I was a successful doctor and weighed 306lbs! It made no sense; I saw my patient’s facial expressions change when I advised them to lose weight. After each appointment, I would grab whatever snacks I had in my drawer and binge until there was a knock on the door. I was often caught with a mouth full of food, and it was so embarrassing. Despite being a doctor, I had terrible health problems, including sleep apnea, fatty liver disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and high blood pressure, to name a few. I knew they were all diet related, but the addiction had such a grip on my life I couldn’t stop eating.

I started comfort eating in college because my course was so stressful. It got worse in medical school because now the pressure was really on. But then my dad died from skin cancer, and that’s when I hit rock bottom, and my food addiction got really aggressive. 

When my sister was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, I knew I had to make a change. I was intentionally destroying my body, while she didn’t have a choice, cancer ravished hers. My sister was dying a slow and painful death, and I needed to make sure my health problems didn’t prevent me from being there for my nephews and nieces. 

I researched a few diets and decided that intermittent fasting would be best for me. I chose the 16:8 diet, where I didn’t eat anything for sixteen hours, and ate for eight hours. During my eight-hour eating window, I ate healthy foods such as turkey, chicken, vegetables, legumes, fruits, non-fat Greek yogurt, and nuts. I also incorporated a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, replacing my carbs with plenty of meat. 

Unfortunately, my sister died on June 1, 2017, when she was only 32, which completely broke me. But instead of turning to food, I put my energy into helping raise my sister’s children, who were two and six when she died. 

Exercise was never a part of my weight loss journey, but I did start a running group at my medical practice and quickly learned that it helped me deal with work-related stress. Stress was one of the main reasons why I comfort ate, and so I needed to make sure I didn’t go back to that and running really helped. I still get strong cravings for junk food, and instead of giving in, I go for a run. But I haven’t been perfect, and there are days when I’ve given in and eaten foods I shouldn’t have. But the key is not to punish yourself for it because when you feel worthless, you’re even more tempted to eat junk. Instead, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again.

I’ve lost 125lbs, and all my health ailments have disappeared. I now weigh 181lbs, and I can look my patients in the eye and tell them they need to lose weight without feeling like a hypocrite! If anyone is struggling with food addiction, my best advice to you would be to find your ‘why.’ Mine was my sister dying of cancer and knowing I had to be fit enough to help raise her children. Once you have a ‘why,’ there’s no stopping you.

I had issues with my weight for years, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t shed the pounds. I went on every fad diet that came out, weight watchers, the cabbage diet, the five bites diet…you name it, I was on it. Despite completing the diets successfully and losing weight, I gained twice as much when I stopped dieting. I quickly learned that I had a bad relationship with food and that my weight fluctuated depending on my emotional state. I would feel motivated to treat my body well when I was in a good place emotionally, and I would abuse it with what I put in it when I wasn’t. 

When I found the problem, I started focusing on the solution, and that was to make healthy food choices daily. I was fully aware that junk food was bad for me because of how they made me feel, and that whole foods were good for me because of how they made me feel. I simply had to make the transition permanent, and that took extreme self-discipline. I was also obsessed with seeing immediate results. Whenever I was on a diet, I had a terrible habit of weighing myself daily. So I had to accept that I wasn’t going to get the body of my dreams overnight, and the most important thing was to heal from the inside first, which would eventually show on the outside. I committed to take one day at a time and not punish myself if I slipped up. 

As a foodie, I knew my success depended upon enjoying the food I made. That led me to search for delicious, wholesome recipes that satisfied me and fuelled my body. A typical day of eating generally consists of the following:

• Breakfast: Pumpkin spice protein pancakes

• Lunch: Chicken and avocado burritos

• Dinner: Spicy Mexican shrimp bowl 

• Snacks: Nuts, yogurt, fruit

If I went out to eat with friends, I would make minor substitutions like ditch the rice for sweet potatoes and a sparkling water mixed with fresh orange juice instead of a soda. It took a good six months before eating clean became the norm for me. What motivated me to keep going was how good I felt. I had tonnes of energy, no brain fog, and less cravings. 

