Sit.
I was just eating till I'm dead, probably.
A normal day for me is, wake up around 12:00,
figure out something I'm going to eat immediately,
TV, video games, bed.
It's not a lot of activity.
It's hot.
It's hot in Georgia.
And all my clothing is restricting and tight,
so I just sit in there naked, free as can be.
And no one bothers me.
Door's shut.
We're good.
I'm just safe, and video games are where I escape.
I never would have thought at 34,
I'd be living with my father and I'd have no job,
have no real money, just be playing video games all day
and eating.
I've always been a big kid.
Out of high school, I was probably
300 and something pounds.
But then I got out of school, got a couple
jobs at a couple restaurants.
I ate at them.
I was probably around 500 pounds then,
and it was just getting too difficult to work,
so I quit my job.
My mom said, to live in this house, you have to have a job.
So she kicked me out, and the only place I
had left to go was my father's.
So I went there.
Basically, his one thing that he knew made me happy was food.
So we just ate like kings, but like, in the worst way.
Pizzas, chicken, Japanese food, takeout.
I mean, me and my dad would get hibachi delivered,
sushi by the barrel.
I mean, just anything you wanted to eat, we were getting.
He'll tell me what get him, and I
come right back a lot of times and say,
Casey, that's too much food.
But I'll get it for him and bring it to the house,
put it right in front of him.
He's my son, and I love him.
I love to make him happy, you know.
And food's got a lot to do with his happiness,
but he's like an addict about food.
Food is so much more a part of me than I want it to be.
I mean, it's killing me, but like, it's like a drug.
You don't even notice it.
Now there are moments afterwards where like,
I've ate so much where I feel sick.
OK.
But I don't mind overeating and just going and throwing up
in the bathroom.
No big deal.
It's all coming back out.
It didn't affect me.
If I could just eat, eat, eat, and not gain weight,
that would be fantastic.
But do I want to be fat forever?
No.
I wish I wasn't in the situation that I'm in.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Every day that I don't do anything about my weight
is one second, one step closer to the grave for me.
Usually when I wake up, I'm already thinking
about ordering a pizza.
But I try to tell myself not to do that.
So then I'll eat something like cheese and crackers
or something else to snack on.
And eventually, I end up ordering the pizza.
And I get a large pizza, and then I have
like, the plate of brownies.
And I'll eat all of it until it's gone.
And then my mom comes home from work for dinner,
and then I'll eat regular dinner with her.
God hardly knows how many calories that is.
You just have that moment when you're like, what happened?
Now how did I get here?
I was sixth grade, so 12 or 13, when it started to kind of turn
into night bingeing.
My dad wouldn't let me eat at the table
because I was disgusting.
So-- I'm sorry.
So instead, I would wait until he went to bed
and then eat whatever I could find.
And he did lock the refrigerator.
And because he's passed, I can't really close that chapter.
My weight gain like, skyrocketed in my 12th grade year.
So I went to my first period class,
and I didn't see a chair.
So I told the teacher, you know, can I go get a chair?
And he says, so everyone can hear,
if you can't sit in a desk like a normal person,
you can sit on the floor for today.
I just left the school and didn't come back.
But now it's either surgery or death.
I was diagnosed with cancer in October 2016.
I have no idea of it's growing.
I have no idea if it's spread.
I don't know.
Endometrial cancer is caused, in some part, by being obese.
So I feel like I did it to myself.
Y'all are bringing me so much chocolate.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
That was sweet.
I'm an elementary school teacher,
and it's a very challenging, very physical job.
I want to be able to be more active with my students.
I would love to be like, on the floor with a kid
and do something in their space.
Because with my weight, I mean, I just can't.
So we're going to go ahead and clean up and get ready for l--
(IN UNISON) Lunch.
Lunch, yay.
If I can get somebody to help me pick this up off
the floor-- thank you, everybody.
Go ahead. That's cool.
You can put it right here in a nice, neat pile.
Just doing my daily stuff just walking around,
my weight takes a toll on my body.
My knees are killing me.
My legs are like, rubbing together.
At the end of the day, I'm exhausted.
I definitely think I am a mindless eater.
After I eat a meal, generally my thoughts are like,
when am I going to eat again?
When I get home, generally I will
have queso or some chocolate, or anything
that I can munch on, all the comfort
foods in the South and fast food, chicken with hot sauce,
mashed potatoes, sweet tea.
And I'm just constantly eating, eating, and when I look down,
there's hardly any chips left or any chocolate left.
