SUCCESS STORY / Tracy Rye, 45: From 261 pounds to 150 pounds
Former weight: 261 pounds
Current weight: 150 pounds
Pounds lost: 111
Height: 5 feet 8
Age: 45
How long she's kept it off: "I elected to have a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG)… on August 11, 2015," says Rye who reached her current weight in August.
Personal life: "I am a land use planner living in Douglas County. I'm single and until recently lived with my Dachshund Riley, he passed away, and will be adding two new Dachshunds, Milo and Munro, to the family mix in January 2017."
Turning point: "Having struggled with my weight for the vast majority of my life, I have tried many traditional programs … even the infamous cabbage soup diet … I had almost resigned myself to a life of being overweight. However, both my mom and grandmother had been diagnosed with very serious and life-threatening liver disease. My grandmother eventually succumbed in July 2009 while my mom is currently on the liver transplant list at Piedmont Hospital … I started the journey in July 2014 … getting into a dedicated exercise routine including cardio and then started seriously researching bariatric procedures."
Diet plan: "Any bariatric procedure will result in needing to be on a high-protein diet." Breakfast is oatmeal or toast and peanut butter, lunch is lunch meat, soup, or Greek yogurt, and dinner is fish, chicken, or beef with vegetables; she eats five to six times daily.
Exercise routine: "I generally try to get to the gym four times each week, focusing on cycling, treadmill and elliptical. Until a recent arm surgery, water aerobics were a favorite."
Biggest challenge: "Taking bariatric specific vitamins was the toughest challenge in this whole process … I had a bad reaction to the iron and was sick as a result. Once I switched to a vitamin supplement without added iron, things improved greatly."
How life has changed: "I went to a ballgame and had to walk about a mile to the stadium. I wasn't even winded going or coming. A reward I gave myself was taking a hot air balloon ride when I met my initial weight-loss goal. I would have never considered getting in that balloon basket at 261 pounds … A lot of people run into obstacles in that family, loved ones, and others think they are taking the easy way out, that surgery is a quick fix to a lifelong problem … I'm here to tell you this is no easy process and while you might see short-term success in the front end, if you aren't really ready to make lifelong changes, ready to embrace and address problems from the past, they will follow you into your new thin life and you can very easily end up heavy again."
Be an inspiration: If you’ve made positive changes in your diet and/or fitness routine and are happy with the results, please share your success with us. Include your email address, a daytime phone number and before and after photos (by mail or JPEG). Write: Success Stories, c/o The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 223 Perimeter Center Parkway, Atlanta, GA, 30346-1301; or e-mail Michelle C. Brooks, ajcsuccessstories@gmail.com.
About the Author