Today, I’m 45lbs lighter, I’m in the best shape of my life physically, mentally, and emotionally, and I didn’t get there by following every diet trend that came out. I became consistent in my efforts to eat healthy foods. I didn’t set a weight loss goal; my goal was to become healthy for life. The reality is that I never in a million years thought I’d be where I am today. I am the founder of Love Sweat Fitness, and I help thousands of men and women worldwide achieve their weight loss goals through healthy eating and nutrition. It’s important to understand that there’s no such thing as overnight success. But with consistency and patience, you’ll get there.

In 2019, my physical and mental health were at an all time low. I hated my job, and I hated the way I looked. I made excuses not to go out with friends because I felt fat and ugly. I didn’t see any point in dressing up if I still looked like a whale. I’ve had problems with my weight since I was a teenager. I was always yo-yo dieting and would go through extreme phases of binging and restricting on food so my weight was never stable. 

At the end of 2019, I hit rock bottom, my health was declining rapidly, I had trouble sleeping and breathing. Having done some research on exercise and mental health, I knew moving my body was where I needed to start and so I started following fitness instructors on Instagram and taking their advice. On my way to work, I would get off the train one stop early and walk the rest of the way. I would also take the stairs instead of the elevator. I set a goal to walk 10,000 steps a day, when I reached that and started seeing results, I decided it was time to take things up a notch. 

I had some resistance bands sitting in my draw, I pulled them out and started using them alongside a workout video. I didn’t realize how unfit I was, and I only lasted ten minutes. I continued until I could see a visible difference in my weight and started getting stronger. I now had enough confidence to start going to the gym, I would go 2-3 times a week and walk on the treadmill or the incline for 20-30 minutes. When the pandemic hit and we were on lockdown, I went for walks outside. 

Despite not changing my diet, the weight was falling off. But then I started getting ulcers and blisters in my mouth, and I was bloated all the time. After having some tests done and the doctors, I found out I had several food allergies including gluten. My doctor put a meal plan together for me, and my weight loss accelerated after that. Eventually, I lost 3 stone?? And I knew I my life had been transformed forever. 

Today, I do strength training 3-4 times a week, do 1 to 2 HIT sessions and walk 10,000 steps a day. Despite how ashamed I was of my body, I posted my progress on Instagram and got so much love and support it was overwhelming. People were inspired by my weight loss and wanted to know how I did it. After giving out loads of free advice, I studied to become a personal trainer and I am now a certified PT helping people achieve the same weight loss results as I did. 

Now I love my job, I love going shopping and going out with my friends because I feel confident in myself. Not just because of what I look like, but because of what I’ve achieved. When I was at my lowest, I could never have imagined that I would be where I am today, but here I am. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

In February 2018, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and chronic depression. The doctors offered me several medications, but when I went home and did some research, I realized that the side effects would do me more harm than good. But this was the catalyst I needed to make the lifestyle changes required to heal myself. I was almost 300lbs and in a lot of pain because my body was caving in on me. 

I had read about many people who had lost weight and healed themselves of all types of illnesses without medication, so I knew I could achieve the same. I learned that 80% of success in weight loss is diet-related, not crash diets, but making permanent healthy eating choices. I had spent the majority of my life fad dieting, but the weight would always return because my eating habits hadn’t changed. 

I switched from eating unhealthy processed fast foods to healthy home-cooked meals made from whole foods. The first thing I noticed was how much more energy I had. It might be easier to go out and buy a Mcdonald’s, but it makes you sluggish and lazy, which demotivates you and keeps you trapped in a cycle of unhealthy eating. I also discovered that buying healthy ingredients is a lot cheaper than eating fast food. When I was consuming a diet of junk food, I was spending almost $100 per week, I now spend $27 per week on food ingredients such as: 

• Chicken

• Onions

• Spinach

• Tomatoes

• Garlic

• Pasta

• Strawberries

• Peanut butter

I am also into cross-training and work out 5 to 6 times a week doing a combination of weight lifting and cardio. I didn’t start exercising to lose weight. I learned that therapists often advise their depressed patients to exercise because it triggers the release of the feel-good hormone dopamine. I am proud to say that I haven’t felt depressed since I started working out. It really has been a game-changer for me. I am now extremely strong and can carry my weight up a rope. When I first got started, that was impossible for me. 

