like I was super I was already anemic, but like
it got really bad, like to the point where I
had to always take cold blankets, like I was always cold.
(14:27):
So yeah, it definitely affected like my whole body system,
like my hair, my teeth, everything that is. I mean
its a lie, that right, right, you know, But speaking
about your workouts, like you work out all the time,
and that is something we have to talk about Black
women in our hair. That is a big reason why
some of us don't work out as routinely.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
And I remember it's just a friend of mine, Lakita.
She is like amazing shape. And I used to always
tell her like you just look so awesome, and you know,
like he's like, yeah, I work out, I run. I left,
and I was saying, but my hair, and she said,
you got to decide do you care about your hair?
Are you about it? And it was a issue for me.
I'm like, that is so true. Do you I care
(15:08):
about my hair or my body? So some days, unless
I'm on the air speaking, I walk around DC looking
real crackash chek. Sometimes you got you know, like I
can't keep it tight all the time. How do you
manage you look beautiful today? How do you manage with
the hair, the workout, the look. You know, sometimes you
(15:30):
don't have the privilege of like I got thirty minutes
between meetings, I'm gonna run on the treadmill because like
I sweat when I work out. How do you manage? No,
I did this for you. This is not the normal
look at all. Well, you look beautiful, thank you.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Thank you. As a matter of fact, the reason I
needed more work than usual to get ready is that
I did get my hair done, but I forgot and
I went out and played tennis yesterday and I got
caught up. I choked myself. Don't run too hard. You
don't have to get after every vault. That's not how
it works. Yeah, the competitive juice kicks in and I'm
out there running. The next thing I know, I'm drenched,
my hair is all over my head, and I'm thinking,
(16:03):
oh my god, I'm going to look crazy on the
podcast tomorrow. So that's why I had to get up
a little bit extra earlier.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
This just glass, Like w t A what that glass
was on that it was in the bottle, And I
mean this could be like the beginning of the fly.
There is an unsettled spirit in this room. Angel, okay,
in the name of right, Oh my gosh, I think
(16:35):
we should keep that in the episode. Yeah, I think
that bottle popped out as a reminder for us to
say alcohol is also full of empty calories. Yeah, drinking
It is like there is is no good that comes
from drinking, but it's just empty calories. So do you
do you drink occasionally? Yeah? Yes, did you have to
(16:57):
cut it out or producer? You've always only drink occasionally.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I'm the person who if I'm going to drink out
to make it count. You know, I'm a champagne person. Okay,
I drink. I want it to be really good champagne.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, yeah, this is okay, this is a motivator. I
think I really think this makes a difference with women
in weight loss. When somebody is seeing your body on
the regular, like, you really do think about eating less.
So if somebody got to see you naked. I know
for me, I'm less hungry. I don't eat as much
if I know somebody's seeing me tonight. Does that impact
(17:30):
that you at all? Yes and no.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yes, because if you're with someone for a while, then
you can get comfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
That's true. I could go both ways. Yeah, Well are
you even being with somebody? And because it's somebody who
sees you all the time, you can in and out
the shower eight thousand times, you know, do you ever
feel like does that is it a motivator to stay
fit or is it permission to let yourself go.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
It shouldn't be permission to let yourself go, but sometimes
it can be.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
You get too comfortable.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, what I find is when you're attracting people who
also work out. So if you have someone who works
out with you, and you work out together and then
you're eating healthy together, then you're motivating each other.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's true. I just think relationship
challenges can make you gain weight too. You know, if
you're having a hard time with somebody and you know,
you become that cliche eat an ice cream out, that
mad about something that can happen, does that motivate you
either way? Like you said, depends.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
I live in a life of delusion, and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
You know, eventually I'm gonna have my gym in, you know,
and then there's me, you know, and I'm gonna be
nice a fit. But also like when I'm dating, like
you knew that I was less, like I'm not. Yeah,
if I want something to eat, I'm eat it, yeah,
but not over indulged.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
You know. So like yeah, well something that helps me.
I walk a lot, so that helps with hair because
I'm not floating out my hair and souf and I
say walk, I mean like five to six miles. Oh wow,
yeah I can. I love. It's one of my favorite
things to do. I can walk a lot. And after
I've walked, I don't it changes my taste buds, Like
I don't want to eat the same thing. You know,
(19:08):
I can't walk and then eat a burger. Actually, don't
eat meat either. I stopped eating meat. I went to
Ghana in twenty twenty two, and I've never been a
big meat eater, but in Ghana, I was eating every
kind of meat. It was just so good. And then
when I got back to America, I cannot untaste whatever
it is we do to our meat. Yes, it does
not taste yet. In Ghana, the chicken you were eating
(19:31):
was the chicken that you saw walking out. Now, do
they have an FDA, And you know there's no, there's
not a lot of regulation, but it's still tasted different.