It just has gotten so out of hand
with what I've started to eat, with the just amount
of food I've started to eat.
If I'm upset, I want to turn to food.
If I'm happy, I want to turn to food.
I've been eating like this forever,
and it adds up over time.
As a young kid, I was pretty normal sized.
I was about 12 when I started feeling
conscious about my weight.
Middle school was rough for me.
I'd get picked on for being fat.
I really do try to be confident regarding myself.
But at the same time, there are obviously things that I would
want to change about myself.
Like I hate my stomach, and I don't want everybody
looking at my big, fat stomach.
It's been about two years since I've
been in a solid relationship or had anything
physical, anything like that.
Dating while you're big is definitely a challenge.
I feel like a lot of people maybe see my face,
and they may say, oh, like, she's really pretty,
and then look down, and then look back up at me,
and kind of put on the brakes.
I think to myself, if I really keep eating this chocolate,
if I really keep eating these chips,
am I going to be 600 pounds and not
be able to get out of my bed?
It's definitely scary.
Amanda and I put together a little party for all
of our family and friends.
I mean, we've all worked really hard and been through a lot.
So we're going to celebrate.
It's been five months since my surgery.
As I'm getting ready tonight, I'm looking at the mirror
and seeing a whole different person.
I'm about to walk out and show everybody what I've done.
I'm super nervous, but I'm also super
excited to share this massive accomplishment with everyone
that I love.
[CHEERING]
When I started this journey, I was 388 pounds.
And right now, I weigh 250 pounds,
which is the thinnest I've ever been in my adult life.
[CHEERING]
I was ready to just change my life, change my mind,
and just have a whole new frame of reference
from where I'm living my life.
Oh my gosh, when I seen Amy walk out those doors tonight,
man, I was just amazed.
She was so beautiful.
We're going to keep giving her a lot of support,
and we're going to keep pushing her along that direction,
and I think she's going to do fantastic.
Thank you so much.
Amy looked absolutely beautiful tonight.
I know this is just the beginning for her.
I was really, really excited to see her.
It's been six months since my surgery,
and I have been super busy.
I'm going to the gym, being more active.
I'm going to see family more.
I'm just living my best life.
This is a celebration of accomplishment, of life,
of second chances.
[CHEERING]
Today, I'm 517 pounds, which is crazy to me
because I have not been this weight
in probably 10 plus years.
If you would have told me I would have lost 127 pounds,
I would have told you you were crazy.
Like, who does that?
I still have a long way to go, but I think that for me losing
weight, I've gained strength.
I see that I am capable of taking control of my life.
I am capable of being more than the words that were told to me.
Before I decided to take initiative
to make a change in my life, I was just miserable.
I was just existing.
I wasn't really living, you know.
My day consisted of waking up to eat, to be on the sofa,
and to go back to bed.
There wasn't any life in that.
It's been three months since my surgery, and I feel good.
Little things are changing in me that I didn't really
expect to change so quickly.
Like when I go to the gym now, I'm getting immediately back
into like, my range of motion that I was in like,
when I was in my better times.
All right, how you feeling so far?
I'm a little winded.
All right.
We'll take it one pound at a time.
We'll get it.
As I accomplish more, my self-esteem is rising,
so I feel like I can do more.
So it's just a good feeling.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
I started this journey at 780 pounds,
and today, I'm happy to say that I'm 525.
Ultimately, I hope I just get down to a normal weight.
My goal for next year is to be under 400.
Ultimate dream, 250.
That'd be sick.
Oh god.
This is rough.
Aw.
I'm so proud of him.
I have no words to describe the feeling I feel inside,
that he's gotten healthier, and I just-- you know,
I look for a bright future for him.
The sky's the limit.
- I love you. - Thank you.
Thank you.
My mind wasn't in the right place.
I wasn't taking a lot of responsibility for myself,
and I just didn't know if I needed to change.
The hardest part was probably just like, facing my fears
and just being honest with myself about stuff.
This is definitely the start of something different for me.
I am ecstatic for my family.
I'm so proud of them.
You know, at the beginning of this,
I never imagined that we would all be down a combined
weight of more than 500 pounds.
So it's been amazing, and I know that together as a family,
we can do anything.
We have accomplished what we set out to accomplish,
and we are capable of doing things
that we didn't think we were able to do.
I know we have a long journey ahead,
and I know we got a long way to go.
But I know we'll get through this together, like we
always do, like a family.
[MUSIC PLAYING]