Like many Swifties, Emily Murray was on cloud nine when she attended one of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concerts in 2023.
Standing and dancing for a three-and-a-half hour concert can be tiring for anyone, but the Rhode Island resident, who has struggled with her weight her entire life, found it particularly challenging.
Going into the show, Murray was concerned that she might not fit in the seats, but she put her anxiety aside to see her favorite singer in concert.
“I knew I had to put myself out there and try. And looking back, I’m so glad that I went and experienced it because it ended up being the breaking point that I needed,” she told TODAY in a segment that aired on Jan. 15.
Halfway through the concert, Murray’s feet and legs began to ache in a way she’d never experienced, so she made the difficult decision to leave the show early.
“I cried the whole way home because I had spent so much money and so much time leading to that moment where I got to be so close. We had wonderful seats for this show, and not to get to fully enjoy it was the biggest wake-up call to me,” she said.
The disappointing moment was a catalyst for Murray’s weight loss journey, which she recently shared in an Instagram video that has garnered more than 1.5 million views.
“From that night, I decided I’m just going to start making a change and not look back. And that’s when my weight loss journey started,” she says.
The 32-year-old, who runs a small business called Something Borrowed, said the “rock bottom” moment inspired her to take small steps to prioritize her health.
“I sat down and said, ‘I can’t keep living like this.’ And I slowly started making changes on my own, before starting a GLP-1 about six months later,” she explained.
Below, we’re outlining Murray’s weight-loss journey and the habits she focused on to transform her health.
A lifetime of weight struggles
For Murray, weight “has been a constant struggle,” but the issue escalated following the death of her father in 2019.
“We, as a family, just dropped everything to take care of him, and after he passed, I went back into being a mom. I was eight months pregnant at the time of his funeral, and we jumped right into parenting as a family of four,” she said.
A year later, the pandemic hit, and Murray began to pursue her small business full time after losing her job.
“I transitioned from taking care of my children to taking care of my business, and never once did I take a day to take care of me or think about what was going on in my body,” she said.
As her grief and weight struggles intensified, Murray questioned what her future would look like and “couldn’t picture a life” beyond her thirties due to the constant physical discomfort she was experiencing and her anxiety about going out in public and being judged for her looks.
“Every voice inside my head, it told me that you have a few more years left before it’s really going to get bad. So no, I didn’t think I would ever see my forties or fifties or beyond,” she said.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is officially over after the final show in Vancouver.
A gradual health journey
When Murray committed to losing weight, she began by focusing on her protein and water intake and upping her daily physical activity.
“I worked on smaller portions and making a better decision for every meal that I could. And sometimes with life, things get out of your control, and you know, you’re getting a pizza on the way home with the kids, but I tried, in every instance that I could, to make the best food decisions that I could, and over time, I saw it start to build up,” she said.
When she started taking a GLP-1 medication, Murray’s relationship with food began to shift.
“It turned something off in my brain where I was constantly looking to food for comfort, or thinking of what we are going to have next to treat ourselves. And I was able to just focus on what’s the healthier choice and start focusing on that. And once the pounds started coming off, it just continued to motivate me to keep going,” she said.
Over the last two years, Murray has lost 100 pounds, but she isn’t stopping here.
“There’s more weight that I want to lose and more life I want to gain back, but the happiness and the changes I found in my life have been insane for just the small journey I’ve been on so far,” she said.
This year, Murray is ready to join a public gym and take her weight-loss journey to the next level.
“For a long time, I was hiding at home or just walking around my neighborhood, but these changes along the way have allowed me the confidence to get out there and continue to make those changes for myself,” she said.
A new outlook on life
When Murray decided to post a video update of her weight-loss journey in December, she never expected that it would reach over a million views or resonate with so many other people.
“Somehow the Swifties found it and took me under their wing. Everybody’s been so incredibly nice,” she said.
So far, Murray has connected with many other people who can relate to her story.
“I think more than anything, it showed people that you can go from an experience that is really discouraging and makes you feel like less than human, and come out of it the other side feeling stronger than ever,” she said.
Murray now has a new outlook on life and her future.
“I can now see myself with grandchildren. I can see myself well into my elder years, enjoying life with my husband. I feel like I’ll be able to look back with so much pride on the journey that I’ve been on,” she said.
Murray’s health transformation has helped her be “a better mom, a better partner, a better friend” and put herself first.
“When I look back now at the journey that I’ve been on, I’m most proud of the girl that I was over 100 pounds ago because she’s the one (who) initially decided enough was enough, and it’s time to put yourself first. I owe more to her than I could have ever imagined,” she said.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