I documented my weight loss process on social media to hold myself accountable. But I wasn’t expecting to inspire so many people, I now have over eight thousand Instagram followers, and I’ve become an online fitness coach. I’ve dedicated my life to helping men and women achieve their weight loss goals.  

I didn’t believe lasting weight loss was possible until I made a conscious and determined effort to be consistent with my eating habits. The problem is that everyone wants instant results. We expect a flat stomach after eating two tuna sandwiches and running half a mile on the treadmill. We give up when we don’t see the weight melt off us in the time frame that we consider reasonable but it’s unrealistic. You will then hear people complaining that they’ve tried every diet under the sun, and nothing worked for them. But I can tell you with confidence that to see results. You’ve got to be consistent. My weight loss journey started in 2018 when I was almost 300lbs. I’ve lost 88lbs, and I’m in the best shape of my life. There’s nothing special about me. I’m just an ordinary woman who chose to take on an extraordinary challenge and won.

As a fitness trainer who had never had a problem with my weight, I didn’t really understand my client’s struggles. And one day, when I was grilling someone about what I perceived was a lack of effort on his part, he informed me that I had no right to be so hard on him since I’d never been his size. That really hit home for me, and I began thinking about my inability to empathize with the people I was serving. So, I challenged myself and decided to put on weight intentionally by not going to the gym and eating a standard American diet of processed, fast foods, candy, and soda. Over six months, I gained 75lbs and then tried to lose it again. I quickly discovered that it was harder than I thought.

In theory, I understood that junk food was addictive, but in practice, I had no idea how strong that addiction was and how much it controlled your life. I also learned that being unhealthy had a negative impact on my relationships and finances. My confidence was at an all-time low, and I felt drained and unmotivated to do anything other than sit in front of the TV, eating pizza all day. I wasn’t helping as much around the house, and I wasn’t as enthusiastic about playing with my two-year-old daughter.

After six months, I started going back to the gym, and I found it extremely humiliating. I had to do push-ups on my knees, I couldn’t lift the way I used to, and I got out of breath very quickly. I could feel the eyes staring at me and all I could think about was this is what my clients go through every day. I felt terrible, and this was an experiment. Carrying this weight around for years must be horrific. 

After my weight gain experiment, I had complete sympathy for my clients. Their problems were not rooted in laziness but in food addiction, and as with any addiction, breaking it is extremely difficult. To get back on track, I designed a weekly workout plan that would give me the best results. This included working out for 45 minutes to one hour five days a week. I learned a lot during my weight loss journey, and my advice to anyone wanting to shed the pounds is:

• Make a plan: If you don’t plan how you’re going to lose weight, you’ll fail. Create an exercise plan and a meal plan, set a date to start, and stick to it. 
• Enjoy the process: One of the main reasons people give up is because they don’t see immediate results. That was definitely something I struggled with. Every week I’d look in the mirror and not see any noticeable difference. I was so desperate to get back to what I looked like, and I was getting frustrated that it wasn’t happening fast enough. I quickly learned that enjoying the process is an important part of the journey. The more you enjoy the process, the easier it will be to achieve your desired results. 
• Take two days off: Working out seven days a week and healthy eating seven days a week isn’t advisable. Firstly, you need to give your body a break, and second, having something to look forward to motivates you. There are plenty of healthy options for the junk food you enjoy. Splurge on them for two days, and then get back to your routine. 

It took me six months to lose the 75lbs I had gained, and I found it extremely difficult, but it’s most definitely possible.

You could say that I was a lucky teenager because I ate like a truck driver but didn’t put on any weight. I was extremely thin but never went to the gym, and I was completely ignorant about nutrition. I didn’t know anything about living a healthy lifestyle. My parents raised me on the meat and two veg principle because they didn’t know anything about nutrition either. 

I hadn’t been overweight until I had my first child at 35. I ate as if I was eating for three people and put on 20 kilos. I wasn’t happy about the weight I’d gained, and I tried everything in my power to lose it, but it just wasn’t coming off because I couldn’t stop eating. My problem was that I’d been used to eating what I wanted my entire life, and I hadn’t put on any weight, so my body couldn’t adjust to dieting. Cutting down on food wasn’t an option for me. I had to find an alternative. 

