This woman, once a 23-year-old college grad who was 5’7″ and weighed more than 170 pounds, has come a long way. Such a long way that she’s now Miss America. That’s right, this once plus-sized beauty is the new Miss America,
Nina Davuluri. According to Radar Online, just two years ago, the New Yorker had just finished school and found that she packed on 50 pounds after four years of study. She was ready to make a change. Davuluri says that she was “ashamed of myself for allowing myself to get so out of shape. I realized that I needed to make some serious changes if I wanted to get healthy and feel confident about myself.” Davuluri made smarter food choices and started working out at her local gym. Before she knew it, she had shed 15 pounds and had planned to stay at that size. But when she made the decision to make a foray back into pageant life (Miss Greater Rochester), she decided to work even harder to shed more pounds to possibly be Miss America. She got on a strict food plan, started working with personal trainer Tia Falcone, and went from 150 to 117 this past June, losing more than 30 pounds in three months.
the second Miss America winner from her state in the past two years, gracefully proves that pageant contestants needn't worry about onstage flubs, as
she missed her cue during the talent competition earlier in the evening, but, nevertheless went on to be crowned the new
Miss America in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Later to become Miss New York,
Of course, Davuluri caught a lot of heat after winning Miss America for 2014, as the racists called her a terrorist and many other ugly things. But as Davuluri says, “I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.” We believe the twinkle in her eyes and the smile on her face are sparked from
within. she learned to radiate life and, by example, we want to invite others to join her. Learn to be
alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic, and your light will shine brightly too.
