Army Wife Loses 100 Lbs During Husband’s Deployment, Makes It To Memorable Memorial Day Stories

An army wife loses 100 lbs during her husband’s deployment! This is the headline that had sparks “awws” and cheers for many readers and has since been one of the favorite memorial day stories for 2013.

When Army Specialist Larry Shaffer returned home to her family in North Carolina, he saw some changes. But it was a drastic and quite unexpected one from his wife.

Arriving to North Carolina after a year in Afghanistan, Shaffer was greeted by a wife who was 100 pounds lighter than when he left! It was a drastic change and one that the vet did not expect.

Misty Shafer went from 254 to 150 pounds, but her husband never knew about it. The reason: She only sent pictures of herself from the shoulders up.

Shaffer said, “I was in shock when I saw her…no way that’s my wife I left a year ago.”

Misty adds, “I was like I’m going to keep this a surprise from him cause he never has seen me like this.”

Misty credits her healthy eating as key to her transformation, as well as controlling portions and regular exercise. Applying discipline to her workout and diet, she dropped 15 pounds the first month.

She says she looks so different now that their 3-year-old daughter doesn’t even recognize her old pictures.

Misty said, “She does look at pictures of me and she’ll be like, ‘Mommy who’s that?’ And I’ll be like, ‘That’s Mommy!’ and she’s like “Naah.”

Her drastic physical transformation wasn’t the only surprise Misty had for Larry. When the military veteran arrived, she surprised her with a new home as well.

Larry said that she’s very proud of how she’s managed when he was away and said of Misty, “I know she is able to face pretty much anything.”