The wings were like this big, you know, they were
tiny little wings size of my pinky in America, these
big ass steroid wings. You know that we're it's just
not normal, right, all the chemicals, so again that standard
(19:51):
American diet. That sad diet. I think the food that
we eat is killing us. But then there's also the
issue of the over accomplished. Well, I'm in you know,
we're busy, We're on a flight, we're in a meeting,
we're doing this. How do you find the time to
work out?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So what I do is plan it and build it
into the schedule. And I also work out with other people.
So I mentioned tennis. I'm on a tennis team. So
if I don't show up and we lose that line
that I have fifteen sixteen people mad at me. So
I love working out in groups so that you have accountability.
And the beauty of playing tennis on a team is
(20:27):
that I know what time I'm supposed to show up
and play my best so that my team can win,
so that we can go to the playoffs. That makes
it so. It makes you have an athletic mentality. And
I find when you tell people that you will get
back to them tomorrow because you're working out or you
have a tennis match, people do support that. So I'm
surprised pleasantly when I tell clients, especially my athletes, that
(20:51):
I'm going to work out or that I have a match.
They're very excited and they want to know how it went,
what was the score, and how did you play. I'm
finding it as a good way to engage with people,
and folks want to talk about workouts.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
In the morning. I think if you get something out
the way in the morning, if you work out in
the evening, it's too many things that can go left.
But if you say you know, by seven am, I'm
in the gym, or I'm going for a walk or
a run or whatever it is for you, then it's
already out the way, it's done. You don't have to
worry about it. So I think that makes a difference,
you know. I also though this is just me. I'm
(21:23):
not an expert or anything, but I do think there
is something about just loving yourself where you are. I
honestly think that helps with our diet. So I know,
for me, every morning, when I get out the shower,
I make a point. This might sound a little klooky
and quirky, but I make a point to spend at
least one minute with myself in the mirror with no lashes.
Hair ain't done. You know nothing on my face, my
(21:45):
raw self, what I look like, and I just check
in with myself. Do you like yourself? Do you like
how you look today? You like how you feel? You
like this body? And embracing myself and it makes me,
you know, because if I look and say no, I
don't like it, then why try? You know, I'm going
to eat whatever wan I'm not motivated. And so just
connecting with myself in the morning and making sure that yeah,
(22:06):
I do I love myself, you know, I like what
I see. It just makes me make better choices. So
I think everything comes back to loving ourselves. In this
celebrity rock world, though the culture of I feel like
everybody competing with an extra filtered photo of some celebrity.
It reminds me of a moment's iconic moment that we,
(22:30):
well we on this side might remember. I don't know
if you remember. Okay, y'all already know the streets are talking,
all right, let's get to the street to talking. There
was big news that happened this year. It was big
news for me. I was super into it because some
people are on this stuff and they want to pretend like, no,
I just ate juices and berries and I got small. Well,
the Queen Deity Oprah herself admitted that she She didn't
(22:54):
say what she was on, but she did reveal the people.
According to People magazine, that she was using way Lost
medication as a maintenance tool, which a lot of people do.
Like there's no shame in it. But I am happy
that Oprah admitted that. So she didn't owe it to us.
You know, her business is her business. But I am
happy because it humanizes her and makes us feel, you know, like, okay,
(23:15):
well we relate because we have, you know, weight issues too.
That she's always always been that way. She's in her
seventies now, which you know, I remember when Oprah debuted
on air, and now she's in her seventies, but she
has dealt with yo yoing weight for over five decades,
which I also completely understand. And one quote that she
(23:36):
said is she I realized I'd been blaming myself all
these years for being overweight. And I have a predisposition
that no amount of will power is going to control
obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower, it's about
the brain. I completely understand that, like there, and it's
also the food that we eat here. It is designed
(23:58):
to be addictive. So she hadn't she has not opted
to publicly say which weight loss medication she's on. But
when she came out and said this, this moment in
the eighties, I think it was nineteen eighty eight where
she basically starved herself and lost a ton of weight.
When Oprah first came out, she was heavyweight and then
(24:21):
slowly but surely, she was losing weight. But we didn't
see her for a while, and she starved herself and
had this big reveal a liquid diet, yes, and had
this big reveal on the Oprah Windry Show, and she
literally wheeled out this wagon of fat that our executive
producer just told me it was like animal parts, Like
it was literal large that was out on that wagon.
