Jermaine Gause had reached a critical weight of 639 pounds when he decided he wanted to save himself by embarking on his weight loss journey.

At 37, Jermaine Gause was morbidly obese and afraid of dying.

“I’m not ready to leave this planet,” he said, during a 2016 appearance on The Doctors. “And I know the way I am now, I probably don’t have much time.”

At the time, Gause, from Ann Arbor, Mich., weighed 639 pounds. But he knew something had to change.

Jermaine had isolated himself

Growing up, he was “always the big guy” and was bullied because of his size. As he got older, and heavier, Gause began to increasingly isolate himself. 

I feel bad about the way I look and what I let myself get to.

Feeling ashamed of his weight, he didn’t see his mother for two years. His mom, Gretchen Barrow, grew concerned with her son’s well being and contacted The Doctors, pleading with them to help Gause transform his life.

“It wasn’t until the past three years that I said, ‘Oh my God, how did I let this happen?’” said Barrow. 

Jermaine was selected to appear on the show and found out that his daily sugar and sodium consumption was through the roof, making him very high risk for a heart attack. 

During the episode, he recalled being in nearly constant pain.

“At this point, everything hurts,” said Gause. “Walking hurts, standing still hurts, sometimes sitting hurts.”

Gause knew it was time to take charge of his life and make a change.

He decided not to go for a surgery

The Doctors offered him a five-month weight loss program, worth 50,000$, as well as bariatric surgery, free of charge.

At Live In Fitness, he learned to make basic lifestyle changes, like eating a healthy diet and exercising. He didn’t get the surgery but chose to extend his weight loss program from five months to a year instead.

The best part of losing this weight is it was all-natural. It’s all based on healthy eating. It’s all simple and easy to make. We’re not starving. And working out a lot.

After over 12 months of hard work and dedication, Jermaine lost a total of 303 pounds and was made an honorary coach at Live in Fitness.

A surprise for his mother

He hadn’t seen his family the entire time he was there and shocked his mother when he returned to The Doctors in 2017 to reveal his transformation. She was brought to tears by her son’s incredible transformation.

As for Jermaine, his life has completely changed–for the better of course.

Since losing this weight, I’m like a new person. Every day I wake up and I can move. If I can do this, anybody can.

Jermaine Gause

And if there is anything we can learn from his incredible journey, it’s that we can all make decisions to take care of ourselves, no matter our starting points.

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