Ruby

In this special one-hour introductory episode of "Ruby," meet Ruby Gettinger, a lovable 487-pound woman from Savannah, Georgia, who has struggled with obesity her entire life. Ruby lives in a small two-bedroom house with her dogs, her nephew Jim and old friend Jeff. Together they share everything from laughs to a love of fattening Southern foods! But now Ruby's pals are realizing that they need to give her tough love in order to help her slim down. Also, Ruby gets a reality check when her doctors tell her that she will die if she does not lose the weight. Determined to drop the pounds once and for all, Ruby recruits a team of specialists including a doctor, a dietician, trainers, and even a psychiatrist to help her get to the root of her obesity issues. Even Ruby's good friend, actress Brittany Daniels, gets in on the action and flies out for a weekend to get her ready for the rough road ahead. After an emotional visit to her therapist, Ruby realizes that her quest for health may also involve an emotional and psychological journey as well as a change in diet and exercise. Is she finally willing to do whatever it takes for a happier and healthier future?

After three months on a rigorous diet and exercise plan, Ruby is finally starting to see results and has already shed fifty pounds! Word of her weight loss has spread among friends and Ruby has recently been getting phone calls from her ex-boyfriend Denny who broke her heart six years ago when she was still struggling to lose weight. Their breakup left her heartbroken for three long years, and Ruby's friends are fearful that the Denny will only end up hurting her again. Ruby lets Denny take her to the beach, cook her meals and even run through a boxing workout, but will this old couple rekindle their romance? See if Ruby can resist the urge to get back together with her lost love and instead focus on Ruby!

Thanks to four months of strict diet and exercise, Ruby has lost 60 pounds! But she's growing sick and frustrated with her pre-packaged meals and she's feeling tempted to cheat on her diet, especially when she goes out to restaurants with her friends who gorge on pizza and other fattening foods right in front of her. After a small setback, Ruby meets with her doctor to get some insight on her cravings and she discovers that they are a mental thing she must learn to overcome. Dr. Corse also informs Ruby that she's already improved her health dramatically and significantly lowered her risk for diabetes. Inspired by the news, Ruby meets with her nutritionist to learn how to prepare healthy, tasty meals and whips up a delicious home-cooked dinner for Jeff and Georgia. Will this finally give her pals the motivation to get serious about their own diets? Watch and see!

Ruby has become completely frustrated with her life, her diet and her training. She's hit a wall and is annoyed by everyone and everything! Although she has lost 60 pounds in almost four months, Ruby reveals she can't tell the difference in the mirror and it's making her unmotivated to continue losing weight. Suddenly, Ruby has an eye-opening experience when a dramatic thunderstorm and tornado threatens her and her friends' safety, and she knows she has to lose the weight once and for all. During a session with her therapist, Ruby comes to realize that her painful past is causing her to medicate herself with food. So with her sister Jamie's help, Ruby starts to piece together her childhood, which she can't remember before the age of 13. But will digging deep into her past cause her more harm than good?

California, here we come! Returning to Los Angeles where she lived for six years, Ruby must endure the challenges of travel for an obese person. Although she has lost over 65 pounds, she still has trouble fitting in the airplane seats and must put up with public humiliation in front of her friends. When she finally lands in L.A., Ruby and her pals visit an amusement park where she's confronted with more obstacles as a bigger person. Later on, Ruby reconnects with her friend Brittany Daniel and another friend who recently had a baby. Seeing the newborn makes Ruby reflect on her own dreams of motherhood and she wonders if the opportunity to have children has already passed her by.

Upon returning to Savannah from her trip to Los Angeles, Ruby is shocked to discover that she had gained back some of the seventy pounds she had lost over the last five months. Discouraged and determined to undo the damage, Ruby re-commits herself to her diet and exercise plan and tries to go through her food journal to find out where she could have gone wrong. When an old high school pal returns for a reunion, Ruby and Jeff decide to throw Georgia a surprise 40th birthday party, but Jeff is worried that all the party planning will distract Ruby from sticking to her diet. Still struggling with her setback, Ruby's psychologist reminds her that she must trust in her team of experts to help her through the hard times. After a visit to her childhood church, Ruby gets a much-needed spiritual boost from the congregation.