00:00 I started a lifelong obsession with sneak eating,
00:03 with having extra meals when there was no one else around.
00:06 I would go to fast food more than three times a day.
00:09 I developed a strong food addiction.
00:12 I find myself 540 pounds at my heaviest ever.
00:15 I was killing myself with a knife and a fork,
00:17 and I realized I had to put them down.
00:19 And over the past three years,
00:21 I have now come down to my lowest adult weight ever.
00:24 My friend Andrew, he's gonna be coming today.
00:28 Andrew was actually someone who I knew
00:30 when I was 540 pounds,
00:31 but we haven't seen each other face to face
00:33 in over two years,
00:34 so I think this is gonna be pretty awesome.
00:36 What up?
00:39 Oh my God.
00:40 I was over 200 pounds at 10 years old,
00:45 and that was the first time that my family
00:46 got me on a diet.
00:48 I lost a lot of weight.
00:49 I hit the goals they set for me,
00:51 but then the weight came back.
00:53 I started a lifelong obsession with sneak eating,
00:56 with having extra meals when there was no one else around.
00:59 I developed a strong food addiction.
01:02 You never thought about the consequences.
01:04 You never thought about what was gonna come the next day.
01:05 I think as most addicts learn,
01:08 there's never enough,
01:09 and you're always chasing more.
01:11 Through a series of really not great choices in my life,
01:13 I find myself 540 pounds at my heaviest ever.
01:17 I weighed more than a quarter of a ton.
01:20 Someone dared me to eat the cake without my hands,
01:24 and so I'm covered in frosting in this picture.
01:27 It's a bit ridiculous.
01:28 I'm smiling, and it's so emblematic
01:31 of what my life was like then.
01:33 I was being cheered on,
01:34 and it was almost like my life was a sideshow.
01:37 At that time, I went on a weight loss journey,
01:41 another massive attempt.
01:43 I got down to 210 pounds in May of 2013,
01:46 and thought I had finished,
01:49 thought I had really kind of hit that finish line
01:51 that you need to get to,
01:52 and that things were gonna be great,
01:53 and realized very quickly
01:55 that that was not where I had gotten to.
01:56 I made the scale move,
01:57 but I had done no work on my head,
01:59 and within six months, I was up over 400 pounds again.
02:03 I was 480 pounds by October of 2013.
02:06 I had decided, honestly,
02:11 that I didn't care what happened to my life.
02:14 I had decided that if I died, I died.
02:16 At least I would die quote-unquote happy.
02:18 I would die being able to eat the way I wanted to eat,
02:21 and I had actually written a letter to my family
02:24 that I kept by my bed
02:25 because I was convinced that I wasn't gonna wake up.
02:27 I was convinced that there would be a day
02:28 that I just didn't wake up.
02:30 My family went through some tumultuous things.
02:36 One of my nephews had children
02:39 that he was not gonna be able to care for,
02:41 and my parents were taking custody of those children.
02:43 So this was a really big change that was happening.
02:46 Twins, young twins.
02:48 And my father one night,
02:50 sitting with him out in the dark,
02:51 in his backyard, said,
02:53 "I'm gonna need your help
02:54 "because I know I'm not gonna live long enough
02:56 "to see them graduate from college."
02:58 And that moment wasn't about him putting pressure on me.
03:00 That moment was not about him commenting on my weight
03:02 or anything that I was doing.
03:03 That moment was for him expressing the fears
03:05 that he had about this thing they were undertaking,
03:08 this massive change they were taking.
03:10 And I went home that night,
03:11 and I was shook, honestly, I was shook.
03:13 What I realized was my life wasn't just my life.
03:18 We have honor and duty to our families
03:21 and to our communities that is really important.
03:23 And so I realized that if I didn't change what I was doing,
03:27 I wouldn't be around for those girls
03:29 to hit their fifth birthday,
03:30 nevermind graduate from college.
03:32 I was gonna die before my parents.
