Elizabeth Ruiz
Age: 31
Height: 5’4″
Starting Weight: 244 pounds
Hometown: Lawrence, MA
Occupation: Medical assistant
NBC Bio
The middle child of five, Elizabeth was a very active child and teenager. She was athletic and competitive in school and was part of the student council and mediation team. She became engaged when she was a junior in high school, and associates her weight gain with the abusive and unhappy marriage that followed, as well as poor diet, lack of exercise, and general self-neglect. She has asthma and sleep apnea, is pre-diabetic, and her weight and poor health left her feeling like she was close to the point of no return unless she made a change. Now 31, divorced, and 244 pounds, Elizabeth is working towards her biology degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She’s ready to make a big life change and improve her health, and looks forward to dancing, skydiving and traveling once she loses weight.