For more than four years of her childhood, Alexis McCoy, 26, was neglected, starved and abused. “My parents divorced when I was six years old, and I ended up living with my birth mother. Unfortunately, she’s a heroin addict, and my siblings and I went without a lot. Most of the time, I didn’t know when I was going to eat or where my next meal would come from,” she says.
After four years, her father got custody of her and her siblings. “Even though I didn’t have to worry about food anymore, something in my mind never clicked. I would eat until I was physically ill. I was eating the food off my sister’s plates. I was stealing snacks from the pantry in the middle of the night. My mind was telling me I had to eat because I didn’t know if I would get food again,” she says.
By the age of 23 she weighed 388 pounds and one day discovered she couldn’t tie her shoes anymore. “I couldn’t live this way anymore. I made the decision to lose weight that day,” she says.
Her weight was causing other issues as well. She was on the verge of being prediabetic and having high blood pressure. She had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Her joints ached, and she had arthritis in her back and shoulder that was so bad she sometimes could barely get out of bed. Plantar fasciitis made walking painful. She struggled with mental health issues. She couldn’t even shower thoroughly: “That really puts into perspective how large I got.”
She committed to lifestyle changes that helped her lose 180 pounds. Here’s what worked for her.
She revamped her diet: More protein, fewer calories and refined carbs
McCoy was a binge eater who estimates she was eating 4,000 calories a day. “I was eating out all the time — processed and fried foods. Being from the South, I love sweet tea and fried chicken. And if my husband brought home a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, I’d eat six right before bed,” she says. “I was in…
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