Teacher Dances Off 100 Pounds: 'I Cried' Over My Weight, Says Roni Tarver
A teacher danced off 100 pounds in a little over a year, according to reports. Roni Tarver said she was miserable when she weighed her most at 235 pounds and cried over her weight, even though she had a supportive husband who never pressured her to exercise.
Tarver ended up dancing off 100 pounds through Zumba classes, which emphasizes Latin American dancing and fast-paced music to get the blood pumping and shed weight. But before she worked up the initiative to attend a class, she said she smoked, suffered back pain and got winded even climbing the stairs.
"I found myself crying in bed one night over my weight, and my husband told me that he thought I was beautiful, but if I was so unhappy, I should do something about it," the Fort Worth, Texas teacher wrote for CNN. "This triggered something in me."
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"Why aren't you taking the initiative? This man loves you for who you are," she recalled.
That was in November of 2012. After watching her meals, quitting smoking, and riding the stationary bicycle, the 29-year-old teacher finally got into a Zumba class, which she said changed her life.
"My instructors were amazing, and made me feel like they loved having me there. I was having a blast exercising for the first time in my life," Tarver explained. "You really feel like you're in a club, dancing with people, but you don't have a hangover in the morning. At the end of it, you feel awesome, you're exhausted, and you can go back and do it tomorrow if you want. It's good for your soul, if you ask me."
Her diet changed as well, substituting fatty junk foods for healthy fruits and vegetables, cutting out burgers and introducing salmon or grilled chicken. Dairy was gone for good.
Now that Tarver is between 130 and 135 pounds, she and her husband Tom are very proud of her hard work.
"I'm very proud of her, and I would choose the way she feels now over however she looks," he said. "She's happier, and she is just a fun person to be around. It's the kind of person you want to be married to."
