Hi, my name is Don. I've always been a heavy set guy. When I was a little kid, it worked to my advantage. I could always protect myself, I was a tough little kid! I played a lot of sports too. My size worked out great for me there - I was a linebacker... they don't give those spots to little small guys. I was in shape though, I mean, I got a lot of exercise just playing a lot of football after school.

I played football all through high school, and I was really good at it. So good, in fact, I was spotted by some scouts, who offered me a full scholarship to one of the schools I really wanted to get into. You wouldn't believe how happy that made me. At this point, I couldn't care less about my weight. No one ever made fun of me for being a large guy. It was actually more of a badge of honour - no one would ever mess with such a big guy. Sports careers never last forever though, and no one is invincible. I wish I had known that. Carrying all that weight and running around all the time was just killing my knees. I started experiencing pains, but just brushed them off. But one day I just got hit the wrong way and I was seriously injured. My knees were already in bad shape, and I guess the way that I was hit just took the injury over the edge. My career was over, I knew it - I would never be a serious player again. Thankfully I was still able to continue on in school, and with the time I had I was able to focus more on my studies. But, I began having personal issues.

Being unable to play football anymore, and being physically weak just robbed me of all my confidence. I didn't feel tough anymore, like I wasn't the man I used to be. I was no longer an important football star... I was just fat. I wanted to change that, but I was new to the idea - I had never tried to diet or anything. I knew that my coach had lost a ton of weight though, and I wanted to know how he did it. He told me that he just changed his lifestyle - he started eating healthy, and exercising everyday, I guess his wife was worried about him. The whole thing sounded drastic to me, but I wanted to try anyways. I had never thought about it before, but my diet was terrible. I ate lots of meat, not many vegetables, drank lots of beer, and very little water. Well that's what I had to change - everything! I didn't want to eat rabbit food though, that's not me, so I comprimised. I ate the foods I liked, but in smaller portions, and I took a diet called Xenical, which blocked part of the fat that would have otherwise gone into my body. It worked like a charm. In addition to that, I was working out at the gym. I figured that if I couldn't be a big guy anymore, I might as well be ripped. I took a pretty hardcore schedule, and that also worked like a charm. I got really fit and toned, while at the same time losing weight. My midsection shrunk while my upper body bulked up. That was such a confidence-builder.

Over all, my weight hasn't changed drastically, but I look like a completely different person. Some of what I lost in fat, I gained back in muscle. So I look great and I'm really fit, I'm just not fat anymore. I feel like a new man.