00:00 I would most definitely describe myself as an emotional eater in the past.
00:03 I took food as something to comfort myself from everything that was going on in my life.
00:07 And in my family, I was definitely an outlier.
00:08 I knew deep down that they were embarrassed of me.
00:10 It was almost feeling like they were judging me.
00:12 I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease.
00:14 I was not even 18 yet.
00:15 I kind of realized that I should not be in the position that I am right now.
00:19 I started going to the gym every single day, seven days a week.
00:24 And I truly began falling in love with the process.
00:26 My heaviest peak weight ever was over 420 pounds.
00:29 And currently right now, I sit around 210 pounds.
00:32 I want to be the first person in history to lose over 220 pounds
00:36 and be nationally notified as a pro bodybuilder.
00:38 I want to be known for something great.
00:39 Today I'm making sausage, eggs, cheese, hash browns, and some tortillas.
00:47 I probably ate this meal three to four times a week when I was over 400 pounds.
00:52 If it wasn't this meal right here, I would usually just go to Santiago's
00:55 and get three or four breakfast burritos.
00:57 I love to drink soda.
00:58 I had probably about two liters of soda a day.
01:01 On average, I think I would take about 10,000 calories usually.
01:07 Seeing this plate now honestly just kind of brings back a lot of memories
01:10 because it's just something that I used to eat almost every single day.
01:12 I'd have to say it's probably about 900 calories.
01:15 I would most definitely describe myself as an emotional eater in the past
01:19 just because I feel like there was a lot of things I was trying to cope with,
01:21 but I didn't necessarily know how to.
01:23 My mom was never really in my life, and my dad
01:25 was working a lot to provide for me and him.
01:27 I took food as something to comfort myself from everything
01:30 that was going on in my life.
01:32 When I would sit down and eat a bunch of junk food,
01:33 like a whole entire bag of chips, a whole entire pint of ice cream,
01:36 mentally I felt like all my problems just evaporated.
01:39 Being overweight affected my self-confidence a lot.
01:41 I was always made fun of for always being the biggest kid in the room,
01:44 and even the biggest kid in town.
01:47 I felt lonely and kind of isolated a lot because I didn't really fit in.
01:51 I didn't really belong, and I didn't look like other kids my age.
01:53 Oh my god.
01:54 Hey, guys.
01:57 Hey, honey.
01:59 And in my family, I was definitely an outlier with my weight concerns
02:02 and also my health concerns.
02:03 I had a lot of family members when I would come over.
02:05 They'd always tell me, hey, you don't need to have such a big plate.
02:08 We got to make sure we save some for other people.
02:11 I knew deep down that they were embarrassed of me.
02:12 It was almost feeling like they were judging me.
02:15 How did you feel when Grandpa would make all of his comments?
02:18 Always hearing him make out-of-pocket remarks about my weight and my size,
02:23 it was hurtful.
02:24 It really was.
02:26 I felt like I didn't really know how to change and how to make
02:30 him proud one way or another.
02:32 The lowest point in my life when I was overweight would honestly have to be
02:35 just when I realized that I couldn't do anything anybody else my age could do,
02:39 not being able to find clothes that fit, not being able to walk around school.
02:42 He can do anything.
02:43 He can tie his shoes without getting out of breath
02:46 or walking up the stairs, down the stairs.
02:50 I mean, he's not a pretty sight.
02:54 What was it like watching me struggle with my weight?
02:58 Hard, because, I mean, I know you never met Uncle David,
03:03 but growing up with him being as heavy as he was and knowing what he went
03:09 through and then ultimately dying, and I knew that you were headed down
03:14 somewhat similar same path, it's just hard, really hard.
03:19 My two close calls with the death that I've had,
03:23 I had a major dirt bike accident.
03:25 I bottomed out the suspension and it bucked me off
03:27 and I flew 30 feet through the air.
03:29 I landed on my head at 50 miles an hour.
03:31 I spent 7 to 14 days in ICU in Children's Hospital.
03:36 And then upon returning home, I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease
03:39 and my liver was shutting down and was already 50% dead.
03:42 I was only 17 and I was just getting ready to go into the senior year
03:45 of high school.
03:46 How shocked were you when I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease?
03:50 Not surprised.
03:52 Did you think it was going to happen that fast at such a young age?
