Record-breaking female powerlifter can deadlift 639 lbs – the weight of a baby grand piano – after kicking her food addiction
- ‘Powerlifting saved me from food addiction,’ Tamara Walcott wrote on her Instagram posting before and after pictures of her stunning transformation
- Walcott was going through a divorce and raising two children at the time when she ballooned up to 415lbs
- The divorced mother of two started training with dumbbells and then eventually began power lifting and transformed into a strongwoman lifting up to 639lbs
- In March, she founded Women in Powerlifting, an organization to increase female participation in the sport and destigmatize the negative stereotypes
A woman who once weighed 415lbs replaced her food addiction with lifting weights and today can deadlift 639lbs – the weight of a baby grand piano – after her 165 pound weight loss.
‘Powerlifting saved me from food addiction,’ Tamara Walcott wrote on her Instagram posting a before and after pictures of her stunning transformation.
‘It saved me from myself, saved me from food addiction; it was my therapy, it saved me from depression, and it changed my life,’ she said.
In July, Walcott made headlines when she broke the World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRFP) record for the heaviest cumulative lift for bench/squat and press, CNN reported.
She registered a remarkable total of 1,620.4 pounds in the squat, bench press and deadlift at the American Pro competition in Virginia.
Tamara Walcott became a single mother of two after she went through a divorce and would often find comfort in food, binge eating all hours of the night, before her health journey
Walcott training at Mount Vernon Barbell in NYC earlier this week. She wrote on her Instagram: ‘Rest assured I’m still working come 2023 #deadlift #powerlifting’
When she first started training in the gym, she recalls the stares and some of the critique she got from her male peers – whether she asked for it or not.
‘I could hear people saying I wasn’t doing it right. I remember hearing one person say: ‘Why is she in here and not on the treadmill? I stuck to it and just kind of kept going,’ the news outlet reported.
Known for her trademark lashes, hoop earrings, long nails and dazzling smile, Walcott calls herself the ‘plus size fit queen 4.0.’
She isn’t apologetic for showing her femininity in a sport that is mostly dominated by men.
‘Sometimes, I wear lipstick – because it’s okay to be beautiful, it’s okay to be sexy, it’s okay to be a woman and lift heavy,’ she said.
She has a message for other females on their journey of self discovery: ‘I would tell them to do whatever it is that you want to do – walk into the gym, own it. It’s given me so much more confidence.’
One admirer wrote on her social media: ‘You give me chills woman. I love you.’
When Walcott became a single mother of two after she went through a divorce she turned to food for comfort, often binge eating until all hours of the night.
At the time, food was her savior until she discovered powerlifting and her pursuit to get healthy.
In 2017, her weight loss journey began. She began training with dumbbells to help shed the weight and lost 100 pounds. A year later, she started competing.
‘I used to just feel full … NOW I’M FULL OF LIFE, PASSION AND I TRULY KNOW I CAN DO ANYTHING THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS MEEEEE!!!,’ she wrote on her Instagram.
In March, she founded Women in Powerlifting, an organization designed to increase female participation in the sport and to help destigmatize some of the negative stereotypes.
‘I used to just feel full … NOW IM FULL OF LIFE, PASSION AND I TRULY KNOW I CAN DO ANYTHING THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS MEEEEE!!!,’ she wrote on her Instagram.
Walcott training for an upcoming powerlifting competition. In the photo she is being spotted by two male coaches at one of the gyms that she trains at
Walcott frequently posts on social media under the name: plus size_fitqueen 4.0. In this post she shares a before and after image of her stunning transformation: ‘Powerlifting saved me from #foodaddiction #Faceoff 415lbs vs 280lbs,’ she wrote
Walcott said that her late grandmother, a former chef on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, who passed away in 2019 was someone who was very generous and who had a ‘larger than life personality.’
She said the two had a special bond and when she needs strength she thinks about her grandmother. She believes it was her grandmother’s spirit, who helped her break the 496 pounds she had been lifting for a year and help move her to the next level.
‘I couldn’t break it. And then a couple of months after she passed, I broke it by channeling her energy,’ she said.
Walcott’s relationship with food is ongoing.
‘I’ll be completely honest – is my food addiction gone? No,’ she said, in part. But, in between training, taking care of her children, and working full time in real estate, Walcott continues to be mindful of what she eats, drinks plenty of water and tries to get enough beauty sleep.
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