That Aaliyah Battle is able to step onto a playing field and contribute in two sports is, for her and her supporters, a huge milestone.
Battle, a Plant City High junior, is competing in flag football and throwing the shot put for her school this spring. It’s her first time playing organized sports, as well as the first time she’s ever been healthy enough for them.
Down more than 100 pounds from July 2016, Battle is using high school athletics as a tool to get into shape for the first time in her life.
“I come out here and have a team that’s very motivational,” Battle says. “They inspire me to do more. They help me do better. I have some coaches that definitely helped push me in that direction, too.”
Though Battle still has a long way to go to reach some of her fitness goals, she’s going as hard as she can.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Battle, who lives with her grandparents, is an active churchgoer and a history buff with a 3.6 GPA. She had long had the desire to play sports, as a big football fan, but what held her back was a case of procrastination that affected her body above all else.
“It was kind of like a lazy, but scared, mindset,” Battle says. “I wasn’t ready to put my body through so much to get to where I wanted to be, so it really took a lot of push from a lot of people on the team, a lot of people in the office, my family. It took a lot of support.”
Eventually, Battle’s weight increased to around 360 pounds.
“Some people look at me like, ‘Wow,’ Battle says. “‘You were that much?’ Yeah, because I continued to say that I was going to do it (lose weight), … and, every summer, I’d eat junk, lay around and sleep. I wouldn’t do anything. All that started to add up.”
She couldn’t put it off forever, though. In July 2016, while on a church camping trip, Battle and her fellow campers were made to exercise. After finally getting to experience a workout routine, she realized she enjoyed the exercise.
“It felt good that I was actually doing something with myself, because I would always tell myself, ‘Oh, you’ll do it next time,’” Battle says. “It kind of just got out of control and I realized, maybe I should start doing something.”
After the trip, Battle made a commitment to change her diet and start exercising more. She gained the support of fellow students and faculty members at Plant City High School, who eventually encouraged her to go out for team sports.
Specifically, they mentioned flag football.
“Even then, when I started trying to eat right, I didn’t really exercise,” Battle says. “I told Miss Sherri (Iturriaga) in the office, ‘I’ll do it, I’ll do flag.’ But, in my mind, I wasn’t going to do it.”
Battle was eventually convinced to go for it. The move took her prior commitments to the next level.
A proper diet suddenly became necessary to make it through practice without passing out, and Battle had to run more than she ever had in her life.
“I want to get myself healthy because a dietician told me that I was bulimic,” Battle says. “I don’t make myself throw up but, apparently, I overeat a lot and then I’ll starve myself, and I don’t notice it. This helps me get back into eating right because, if you don’t eat right out here, you pass out … I don’t want to pass out and show the team that I’m weak. I want them to understand that I am strong, and I’m ready to help them win.”
She began to exercise more by running around her neighborhood block, even if she could only run for short bursts before having to walk. But as she kept up with her diet and exercise, Battle saw the weight falling off.
“There were some times out there, it was hot, I was doubled over, throwing up a little bit, but I was there the next day,” Battle says. “I’m not going to give up because my body wants me to give up because it hurts. It’s mind over matter.”
Clothes became too loose. Running for distance became easier. That block, that track and those bleachers became running goals and tools. Teammates became friends and crucial supporters of all her goals. Most importantly, her self-confidence grew.
By the end of conditioning in February, Battle had cut her weight down to 260 pounds.
“I’m sure not going to say it was easy — it’s still not easy — but, looking back then to now, it feels fantastic,” she says.
Battle’s flag coach, Patrick Horn, encouraged her to give track and field a try, thinking she had potential in the shot put. In her first-ever competition, held at Wharton High, she placed second.
Battle hopes to lose even more weight, going down to the 100s if her body will allow it. She hopes to get into either the University of South Florida or the University of Central Florida, then medical school.
With the progress she’s made, Battle now has the secret weapons she previously didn’t: confidence and motivation.
“I hope to end this year off beautifully,” Battle says. “With these girls, I hope to have them all as part of the family by the end of this year.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.