What It's Really Like to Lose 250 Pounds
Rosie Mercado is a Las Vegas-based model who once weighed 420 pounds. After two seasons on NuvoTV’s reality show, Curvy Girls, Rosie left and lost 100 pounds. She then gained 20 pounds, freaked, and opted into a weight loss procedure that helped her lose 150 more pounds. Six months ago, she had 20 pounds of excess skin removed from her abdomen. Now 250 pounds lighter than her heaviest weight, she recently talked to Cosmopolitan.com about her weight loss journey.
Since you became famous for your curves, did you think twice about making the decision to lose weight in the first place?
No, because I had been both criticized and celebrated for being fat at the same time. I asked myself if I was genuinely happy and realized I had to change if I wanted to be able to do things with my kids, get rid of the pains in my hips and knees, and stop being judged.
I was criticized like crazy for dropping the weight and accused of being ashamed of my body. It had nothing to do with shame or even wanting to have a better career. I just wanted to have a better life with spontaneity, the freedom to go zip-lining or ride a roller coaster, and take part in other experiences that I never had as a teenager because I’ve been overweight my entire life. It was never about being thin. It was just about being healthy with vitality and choices.
What did it feel like to weigh over 400 pounds?
You always have to wonder if the chair you sit in is going to hold you, whether you’ll fit into a vehicle, and whether there will be a seatbelt that fits around you. When I’d go out with my three kids, I had to bring a nanny because I couldn’t keep up with them. I was a spectator instead of a participant because my body couldn’t hold my weight up for more than 30 minutes, and I’d get out of breath.
I’ll never forget this one time on an airplane when I was told in front of everyone that I had to purchase a second seat because I didn’t fit into one. The people nearby who heard it laughed while I cried. It was horrifying.
What was work like for you when you were overweight, and how are things different now?
At my heaviest, people would think I was joking when I said I was a model. Nobody came to me and said, "Hey, we want you for this," but I was a working model at that size. I had to knock on doors and say, "Look. I represent bigger women," because I did. There were companies that jumped on board because they realized that a lot of women could relate to my size, while other companies turned me away because their sample sizes didn’t fit me.
Brands are more supportive of me now because I fit into their sample sizes. I understand that - that at the end of the day, modeling is business, and brands aren’t going to go out of their way to cut special sample sizes just for me.
Now that you’re a size 14, how do you feel about still being labeled plus-size by industry standards? [The average woman in the U.S. is a size 16.]
It doesn’t bother me. I know there’s been this big debate about what to call plus-size models, but whether you want to label it or not, I think you’ve got to accept what is, otherwise it gets under your skin. I’m proud to represent.
Date night #vegasnights pic.twitter.com/MSZEl3Kf0S
- Rosie Mercado (@MsRosieMercado) October 17, 2013
What is your response to people who think you cheated by getting gastric sleeve surgery?
The gastric sleeve was a great tool to help me lose another 150 pounds, but it’s still been a journey full of sweat, tears, and lots of dedication. You can’t cheat weight loss. It’s not like I sat around and ate whatever and lost the weight. Everyone says surgery is the easy way out, but going under the knife is never the easy way out. You don’t know if you’re going to come back out of it and whether there will be complications.
Recovery took a lot of energy. I’d be tired after standing for 20 minutes. The hardest part was that I had to completely change my lifestyle from day one with a 30-day liquid diet designed to reteach my body how to eat, like a baby figuring out how to tolerate different foods. I progressed to soup, then protein shakes that got progressively thicker, then added mashed vegetables. I realized I couldn’t eat certain breads or anything high in sugar because I’d get dizzy and sweat like crazy.
Have you experienced any other less-than-glamorous side effects of weight loss?
You look in the mirror and realize that while you’re happy to have lost the weight, you have all this excess skin. So after I’d lost 230 pounds, I had another 20 pounds of excess skin removed from my stomach.
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It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, and that’s after having three kids. A C-section is a piece of cake compared to a tummy tuck. They pull your skin and close up the muscles in your stomach like an internal girdle. I couldn’t stand up straight for a month afterward and still have to wear a corset for another six months.
So when I hear people say I cheated and took the easy way out, I laugh. I remember being in the hospital crying from the pain for the first 24 hours.
How have people responded to your weight loss?
It’s been 80 percent positive, 20 percent negative. There was a man with a fat fetish who emailed me from Denmark to say, "You’re not attractive at your weight, you’re not beautiful at your weight." I’ve heard from women who were able to relate to me at 420 pounds, but now that I’ve lost the weight, they feel betrayed. One woman, a complete stranger, emailed me to say it was a shame that I sold out because of my career in modeling. She said I should jump off a bridge and kill myself.
I’ve learned to take the positive and negative, but that still kind of shook me. I’m human. I have moments when I sit back and wonder how doing something that makes me happy can possibly offend other people. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I don’t have time for that.
Are you still trying to lose more weight?
No, I’m just working on maintenance and keeping my curves, although I’d love toned arms. I know I can still gain weight if I don’t watch what I eat, and 5 pounds here, 5 pounds there can take me back to square one. So I’m juicing, eating lots of protein and vegetables, and watching my portions. I’ve given up certain foods like cheese. I work out six times a week for an hour and a half because I enjoy it. It’s a de-stressor that makes me feel good. It’s a lifestyle, and it’s only difficult when you don’t believe in it.
Lots of straight-size models follow pre-shoot cleansing routines to slim down before being photographed. As a plus-size model, do you do the same thing?
No, I just eat healthy. My body isn’t about being lean and muscular. It’s about being toned. I have cellulite on there. My body’s not perfection, and I’m OK with that.
So how do you feel about your body now?
I absolutely love it. I lost all this weight. I’m a size 14. I’m healthy. I’m curvy. My body was never meant to be a size 0 or size 6, and I love representing the plus-size community. It’s just - a girl’s got hips! I’m never going to get rid of the hips, and I embrace it. I can do everything that you can do, I just have a bigger frame with curves and there’s nothing wrong with that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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