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Name: Jerome Biggars
Age: 49
Height: 6 feet
Before Weight: 493 pounds
How I Gained It: I have always been a bit heavy, but most of the weight came on in 1987 to 1989, right after I got married. I could eat a large Pizza Hut Meat Lover's pizza by myself, but I thought that drinking a diet soda with it make it all right.
I had sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, peripheral artery disease and swollen legs all the time. I could barely walk any distance without needing to sit down to rest! I was worn out all the time!
When I went to Wal-Mart to do the shopping, I needed to lean on the cart the entire trip. By the time I made it to the check-out counter, I was dripping in sweat! I was tired of being pointed at by little kids who said "Look, Mommy, there's a really fat man!" At least some kids didn’t know how rude they were, but the adults did. I was at a company golf tournament once when a bike rider rode by and yelled "Oh my God! Get out of that cart and walk!" There is no describing how humiliating that was.
Breaking Point: I was the one responsible for this weight gain, and as I edged closer to 500 pounds the time had come to do something!
How I Lost It: I had witnessed a friend of mine lose 30 pounds in three months on the Medi-Weightloss Clinics® program. I finally decided to corner her to learn about the medically-supervised program she was following and began following a low-carb diet based on real whole foods. I viewed this journey as a long, slow marathon. My initial goal was 90 pounds in 2009. In just two short weeks, on January 6, 2009, I was already down to 478 pounds.
I began the program in mid-January, working with Dr. Jeanine Cobb. The next week, I started to exercise. It wasn’t much, just 15 minutes, three times a week on an exercise bike. Fast forward to the present and I take four to six spin classes a week, lift weights three times a week, and walk/jog four miles in 40 minutes three
times a week! In May 2010, I completed my first 10K since 1985 and it was as easy as 1-2-3 (1 hour, 2 minutes, 3 seconds)!
In April 2010, I was 193 pounds, which equates to a loss of 300 pounds. My waist has gone from 72 inches to 38! On October 10, 2010, I completed my first half marathon in under three hours! Just 22 months prior to that, I couldn’t have walked a block. Because I was so large for so long, I switched to outdoor cycling and completed my first 100K ride in Dallas for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on October 2011.
I am proud to say I have not had a gain week or even stayed the same during the entire process! That’s right, I’ve had a loss every single week and needless to say, the Wal-Mart trips are a breeze now -- and yes, my wife is even exercising and eating healthy with me and has dropped more than 110 pounds! I had some cosmetic surgery to get rid of a lot of loose skin. My tummy tuck took off nearly 12 pounds of skin!
I got a second chance to be able to live life and I will not let it go! Now, my meals consist of lean meats, fish, lots of green leafy vegetables and fruits, especialy berries and apple slices. And I drink about a gallon of water a day.
This journey has had lots of milestones, but one of my favorites occurred in early August 2009, when I took four large trash bags of all my XXXXL and larger clothes to the Disabled American Veterans and again in December 2009 when I took three more bags of XXXL and bigger clothes to the DAV because I am never going to need them again!
After Weight: At my lowest, I was 193 pounds. After two surgeries in the last year, I am up a bit to 221, but I am working them back off as we speak!
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