420lbs With A Failing Liver - So I Lost 230lbs | BRAND NEW ME
22-YEAR-OLD aspiring bodybuilder Rodney was an "emotional eater" growing up - turning to food for comfort throughout his turbulent childhood. He recalls consuming an average of 10,000 calories per day, consisting of mostly junk food washed down by two litres of soda. By the time he was a teenager, Rodney's relationship with food had spun out of control - and with family regularly suggesting that they were "embarrassed" by his weight, the vicious cycle continued. By the tender age of 17, Rodney had tipped the scales at 420lbs and had two "close calls with death" - first, a motorbike accident caused by his weight, which "bottomed out the suspension and it bucked me off and I flew 30 feet through the air", and then a fatty liver disease diagnosis soon after, where doctors found his liver was "already 50% dead." He looked himself in the mirror and decided to make a drastic lifestyle change - cutting fast food and soda out of his diet "cold turkey" and hitting the gym "seven days a week." Now, Rodney is half the weight he used to be - currently weighing in at a lean 210lbs - and has gone from a 56-inch waist down to a 32-inch waist. And with his physique giving him a huge boost in confidence and new lease of life, Rodney has found purpose as an online coach, helping others on their own weight loss journeys. On top of that, he has competed in a bodybuilding contest and now, having had 17lbs of loose skin removed, has his sights set on his next groundbreaking goal: "I want to be the first person in history to lose over 220lbs and be nationally notified as a pro bodybuilder... I want to be something great, I want to be known for something great."
Follow Rodney on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brodfit_21
Follow Rodney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Brodfit_21
With thanks to: https://www.prodigygym.com
Follow Rodney on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brodfit_21
Follow Rodney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Brodfit_21
With thanks to: https://www.prodigygym.com
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FunTranscript
00:00 I would most definitely describe myself as an emotional eater in the past.
00:03 I took food as something to comfort myself from everything that was going on in my life.
00:07 And in my family, I was definitely an outlier.
00:08 I knew deep down that they were embarrassed of me.
00:10 It was almost feeling like they were judging me.
00:12 I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease.
00:14 I was not even 18 yet.
00:15 I kind of realized that I should not be in the position that I am right now.
00:19 I started going to the gym every single day, seven days a week.
00:24 And I truly began falling in love with the process.
00:26 My heaviest peak weight ever was over 420 pounds.
00:29 And currently right now, I sit around 210 pounds.
00:32 I want to be the first person in history to lose over 220 pounds
00:36 and be nationally notified as a pro bodybuilder.
00:38 I want to be known for something great.
00:39 Today I'm making sausage, eggs, cheese, hash browns, and some tortillas.
00:47 I probably ate this meal three to four times a week when I was over 400 pounds.
00:52 If it wasn't this meal right here, I would usually just go to Santiago's
00:55 and get three or four breakfast burritos.
00:57 I love to drink soda.
00:58 I had probably about two liters of soda a day.
01:01 On average, I think I would take about 10,000 calories usually.
01:07 Seeing this plate now honestly just kind of brings back a lot of memories
01:10 because it's just something that I used to eat almost every single day.
01:12 I'd have to say it's probably about 900 calories.
01:15 I would most definitely describe myself as an emotional eater in the past
01:19 just because I feel like there was a lot of things I was trying to cope with,
01:21 but I didn't necessarily know how to.
01:23 My mom was never really in my life, and my dad
01:25 was working a lot to provide for me and him.
01:27 I took food as something to comfort myself from everything
01:30 that was going on in my life.
01:32 When I would sit down and eat a bunch of junk food,
01:33 like a whole entire bag of chips, a whole entire pint of ice cream,
01:36 mentally I felt like all my problems just evaporated.
01:39 Being overweight affected my self-confidence a lot.
01:41 I was always made fun of for always being the biggest kid in the room,
01:44 and even the biggest kid in town.
01:47 I felt lonely and kind of isolated a lot because I didn't really fit in.
01:51 I didn't really belong, and I didn't look like other kids my age.
01:53 Oh my god.
01:54 Hey, guys.
01:57 Hey, honey.
01:59 And in my family, I was definitely an outlier with my weight concerns
02:02 and also my health concerns.
02:03 I had a lot of family members when I would come over.
02:05 They'd always tell me, hey, you don't need to have such a big plate.
02:08 We got to make sure we save some for other people.
02:11 I knew deep down that they were embarrassed of me.
02:12 It was almost feeling like they were judging me.
02:15 How did you feel when Grandpa would make all of his comments?
02:18 Always hearing him make out-of-pocket remarks about my weight and my size,
02:23 it was hurtful.
02:24 It really was.
02:26 I felt like I didn't really know how to change and how to make
02:30 him proud one way or another.
02:32 The lowest point in my life when I was overweight would honestly have to be
02:35 just when I realized that I couldn't do anything anybody else my age could do,
02:39 not being able to find clothes that fit, not being able to walk around school.
02:42 He can do anything.
02:43 He can tie his shoes without getting out of breath
02:46 or walking up the stairs, down the stairs.
02:50 I mean, he's not a pretty sight.
02:54 What was it like watching me struggle with my weight?
