I Avoided Mirrors - Until I Lost 160lbs | BRAND NEW ME
At 16 YEARS OLD Thomas was approaching 400lbs and was so repulsed by his appearance he wouldn’t even look at his reflection in the mirror. Everything changed when the 20-year old saw a nutritionist who taught him how to eat well. He has started a healthy diet and working out which resulted in losing 160lbs in two years. Since then Thomas, who resides in California, gained confidence he lacked before and despite admitting that he is still on his journey to self-love,Thomas says that he can finally look at his reflection and be proud of what he has achieved so far.
Thomas' Instagram:
/ thomas.towns
Thomas' Instagram:
/ thomas.towns
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FunTranscript
00:00 At my heaviest, I weighed 360 pounds.
00:03 At my biggest, I avoided not only mirrors,
00:05 but just, like, reflective surfaces in general.
00:08 When you're a big guy, you don't have very many friends.
00:11 As I was losing the weight,
00:12 I was getting more confidence naturally.
00:14 I started to care about the way I looked.
00:16 It's taken me about two years to lose 160 pounds.
00:19 I started to be able to talk to people, and that's, like...
00:22 -Whoa! -What?
00:23 -That's, like, a year's difference.
00:25 -Oh, my gosh.
00:28 ♪♪
00:31 I started gaining weight when I was younger.
00:34 I never tried to lose weight.
00:37 It really just kept increasing over time.
00:40 I lost my father when I was 10,
00:45 and I believe that caused depression, anxiety,
00:47 social anxiety...
00:49 ...which then caused the overeating and the stress-eating
00:54 and really just kind of kept on getting worse and worse
00:58 over the years.
01:00 I actually had to teach myself how to smile.
01:05 I used to eat a huge, big old calzone.
01:08 That's supposed to feed a family.
01:10 I could eat two Big Macs,
01:13 slices and slices of pizza.
01:15 When you're a big guy, you don't have very many friends.
01:18 Kids pick on you.
01:22 When the doctor told me that I was clinically obese,
01:27 that was the point where it became real.
01:29 [ Chopping ]
01:32 I wanted to lose the weight,
01:34 and that was the very beginning of my transformation.
01:39 Started off really slow, just walking
01:42 and cutting out certain foods, sodas, processed foods,
01:46 and then gradually started increasing the exercise.
01:51 Once I really started getting going,
01:53 I actually started to enjoy it.
01:54 I kind of turned it into a game.
01:57 Every month, I wanted to lose more.
02:00 My heaviest, I was 360 pounds.
02:05 Right now, I weigh 220 pounds,
02:08 and I've lost 160 pounds.
02:11 Working out gives me more confidence.
02:13 After a good workout, I always feel 100 times better,
02:16 even if I was exhausted before.
02:19 [ Music ]
02:22 As I was losing the weight,
02:23 I started to be able to talk to people a lot better.
02:25 I started to be able to look people in the eyes
02:27 when I talked to them.
02:28 Before, eye contact was very difficult.
02:30 -Oh! -Hi! How's it going?
02:32 -Good.
02:33 One of my best friends now, she approached me,
02:36 and it boosted my confidence a lot,
02:38 and we're still friends today.
02:41 -Good to see you. -Yeah, nice to see you.
02:44 -Have you guys ever seen me?
02:45 I don't think I ever showed you.
02:47 I don't think I ever showed you
02:49 who I was before my transformation.
02:51 I think I've told you, but I never showed you.
02:53 -Yeah, I don't think I've seen. -No?
02:55 For my first 16 years, I never looked in the mirror,
02:58 never looked at photos.
03:00 -Whoa! -What?
03:02 That's like a year's difference.
03:04 -Oh, my gosh. -So, 13?
03:05 Yeah.
03:06 When I look at, like,
03:07 especially a lot of these photos, like these right here,
03:11 I don't remember taking these photos at all
03:14 because I never wanted to see what it looked like.
03:17 -Had you ever tried to lose weight before this,
03:19 like, before you made the big transformation?
03:21 -I never knew how big I was, actually.
03:23 I knew what size shirt I wore, what size pants I wore,
03:26 but I had no --
03:27 I never looked into what normal people wear,
03:29 so I had no point of reference to see how far away I was.
03:34 It was about six months into my weight loss.
03:39 I got out of the shower
03:40 and was able to look at the mirror
03:43 and see myself.
03:45 Now I see myself.
03:51 -But I helped more, right?
03:55 I was really surprised seeing Thomas' photos.
03:57 We talked about it and heard the story,
04:00 but never seen it,
04:01 and I think that made it a little bit more real
04:04 'cause to hear about it is one thing,
04:06 but to actually see what he was talking about,
04:09 totally different than I imagined.
04:10 It was hard to put in my brain, knowing the Thomas we know now.
04:14 -I believe I'm in the best state that I've ever been.
04:17 I have a lot more confidence than I've ever had.
04:19 -It's really good to see you.
04:20 Thanks for showing us the pictures.
04:22 -Yeah, Thomas.
04:23 Yeah, we love you, man.
04:24 -I still have days where I don't feel my best
04:28 just to keep moving on and keep on doing what I'm doing,
04:31 and eventually I'll get to where I want to be.
04:34 So however that looks on the scale
04:37 is not really what I care about.
04:40 Who's happy is really what's most important.
04:48 (upbeat music)