Trisha Addicks shares her weight-loss journey!
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brookhaven resident Trisha Addicks was terrified she was going to die. She had every comorbidity that health care professionals listed as risk factors for contracting a severe form of the virus, including obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. Even without the COVID factor, she was at increased risk for developing heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. After years of yo-yo dieting, the 56- year-old weighed the most she ever had and was at a breaking point.
“I went to my doctor in March of 2021 and, for the first time, just laid it all out there about how I wanted to lose weight and get healthier,” says Addicks, a sorority rush consultant with a podcast, “Mad Rush with Trisha Addicks.”
She credits her physician, Dr. Amatu Rabbi at the Center for Medicine in Sandy Springs, for changing her life. Together, they took a close look at Addicks’ diet and created a high-protein, low-carbohydrate, portion-controlled meal plan. Addicks began counting calories. She assumes she had previously been eating upwards of 4,000 calories a day from large meals. Three years later, she has lost more than 100 pounds and is eating between 1,200-1,500 calories a day to maintain her weight.
At first, the dietary changes felt daunting, but Addicks decided to allow herself to eat anything in small portions versus cutting off certain foods entirely. “If I want pizza, I let myself have it. So I don’t freak out and eat a whole pizza. I’ll have it, but not much of it and not all that often. Still, the option is there,” Addicks says.
Her typical daily meal plan includes lots of small snacks, a breakfast such as an egg and half a piece of toast, a sandwich or salad for lunch and a varied dinner that she enjoys cooking with her husband.
Though diet is a big part of it, Addicks says the lifestyle change that has made the biggest difference in her health has been daily exercise. She walks every day for an hour and a half, and hasn’t taken a day off in more than a year. Once she got into the groove of this routine, Addicks added personal training twice per week to strengthen her body. She now trains with a small group at Alloy’s Chastain location.
“I’ll talk to friends on the phone while I walk. If you have time to chat on the phone, then you have the time to walk,” Addicks says. (In fact, that’s exactly what she was doing during this interview.)
In addition to big-deal health improvements such as lowering her cholesterol and blood pressure and reversing pre-diabetes, Addicks’ quality of life is better today. For one thing, she sleeps more soundly. She also enjoys more quality time with her family. Instead of sitting out activities, she goes on hikes and golfing excursions with them (they golf; she walks next to the cart).
Another fortunate outcome but an unfortunate societal norm: She gets taken more seriously postweight loss. “From people I met through work to many doctors, no one except my friends and family could see past the fat before,” she says.
With a newfound confidence, Addicks is spreading her wings in her professional life. She launched her podcast in 2023 and wrote a book about business that will be published next year. Additionally, she appeared in the MAX documentary Bama Rush and on the cover of The Wall Street Journal, and has been featured in several other media outlets as a leading sorority rush expert.
“It’s so important to know that, even at my age, it can be done,” she says.
TRISHA ADDICKS
itsallgreektome.com
@rushwithconfidence
PHOTO: Erik Meadows
