- A year before my biggest journey was probably,
I was probably at my worst at about 38 years old.
At my very worst, I was on the max dose of fentanyl,
and before I went to bed I'd take about 15 to 20 opioids,
and I would drink an entire liter of vodka.
I weighed over 400 pounds.
We really don't know how much over 400
because my doctor couldn't weigh me.
My blood pressure was 255 over 115.
I was on about 20 prescriptions a month,
and the insurance company was paying $19,000 a year
just for my pharmaceuticals.
I would go to bed at night not knowing if I'd wake up
in the morning, and I really don't know if I cared
one way or the other.
My whole life I had, you know, asked for things
and always worried about what I didn't have
instead of being grateful for what I did have.
I knew I wasn't gonna live much longer the way I was going,
so I had to change, and I did that
for my wife and my family.
The first thing that I did was go to my doctor
and see if I could get bariatric surgery.
I thought this would, you know, be my answer for everything,
and I was actually so sick that he wouldn't sign off
on the operation, and it was probably the best thing
that never happened to me.
I came home absolutely hopeless.
I didn't know what to do.
It's kind of ironic because I grew up hunting and fishing.
In the area we live, you know, I grew up on a dairy farm
and all we did, that's all we knew was hunting and fishing.
My diet consist of meat and dairy, you know,
as the main part of my plate, so this was like
really out there, and I'm kinda glad I didn't know
what I was getting into 'cause I might not have done it,
but I decided to go on a 30-day juice fast.
The first couple days were terrible,
and then after I got going, things that, you know,
had been wrong with me for decades started changing.
I started feeling better, more energy.
Actually on the fifth day was the first night
that I actually slept through the night
without having to get up.
I actually felt like I wanted to have a life again.
(emotional instrumental music)
Then I learned about the whole-food, plant-based diet,
and it didn't just save my life,
it gave me a completely new one.
People look at the weight loss, a 200-pound weight loss,
and they can look at my blood work, and my vitals,
and all that stuff, and that stuff is super cool,
and that's the stuff that people see,
but it's really the stuff that people don't see
that made the biggest difference, you know.
I used to look in my wife's eyes
and they were always filled with sympathy
because I could never get up and around.
I was almost in a wheelchair, and it was always that
Dad was sick, or her husband was sick,
and that's just the way it was.
But now, you know, just last September,
I was able to do a Ironman half at Lake Placid,
and to see her eyes now switch
from that sympathy to just pride,
to be so proud of my accomplishments.
That's the stuff that people need to understand.
And really what was happening with the plant-based diet
is the inflammation was going outta my body,
and then the more I would do the stronger I got,
the better it was for my joints.
I still can't even believe it
if I didn't see pictures of it.
But the finish line, that's the thing, you know.
They say when you go through a race
that you should always picture the finish line, and I did,
but my finish line was a little bit different
than everyone else's that day, 'cause my finish line
sat about 20 feet the other side of the line,
and it was Heather.