Man Says He Lost 317 Pounds After He Wasn’t Able to Tie His Shoes

A stock photo of a scale (tetmc/iStock)

A man who once weighed in excess of 500 pounds detailed how he lost more than 300 pounds after several health scares.

Dustin Hall currently weighs 217 pounds. But three years ago, he got up to 534 pounds, and “I was working to breathe and just get by,” he wrote for Yahoo.

“My weight restricted me so much. I remember not being able to tie my shoes. I wasn’t able to cross my legs and I would sweat doing basic things like reaching for things and bending down. I felt trapped, confined and depressed at my highest weight,” he stated.

Hall noted that for most of his adult life, he weighed around 400 pounds, according to Men’s Health, but in recent years, he ballooned in size due to inactivity, poor eating habits, and stress.

“I’d started to replace the hardships of my life with food, and I got lazy and passive with my health,” Hall, who is now 35, told the magazine.

In July 2016, he consulted his doctor and underwent gastric bypass surgery.

“I knew it wasn’t a quick fix—plenty of people had done it and not been successful,” he recalled, saying that he committed to losing weight. “I started by grabbing a Fitbit and just walking,” he said.

“Once I felt acclimated to walking, I joined a gym,” he wrote for Yahoo. “I started on the cardio machines and committed to going an hour a day. I progressively built my strength and stamina to make working out normal for me. After the second set of six weeks, I started the circuit at my gym and eventually began strength training. Now, I enjoy going six days a week and working both cardio and strength training into my workouts. I usually focus on a muscle group a day, with leg day twice a week. I incorporate core and balance movements in every workout for additional strength.”

Hall then cut down on sugar and ate high protein foods.

“Patience was a big thing I had to learn in this process,” he said. “I felt good that I was losing weight but during days when I didn’t see the changes or feel them, I would get discouraged. My mindset had to change from instant, temporary satisfaction to patient, long-term success.”

After losing such a significant amount of weight, Hall said he has “about 7-10 pounds of loose skin according to the surgeon.”

For people looking to lose some extra pounds, Hall said to “start slow” and “know that there isn’t one plan for everyone.”

“Everyone is different and everybody is different. When starting to get healthy, incorporate things into your life you’re prepared to do for the rest of your life. It’s not a race—it’s a journey. Taking care of ourselves is a long-term, full-time thing. If you need to start with just taking a walk, do it. If it’s cutting out a small thing from your diet and gradually increasing the good foods, do it. Don’t let emotions, stress or circumstances control your health. Be aggressive with your health and take control. Control the narrative,” Hall continued.

One person in the Yahoo comments section said they knew Hall.

“Wow. I knew Dustin years ago. We went to church together. Always a super nice guy with a positive attitude. He was probably about 300 lbs back then (this was around 2004-2006). Really happy to see he got healthy. Congrats, Dustin!” they wrote to him.

Other people said they were inspired by his weight loss.

Gastric Bypass

According to MedicinePlus.gov, gastric bypass procedures are surgeries that help one lose weight by changing the size of the stomach.

“After the surgery, your stomach will be smaller. You will feel full with less food,” it says. “The food you eat will no longer go into some parts of your stomach and small intestine that absorb food. Because of this, your body will not get all of the calories from the food you eat.”