Leah Hope Mancuso knows all too well how it feels to be the “chubby kid” growing up, making her feel worth less than her peers. These days, after dropping 210 pounds, she says she didn’t lose the weight because she was “chasing a smaller body, but a bigger life.”
The life she now leads is full of joy and activity compared to when she was nearly 400 pounds, battling extreme migraines and fatigue every day, hardly able to enjoy an afternoon of rollercoasters and rides with her sister and nephews.
Ms. Mancuso, 35, from Scottsdale, Arizona, recalls gaining 100 pounds in high school after earning the freedom to drive to her favorite fast food restaurants to eat whatever she wanted. “Food, unhealthy and highly processed foods specifically,“ she said, ”became a comfort for me, and then it just became my way of life.”
This “way of life” continued into early adulthood, when her weight continued to rise and her enthusiasm, energy, and joy plummeted.
It affected her day-to-day activities. She had to pre-scout restaurants to ensure she could fit, and when flying on airliners she purchased two seats so she could travel comfortably.
A trip to the fairgrounds with her sister’s family became the tipping point, pushing her to chase a bigger life.
“Becoming an aunt has been the greatest joy of my life, and I didn’t want to miss out on this experience with my nephew even though I knew how hard it would be on my almost 400-pound body,” Ms. Mancuso said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
It was harder on her body than she imagined.
“Within only a few hours in the park, my feet and back hurt, I was profusely sweating, and I developed a migraine that made it hard to enjoy the day at all,” she said. “I ended up spending most of the day sitting on benches and at tables with my head down to keep my migraine at bay and rest my body while my sister’s family were out enjoying the park.”
Then and there, she decided she was going to lose weight and that she had to make major changes, because that “wasn’t the life I wanted for myself.”
She chose to eat better and move more every day, but now acknowledges that despite her being extremely motivated after the amusement park trip, the motivation didn’t last.
“Motivation is a feeling, and it’s fleeting,” she said. “It can’t be relied on. But we can choose the act of discipline regardless of whether we’re motivated or not. Discipline is not a punishment, it’s a gift.”
With discipline, she chose to push her levels of daily exercise. “The main thing I was able to be consistent with was walking for 10 consecutive minutes a day,” she said. “It was about all my body could handle at the time. And then, I would continue to get more steps throughout the day by marching in place or walking around the house.”
From there, she got into hiking and pickleball, gaining confidence and joy in the new life she was building for herself.
When it came to food, her previous diet was dominated by fast food, so she quickly switched to eating mostly minimally processed foods and getting more vegetables into her diet.
“Some of my food staples are eggs, chicken, cottage cheese, fruit, pork, seafood, cheese, potatoes, sourdough bread, and maple syrup and honey as sweeteners,” she said.
With her weight loss journey came highs and lows, yet discipline and grit fueled her progress, despite the ebbs and flows of waxing and waning motivation.
One of those highs was learning that she actually loves hiking, which came as a surprise.
Another was zip lining. “In June 2023, I had just gotten under the weight limit for zip lining, which is something I wanted to experience but was never able to at my bigger size,” she said. “I finally got to experience it and loved it!”
A drag hounding Ms. Mancuso was the slowness of slimming down.
“It was frustrating to feel like the results I was getting weren’t matching the effort I was putting in,” she said. “That is why I continued to remind myself that I’m changing my lifestyle, not just trying to lose weight quickly and then go back to the way I was living.”
It was a learning curve for her to grasp when she should let her body rest and recover as she continually pushed herself to be more active.
“I got some minor injuries throughout my journey like a blister on my foot and pulled hamstrings,” she said. “I didn’t want to give up on exercising and would often try to push myself, only to end up making the injuries worse.”
At those times, she had to judge what was best for her body to keep making headway.
One of the things that has helped steady her highs and lows has been keeping a food journal and a separate health journal.
“I used my food journal at the beginning to become more mindful of the foods I was eating and how they were making me feel without tracking calories,” she said, and “to document my feelings, emotions, struggles, and victories throughout my journey.”
Documenting the milestones and hang-ups, what she was eating, and her feelings along the way helped show her what worked and what didn’t. She said that having an accountability partner also aided in carving out the life she wanted.
Now, two years into her journey of slimming down, how does she feel? Has she created the bigger life she dreamed of?
“From the very beginning, I never had a goal weight, I was after a goal feeling,” she said. But she lost over 210 pounds in the process.
“I think I’m there,” she said. “I feel amazing and capable and see how much bigger and fuller my life is now!”
Reckoning how far she’s come, one big highlight has been coming full circle. Shedding 190 pounds, she returned to the rides and rollercoasters and had a ball with her sister and two nephews—“without feeling burdened or limited by my body!” she added.
These are the kinds of moments Ms. Mancuso lives for now.
