Close Ad

Man Loses 184 Pounds To Achieve His Dream of Being a Hero
Romar Lyle transformation
Diet & Exercise

Man Loses 184 Pounds To Achieve His Dream of Being a Hero

Romar Lyle dreamed of being a police officer but felt he wasnt fit to fill the role. Thats where his transformation journey began.

Romar Lyle always dreamt of becoming a police officer, but as he started graduate school, he began to worry his weight would get in the way of making his dream come true.

At his heaviest, Lyle weighed more than 400 pounds and got used to the idea of a career in a forensics lab.


He was working as a graduate teaching assistant, but struggled to make friends. One day, his supervisor invited him to try out his gym. He was willing but skeptical.

The run that started Lyle's journey

“I was just waiting for everyone to laugh at me," Lyle, now 26, told TODAY.

"The workout was to run 400 meters and they told me to run 100 meters, just go down to the sign and come back. I remember running and a few steps in, I was out of breath. And I was like, ‘Here comes everyone laughing.' I was so embarrassed."

But to his surprise, Lyle didn’t hear any laughing. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

“All they were saying was ‘Keep going! I know it’s hard, keep going, you’re doing great!’” Lyle remembered.

As he ran slowly and had difficulty breathing, the coaches started running with him and cheered him on. Taken aback by how supportive everyone, he felt motivated to keep going to the gym.

“It wasn’t about the weight loss," Lyle said. "It was about having a good time and doing something new and seeing what I could do every single day, whether it was to lift a little heavier or run a little bit further."

The transformation began

Romar Lyle

Soon, Lyle started feeling different and started to notice how his body was changing.

“I lost all this weight and it didn’t feel as hard as I thought it would be,” he said. “I genuinely enjoyed what I did.”

Sometimes, he’d gain some of the weight he lost back because of his unhealthy eating habits but his coaches helped him make changes to his diet and learned to enjoy them.

“My coach kind of said, ‘Hey you don’t need to stop eating everything you enjoy,'” he explained. “So, I thought, ‘How can I make the dishes that I am used to in a healthier way?’”

After Lyle had gone six months without eating junk food when he had a fast food chicken sandwich, and when he felt ill afterwards, he realized it wasn’t only his weight that was changing.

“I just got so sick,” Lyle said. “My body wasn’t used to it anymore. It made it so much easier to say, ‘I’m not that person anymore. I am focusing on a healthier me.’”

His dream became possible

Since 2015, Lyle has lost 184 pounds, 30 of which he dropped during the seven months he studied at the police academy. He spends about an hour and a half at the gym most days and makes sure to get in some exercise every day, even if it means just talking a walk. He now weighs 222 pounds.

Lyle graduated from the academy and turned his dream into a reality: he currently serves as a police officer for the Richmond Police Department in Virginia.

“Having the physical ability to do those things pushed me further to say, ‘Yes I want to lose the weight. Yes this is where I want to be,’” said Lyle. “I have learned to re-embrace a challenge and not to quit.”

More transformation stories:


Hot Stories

Why Jennifer Hudson Forgave Her Mother's Killer -- Life Stories By Goalcast

At the peak of her career, Jennifer Hudson faced a horrific family tragedy. Hudson's mother and brother were brutally attacked in their family home, and her seven-year-old nephew was kidnapped. What followed was a heart-wrenching manhunt to rescue her nephew and seek justice against the man who took her family. Hudson speaks from the heart in this video on what happened to her family and how she was able to move forward.

Celebrities
 woman holding hands together in harmony
Untitled design (5)

People often say that finding purpose is the foundation of a healthy and more fulfilling life. Yet for millions of people, purpose feels elusive, like some far-off destination, an epiphany waiting for divine intervention.

Narratives around living the life of your dreams can package purpose in a very set way, telling stories of a select few who were lucky enough to find their purpose, and never looked back.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stories
dave chappelle and wife elaine

Dave Chappelle may be one of the most popular comedians in the world, but to his wife Elaine, he's just Dave.

Chappelle had his big break with his Comedy Central Show Chappelle Show which ran from 2003 to 2005. The show was enormously popular and put Chappelle on the map. Chappelle’s Show was scheduled to have a third season after the success of the first two seasons but that never happened.

Keep ReadingShow less
Celebrities