Ruby Gettinger - Rubys Diary: Reflections on All Ive Lost and Gained

Getting Started

Ups and Downs

A Letter to Miley Cyrus

Cravings

Southern Hospitality and Charm

The Cost-Conscious Seven-Day Meal Plan

Missing More Than Food

A Change is Gonna Come

My Heavy Heart

Tired of Weighting

Making Waves

Freedom

Extra Support

A Letter to Oprah Winfrey

Lets Get Physical

Childhood Hopes and Dreams

Almost Famous

A Letter to President Obama

Final Words

I wish to thank my family and friends: Daddy (my hero), Mom (the light of my life), Clyde, Brenda, Jim Gettinger, Steve, Jamie, Karen White, John Gettinger, Georgia, Ben, Zach Thompson, Jeff Parsons, Foxy, Lucy, Mellie, Leslie and Greg McGinty, Marcia Thompson, Danna Kirk, Chris Acosta, Toni Suchka, Brittany Daniel, Denny Starr, Cynthia and Cole Hauser, David King, Dr. Ahmed, Anna, Katcha, Irina Tuytina, Tomas Aguiar, Michael and Melissa Leland, Judy Thomas, Julie Gunnam, Tonya Mounkes, Chellie Heckman, Vernita Washington, Judy Kemp, Joan White, Maxine Sussman.

My Prayer Warriors: my aunt Georgette, Greg, Leslie, Gary, Miles, Matthew, Grace, Graham, Maryanna McGinty, Marcia Thompson, Barbara Parsons, Ann Moore, Irma Collins, John and Barbra McGinty, Paul Alexander, Sue Davis, and the Sanctuary and CBC of Savannah.

Brittany Daniel for caring enough about my journey to approach Tim Puntillo. Gratitude to you both from the bottom of my heart for getting my story out there! Thank you, too, Amy Daneles for helping us get the first pilot shot!

Special thanks to The Style Network for believing in me and caring enough about this addiction to help me make a change. Ted Harbert, you have my heartfelt appreciation for taking a chance with me; Suzanne Kolb, I value your friendship and loyalty; Salaam Coleman Smith, I am thankful to you for your heart and for telling my truth; Sarah Weidman and Elaine Brooks, warm thanks to you for keeping my vision alive; Carrie Franklin, your faith and belief in me is amazing; Melissa Stone, thank you for your devotion; Lisa Working, thank you for working so hard; Grace Borrero, thank you for your ongoing support; Domenic Morea, thank you for your faith and drive and for never giving up. Janelle Albino, Leigh Anne Gardner, and everyone else I have met face-to-face or talked to on the phone, you all have my heartfelt appreciation, too! And to Gay Rosenthal Productions: what an amazing journey weve taken together! Thank you to each and every one of you who helped make it all possible, whether you were here for a short while or along for the full ride: Gay Rosenthal, Nicholas Caprio, Paul Barosse, Victoria Zielinski, Harry Frith, Myrna Everett, Tara Higgins, Charlise Holmes, Whitney Ince, Eric Streit, Ally Hilliard, Jason Vernon, Dustin Everett, and anyone else I may have missed, I am so happy to have made so many friends for life!

Thank you to my original team of experts for setting me off in the right direction: Dr. Steven Course, Dr. Paul Bradley, Mindy Bradley, Helen Hussey, Reese Brown, and Dr. Tim Brewerton. I will always be grateful. Thank you also to the folks at Hourglass/Ourlife. Dr. Bradley, Im especially grateful that you are making it affordable for all people to address diabetes and obesity in America. Thank you for sharing my vision. Drew and Shazia Edmonds, my new trainers, who have motivated me and helped me reach the goals I have set for myself. You are my soul mate trainers!

Thank you to the families that have sacrificed while their loved ones are away shooting my journey. Thank you to the wonderful city of Savannah, Georgia. Your beauty and southern charm make you a character all on your own! Thank you, Frank Stewart, Paula Bolden, and Iris Grossman for your friendship and good counsel!

Thank you to all the Ruby ambassadors, especially Rob Dempsey, who constantly promotes my show on radio because he, too, wants people to beat the Beast no matter what their Beast may be, and to all who cheer me on via letters, e-mail, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and more.

Thank you to the publishing team that helped develop and market this bookSuzanne Kolb, Stephen Earley, David Palmer, John Wilson, Robert Carrasco, Mark Scheider, and Angelo Lopipero at Comcast; Hope Innelli, Liate Stehlik, Lynn Grady, Seale Ballenger, Jean Marie Kelly, Brianne Halverson, Shawn Nicholls, Tom Ward, Beth Silfin, Judy DeGrottole, and Richard Aquan at HarperCollins; and Sheryl Berkfor all their dedication, hard work, and patience. Sheryl, you are an angel and I thank you, my new friend!

Thank You to God for never giving up on me, and for giving me the purpose and destiny I feel You have put before me. I pray I make You and everyone on this mission with me proud. To everyone who supported and believed in me as I crossed your paths, I have been inspired by you and am a better person for our meeting.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge four precious people in memory: my sweet Jeanie Gill, Morgan Parsons, and Caleb Parsons, who were all taken from this life too early, you inspired and touched many! And to James Gettinger, who lost his battle with diabetes, my love for you lives on. Prayers and love to all.

I know that hey, yall is the typical southern greeting. But if you are buying this book or just browsing through it at the bookstore, then Im pretty sure you or someone you know is dealing with weight issues just like me, and in that case, yall are my friends. Lately Im just shocked at how big this inner circle of mine has gotten.

I used to think that when I grew up I would be a psychiatrist. I wanted to help people solve their problems. But if someone had told me, Ruby, youre gonna be on a television show someday and the whole world is gonna watch you struggle with your problems, I would have just laughed and said, Are you crazy? There is no way under the sun, moon, and stars I would ever let someone follow me around and put my body on national TV! That would scare even the bears out of the forest! And I would have thought they were even crazier if they told me I was gonna write a book. No, this is not at all what I had in mind, I swear. Not that Im complaining, because I believe it is a great gift I have been given. Even when it seems like a sacrifice. Even when its all hangin out there for everyone to see: the good, the bad, the oh no, where did those five extra, freakin pounds come from?!

I guess because it did all seem so unexpected, I just knew that it was out of my hands; it was destiny that I do this. Thats why I have this little pet name for my journal: I call her Destiny, cause thats what Im living nowmy destiny.

I know a diary is supposed to be something no one else sees; something you hide away under lock and key. But anyone whos ever met me knows that I am all about being open and honest and telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothin but the truth. So while I was writing down all of these thoughts of mine, I realized that there were still so many more things that I wanted to share with my friends, my supporters watching the show, and my team of experts. Thats when I decided to put some entries in a special book for yall to read. A few of them cover issues I needed to revisit for myself, but most go beyond what you see on the show or read on my Web site. I didnt include everything, of course. The book would be longer than Gone With the Wind if I did! I just chose the entries that are my favorites. Some made me laugh; others made me cry; a few even terrified me. But theyre all important because theyre a part of me. Theyre my story, which I am continuing to discover piece by piece, page by page.