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Tokyo and Sierra

Source: Paras Griffin/BET/Getty Images for BET and Paras Griffin/Getty / Getty

Is there a nice way to let a loved one know you’re concerned about their weight? It’s certainly a sensitive topic, as one’s weight is tied to their physical appearance and self-esteem.

During Monday night’s episode of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, star Tokyo Vanity and friend to the show, Shekinah Jo (yes, Tiny’s friend Shekinah) opened up about their own struggles to lose weight and decided to accept help from their friends, Sierra Grant and former cast member Che Mack, to slim down. The women went to a workout class, and instead of setting up something they could ease into, they were tasked with pushing weighted sleds, jumping over obstacles and trying to maneuver battle ropes. The class wasn’t something that would encourage Tokyo and Shekinah to keep being active, or a pace they could maintain in the future as newcomers. Because of that, they found themselves giving up on the workout challenge on Day 1 once it became too difficult. It also didn’t help, in Tokyo’s case, that Sierra was on her about doing the workout right. Tokyo eventually kicked one of the obstacles and stormed out.

In the hopes of getting Tokyo to take her fitness journey more seriously, Sierra went to her house later in the episode to let her know that she was very concerned about her health. You could tell Sierra was coming from a place of love and from experience as well. She revealed that she lost 60 pounds over the years to stave off potential issues like diabetes and heart disease, per a warning from her doctors. She committed to changing her health and life for the better and was successful. For the sake of having her friend around as long as possible, she wanted Tokyo to do the same.

However, her approach ended up being a bit much — and detrimental. While sitting in Tokyo’s home, Sierra scolded her about her eating habits while Tokyo was finishing cooking pasta and fried chicken. She even went as far as throwing away her food, and not in the garbage, but in the sink (Who’s cleaning that up?!). Things went left from there, and they almost ended up in a physical confrontation security had to break up.

Sierra meant well, but it takes a lot more than putting your past struggles on someone else to get them to be motivated to make a change. It’s a personal choice one has to make on their own, when they’re comfortable doing so and at their own pace. There’s nothing wrong with being honest with that person about how their weight worries you, but the best approach is to come at them calmly from a place of love and encouragement, not harshly with judgment. It’s particularly important in Tokyo’s case because as she said during the intervention of sorts, she’s worked hard to get to a place where she feels happy with herself, in the skin she’s in, and a rough attempt to motivate could be more harmful than Sierra realizes.

“I’ve spent 24 years of my life becoming accustomed and liking the person I am just to get around motherf–kers in this industry, motherf–kers around me who want to change me and want to change everything about me,” Tokyo told her.

“It’s already a million people on Instagram who don’t like me for being big. I don’t need my friends telling me sh-t that I don’t already know,” she added in her confessional. “I was fat when I woke up this morning.”

Sierra should take comfort in the fact that it was Tokyo, on her own, who decided to try Che Mack’s class and wanted to start being more active for physical benefits. With that being said, she was taking the baby steps necessary to take control of her weight and health, and when she’s ready, she just might continue such efforts. But the likelihood of her doing so could lessen if people are more on her back as opposed to focusing on just being in her corner…

Check out the mixed reviews Twitter had for Sierra’s attempts to push Tokyo into weight loss by hitting the flip:

https://twitter.com/nurse_stinaa/status/1112902043335684096

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