At his heaviest, Zach Vloger weighed 463 pounds. After his father had a serious health scare, he found the motivation to take charge of his health and transform his life.
An outgoing kind of guy, Vloger was never too concerned about his weight. It was something he’d learn to live with since childhood and it never got in the way of his confidence.
“My weight definitely held me back in other aspects of my life though,” said Vloger. “It was hard for me to tie my shoes, walk up stairs, or fit into the seating at school, in movie theaters and in airplanes.”
A family health scare leads to taking action
When Vloger was 19 years old, his father suffered a major heart attack and the experience terrified him. Fortunately, his father survived but had to undergo an open heart quadruple bypass surgery. This prompted Vloger to pay a visit to the doctor’s office and get a health check up.
“When I went in for my appointment I was diagnosed with hypertension and put on blood pressure medication,” he said.
And in that moment, a new awareness set in.
“I realized that if I didn't change my life and start losing weight that I would most likely die from it.”
Like Vloger, his father was also overweight.
Making it a life and death situation
Frightened by seeing first hand how serious the problem was for his father, he decided that he wasn’t going to resign and succumb to the same fate.
“I made it a life or death situation,” said Vloger. “I knew that my current lifestyle of eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it was killing me.”
By shifting his mindset, being painfully honest with himself and making his struggle about survival, he was now ready overhaul his life.
“I had so much denial built up about why I was so obese and why I couldn’t lose weight,” he remembers. "In reality, I just didn’t want to change bad enough."
“When I was honest with myself about what I should be eating and what I should be doing activity wise, everything started to fall into place.”
Committed to himself, he began exercising regularly, keeping track of his food intake and eating healthier foods.
His biggest takeaway
Today, Vloger has lost 240 pounds and has reinvented himself as a personal trainer, to help others in their journeys to success.
In retrospect, Vloger has learned the importance of self-discipline, self-compassion and patience.
“Don't give up,” he says. “Losing massive amounts of weight takes time and more importantly consistency."
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