'Man mountain' who nearly ate himself to death loses 28 stone and becomes fitness instructor

'Man mountain' who nearly ate himself to death loses 28 stone and becomes fitness instructor

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:21 PM on 19th January 2009

A reclusive man in his twenties who weighed 45 stone and was given months to live, is now a slim fitness coach after he turned his life around.

David Smith, 31, lost a whopping 28 stone and had more than 30 pounds of excess skin removed. He replaced his double chins and man boobs for bulging biceps and a flat stomach.


David Smith dubbed himself a 'man mountain' at his heaviest. He was reclusive and only went out at night (top). But in two years he managed to lose 28 stone (below)



Mr Smith used to weigh the same as a brown bear and was dangerously close to eating himself to death.

But he sought help in the nick of time from a local fitness instructor who coached him through a gruelling two-year long exercise regime.

Determined David managed to slim down to a healthy 16 stone thanks to the tough training but was left with unsightly flabby skin.

That meant he had to endure four separate operations in just 12 months to remove all his previous bulk.

He also needed laser surgery on his eyes and some dental work to fix his teeth, which had been destroyed by sweets and fizzy drinks.

As a result, he has now become a FITNESS COACH himself and met his first girlfriend.

David said: 'I was given just four months to live when I was 26 because I was so overweight. I was a man mountain.

'I was written off by everyone, even myself, but all of a sudden I woke up from my despair and I realised feeling sorry about my life wasn't going to solve my problems.

'I decided to change my existence and started exercising. Now I'm a completely different person, not just physically but mentally too.'


David Smith lost 28 stone in weight and then had four operations to remove excess skin

David ballooned in weight from spending all day gorging on pizza, burgers, chocolate bars and crisps all washed down with fizzy drinks.

His huge weight made him a target for bullies who cruelly nicknamed him the 'elephant man' and meant that no girls would go near him.

David, from Phoenix, Arizona, befriended local radio DJ and fitness instructor Chris Powell in 2003.

He started to burn the calories by gym workouts and going on long runs every day for 26 months while also ditching the snacks for healthy food like pasta and salad.

But his weight loss meant that he was left with lumps of ugly stretched skin so he saw specialists at a hospital in Phoenix, who put him under the knife and cut it all off.

Now he hopes to inspire children and adults in Britain that there is a way back from obesity.

He said: 'I had been overweight all my life.

'I would have sticks and stones and dog mess thrown at me and I would be spat on.

I've had a broken arm and black eyes because people didn't like me because of my weight.

'It got so bad that I didn't want to leave the house and I didn't even feel comfortable in my own backyard until it was dark out.

'I felt like I deserved as much pain as possible and I wanted to kill myself.

'But then I met Chris and he became the only one that has ever believed in me, he showed me that I could change.


David Smith was able to lose stones of weight with the help of fitness instructor Chris Powell

'The first few months were really hard, Chris would be telling me that I was doing really well and I was losing weight - but when I looked in the mirror I saw someone weighing more.

'To begin with the training was really tough, at my heaviest I struggled to walk five feet without becoming out of breath.

'Slowly, though, I got better and managed to do more and more and the flab was literally falling off me.

"But after I'd worked so hard to lose the weight, I was left with all this excess skin which made me look ridiculous.

"I had four operation in a year to get rid of it all. It's the nicest thing going under the knife but it was something that had to be done.'

Fitness guru Chris Powell, who has appeared in the magazine Cosmo as an eligible bachelor, said he was also not sure what to expect.

He said: 'I didn't know what 600 pounds even looked like on a person.

'David couldn't really look me in the eye and he was just so broken. He really didn't know what to say or what to do.

'Helping him and being a part of his incredible transformation has been life-changing for me as well.

'He was dead inside but now he is really living life and inspiring millions of people, it is undescribable.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1122444/Man-mountain-nearly-ate-death-loses-28-stone-fitness-instructor.html