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Tanya Marushack: Separating Herself From the Scale

October 2, 2020 by
Courtesy of Tanya Marushack
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Tanya Marushack isn’t sure how much she weighed when she started training at CrossFit Florence in Florence, CO in January, 2019.

Twenty one months later, she still isn’t sure.

All Marushack knows is she feels like a different person, she can do things that she never dreamed she’d be able to do, and she has replaced all of her size 18 pants with size sixes.

  • “I have just made a conscious decision that I don’t care about the number on the scale. And to be honest, I have gained so much muscle that I have really had to separate myself from how much I weigh,” said the 47-year-old.

Marushack at size 18: “I was super unhappy,” Marushack said about the state of her life when she joined CrossFit Florence. Her confidence was also low, which even extended to her career as a real estate agent.

  • “At one point, about seven yers ago, I was super anxious and depressed and was on medication,” said Marushack, who has “struggled with weight my whole life.”

Not one moment: Unlike many who undergo a health transformation, Marushack said there wasn’t one particular moment or breaking point that led her to commit to change.

  • “I was just at a bridal shower and a couple of the gals were talking about going to CrossFit in Florence, and I totally butted in and said, ‘I want to do that.’ And now I’m the only one who has stuck with it,” she said, laughing.

Though she’s not sure what exactly triggered her to commit to diet and exercise changes, she knows exactly what has allowed her to stick with: “The community,” she said emphatically.

  • “I was scared to go, but it was so welcoming when I got there. They meet you where you’re at, and everyone at the gym, from the fittest athlete to the 73-year-old who comes three days a week, was so supportive,” Marushack said.
  • “I feel so accepted here. Sometimes I might start crying in a workout during something like dumbbell step-ups, because I’ll just get so emotional. Like how did I function before with all that extra weight? It’s a space where I can be real and raw…I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the community,” she added.
Courtesy of CrossFit Florence

Marushack at size six: Not only can Marushack do push-ups, toes-to-bar and pull-ups now, she said her entire life has improved, including her mental health and her relationship with food. Specifically, Marushack has found success in both cutting out carbohydrates, such pasta and bread, and through intermittent fasting.

  • “I think the biggest change that has produced the best results for me has been intermittent fasting. I eat between noon and 8 p.m.,” she said.

More important than this, however, has been adopting a new mindset, one that encourages her to be gentle on herself.

  • “I have learned it’s important not to beat myself up when I have a day. It’s just a day. It’s not the end of the world. Just get back out there. But before, if I screwed up, I would think, ‘Well, I screwed up so I might as well throw in the towel,’” she said.
  • Marushack added: “I have so much more confidence in myself now, and my business has grown so much. That self-confidence piece has been so good for my whole mental health.”
Courtesy of Tanya Marushack

A new mission: In August, a memory that included an old picture of herself popped up on Marushack’s Facebook page.

  • “I had to do a double take because I didn’t recognize the person in the picture,” said Marushack, who decided to write a post about it because “I felt like there was someone who needed to hear my story.”

She was right. After reading her post, a handful of people reached out asking her about her transformation.

  • “I have almost become an accountability person for these people. A little while ago I got a text from a girl who started intermittent fasting because of me and she’s down a bra size,” she said.
  • She added: “I just know there are so many people out there who are in the position I was in, and I want them to know that they can make a change. You just have to start. Find a place you’re comfortable going to and just get out of bed and start.”

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