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Ruby Gettinger stars on The Style Network reality show Ruby, based on the Savannah, GA’s resident’s life. Ruby is 5′9 and currently weighs 328 pounds, the lowest weight she’s reached in her adult life. She’s down from a high of 715 pounds about 10 years ago and has lost over 150 pounds since she started the show last year. Ruby is the highest rated show ever on the Style Network.
The 40-something reality star is promoting a new memoir called Ruby’s Diary: Reflections on All I’ve Lost and Gained. In an appearance on The Today Show yesterday she was both excited and humble about her journey. Ruby comes across like such a genuinely kind person. You can tell that she really cares about people and hopes that by going public with her struggle she’s helping others. One very sad thing that Ruby touched on briefly in the interview is that she has no memories before the age of 10 and that she’s trying to work that out through therapy. Something truly awful must have happened to her, but she didn’t get into the details much, just saying “I had a recurring nightmare that I share in the book that I was not ready to share on television yet. There was one memory that came when my dad passed away, which was in January, and I share that. The next part of this journey - trying to find out my memories.”
On how her fans inspire her
It’s amazing, because the people that are watching me are inspiring me to keep going on. Because they write me. I have people of all sizes, all ages that are changing. I never realized there’s so many people out there that face their own addictions or their beasts. I call this the beast. Something that I’ve been fighting forever.Everytime someone tells me that they’re changing, they’ve lost 100 pounds or 50 pounds or they’re walking, or they’re coming out their house for the first time, it keeps me going on.
On the small things she can do that weren’t possible before
Now I can walk three miles. I can get behind the steering wheel of a car. I can go kayaking. I had one of my dreams come true. I got to ride a horse!On not putting off your dreams and goals
The one thing I have learned is that, do it today… anything you want to do I don’t care if it’s dieting, if it’s a dream, start it today because tomorrow will not come in 5 to 10 years.On her destiny to help others
I believe that I’m a better person for being big, because I don’t judge people… on their shell I look at the inner person and I feel like this is my destiny because I want to help other people…. I want people to not live in their house or define themselves by weight… I want them to define themselves by the heart, by who they really are and live their lives.
[Transcribed from Ruby Gettinger's appearance on The Today Show, 9/9/09, video above]
I read the segment of Ruby’s book that’s available online and she describes how she was moved to lose weight and document that to help others. She saw the movie The Miracle Worker about the life of Helen Keller, and then an episode of Oprah on severely obese women shortly afterwards. I love the matter-of-fact way that she describes the turning point in her life:
One day, I was in my bedroom in the apartment I was renting on Fifty-second Street in Savannah, and I was flipping through the channels when I saw the movie The Miracle Worker was on. As I watched it for the first time, it took my breath away! Here was a woman, Helen Keller, who could not see, hear or speak. People had written her off; they called her dumb and treated her as if she was worthless. Then along came one person, a teacher named Annie Sullivan, who saw something more in Helen. She saw a person inside that shell, and she had faith in that person. I cried as I watched that movie. I really did. And then this unbelievable faith just came over me. This movie made me realize that the impossible really is possible. It made me see that the only limits we have in this life are the ones we set upon ourselves, and that one person’s faith is enough to change the whole world. I thought, if someone with all of Helen Keller’s problems, with all of those things holding her back, could overcome her obstacles, then why can’t I? I don’t why I happened upon this movie when I did, but it lit a fire in me - a big old barn fire that’s still smokin’ now. I really think God was trying to get my attention, and He did.
Not more than two days later, I was sitting at home, and this Oprah show came on about several severely obese women and their struggles. They were afraid to leave their homes because of the way society judged them. I have heard people call them shut-ins, but I could never use that word. It just makes me want to cry. I watched in complete pain. That show really broke my heart, because no matter what size I am now or ever was, I could never allow people to stop me from living and enjoying my life. Well, that was it! I knew I had to do something. So I called up my friends Jeff and Georgia and I said, “You need to get me a video camera. We need to document all of what I’m going through.” Right then and there I had decided that I was gonna let people follow me around, step-by-step, so we could learn a thing or two together.
