She's literally one in 2 million.
When Monroe resident Christie Buie began her journey on October 2, 2011, she weighed 365 pounds. She was borderline diabetic, and suffered from both high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Today, Buie is making headlines as one of the Anytime Fitness National Success Stories. Each year, the Anytime Fitness corporate office selects four member success stories from around the world to highlight and celebrate.
Anytime Fitness has over 2 million members worldwide, which makes Buie's story even more remarkable.
So far, in her journey, she has lost around 175 pounds; which is approximately the same weight as that of a light-heavyweight boxer. And she's not done. Buie continually sets additional goals and strives to persevere and forge ahead.
Originally from Texas, 41-year-old Buie has lived in Monroe for 11 years. She shared that her battle with weight followed her from childhood to adolescence and on into adulthood. Eventually, it got to the point where she believed that she would never find a viable solution. She became weary of diets which consistently seemed to represent failure.
"You don't go through life as an obese person without having tried and failed a ton of other diets,GÇ¥ said Buie.
She began to research weight loss surgery options, and learned that, before a doctor will even operate, a candidate must abide by a low-carbohydrate die. Physicians require their patients to become accustomed to a low-carb diet because that is the way they will need to continue eating after the procedure.
Buie decided to give the low-carb plan a whirl for 30 days to see what happened. She researched the topic and proceeded to eliminate wheat and sugar from her diet. She knew that she couldn't look at it as another "dietGÇ¥ or trend. She knew that she needed a complete change, and that it had to be a permanent one.
She was careful not to overwhelm herself, and decided at first to only focus her food intake. She set a goal to begin an exercise program after a month of healthy eating. She planned to do so in her own home, where she would have complete privacy. A million negative gym experiences in her past made her reluctant to seek outside help.
"I had no intention of joining a gym, I was too intimidated. Fat people don't go to gyms,GÇ¥ said Buie. "At least that was my mindset at the time.GÇ¥
Being overweight, it seemed that negative experience after experience had completely guided her life. Sometimes, she wasn't even treated like a human being, and it didn't matter how nice she was to those around her.
"I always tried to make up for being fat by being friendly,GÇ¥ said Buie.
But it often made no difference. Buie has countless stories about the egregious cruelty she endured as an overweight female. Things that might seem mundane to a lot of people presented burdensome challenges for Buie. Things like flying on airplanes.
"Let's face it,GÇ¥ said Buie. "In our society, we're mean to fat people. We really are. It's because it's considered something that people do to themselves.GÇ¥
Buie said that flying to Texas to visit her family became unbearable because she would spend the entire flight in a state of cramped fear that she was crowding the person next to her.
"Sometimes I would get off the plane and my arm would be sore from holding onto the other arm rest, just trying to keep myself out of their space,GÇ¥ said Buie.
At close to four weeks into her new low-carb way of eating, Buie began to experience a sense of hope. She had lost 20 pounds and was eager to embark on the next segment of her journey; a workout regime. She purchased some equipment and tried to jump-rope, only to discover that she was still too heavy to make it over the rope.
But this time, something different happened. This time, Buie didn't give up.
"That was a big wake-up call for me,GÇ¥ said Buie. "Even though I was all amped that I was going in the right direction, it was a wake-up call for me that I had a long way to go.GÇ¥
That's when she found Anytime Fitness.
Anytime Fitness, owned by Greg and Kelsey Garka of Snohomish, is a coed fitness center located near Lake Tye in Monroe. Members are given 24-hour access to the gym, which features cardio equipment, strength equipment, free weights and more.
Greg explained that the gym offers a different environment than what is found at larger gyms.
"It's more of a community-type atmosphere,GÇ¥ said Greg. "It's a little more intimate, and a lot less intimidating.GÇ¥
But for Buie, it was more than just not feeling judged or intimidated. At Anytime Fitness, Buie was made to feel welcome. Even so, in the beginning, Buie refused to work out if there was anybody else in the gym. She took full advantage of the 24-hour aspect of her new fitness facility. "I was that self-conscious,GÇ¥ she explained.
To some, Buie's goals in the beginning may have seemed insignificant. But for her, they were substantial. More importantly, they were attainable.
"At first all I could do was like five minutes on the elliptical,GÇ¥ said Buie. "It was just little goals. So if this week I can do five minutes on the elliptical, then next week I'll do six minutes every day. I built up that way over two or three months.GÇ¥
Eventually, she sought guidance from an Anytime Fitness personal trainer, who showed her how to train on the equipment, as well as use the free weights.
Today, Buie can run five miles and has even participated in a 5-kilometer run with her younger brother. Her next goal is to tackle a 10-kilometer run.
"Literally three years ago, I was not capable of running 10 feet,GÇ¥ said Buie. "I was zombie bait for sure.GÇ¥
In addition to running, Buie has taken up biking and kayaking. In the beginning, she could barely bike the four miles from her home to the gym. Currently, she is capable of riding 60 miles and has a goal to eventually complete the annual Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic.
To Greg and Kelsey, the thing that stood out about Buie was her determination and her kindness. She would send periodic emails to them, detailing her progress. Greg shared that she was always very gracious to them in those emails, which Greg and Kelsey found to be extremely thoughtful.
"I mean, she was the one who was doing all the work,GÇ¥ said Greg. "Needless to say, she's a very selfless person, and was very grateful. She felt like our gym wasn't intimidating, and she didn't feel like she was being judged.GÇ¥
As part of the honor awarded to her for becoming one of Anytime's national success stories, Buie recently traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz. with Greg and Kelsey to attend the Anytime Fitness national conference. A video of Buie detailing her journey was shown at the event, and she was invited to speak in front of over 2,500 Anytime Fitness franchise owners and employees.
"We had a really good time,GÇ¥ said Greg. "We were really lucky to have her; she's pretty cool.GÇ¥
For Buie, her experience in Arizona stands out as one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences of her life so far. She explained that, to her, it has seemed as though the crew at Anytime Fitness are a completely different breed. She attributes much of her success to the positive support she received from not only just Greg and Kelsey, but from the trainer who helped her, as well as the other gym members.
It was the support she got at Anytime that helped to facilitate a critical mental shift within her. It triggered her motivation and brought it up to a level that was both consistent and sustainable.
"I don't know that that would have happened just from changing my eating habits alone,GÇ¥ said Buie. She explained that, for her, the exercise and the new eating habits have gone hand-in-hand.
Buie loves her new way of living, and for the most part, finds temptation reasonably easy to resist. She no longer deals with stress by eating, but handles it by going for a run, or to the gym, or for a ride on her new motorcycle. Occasionally, she misses her former guilty pleasures, particularly macaroni and cheese.
"If I was on death row that would easily be my last meal,GÇ¥ said Buie. "Macaroni and cheese.GÇ¥
But her journey has evolved so that it's no longer just about losing weight. It's about loving herself and taking care of her body.
"If I had a good friend, who I really loved a lot, and they were in my shoes, what would I have done to support them? If it had meant cooking them healthy food, if it meant driving them to the gym, if it meant working out with them to help them, I would do all of that,GÇ¥ said Buie. "So why wouldn't I do that for me?GÇ¥
To learn more about Buie's story, view her video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmpK5DGZQu0.
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