03:56 No, no, maybe not that young, but I knew that you were going to come,
04:01 like something that was going to come up.
04:02 It always does with weight one way or another, but...
04:07 I kind of realized that I should not be in the position that I am right now.
04:11 I looked myself in the mirror and go, wow, I've had two near-death experiences,
04:15 not very many people get to see a second chance life.
04:18 I decided that I need to quit drinking soda and eating out of fast food
04:21 every single day, so I cut all of that out, pulled turkey,
04:23 and I started going to the gym every single day, seven days a week.
04:28 Nobody else in the gym looked like me.
04:30 Everybody else had muscles.
04:32 They looked big.
04:32 I first stayed in the gym when I first started.
04:34 I was super nervous and anxious.
04:35 I was scared that everybody else was going to judge me.
04:38 I kept telling myself that I belong here.
04:41 Nobody else is going to say that I don't.
04:43 I'm down from a 5XL T-shirt down to an extra large.
04:50 I went from a size 56 waist all the way down to a 32 waist.
04:54 My heaviest peak weight ever was over 440 pounds.
04:57 And currently right now, I sit around 210 pounds.
04:59 Now I'm super happy with everything that I'm at,
05:09 and I honestly love being inside of the gym every single day.
05:12 I feel amazing in my new body.
05:18 I feel like I've achieved a lot, but there's still lots of things
05:20 that I want to improve on.
05:22 One of my biggest goals that I have in mind right now
05:23 is I want to be the first person in history to lose over 220 pounds
05:26 and be nationally notified as a pro bodybuilder.
05:29 The bodybuilding show that I did before was a transformation of vision,
05:32 which was basically judged upon the best two-year overall transformation
05:37 of anybody that lost weight.
05:38 Being in a huge crowd with lots of people with my loose skin
05:41 was something that kind of caught me off guard.
05:43 I wasn't sure what people were going to react like.
05:45 But once I got out there and realized, hearing everybody cheer me on,
05:49 it really helped me get out of my comfort zone.
05:50 I realized that now I'm stuck with this extra skin.
05:53 But for me, mentally, I feel like it was also an achievement
05:56 and a sign that I did it.
05:58 I changed my life around for the best.
06:00 To get my extra skin removed, I had two procedures,
06:05 one where they did my chest, my back, and they also did my abdomen.
06:09 And then a few months later, I went back and got a revision done on my stomach,
06:13 and they also took the rest of my extra skin around my neck.
06:16 They took a combined total of about 15 to 17 pounds of just skin alone.
06:20 The average male my age and my height has only about 20 pounds of skin.
06:24 So I almost lost an entire another person in just skin weight.
06:27 Looking at myself in the mirror now is such a great experience
06:29 because I have never, ever been happy with myself until now.
06:32 I can officially say that I'm actually happy with the way I look.
06:35 I wish I could go back and have somebody guide me through the process
06:40 because there's a lot of mental and physical things
06:42 that you have to go through in order to change your life around.
06:45 Now as an online fitness coach, I love helping other people transform their life.
06:48 I am able to help people get out of the stuck point of where I was
06:51 when I was overweight, feeling like I had nobody there to help me.
06:54 No one cares more about you losing weight than yourself.
06:56 You must care about your future in order to commit a change.
06:59 - What up, dude? - What's up, dude?
07:02 - How are you? - Living the dream.
07:04 I've known Rodney for about five years now.
07:07 I'm honestly really impressed by his transformation.
07:11 He's been doing a fantastic job.
07:13 He's a lot more confident in everything that he does, every aspect of his life.
07:19 I see him push himself a lot harder now.
07:21 Super proud of the kid, for sure.
07:24 If I could say something of my former self, I would definitely say, "Do not give up."
07:27 It's not as easy as everybody thinks, but that's all part of the journey.
07:29 There's going to be ups and downs, highs and lows, but it's all part of the process.
07:34 I'm super proud of my brother turning his life around.
07:37 Just knowing now that he can play with my kids and keep up with them
07:41 with whatever they do, soccer, football, the sky's the limit.
07:45 Looking back at my journey, I did not necessarily see myself reaching it at this point.
07:50 My confidence has changed quite a lot because now I feel like I belong in every room.
07:54 I've come to realize how far I've actually come, and it really humbles me to go further.
07:57 I have tons of different things that I want to accomplish in my life.
08:01 I want to be something great. I want to be known for something great.
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