(24:42):
And she was to say, I can't believe I carried
all this weight around. And it was a celebrat like
America celebrated, like, oh my god, did you see Oprah,
She's so small? Do you remember watching that episode?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
We all watched together. I was on campus at Spelman
at the time. Wow, So we all watched that together
in the dorm because back then we had a TV room.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Everybody in the video TVs.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
And these tricked out sweets like I see now, but
back then you had a small dorm room and then
everybody watched TV together, and so we would all watch
Oprah together. Yeah, the class and so I remember that
being a big deal on Spelman's campus. When she rolled out,
it was a wagon, like a children's wagon full of fat.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
And how tiny she was in the type ge.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Yes, yes, yeahn high waisted Levi's and a black turtle neck.
And I'm not gonna lie. Oprah looked good. I mean
we saw her face. Everything looked good. And she talked
about on that show. I remember she talked about she
wanted to eat so bad. In the middle of the night,
she called somebody, maybe it was girl's husband at the time,
I don't remember who it was, somebody in her circle,
(25:46):
and they had to talk her through, like don't do it,
you know, just drink something. But the humiliation of what
it's like after those kind of trickery diets don't work,
and then you slowly gain the weight back, and how
she talked about, you know, how she felt during that process.
I've been through that, you know, where I've lost weight,
I've gotten down on the size six and you know,
in a kind of like a confidence booster, you know,
(26:08):
it's like, I'm gonna get rid of these cloths because
I don't ever plan on wearing these sides tens again.
And you know that moves You're gone, and then slowly
but surely those sixes and that zipper re screaming for
dear life trying to zip everything in. It's an awful feeling.
It takes such a toll. Did you ever fluctuate? Yes?
I was about to say, I definitely understand how you feel.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
So like, originally I lost like all this weight super fast,
and then like slowly, I wouldn't say like all started
to gain a lot of weight. I think I've only
gained ten pounds within like two years, so like completely.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Which I feel like is okay.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, people it's like, oh my god, I like go
like they beat themselves up about it, but I'm like, well,
because I'm happy and my clothes is still cheap, I
don't care.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
That's like the biggest scene to me being able to
walk into like Target, Walmart anywhere and I can buy clothes.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah. Before and then I couldn't do that, Like it
was even laying Bryant and.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
You know, no, if it's everybody who's shopped there, but
I don't want to be going to church every day
like you know, you know, so I definitely experienced that, like,
oh my god, if.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
It's that large, let me go get the ex large.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
And yeah, I'm okay with that because I'm like, I
want my clothes to fit. I want to feel good
when I go out, So it doesn't really bother me
long as I'm comfortable and I'm not overdoing it, like
I'm not gaining twenty pounds in a month or in
a few months, like make sure I'm maintaining my weight
in it.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, case. One thing that I hear some people talk
about is like body positivity, you know, particularly for black women,
because we navigate this country where we feel, you know, unattractive.
Sometimes we're told we're unattractive from everything to our skin
tone to our hair. Through the decades, you know, it's
(27:49):
always been something about why we're just undesirable. And so
now in this space of yes, if you're a big, small, overweight, underweight, whatever,
celebrate yourself. I wonder how we walk that slippery slope
of yes, body positivity but also health, you know, like, yes,
we want to celebrate you and want you to feel
(28:09):
good about yourself. But if you're having vision challenges and
here like all the things that are impacting your health,
because you were on the side of dealing with those
health challenges, what do you say to women, young women
in particular, who may feel like, yeah, it's okay, I'm
going to eat all the things I you know, I
like my body and I'm fine with this. We don't
(28:30):
want them to feel not fine, But what would you
say to them about the health challenges of them that
kind of outlet.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
So basically what you just said earlier about African American community,
and then like me being in nursing school, like I'm
almost there, but thank you, and you walk out to
these man search floors and it's nothing but black older
people there or you know that take a tote on
you because you like, I don't want to be.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Like big Mama. I want all my toes, I want
all my things, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So when you see somebody that's in a different position,
it's like, I want you to be happy. I want
you to eat, but there's better options. Like I never
stopped eating candy. I just started eating candy that has
three grams of sugar, Like, enjoy those things, but in
a healthier way, because you have to be real and
be like do you want to be like this?
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Do you want to have all these health complications?
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Like not in the mean way, but like kind of
just give them the overview of what they can look
like in a few years or ten years, twenty years.
You don't want to be not being able to play
with your kids or your grandkids because you'll have a
leg anymore. Right, you want to eat all day, you know,
So just being real and being transparent and giving better options,
(29:37):
I think, yeah, I would say to somebody else that's
going through that.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
We have to make sure we have that message. And
quite honestly, Kathy, look, being healthy is a privilege sometimes
because I think about all the black folks this used
to look. I might lose my a man corner out there.
