COLUMN: Isaac Lightfoot finds a lighter life

Isaac Lightfoot is half the man I used to know.

That’s a good thing, though. After seeing a lot of Lightfoot — and I do mean a lot — during my early years in Macon, I wasn’t sure if he was still around.

I went to visit him last week. When he opened the door, the big eyes and warm smile were still there. A chunk of him was missing. His weight was down to 264 pounds. He looked great.

Once upon a time, Lightfoot weighed a quarter of a ton. Most bathroom scales don’t reach 505 pounds. He was not the kind of guy you wanted in your boat when you went fishing.

“Some of my friends called me Heavy Foot,’’ he said, chuckling.

Lightfoot’s waist was 70 inches. His belt was more than 6 feet long. The tags on his shirts were size XXXXXXL.

If he wanted excuses, he had genetics. He came from a large family — with an emphasis on large.

He played high school football at Appling (now Northeast) and basketball at Fort Valley State. He pounded the backboard at 280 pounds. He was the original “Round Mound of Rebound” long before Charles Barkley was at Auburn. 

But mostly?

“I was greedy,’’ he told me. “I ate a lot.’’

(This explains why he nearly got arrested for too many trips through a buffet line.)

In the 1980s, the Quail’s Nest at Westgate Mall was open seven days a week. The all-you-can-eat lunch cost $3.25. Dinner was $3.75.

Lightfoot showed up one day, plopped down his money and went back for second helpings — not to mention thirds and fourths.

“The manager said, ‘Sir, you’re going to have to leave,’’’ Lightfoot said. “I wasn’t ready to leave. I ate some more. Then somebody I knew who worked back in the kitchen came out and said, ‘Lightfoot, you need to go. He called the police on you.’’’

When the cops arrived, Lightfoot was already behind the wheel of his getaway car.

Another time, he sat on a bench at a funeral — and broke it.

He was the youngest of Moses and Cartie Lightfoot’s five children. His father was a principal. His mother was a teacher. All the Lightfoot kids became educators.

His first job was teaching distributive education at Bibb Tech. He taught marketing at Central High and coached basketball and cross country. He finished his career at Southeast and Rutland.

His weight fluctuated between 480 and 505 pounds, depending on his last cheeseburger. Surprisingly, it didn’t adversely affect his health. He recorded perfect attendance for 20 of the 31 years he was employed by the Bibb County Board of Education.

After he retired 15 years ago, he began using the same motivational language on himself that he used on young people in the classroom and locker room.

“I’ve been big all my life,’’ he said. “I looked around. You don’t see any old, big people.’’

Or big, old people. Take your pick.

He made lifestyle changes. After a few Weight Watchers meetings, he developed his own menu plan that included chicken, turkey, fish, vegetables and fruit.

He cut down on carbohydrates and flipped the switch on his metabolism. The secret to any successful diet plan is burning more calories than you take in.

“I walked,’’ he said. “Walking was the main thing.’’

Those who know Lightfoot know he is a genuinely likeable fellow. Three years ago, 450 friends and family gave him an appreciation dinner at the Terminal Station.

In his retirement, he hosted talent shows at the Douglass Theatre. He sold a line of T-shirts called “Lightfoot Message Wear.” He printed positive motivational slogans about the importance of families, never giving up, treating people right, getting an education and loving Jesus.

“I sold more than 10,000 shirts,’’ he said. “People still ask me about it.’’

Lightfoot remembers receiving a Weekly Reader as a student back in 1967. There was an article about successful people who had achieved great things because of their attitude and hard work.

He still has that Weekly Reader.

He regularly posts motivational messages on his Facebook page. They are pep talks and pop-up sermons with a clever name — “Footology.” Here are some of those messages:

— “A lot of problems would disappear if people talked to each other instead of talking about each other.’’

— “Love is the best thing in the world, but it is just a word until you find someone who gives it meaning.’’

— “The very people that you neglect and take for granted today may be the very person that you need tomorrow. Be careful how you treat people.’’

— “The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. The grass is greener where you water it.’’

— “God is awesome and all powerful. He changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. And He is working on you, too.’’

— “You have to be teachable and listen because you are not always right.’’

— “We should spend our day doing what we absolutely love to do. Happiness is an inside job and doing what you love makes you happy.”

— “Nothing gives you more peace of mind than minding your own business.”

“I grew up in a house of educators,’’ he explained. “My mama and daddy taught me to learn from everything.’’

He will be 75 in December. He plans to write a book. He has stories to tell, more words of wisdom to dispense.

He also believes sharing his weight-loss journey could help others. An estimated 40 percent of Americans — about 108 million people — are considered obese. Almost 1 in 10 are severely obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s a blessing when your life story no longer comes in large print.Contact Ed Grisamore at gris@maconmelody.com.