Christie Woodard had gastric bypass surgery and has since completed half marathons in 36 states across the nation
NEED TO KNOW
- A 53-year-old woman had gastric bypass surgery and has since lost more than 130 lbs.
- Christie Woodard is now more than halfway through her goal of taking part in half marathons across all 50 states
- “Losing the weight gave me the confidence to try new things, to be open to new experiences and adventures, and to really live my life again,” she tells
A woman is more than halfway through her goal to run a half-marathon across all 50 states after she lost more than 130 lbs.
Christie Woodard tells exclusively that she “grew up with what most would consider a normal, healthy weight, and that continued into my 30s.”
When she entered perimenopause, and quit smoking around the same time, however, Woodard, 53, says, “It felt like I gained 80 lbs. overnight.”
“As my weight continued to climb, I tried everything — Phentermine [a short-term prescription medication to treat obesity by suppressing appetite], commercial programs, intermittent fasting and every fad diet you can imagine,” she continues. “I would come home excited about some new plan, start strong and lose a few pounds, and then it would inevitably stop working.”
“The weight would come back, usually with a little extra, and after a while, it honestly felt like I was drowning,” adds Woodard, a mom to two children and a grandma to two grandchildren. “I’m a smart person. I understand calories and exercise, but I still couldn’t get control of it.”
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At her heaviest, when she was about 260 lbs., Woodard recalls, “I had a grandchild, and I couldn’t easily pick her up off the ground without help.”
“I once got stuck in a hotel bathtub, which was incredibly humiliating,” she adds of another traumatizing moment. “I did eventually get out by myself, but I was in tears.”
According to Woodard, there were also many moments when she “avoided the scale.”
“I would go to the doctor, and when the medical assistant asked me to step on the scale, I would refuse,” she says. “At first, they’d laugh, and then I would say, ‘No, seriously. I’m not doing it.’ I was in denial, but I was also overwhelmed.”
Those moments, Woodard tells , “made it painfully clear how much my weight was affecting my life.” She explains that she was alsoprediabetic, her blood pressure had begun to climb and her reflux “was completely out of control.”
Woodard, who works as a director of human resources, had a life-changing realization after she watched herself during a local news segment. “I was excited to see myself on TV. Instead, I had one of the biggest shocks of my life: I truly did not realize how large I had become until I saw myself on the screen. I didn’t recognize myself,” she recalls, adding, “It sounds strange because you look in the mirror every day, but sometimes it takes a photo or a video to show you what you’re not really seeing.”
Explaining that she had been “considering weight loss surgery for a couple of years,” Woodard says friends who underwent such procedures were at the front of her mind, as was a medical professional she had been following on social media, Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Dovec.
“One day, I went to Dr. Dovec’s website and saw a button that said something like ‘Get Started.’ I remember sitting there staring at it for a moment before I finally clicked it. That click was a big step for me,” Woodard remembers.
Eventually, the pair met, and Woodard says Dr. Dovec, 44, told her “a gastric bypass would likely be a better option for me than the sleeve procedure I had originally been considering.”
Woodard underwent the procedure in January 2022. “I’m now more than four years out from my gastric bypass surgery, and my weight has been stable,” she tells . “In total, I’ve lost more than 130 lbs.”
Working with Dr. Dovec, Woodard says, was a key part of her weight loss journey, because the medical professional “connects with her patients in a way I’ve never seen with any physician in any specialty.”
Dr. Dobec, a bariatric surgeon and CEO of BodyByBariatrics, for her part, adds, “Christie is one of those you simply root for. She’s a remarkable human being, and seeing her continue to thrive is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do.”
According to Dr. Dobec, “The gastric bypass is widely considered the gold standard in bariatric surgery.”
“It has been performed for more than fifty years and is one of the most well-studied operations in all of medicine,” she continues, adding: “What makes it so powerful is that it doesn’t simply reduce the size of the stomach, but it also fundamentally changes the body’s metabolism and hormonal signals that regulate hunger, blood sugar and weight.”
The medical professional tells those who are considered the “best candidates” for the operation are “individuals who are struggling with obesity or metabolic disease that have not responded to traditional weight-loss approaches.”
Meanwhile, those who should refrain from the procedure, Dr. Dobec explains, are “individuals with significant cardiac disease that may need additional evaluation and stabilization before surgery,” as well as those who aren’t willing to give up smoking.
Woodard was always interested in running. Before her weight loss surgery, she took part in a half-marathon, but she tells , “It was ugly, I’m not going to lie. It took me more than three and a half hours.”
Still, she kept running, and Woodard completed her first half-marathon post-bariatric surgery in November 2022. “I remember feeling like I was flying. Obviously, I wasn’t actually flying, but after losing more than 100 lbs., the effort of running felt completely different,” she recalls.
During one race, Woodard saw another runner wearing a tank top that read “50 States Half Marathon Club.” She tells : “I literally said, out loud while I was running, ‘I think I can do that.’ “
So months later, in January 2023, she put a plan into action, and she’s now completed races in 36 states across the nation. “This year, I’m planning to add Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota and Michigan, and possibly one more if I can fit it in,” Woodard says. “Last year, I managed to complete 11 states, which was a big year, so this year may be a little lighter. But the goal is still moving forward one state at a time.”
Now, after her weight-loss surgery, and with her overall health improved, Woodard says, “I feel unbelievably fantastic.”
“The weight loss has been an amazing byproduct, but what I really got back was my health,” she adds. “Today, I’m no longer taking any medications for the obesity-related conditions I once had. That alone feels like an incredible gift.”
“Another big change has been confidence,” Woodard continues. “I’ve always been somewhat extroverted, but I carry myself with a confidence now that I didn’t have before. Now that I’ve lost the weight, I notice that look at me differently, but more importantly, I feel different. … Losing the weight gave me the confidence to try new things, to be open to new experiences and adventures, and to really live my life again.”
As for her advice to others considering taking a similar approach to weight loss as she did, Woodard tells , “One thing I always try to share with is that surgery can change your anatomy, but long-term success really happens in your mindset. The surgery gave me an incredible tool, but the real work happens every day in the choices you make and the way you think about your health.”
“Obesity is a disease, and there is still a lot of stigma and misunderstanding around it. often think it’s simply about willpower, but it’s far more complex than that. Breaking that stigma and helping understand it has become really important to me,” she adds. “If my story helps even one person realize they’re not alone or gives them hope that change is possible, then it’s all worth it.”
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