But I'm gonna have to talk about President Obama for
a minute because it used to drive me crazy when
he would, you know, lecture black folks on their diet
and it's like, yeah, not everybody lives with the whole
(30:01):
foods around the corner like you do. And sometimes the
bodega is your grocery store, the neighborhood corner store at
your grocery store, you don't have access to fresh produce
all the time. Sometimes, if you're trying to feed a
family of five or six on a limited budget, you
do not have the privilege of being able to buy
fresh produce or lean meat products. Sometimes it's just a
(30:22):
big old five pound thing, a ground beef and some pasta,
right food chicken, you know, all the things that you know,
we didn't grow up well and so we didn't always
have a diet, and sometimes you're drinking those sugary sodas
and not water. So you know, I don't know if
we're still navigating those spaces among the three of us,
(30:42):
but surely there are millions of people out there who
live in food deserts, and any advice or thoughts on
what those folks can do. Not that we're nutrition experts, guy,
We're just talking about our own lives here and how
we navigate that space. Well.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I try to modify recipes, so if there's something I'm cooking,
maybe it'll say half cup of sugar, try it with
a quarter cup and maybe it'll taste the same, right.
Or if you were using seed oils, why not try
an olive oil. Just looking for ways to modify and
sometimes those incremental changes over time, you'll really see a difference. Yeah,
(31:17):
I'm finding working out is something that everybody can do.
You mentioned walking, everybody can walk. Walking is free, running
is free. So there are so many things we can
do outdoors so that we can get that vitamin D,
get the sunshine, and we're out there and we're moving,
and a lot of that's free.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
My grandmother, she was the cook in our family, like
our immediate family, our extended family, everybody, we would come
in her kitchen and instead of getting a recipe from her,
we would all stand around and watch our cook. And
I've had to moderate, like some of the things because
she there was nothing to just throw a stick of
butter something, you know, and then it tastes better so good, Yes,
yes that butter. Like you better not put no olive
(31:55):
oil on my com bread. Like, give me some butter,
you know, in that corn bread. And it was just
so tasty. The dressing she made, the mac and cheese
she made. Now something you can't always like make a
vegan version of something that's good. But a lot of
things I do find altering it just a little bit,
but it makes you a huge difference. Yeah, Cottage cheese
(32:15):
is a heavy protein you know that you can do
and use as an aggregate instead of you know, maybe
milk or just different products. There are small things to do,
so I encourage folks out there to do it. I
know it's hard. You say, you know, vitamin D. A
lot of people are vitamin D deficient, another kind of
vitamin D or somebody looking at your body and by
lose some weight. You know all of that. Yes, Well,
(32:39):
sex is exercise. I don't know how many calories you burn,
but it's exercise. You know, it's something, so whatever, whatever,
but whatever works. Well, this has been great. I'm really
happy that you guys were so honest and forthcoming with
your weight loss journeys. I know, you know, for me,
I'm still on the journey. I don't know how long
(33:00):
I'll last on these pills, to be quite honest, but
it really is about health at the end of the day.
So wherever you are tuning in at home on your
weight loss journey, we just wanted to offer testimony and
encouragement to you keep going do something little every day.
Something I do also is if I'm in a building,
instead of taking the elevator, I might take the stairs.
(33:21):
Even at my lowest moment, I make myself get outside
and walk around the block, just the one block. And
then if you feel like doing two, do you do two.
You know I've never only done one block. I tell
myself that's all I have to do. Then it's like, oh,
have I done two? I can do three. If I've
done three, I can do five. So whatever you can do.
Healthier decisions. I love that you said you plan the meal.
If you know you're going to a restaurant, you look
(33:43):
at the menu in advance and plan the meal. Depriving
myself of think depravity doesn't work for me, so sometimes
I just taste something. Sharing meals help. You know, my
friends and I, you know, I might want the pasta,
but we might get a pasta for the table. So
all of those things are just little suggestions. It's three
people who are not nutritionist or diet experts, but we
just wanted to share our testimony. I encourage everybody wherever
(34:04):
you are on your journey to stay the course. Be healthy.
Most importantly, love yourself. Look in the mirror, love yourself,
love what you see, and step into a new you
as often as you need. Thank you so much for
tuning into this episode of Across Generations, I'm Your Host
Tiffany Cross, and we will see you back next week
on another episode of Across Generations. Across Generations is brought
(34:26):
to you by wolf Packer and Wolfpacker Media in partnership
with iHeart Podcast. I'm Your Host and executive producer Tiffany D. Cross,
from Idea to Launch Productions Executive producer Carla willmeris produced
by Mandy Be and Angel Forte. Editing, sound design and
mixed by Gaza Forte. Original music by Epidemic Sound, Video
(34:47):
editing by Kathon Alexander and Court Meeting
Host
Tiffany Cross
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