ZOZOFIT user Airin Harris has always been active, no matter her weight. In fact, her pursuit of an active lifestyle while at a heavier weight led her to creating an Instagram account where she shared advice and encouragement for plus size athletes. 

“I was getting so many people commenting. ‘What kind of bike should I buy?’ or ‘Where do you buy your clothes?’” she said. “There was just a lack [of] resources for heavier women in the athletic world.” 

Despite her dedication to athletics, Airin always had difficulty losing weight. 

“It never hindered me until I turned 40 and I started to hurt all the time… No matter the exercise or the nutrition I worked on, I never really saw a whole lot of change in my weight over the years.” 

Making the Decision for Weight Loss 

Because of her popular platform on Instagram, Airin was hesitant to pursue weight loss. 

“It was a tough decision. I was out there as a plus size encourager, saying, 'You can do this anyway,' and then here I go [thinking about weight loss]. It feels like I was jumping ship on what I’ve been saying, but that’s not really true.” 

She didn’t want to alienate her followers, but Airin had to do what was best for her and her health. Since she had tried to lose weight before and was unable, she also felt a stigma of failure around the process. However, she was able to overcome these feelings as she did her own research and talked to medical professionals about the best paths forward. 

Airin’s doctor recommended she talk to a surgeon about bariatric surgery. 

“I went and talked to the guy who ended up being my surgeon, and he was just so encouraging. He said, ‘You’re exactly the person that I can help. 100 percent, you’re going to succeed.’” 

At first, Airin didn’t think surgery was the best option for her. 

“I was afraid to have surgery because I didn’t want it to affect my ability to do sports. Most people have the surgery and then they get into things because they start to lose weight and they can move.” 

Airin, however, wanted to continue the lifestyle she already had while also focusing on weight loss. 

Despite her anxieties, six months after the initial conversation with her surgeon, Airin decided to get the surgery. 

Post surgery comes with a lot of changes, including adjusting to new eating habits and transitioning from surgery recovery back to athletics. 

Using ZOZOFIT to Track Weight Loss After Surgery

After seeing an ad for ZOZOFIT online, Airin ordered the ZOZOSUIT about a month after her surgery. 

“I have never been super crazy about the scale because my whole life, I’ve always been on the more muscular side. So to me, watching the inches, the body fat and that stuff change is more important,” she said. 

With ZOZOFIT, Airin has been able to see her post-surgery transformation, which is a huge part of the journey for individuals who have received bariatric surgery. 

“I don’t get excited about a lot of products, but I actually posted images of my 3D scans and stuff on Instagram.” 

Currently, Airin completes a ZOZOFIT scan about every two weeks to a month. With the scans, she’s been able to see her weight loss progress down to the inch. She reported her stomach is down six inches and when viewing her first scan and most recent scan in the ZOZOFIT app’s Side-by-Side Comparison view, there’s a huge difference. 

“The mesh 3D model is my favorite part,” Airin said. “I can see my back rolls going away, and things like that. It’s not just muscles. You can see every little bump.” 

She says it’s also encouraging to use ZOZOFIT, which takes real-time body measurements, compared to a scale, because the number on the scale might not move, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a huge change. Body composition — which takes into account the percentages of muscle and fat in the body — doesn’t necessarily show up on the scale because if someone is losing fat, but gaining muscle, their weight might stay the same. 

Life After Bariatric Surgery

Since having bariatric surgery, Airin has gotten back to doing what she enjoys, but is still putting in the work. 

“Throughout my athletic life, I’ve run half marathons. I’ve done hundred-mile bike rides. I’ve done, athletically, all the stuff I wanted to do, and I did it all while heavy. Now, I can go out and do all those things and just have fun because I worked so hard and I reached the goal,” she said. “I’m 44. I don’t have much to prove anymore.”