True Story: I Lost Half My Body Weight

Friday, 13 January 2012 12:39

A little more than a year ago, Tracy Ryan was 29 and a self-described “large and sassy” woman. As a busy event planner who loved to cook and eat good food, she felt confident and attractive, even as her weight reached 415 pounds.

One day she met the owner of local personal training studio Zen Fitness. They asked if she would be willing to take part in a documentary project called Unsupersize Me.

Thinking figuratively, of course, “What do I have to lose?,” Tracy gamely agreed to revamp her diet, to start exercising and to have the entire process documented. Little did she realize that while participating in the project, she would ultimately lose more than 180 pounds (and counting), inspire those around her—and gain a new life in the process. We talked to Tracy about how she made the year-long transition.

By Tony Federico

How did you end up at your heaviest?
I never drank soda or ate fast food, but I really enjoyed good food, local restaurants and French cheese. I was one of those “large and sassy” women and never really tried to lose weight. I felt like I had high self-esteem and confidence and was never down and out about my weight.

Looking back, I did not even realize what I was missing. I think that my personality at the time was a way of covering up not being very happy. When I was that big, it was just a way of life. I knew what restaurants in town had big booths, if a guy was taking me out I would suggest sitting at the bar because I knew I couldn’t sit at the booth. Now I think, “Why did I put up with that for so many years?”

What was your turning point?
I couldn’t believe that I didn’t need eight cups of coffee in the morning to get going. That was my turning point. I thought, “If I feel this good after two weeks, how good will I feel if I keep going?”

So you hadn’t tried to lose weight before?
I think some women who are overweight have a warped body image, but I never saw myself as being unattractive. I never tried any diets and never really tried to lose weight other than when I started walking on the treadmill a few years ago.

What was the hardest challenge that you faced?
The workouts were challenging because I had never worked out before, but I had such a support system and everyone was rooting me on, so it wasn’t so difficult. When I woke up in the morning and everything was so much better—my temper, my energy—it made some sore muscles seem not so bad.

If I was someone who didn’t like to cook, I think it would have been much more difficult to change my diet, but I liked the new flavors, the new foods, so that part was easier for me.  Going out to eat can be a challenge. I can be a nightmare at restaurants. I ask the waiter about what is in the food and sometimes even ask to talk to the chef!

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What has given you the motivation to keep going?
I work as an event planner, so every holiday season there are corporate parties and holiday parties on top of the normal weddings and birthday parties. Last year I went through the 60-hour workweeks and felt like crap. This year, I am just breezing through my holiday season and I am even busier than I was last year! I am more productive and can go through a demanding day and get up and meet with a client and still be positive. It has really opened my eyes to how great I can feel, and I just want to keep going.

What was the most unexpected thing about losing weight?
During the second week, my trainer gave me a warning. He said to watch out for “haters.” Coming from my perspective, if I saw someone getting healthier and doing something good for themselves, I couldn’t imagine trying to bring them down, so at that time, I didn’t really understand what he was saying. Now I know!

I have had people come up to me at restaurants, go through my grocery cart at the store and question me on the foods that I am eating. I have had people accuse me of taking weight loss drugs or having the lap band procedure. I have been completely shocked at how rude some people have been.

One gentleman asked to feel my stomach to see if I had a lap band.I also didn’t expect all the positive feedback either, so I just try to focus on that. 

What was your original goal, and has it changed?
At the beginning, my trainer had a goal for me, but it seemed so impossible that I just made “being the happiest and healthiest I can be” my goal. If I ended up losing 100 pounds, 150 pounds, so be it. Once I hit 150 pounds though, I knew I could hit 200 pounds and that’s my goal now. I think that starting this, it had to be about being happy and healthy because it just seemed so ridiculous to lose 200 pounds.

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Why did you decide to blog about your weight loss?
There was a preview of the film on the Zen Fitness Facebook page, and I was posting the results of my weekly weigh-in. People have been following that and writing in, asking about how they can do what I am doing. The response to the video prompted me to do the blog.

Someone came up to me in the gym and said, “You don’t know me, but when I’m not motivated, I think of you and everything you have done.” This was a complete stranger who I had never met before and to know that she was motivated by me ended up motivating me even more!

You can follow Tracy’s journey by visiting her blog, Unsupersizemebyzenfitness.wordpress.com.

Also, be sure to enter our contest to win our New Year's makeover package! Click here for details.

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