One Man's Amazing Story
I've Lost 890 Pounds Weight Loss Success Story

From eDiets - The online diet, fitness, and healthy living resource

Over the past 18 months, Tommy and his loved ones have watched with a mix of fear and excitement as his weight plummeted from a shocking 1,200 pounds to a dramatic 310 pounds.

Tommy's staggering 890-pound slim-down isn't over yet. The courageous Californian stands to lose even more weight once docs slice away his excess skin... skin which will be used to patch up burn victims.

This isn’t the first time Tommy has been in the media spotlight for dropping a significant amount of weight. He made headlines back in 1995 when he whittled a whopping 500 pounds from his then-800 pound body. Although Tommy took off the extra weight, he never properly dealt with the emotional baggage he'd been carrying around.

As in-the-know eDieters are well aware, lasting weight loss involves a mind-body balance. It wasn’t long before Tommy was once again stuffing his feelings with food. There were far too many times he'd wolf down a breakfast of two dozen eggs, a pound of bacon and five packs of sausages.

Health experts say obesity causes an estimated 300,000 deaths per year. Tommy knew a lasting change was needed or he'd soon become part of that sad statistic.

That reality was heartbreaking. Over the years, Tommy's emotional well-being continued to plummet as the number on the scale skyrocketed past the half-ton mark. For 42-year-old Tommy, it seems like just yesterday that he was bedridden, a prisoner in his own home. When he finally did leave his house, it was with the help of 19 straining firefighters and a flatbed truck! Poor Tommy was covered with nasty bedsores and in desperate need of medical attention.

Tommy finally got the helping hand he needed from the not-for-profit organization Life’s Forgotten Angels, a group that strives to improve the quality of life for overweight individuals who are either neglected by their families or by the state. Founder Joy Roberson -- that's her hugging Tommy below -- approached eDiets and made an online plea to raise money for a specially reinforced Big Boy Bed for Tommy. Once enough money was donated ($18,000 from eDiets readers and other generous individuals), Tommy was able to reduce his weight enough to undergo "stomach-stapling" surgery, a last-ditch effort agreed-upon by concerned medical experts.

Today, Tommys one-fourth the man he used to be. By the time he gets his skin-tightening surgery, he will have lost nearly 1,000 pounds. Tommy credits his miraculous recovery to the kindness of strangers, who supported him financially and emotionally in his plight.

After a year and a half in a Los Angeles hospital, he’s standing tall and proud and 890 pounds lighter. For the first time in years, he is walking on his own and moving one step closer to becoming completely self-sufficient.

“I’m weaning myself off the walker,” he tells eDiets in this exclusive interview. “I get around the house using a cane. It feels good. I’m dedicated. I’m going to wean myself off everything. My goal is to get back to full freedom: no wheelchair, no walker and no cane. I want to get back to doing everything for myself. That’s what I intend on doing... no ifs, ands or buts.

“I feel good. Everything is falling into place. I’m sailing along.”

Tommy’s road to recovery has been a long one. But he says for him it was simply a matter of choosing life over death.

I have too much living to do," he says. "There is too much I want in my life right now. Its like being free again. Its like you can smell it. You can taste it. Once you get a whiff of it, you want even more. Thats what it is."

Now, Tommy is using his own death-defying experience to help others in the same boat. He’s become a mentor to a morbidly obese 21-year-old named Calvin. Tommy says he sees himself in the young man, whos battling a deadly foe as he once did.

“I’ve gotten to know Calvin and I look at him like a son," Tommy says with concern in his voice. "I see a younger version of myself. Here’s a young man who should be out living life, going to school and having girlfriends. He should be doing these things that he never got a chance to do. He’s a young man who’s never had the chance to experience life.”

Before he can undergo last-gasp surgery like Tommy, Calvin must have a durable bed for his recovery process. Tommy is asking readers to show Calvin the same compassion they once showed him. (Tommy’s old bed is currently being used by another client of Life’s Forgotten Angels.)

“There’s a lot of people who really helped me out," Tommy says. "When someone is helping you out, the last thing you want to do is disappoint them. You don’t want to see everybody working hard for nothing. I want to see Calvin enjoy those things. He shouldn’t be stuck in the house for the rest of his life.

"I’m really asking people to give him a chance. Here’s a young man who has his whole life ahead of him. Every time I talk to him I can here it in his voice. It’s like I’m talking to myself."

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