This Man Made Two Changes to His Diet and Lost Nearly 300 Pounds
Trying to lose weight is hard, but losing hundreds of pounds seems downright daunting. 26-year-old Alejandro Porro dropped 265 pounds in a dramatic transformation. This is his story.
The Basics:
Heaviest weight: 480 lbs
Weight now: 215 lbs
Total weight loss: 265 lbs
Height: 5'9"
Age: 26
Lives in: Boynton Beach, Florida
Porro loved staying up late eating pizza and playing video games, but didn't realize the effect these habits had on his health.
"I was just a normal guy who let his weight spiral out of control. I love food and still do, but I had no concept of control and what was killing me–staying up late every night, pizza and 24 packs of Mountain Dew [while] playing Xbox. It slowly caught up with me in a HUGE way.
Porro finally stepped on the scale and realized something had to change.
"I’m a delivery driver for a lighting showroom and one day I made a delivery at a warehouse. That delivery changed my life forever when I stepped on a pallet scale that read 480 LBS!! I started off by throwing out all junk in my kitchen the day of that weigh in."
Making small changes led to huge rewards.
"[I began] making changes like cutting calories and just [eating] grilled chicken and broccoli for every meal prep. Switching to no liquid calories– only water–also helped out. I started off 3-4 nights a week in my neighborhood gym [before] evolving to 6-7 nights a week at Planet Fitness. Finding machines that I’d fit in comfortably was a challenge, but finding little exercises I enjoyed and being consistent with them made all the difference."
Although going to the gym was intimidating, Porro remained dedicated to fitness.
"Nobody likes to be stared at in the gym–that was the first mental thing I had to overcome. Nothing works better than a reflection you don’t like in the mirror and some loud ass headphones."
And all his hard work really paid off.
In the weight loss industry we call them “NSV, ” or non scale victories. My first [NSV] was being able to weigh myself from home. I bought a scale that maxed at 400 lbs. Once I saw 399.9 lbs it was the best feeling in the world.
Losing nearly 300 pounds impacted more than just Porro's waist size. This incredible accomplishment boosted Porro's ego, too.
"Never to this day did I imagine I’d reach my goal weight in 15 months. To lose 260 lbs in itself is a remarkable feat, but to do it so efficiently was very rewarding. The main thing I gained besides my health and mobility was my self confidence."
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