BDO: Since losing weight, did your relationships change?
Ramie: Yes they have, especially with those who knew me previously. I don’t think people understand how different you feel when have this new found confidence. I’ve always been confident and comfortable in my skin, but now I love what I see when I look in the mirror. Before I loved my face, and I loved how I felt with clothes on, but now when I’m home alone I appreciate what I see more because I worked for it, and I’m still working. I feel that now that I appreciate myself more, there’s a certain way people in general respect me or approach me because I have raised my respect for myself by taking control of my life. If there is a guy who tries to deal with me now, but he knew me when I was bigger, I won’t take him seriously because my heart is still the same, physically I’ve done a 360 but if you never took the time to get to know that side of me then don’t try now.
BDO: What would you tell someone if they were trying to lose weight?
Ramie: There are 3 steps-Step 1) Get tired. When you get tired of your situation, or when you get fed up nothing will stop you. I got tired of being “pretty for a big girl”, I got tired of not being able to shop where ever I wanted, I got tired of my hips touching the sides on the bathtub when I sat in it. I knew there was more for me, I knew I deserved to be healthy, so I went after it.