Life and Work with Ebone Gaddy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ebone Gaddy.

Ebone, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi! I was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico but I have lived in Arizona since I was a couple of months old, so basically I’m an Az native. Growing up I have always struggled with my weight. I’ve never been one of the skinnier girls. I remember being in elementary school and wearing girdles to school so I would look thinner or taking weight loss supplements so I could lose weight. As I got older, I grew into my body a little more, but I still never was “small.” I went to Millennium High School in Goodyear, Az and I played basketball all four years at Millennium. Playing basketball in high school was definitely one of the best times of my life. It allowed me to make many friends and memories. It also helped me remain active. We had practice six days week when we didn’t have games, so I was always working out, but I never lost any weight (my diet had a lot to do with this). I remained around 175 pounds while I was in high school, but when I graduated it started going downhill. Once I stopped playing basketball and transitioning into young adult life, my activeness decreased drastically. I began working while going to school for my nursing degree and working out was the last thing on my mind. From 2011 to 2017 I had tried many things to lose weight. I tried Working out, eating healthy, dieting, supplements all to no avail.

By 2017, I had weighed over 315 pounds. My mom kept bringing up weight loss surgery, but I was so against it. I just felt like I could lose the weight myself. One day, I just decided to take the plunge and went to an appointment. In my head, I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I just went through the process to get surgery but at the same time, I can try to lose weight myself. It couldn’t hurt, because I could’ve always changed my mind. So, that’s what I did, I had to six months of consecutive weight loss appointments and a complete work up to see how healthy I was. By the end of the six months, I still was struggling to lose weight, so I decided to go for it and get the surgery. I was about to graduate with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing and I was finally going to be a Registered Nurse. Everything was falling into place for me, but for some reason, I felt like my weight was still holding me back, so I knew I was making the right decision. One month before I walked across the stage and accepted my degree, I had Gastric Sleeve surgery, the best decision I have made for myself. Gastric Sleeve is when the surgeon removes 80% of your stomach to assist with portion control.

So, after surgery, I started losing weight quickly and I felt GREAT! I started buying clothes for myself which I rarely ever did before. I started going out more and being more adventurous. Then, about ten months after surgery, the weight loss started slowing down. I slowly started getting back in the gym and the weight loss picked up a tiny bit! And then, one day, it all just clicked. I told myself Ebone if you want the results you’re going to have to put in the work. You’re going to have to fight for what you want. So, I decided if I’m going to work out and completely change my lifestyle then I needed to take it seriously! I didn’t have weight loss surgery to not lose all the weight and I definitely didn’t have surgery just to gain the weight back. November 2018 is when I made the choice to change my lifestyle. I began researching working out I began changing my eating habits and slowly but surely I started seeing drastic changes in my body. Not only was my body changing but so was my mindset and goals. I no longer just wanted to lose weight, I wanted to be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy! I wanted to feel good inside and out. I wanted to push my body to new limits and see what it could do. I have always wanted a hobby growing up. I would always say I’m boring because I don’t do anything, there’s nothing specific to me, but now there is. FITNESS is now my LIFE, I don’t know what I would do without it. This is the happiest I have been with myself, not just because I’m skinnier and not just because I have muscles, but because I finally stuck to something. I found something to be passionate about and it’s such a beautiful and exhilarating feeling. In the past year and a half, I have lost about 150 pounds and have gained so much more! The sky is the limit and believes me when I tell you this is only the beginning.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It was not a smooth road all of the time. For the weight loss surgery, you have to go to weight loss appointments for 6 consecutive months. This was a struggle when because I worked and was going to nursing school full time. I only had about 2 appointments left and then I missed one, so that meant I had to start the entire 6 months over. Believe me, I wanted to just throw in the towel and say, “well I guess it wasn’t meant to be, but I didn’t do that, I continued the process and I got it right the second time. Another struggle that I have faced during my journey is the impact it has made in some of my relationships. Many people began treating me differently when I started losing weight and it wasn’t a good different. People were accusing me of acting differently when I knew I wasn’t. I didn’t dwell on the negativity I just looked at the positives and kept pushing towards my goals. I believe that if you really care about me then you will also respect my new lifestyle/journey and if you can’t then we should probably go our separate ways. The advice I would give other young women would be to never make a permanent decision based off of temporary feelings and choose who you surround yourself with wisely.

Please tell us about your work.
I am currently a Registered Nurse at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Az. I work with oncology patients and patients scheduled to undergo bone marrow transplants. Graduating from nursing school had to be my biggest accomplishment yet (it was really hard)! Before fitness became a huge part of my life, I would say nursing and going to nursing school was something that I was known for, but now so many people comment on my fitness journey and I’ve had so many positive comments! I’ve also inspired others to begin their own fitness journey, which definitely is one of the best parts about this entire journey!

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
Social media! Social media has helped me find people that have the same interests as I do. It helps me stay motivated seeing others killing their own workouts and staying consistent. My new favorite thing to do is watch workout videos on Instagram and fitness influencers on YouTube! They don’t mentor me personally, but they definitely impact my journey in a positive way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/ladycuhh
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebone.gaddy
• Other: Instagram.com/raelsjourney

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