Woman Hits 100-Pound Weight Loss Goal While Hiking the Appalachian Trail

After at all times being often known as “the larger one” of her 14 siblings and worrying for her well being, a 20-year-old girl achieved her purpose of dropping 100 kilos whereas on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Path (AT) together with her household.

Aubrey Bettis, 20, of Paint Rock, Texas, started her weight-loss journey at 257 kilos earlier than having gastric sleeve surgical procedure on December 15, 2022. Just some months afterward March 8, she took off together with her mother and 14 organic siblings on a monthslong hike of the AT, she instructed Newsweek in an e mail interview.

Her mother, 48-year-old Nikki Bettis, instructed Newsweek that the household determined to depart the “chaos” of the world behind and embark on a 2,000-mile journey of “bonding” and “therapeutic.” Bettis stated Aubrey is her third oldest youngster of the 15, whose ages vary from 4 to 25.

The AT spans almost 2,200 miles of rugged wilderness throughout 14 Japanese U.S. states, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Maine’s Mount Katahdin. The Bettis household accomplished their hike in late October.

Earlier than leaving on the household journey, Aubrey was right down to 200 kilos and misplaced greater than 40 kilos on the path together with her household, reaching her purpose of dropping 100 kilos.

Aubrey stated she started to fret about her well being, noting that her paternal facet of the household has a historical past of Kind 2 Diabetes and hypertension and stated she “did not need to face a life on medicine.”

“I additionally actually needed to maintain up with my siblings and was by no means actually in a position to take part in all of the video games or climb timber once they’d play,” she stated. “Over time, my shallowness sunk and solely continued to worsen. As all of us bought older and ultimately had jobs, I used to be at all times identified and recognized by exterior individuals as ‘the larger one’ or ‘the larger child.’ It harm each time I heard that.”

She determined to get gastric sleeve surgical procedure after greater than a decade of making an attempt to shed extra pounds. Aubrey stated she tried every little thing from a nutritious diet and exercising commonly to weight-loss medicines and applications however nothing labored long-term.

“I began operating after I was 11 however the weight simply did not come off,” she stated. “At one level I used to be operating 10 miles a day, however the weight simply stayed on.”

With the help of her household and docs, Aubrey stated surgical procedure was the proper choice for her, particularly since she did not need to “get left behind” on the household’s Appalachian Path journey.

Now, 100 kilos down, she stated she feels stronger and bodily able to actions and hobbies she by no means thought attainable, together with soccer, ice skating and mountain climbing.

“I hiked and backpacked earlier than dropping all the burden and I knew I used to be able to that, however I knew I did not need to go right into a thru-hike 100 kilos obese and wrestle a lot,” Aubrey stated. “I additionally feared I might sluggish everybody down since I’ve at all times been slower resulting from my dimension. Every thing was simply more durable for me then. Now it is like I’ve a brand new life.”

Aubrey stated that mountain climbing the path has helped her hit her purpose as a result of it was day by day accountability to maintain shifting.

“Not like a health club, while you’re thru-hiking you possibly can’t simply say ‘I do not really feel prefer it right this moment,’ and return to sleep or keep away from it,” she stated. “Particularly when your total household is on path. You get up and do not have a alternative.”

She stated she may really feel herself getting stronger and the “mountains started to get simpler.”

“It was a cool approach to measure my progress. It additionally helped me develop routine and self-discipline, which I believe has helped me achieve success after surgical procedure,” Aubrey instructed Newsweek. “The arrogance I really feel in myself now’s thrilling. I really feel like I can do something.”

Whereas she admits that some days on the path had been downright “depressing” and intensely intense, she stated the AT was the “jumpstart to starting a lifetime of change.”

Her favourite second on the path was when she realized she may sustain together with her siblings who hiked within the “quick crew.”

“My total life has at all times been with the sluggish crew in every little thing,” Aubrey stated. “I spotted in Pennsylvania that I may sustain and hike with the quick crew. I wasn’t afraid of it anymore and located it simple. It was cool simply having the ability to sustain with my siblings, one thing I might struggled with for therefore lengthy.”

Aubrey’s recommendation to anybody scuffling with their weight is to by no means surrender and to have a stable help system.

“I attempted so many issues for therefore a few years,” she stated. “Regardless that I am younger, most of my teenage years had been spent feeling defeated and hopeless that I used to be simply the ‘fats one’ out of the group. Encompass your self with supportive those who encourage you to succeed. Nonetheless, the underside line, it isn’t them doing the work, it was me. I would not have succeeded in any respect if I did not have it inside me to do what it takes to make the change. I simply saved looking till I discovered the reply and what labored for me.”

Her mother described Aubrey as an inspiration.

“She is wonderful, endearing and has such a delicate coronary heart of gold whereas nonetheless being an entire stout-hearted warrior,” Nikki Bettis instructed Newsweek. “Her story is considered one of absolute overcoming, willpower and success.”