[From Ruby's Diary: Reflections on All I've Lost and Gained]
Ruby has since appeared on Oprah, and she’s lost half of her body weight. As they say in the south, bless her. I admire Ruby and find her so inspirational and kind. I hope that all of her dreams come true and that she’ll someday be able to work through her painful past.
[Thanks to The Huffington Post for featuring this story]
Written by Celebitchy
Posted in Reality Shows, Ruby Gettinger
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19 Responses to “Ruby Gettinger promotes new book on her journey losing 387 pounds”
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How awesome! I hope her story inspires others towards their dreams.
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I love her, she seems SO nice, and I wish she was my friend, too!
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I love love love her! I love her show & I love her southern accent! She is a great lady & Im very proud of her!! The last 2 shows I watched I cried tho. Damn you Ruby for making me cry.
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10 to 1 it was sexual abuse and thats why she has repressed memories. Alot of the morbidly obese people we see on television have some kind of traumatic abuse in their pasts that causes them to literally build a cucoon of protection around them as they eat and eat to ’stuff’ the memory down.
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Ruby is so sweet, I live in Savannah and I met her at the convention center last year. She is as sweet in person as she appears on television.
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ANGEL’S SIDE: I support this woman’s efforts and am firmly cheering her on.
DEVIL’S SIDE: I tried watching the show and after about three episode’s I couldn’t take her voice anymore. It was like chalk screeching on a chalkboard to me.
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Oh wow. Good for her.I’ve never heard of her before but I will look her up now.
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Ok, I get so tired of the fake reality shows that are completely scripted and I’m sure hers are scripted also, but I also get the feeling that behind the script she is probably a sweet person. Maybe its the accent.
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I absolutely LOVE this woman and I don’t normally like reality shows and all that stuff. I can’t stop watching her or listening to her.
She seems like someone I would really love being friends with and hanging out with. I totally support her in her efforts to get healthier.
And yeah, unfortunately, it’s probably sexual abuse memories that she’s repressing. That stuff will seriously mess a person up more than anything. Ug.
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She has an amazing outlook on life! It’s inspirational to everyone-obese or not.
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Too bad her interviewer is such a self-absorbed BITCH! How insensitive & condescending could she be??? There’s somebody working the beauty shift that wouldn’t be there because of her brains!!!
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I find her weight loss success very inspirational, but after watching one season of the show, I couldn’t take it anymore. Her whiny way of speaking was just too much for me, especially when you can see that she turns it on and off at will. I also didn’t care for the staged/scripted “reality” stuff, but I’ll blame that on the producers, not her.
She does seem like a nice enough person and I wish her continued success. She’s very fortunate to have so many resources at her disposal now (trainers, meals, doctors, etc) but hopefully seeing her succeed will help inspire others in the same situation. -
I love Ruby! Love love love her! She’s so beautiful, and I love listening to her talk. She could read the phone book and I’d listen.
I am very happy for her success.
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She seems like such a sweet, genuine person! I can’t stand most reality TV shows but I do really enjoy hers, and I wish her the best of luck as she deals with her painful past. Poor thing, I didn’t know she had to face something like that.
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I kind of love her. She is one of the few reality show stars I would be happy to see out in the real world. Her and Tim Gunn.
…And Nene Leakes.
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I love Ruby and think that she is a beautiful person, inside and out.
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sometimes girls who were molested will gain weight in an subconscious effort to keep men (predators, in their mind) away. That’s probably what happened to Ruby, although she has blocked out the memories.
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Just so you know- in the south, saying “bless her,” or “bless her heart,” after a statement isn’t usually a positive thing. It’s more like “Katie is a disgusting skank, bless her heart” or “well, she doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, bless her.”
You get get away with saying jaw-dropping, awful things about people… as long as you bless their heart after.
Regards from Charleston, S.C.!
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I LOVE THIS WOMAN! I would love to spend a day with her. I think it would make me a much better person! God Bless you, Ruby! Keep up the fantastic work. You deserve your outcome.
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