03:34 And I realized, and this is gonna sound simple and silly,
03:38 but I realized that I wanted to live.
03:39 And in the high 400s,
03:41 I started another weight loss journey,
03:43 and that's led me to where I am today.
03:45 (upbeat music)
03:49 Currently, I'm in the 210, 215 pound range,
03:53 up a little bit from the lowest weight that I've hit.
03:55 I'm okay with that.
03:56 I like how my body moves and how it feels
03:58 and what I can do.
04:00 So right now, my workouts,
04:02 I go to the gym five to six days a week.
04:04 For me, there's nothing like getting
04:07 in a good lifting session.
04:08 Feeling my body get stronger is really important.
04:11 I was killing myself with a knife and a fork,
04:14 and I realized I had to put them down.
04:15 So I made changes.
04:18 I decided to find a way of eating
04:20 that would allow me to do something
04:21 for the rest of my life.
04:23 I think about when I would make steak before,
04:25 and it would be about dusting it in flour
04:28 and adding maybe a batter,
04:29 like doing more like a chicken fried steak.
04:31 Any way I could kind of amp that food up.
04:33 Of course, there would be a pot of potatoes going already
04:36 and mashed potatoes with a ton of butter
04:38 and cream in them and something ready for dessert.
04:41 And my vegetable intake before
04:44 was very different than it is now.
04:46 So I had heard what I call the K-words thrown around a lot.
04:49 Eating more of a whole foods,
04:50 higher fat, moderate protein,
04:52 very low carbohydrate eating style,
04:54 you know, the keto way.
04:55 Ketogenic style of eating gave me freedom
04:58 from the massive obsession I had with food.
05:01 It really allowed me to allow the physical cravings
05:04 to subside so I could do the hard work on the mental side.
05:07 Three years later, it's turned out fantastic for me.
05:09 Everyone wants to know about loose skin.
05:15 And yes, I have a fair amount of loose skin.
05:17 When I was at my heaviest, I had an 84 inch waist.
05:20 Right now my waist is 36 inches.
05:23 That skin is gonna reflex a little bit,
05:25 but it's never gonna go back.
05:27 It's one of those things to me where
05:28 I view it as a badge of honor
05:31 of the damage I did to my body
05:34 and the way I've worked really hard to repair it.
05:36 My friend Andrew, he's gonna be coming today.
05:40 Andrew was actually someone who I knew
05:42 when I was 540 pounds.
05:44 And we were, for lack of a better term,
05:45 we were eating buddies.
05:46 So his support has really meant a lot to me over the years.
05:49 We're connected online, we talk on the phone,
05:52 but we haven't seen each other face to face
05:54 in over two years.
05:54 So I think this is gonna be pretty awesome.
05:56 - What up?
06:02 - Wow.
06:03 - Come here.
06:04 - Oh my God, man.
06:05 You disappeared.
06:07 - A little bit, just a little bit.
06:10 - Mike's transformation is absolutely insane.
06:13 He took up space, so I mean, he was a big guy.
06:15 So to see him just get into great shape is just,
06:18 it's awesome.
06:19 And he helped me lose weight.
06:20 So he inspired me and I'm sure he's inspired
06:22 many other people who really struggle
06:24 with obesity or eating problems.
06:26 You're gonna stay like this now, right?
06:27 - Yes, yes, yes.
06:29 I like to say I'm an expert at losing weight
06:31 and I'm an expert at gaining weight.
06:33 I am feeling blessed that I was able to find
06:35 what worked best for me.
06:37 And my approach to my weight loss
06:38 and how I eat has evolved over the years.
06:41 It changes, it becomes more focused,
06:42 it becomes less focused.
06:44 But the idea is that I'm not quitting
06:46 and I'm staying committed to keeping myself alive
06:50 and healthy.
06:51 (upbeat music)
06:54 (upbeat music)
06:56 (upbeat music)
06:59 (upbeat music)
07:01 (upbeat music)
07:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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