After my second child, I put on another 20 kilos, and it was just downhill from then onwards. As far as I was concerned, I was severely overweight and had no muscle because I had never worked out. Now that I had two children to look after, my stress levels were through the roof. I ate and drank plenty of wine to get myself through the day. I was always exhausted, and I had no energy. I would go to bed exhausted and wake up exhausted, and I would eat unhealthy foods to give me energy, but it was just one big vicious cycle. 

At 39, I decided enough was enough. I wanted to look my best at 40, and I committed to lose the weight by any means necessary, so I hired a personal trainer. He introduced me to the paleo diet, and I haven’t looked back since. The paleo diet involves cutting out dairy products, grains, legumes, refined sugars, and carbohydrates and eating lean meats, fish, seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It sounds very restrictive, but it’s not. I was eating loads and was shocked at the amount of weight I was losing. This was the perfect diet for me. I’d lost 15 kilos within three months, and I was thrilled. By my 40th birthday, I had achieved my weight loss goal of 61 kilos. I felt and looked amazing. This was the best I’d looked in my entire life because now I was toned as I was doing a lot of strength training with my personal trainer. 

I would say to anyone out there wanting to lose weight, focus on the things you can change and embrace the things you can’t. My body is covered in cellulite, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve accepted it and focus my energy on developing my body so that I can be strong, fit, and healthy when I’m in my fifties. I’ve learned that there are no miracle weight loss cures, a healthy diet has got to become a lifestyle, and that’s the only way to keep the weight off.

I was the fat kid in school who everyone bullied. My mom and I were really close, and she was always encouraging me to lose weight. Even though I hated being overweight, I was comfortable, but I would go for walks and eat healthy foods to please my mom. 

Unfortunately, when I was 14, my mom died unexpectedly in her sleep. I was so hurt and angry, and I didn’t understand why my mom was taken away from me like that. Since my mom was dead, I rebelled by returning to an unhealthy lifestyle. I took things to the extreme and tried to numb the pain with drugs and alcohol, but my biggest addiction was food. I would go to the drive-through twice a day, and with every bite, I was slowly killing myself. 

Being overweight, I had a lot of health challenges, and when I went to the doctors, there were no scales that went above 400lbs, so they put me on a special scale and found out that I weighed 421lbs. The doctors told me that if I didn’t change my lifestyle, I would be dead by the age of thirty, but I still didn’t listen. 

On March 30th, 2008, I was driving home in the dark, and I saw some headlights in the distance that blinded me. A drunk driver was driving on the wrong side of the road, he hit me head-on and I was seriously injured. I felt as if I was given a second chance, and it was after the car accident that I decided to change my life. 

I bought a dog in 2005, and he became the only reason I got up in the mornings. Now, he was my fitness partner. I started my weight-loss journey by taking my dogs for walks every morning. There was a long hill near my house, and we would run down it and walk up it. I also stopped eating fast food and started eating healthy home-cooked meals. 

A year later, I joined the gym, and I will never forget the day when I did my first pull-up. I couldn’t believe I could pull my weight up off the ground. A year ago, I could never have imagined this was possible. 

After losing 211lbs, I had a lot of loose skin, so I had surgery to remove it, which boosted my confidence even further. I was dating a wonderful woman at the time, and she moved in to look after me during my recovery. That wonderful woman is now my wife. She is my biggest cheerleader, and I love her with everything in me. 

I’ve always worked in real estate but was never passionate about it. Losing weight helped me find my passion, and that was to help others achieve what I had. So I quit my job, went back to school to study nutrition and fitness, and now I’m a personal fitness coach. 

At 250lbs, I’m lighter than I’ve ever been my entire life, and it’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t believe my car accident was an accident. I believe it was a wake-up call from my mom. She knows me better than anyone, and it was going to take something drastic to get me back on the road to health. I’m sure she’s smiling down at me now, proud of the man I’ve become. 

I’ve been morbidly obese my entire life. All I remember during my childhood years was being overweight. I accepted my size, the stares from people in the street, and the mean comments. I was too consumed with food to care. Of course I got depressed about it, but eating made me feel better, so that’s what I spent most of my time and money on. Fast food was my passion, and I practically ate it every night. If there were a dollar menu anywhere, I would find myself there. 

