‘I FEEL GREAT’: Jet coach Rex Ryan flaunts his new figure yesterday in Rockefeller Center. (
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Tough-talking Jet coach Rex Ryan says he’s melted off almost a third of his body weight, but he waited until yesterday to tell how he did it because he wanted to lose 100 pounds first.
“I wasn’t going to really focus on it because I never wanted to focus on it,” he said after months of deflecting questions about his incredible shrinking belly. “I wanted to break that 100-pound barrier before I really said, all right, guys, this is what it is.”
Now he’s a svelte 242 pounds — shedding 106 pounds over two years, including 50 since the end of last season in January.
Ryan, 49, underwent Lap-Band surgery in 2010, when doctors placed a tight band around a portion of his stomach.
And now, along with eating significantly less, he’s walking 45 minutes to an hour a day and hopes to start running soon.
“I wasn’t walking because I felt so uncomfortable doing anything . . . Finally, I lost enough where I was like, I’m going to start walking. I’m going to start moving.”
Ryan said he got motivated a few days before the 2009 AFC Championship Game, when he stepped on a scale to discover he weighed a dangerous 348 pounds.
“I thought, ‘Let me get on the scale.’ I’m thinking I’m going to be 300 or 310, around that range. I’m 348 pounds. I was like, ‘I’ve got to do something.’ I couldn’t believe it. I swear to you, I turned around to look to see if there was somebody behind me. But it was just me,” he said.
Able to eat only tiny portions, Ryan now makes each bite count.
“My surgeon told me one time, ‘How many tacos do you eat?’ because I told him how much I love Mexican food,” Ryan recalled. “I said, ‘I probably can eat about 12 tacos.’ He’s like, ‘OK.’ Never flinched. He said by the time this is really working, you’ll eat about a half or three-quarters of a taco and that’s it. I was like, ‘Why would I want to do that?’ And he said, no, you’ll be satisfied. That’s exactly where I’m at now.”
When he goes to dinner with his wife now, it’s a much different experience.
“We’ll literally go to I don’t care what restaurant, and we’ll order the one entrée and we’ll split it. That’s where I’m at right now. It’s amazing. I feel great,” Ryan said.
The only downside is he had to replace his entire wardrobe.
“I have no clothes that fit,” he said. “Socks are the only things that fit. Even a hat, underwear, I’ve got to change everything.”
Ryan was not paid to have the surgery, but has been hired by the company now to speak about it. He said he has recommended it to many people in his life, including his twin brother, Rob, defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Rob Ryan had the surgery this year and is down 60 pounds.
“Am I getting paid to talk about the Lap-Band? Absolutely, yes, I am,” Rex said. “But do I believe in this product 100 percent? I had my twin brother do it . . . I can’t recommend something more strongly than the Lap-Band because of what it’s done for me.”