THE NEW TRACI

Following the family vacation in the north Georgia mountains, Traci vowed to make profound changes to her unhealthy eating habits and change her sedentary lifestyle. But this time things would be different. Rather than go at it alone, she sought the help of a nutrition coach and personal trainer. Moreover, her journey became public, as Healthy Living magazine documented Traci’s triumphs and struggles during the past year. This allowed the publication’s readers to follow a real person overcoming real struggles.

“Going from being a private person to an open book is not easy,” she says. “It makes you feel like a fish in a fish bowl where everyone is looking at you. I made the decision to just put myself out there and become vulnerable. However, when you allow yourself to show vulnerability, the best results take place.”

Traci charged full-steam ahead, even taking the 20132014 school year off from teaching to concentrate fully on her weight loss and health goals. Lori Esarey, owner of Lady Lake-based Total Nutrition and Therapeutics, was instrumental in helping Traci make drastic changes to her eating habits. She has faithfully stuck to lean proteins and vegetables. Occasionally, she allows herself to have fruit. There have been a few slip-ups along the way but always in moderation and never in overindulgence. To this day, she logs everything she eats and visits Lori for a weekly weigh-in. From an exercise standpoint, Traci started out walking 12,000 to 16,000 steps a day. As the pounds dropped and her endurance increased, she spent an increasing amount of time jogging around her neighborhood, swimming laps at the public pool, and running on treadmills in the gym. Under the guidance of personal trainer Laine D’Souza, co-founder of LB CrossFit and Wellness Studio in Lady Lake, Traci has incorporated yoga, core strengthening, cardio, and weight training into her exercise regimen.

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She has also completed four 5K runs — including one where she never stopped running. To say she has come a long way would be an understatement. “I remember the first time I ran 25 yards across a parking lot. I had tears rolling down my face,” she says. “In that moment I knew I was healing and becoming stronger. For Traci, this lifestyle journey has proven as different as day and night from her previous weight-loss attempts.

“My previous weight-loss efforts were like a bungee cord: I could achieve fast results, but my weight would spring right back up. Now, it is as if I am crawling down a mountain. It’s a slow process, and every now and then I hit a rock, but I continue going down and learning new ways.”

2000 and marrying her current husband, Chad, in 2001. Traci returned to college to pursue a degree in elementary education. She ultimately earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Leo University in 2006, and three years later she earned a master’s degree from National University in teaching and leadership focus.

“While I was attending school, I was a full-time student, a full-time wife, and a full-time mother. Trying to juggle those duties was hectic. My diet consisted of french fries, pizza, fried food, and sweets. I would find myself coming home from school and stopping at fast-food restaurants, or I would be studying late at night while snacking and eating. I loved anything loaded with carbs.”

Traci continued ignoring her health after landing a job as a teacher at The Villages Charter School. She eventually reached 300 pounds. Because of her weight, family time was not necessarily fun time. If the family went horseback riding, she worried about being too heavy for the horse. When the family went out to eat, she wondered whether she could fit comfortably in a booth. Whenever the family went ice skating, Traci opted to take photographs rather than risk falling and embarrassing herself.

Out of desperation, she tried several fad diets, but each one proved ineffective. She also flew to California on numerous occasions to try to land a spot on the NBC hit reality show “The Biggest Loser.” During one of those flights in 2011, she experienced one of the most uncomfortable moments of her life.

“I had to ask the stewardess for a seatbelt extender, which caused me to panic,” she says. “To me, having to announce that I am a big person was very embarrassing. It was a moment of disappointment, disgrace, sadness, and humiliation.”

When her flight landed, Traci placed the seatbelt extender in her purse.

“I knew I was going to be making a return flight and didn’t want that humiliation again. I ended up taking it home and putting it inside my bathroom cupboard. I made several flights after that so the seatbelt extender always came in handy.”