In April 2019, my life changed forever. My friends and I went to watch a hockey game in Nashville. The chairs were so small I had to squeeze myself into them to sit down. I couldn’t finish watching the game because the pain was unbearable. I stood up, burst into tears, and made my way back to the hotel room. My friends tried to comfort me the best way they knew how but there was nothing they could say to console me. 

I weighed 557lbs, and the thought of the work it was going to take to lose the weight made me cry even harder, but I had to do something. There was no way I could continue living like this. That day, I looked in the mirror and asked myself one simple question, “Do you want to live, or do you want to die?” At that moment, I chose to live. I was too young to give up on life, there was so much I wanted to do, and there was no way I could continue being as big as I was. 

I set a goal to walk 10,000 steps per day and change my diet, and I swapped fast food for healthy home-cooked meals. I had a major problem binge eating at night because I couldn’t sleep. But I found that my sleep pattern improved when I started eating properly and exercising. 

Walking was difficult for me. If I needed to go anywhere, I always drove. Not only did I want to avoid the stares, but I didn’t have the energy to walk. I was out of breath after a few short steps. But when I started walking, I realized how much I loved it. The fresh air made me feel awesome, and it wasn’t long before I was walking the equivalent of half a marathon a day. 

Being as big as I was, I didn’t focus on visible weight loss because it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. I focused on the way I felt. Healthy eating and walking made me feel spectacular, and so I kept doing it. It wasn’t long before I started noticing a difference, and my friends and family did too. 

Today I weigh 256lbs, I’ve lost a total of 301lbs, and I feel amazing. When I look at pictures of the old me, I can’t believe how big I used to be. My smile was never genuine because I always wished I could be someone else. But now, I’m that person I used to dream about, slim and athletic with a bright future ahead of me. 

This journey has been excruciating, but I am living proof that morbid obesity is not a death sentence. Anyone can change their life if they’re determined to do so.

I’ve been obese since I was six years old. My parents didn’t realize what they were doing when they were feeding us carbs and sugary foods. I think it was more about the money because those foods were cheaper. I literally felt like a freak of nature. Not only was I fat, but I was tall, and I stood out like a sore thumb. I couldn’t walk down the street without people giving me looks of disgust. I didn’t blame them because that was how I looked at myself every time I walked past a mirror. I was despicable. 

I coped by making myself the butt of every joke. In a social setting, I knew people would have something to say about my weight, so I said it first to protect myself. I was constantly embarrassing myself because I was always breaking chairs. I laughed it off, but deep down, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. 

The turning point for me was one day my friends challenged me to eat eighteen hot dogs, so I did it. They were all cheering me on while I stuffed my face, but afterward, I threw up, I was sick for the rest of the day, and I felt like a fool. I told my sister about it, and she asked me why I would do something so stupid. She said my friends weren’t laughing with me, they were laughing at me. They didn’t respect me because I didn’t respect myself. It was at that moment I decided that something had to change.

I started going to the gym every day and working out. I became so focused and refused to let anything stand in the way of my progress. I was going to lose the weight by any means necessary. 

When you start your weight loss journey, it’s so important to remember why you started your journey in the first place. It’s your why that will get you out of bed in the morning when you don’t feel like it. It’s your why that will motivate you to cook a healthy meal instead of ordering a takeaway. 

Although I lost 239lbs and I was full of energy and confidence, I had an abundance of loose skin that I wasn’t happy about. My clothes didn’t fit me properly, and I had a weird shape. I would definitely take the loose skin over being overweight, but I wanted to be confident enough to take my clothes off in public, and having surgery was the only way I could achieve this, and so that is what I did. I can now say that I’m one hundred percent happy with my body. I can walk down the street as a normal person, people don’t stare at me anymore, and I’m so grateful for that. 

I rarely had a girlfriend when I was overweight, and I didn’t blame women for not finding me attractive because I knew what I looked like. But now I have a beautiful partner, we’ve been dating for five months, and I’m so happy. 

I’m doing everything I’ve always wanted, such as climbing mountains and hiking. I’m about to start learning to surf. Had I not lost the weight, I would have missed out on these wonderful opportunities and would never have lived up to my full potential.