RP:  When you started researching obesity what did you find out?

Ruby:  There are so many prejudices against obesity.  When I went to restaurants I had to find armless chairs. Even in the ER at the hospital, I had to find a seat to sit on.  The world wasn’t made for big people, but we need to realize there are 96 million people in the U.S. suffering from obesity. The thing is that unless we do something 75 percent of our population will be obese by the 2010. This is an epidemic. The market is selling every diet product possible but we are not winning this battle. What is going on? What’s the missing link? Although it took eight years, that Oprah episode was a turning point for me. I wanted to find out the truth about myself and this condition.  Then my boyfriend left me, so I had another reason to find out the truth about why I couldn’t lose weight. And then the doctors told me I was going to die.

RP:  In the television show your doctor tells you that you are a metabolic time bomb, threatened with diabetes, kidney failure, sleep apnea, and pre-mature death because you may stop breathing while asleep.

Ruby:  When he said this, the first thing I told myself was: maybe I am meant to die. I have been happy. I haven’t really suffered because I have been loved. I thought “I cannot beat this.” It took me two or three weeks to tell myself: “I am not going to give up; God has a bigger purpose for you than death. Faith in God will keep you going. You can do this; you can conquer this.” I still believe this that I will conquer this condition once and for all, for me and for everyone else. And I want to find out why: if it is physical, spiritual, mental, all of it … maybe [through the television show] we can find out what the problem is and the cure at the same time.

RP:  Why do you want to get back into shape?

Ruby:  I have been battling obesity since I was a kid. I remember realizing when I was 13 that I was 100 lbs overweight. But I have always been happy and accepted. I wonder if this is why I never did anything to change.  On this television journey, everything that you find out on the show from doctors, trainers, and therapists, I am finding out. This is the first time I ever went to a therapist and it was very emotional.

RP:  What is the link between God and your journey to weight-loss and a healthy lifestyle?

Ruby:  At first I went to that dark place…. It’s a place of survival but I felt defeated in my mind. And then my faith said, no. I felt God telling me that this change is possible but I am going to have to go down the hardest road of my life. Before it was quick fixes: now I need to find out why.  What got me here and why? What strengthens me is that God sees our addictions and he does not judge. He is with us if we will let him.