From Couch to Capable

Fourteen years ago, Robin Edds had bariatric surgery. She went from 330 lb. to 150 lb. Life, however, wasn’t much better.

“If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t do it,” the 50-year-old from Brownstown, Michigan, says of the procedure.

At her heaviest, Edds could barely care for her children, and she couldn’t clean her house or walk while carrying anything.

“I was pretty much kind of an invalid even though I was able to walk,” she explains.

After losing 180 lb., she was in a similar state.

“When I finally got to 150 lb., my fitness wasn’t any better. I still really couldn’t do anything. The only thing that was different was my clothes size.”

Edds stayed that way for 12 years.

Today, after a year at CrossFit DownRiver, Edds has lost an additional 35 lb.

“Now I’m excited about life,” she says.

Edds adds: “I thought when I had bariatric surgery that it was gonna solve my fitness problems as well as my weight problems, and that didn’t happen.”

Before CrossFit, her goals were simple: get off the couch, go to the grocery store, clean the house.

“Now my goals are: I’m gonna get a higher box jump, and I’m gonna lift more weight, and I’m gonna live life to the fullest because now I have those capabilities.”

Video by Gary Roberts.

8min 24sec

HD file size: 154 MB
SD mov file size: 58 MB

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Additional reading: Coaching Fitness From Scratch by Stephanie Vincent, published Oct. 7, 2011.