02:58 Hard, because, I mean, I know you never met Uncle David,
03:03 but growing up with him being as heavy as he was and knowing what he went
03:09 through and then ultimately dying, and I knew that you were headed down
03:14 somewhat similar same path, it's just hard, really hard.
03:19 My two close calls with the death that I've had,
03:23 I had a major dirt bike accident.
03:25 I bottomed out the suspension and it bucked me off
03:27 and I flew 30 feet through the air.
03:29 I landed on my head at 50 miles an hour.
03:31 I spent 7 to 14 days in ICU in Children's Hospital.
03:36 And then upon returning home, I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease
03:39 and my liver was shutting down and was already 50% dead.
03:42 I was only 17 and I was just getting ready to go into the senior year
03:45 of high school.
03:46 How shocked were you when I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease?
03:50 Not surprised.
03:52 Did you think it was going to happen that fast at such a young age?
03:56 No, no, maybe not that young, but I knew that you were going to come,
04:01 like something that was going to come up.
04:02 It always does with weight one way or another, but...
04:07 I kind of realized that I should not be in the position that I am right now.
04:11 I looked myself in the mirror and go, wow, I've had two near-death experiences,
04:15 not very many people get to see a second chance life.
04:18 I decided that I need to quit drinking soda and eating out of fast food
04:21 every single day, so I cut all of that out, pulled turkey,
04:23 and I started going to the gym every single day, seven days a week.
04:28 Nobody else in the gym looked like me.
04:30 Everybody else had muscles.
04:32 They looked big.
04:32 I first stayed in the gym when I first started.
04:34 I was super nervous and anxious.
04:35 I was scared that everybody else was going to judge me.
04:38 I kept telling myself that I belong here.
04:41 Nobody else is going to say that I don't.
04:43 I'm down from a 5XL T-shirt down to an extra large.
04:50 I went from a size 56 waist all the way down to a 32 waist.
04:54 My heaviest peak weight ever was over 440 pounds.
04:57 And currently right now, I sit around 210 pounds.
04:59 Now I'm super happy with everything that I'm at,
05:09 and I honestly love being inside of the gym every single day.
05:12 I feel amazing in my new body.
05:18 I feel like I've achieved a lot, but there's still lots of things
05:20 that I want to improve on.
05:22 One of my biggest goals that I have in mind right now
05:23 is I want to be the first person in history to lose over 220 pounds
05:26 and be nationally notified as a pro bodybuilder.
05:29 The bodybuilding show that I did before was a transformation of vision,
05:32 which was basically judged upon the best two-year overall transformation
05:37 of anybody that lost weight.
05:38 Being in a huge crowd with lots of people with my loose skin
05:41 was something that kind of caught me off guard.
05:43 I wasn't sure what people were going to react like.
05:45 But once I got out there and realized, hearing everybody cheer me on,
05:49 it really helped me get out of my comfort zone.
05:50 I realized that now I'm stuck with this extra skin.
05:53 But for me, mentally, I feel like it was also an achievement
05:56 and a sign that I did it.
05:58 I changed my life around for the best.
06:00 To get my extra skin removed, I had two procedures,
06:05 one where they did my chest, my back, and they also did my abdomen.
06:09 And then a few months later, I went back and got a revision done on my stomach,
06:13 and they also took the rest of my extra skin around my neck.
06:16 They took a combined total of about 15 to 17 pounds of just skin alone.
06:20 The average male my age and my height has only about 20 pounds of skin.
06:24 So I almost lost an entire another person in just skin weight.
06:27 Looking at myself in the mirror now is such a great experience
06:29 because I have never, ever been happy with myself until now.
06:32 I can officially say that I'm actually happy with the way I look.
06:35 I wish I could go back and have somebody guide me through the process
06:40 because there's a lot of mental and physical things
06:42 that you have to go through in order to change your life around.
06:45 Now as an online fitness coach, I love helping other people transform their life.
06:48 I am able to help people get out of the stuck point of where I was
06:51 when I was overweight, feeling like I had nobody there to help me.
06:54 No one cares more about you losing weight than yourself.
06:56 You must care about your future in order to commit a change.
06:59 - What up, dude? - What's up, dude?
07:02 - How are you? - Living the dream.
07:04 I've known Rodney for about five years now.
07:07 I'm honestly really impressed by his transformation.
07:11 He's been doing a fantastic job.
07:13 He's a lot more confident in everything that he does, every aspect of his life.
07:19 I see him push himself a lot harder now.
07:21 Super proud of the kid, for sure.
07:24 If I could say something of my former self, I would definitely say, "Do not give up."
07:27 It's not as easy as everybody thinks, but that's all part of the journey.
07:29 There's going to be ups and downs, highs and lows, but it's all part of the process.
07:34 I'm super proud of my brother turning his life around.
07:37 Just knowing now that he can play with my kids and keep up with them
07:41 with whatever they do, soccer, football, the sky's the limit.
07:45 Looking back at my journey, I did not necessarily see myself reaching it at this point.
07:50 My confidence has changed quite a lot because now I feel like I belong in every room.
07:54 I've come to realize how far I've actually come, and it really humbles me to go further.
07:57 I have tons of different things that I want to accomplish in my life.
08:01 I want to be something great. I want to be known for something great.
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