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Man Loses 370 Pounds the Old-Fashioned Way, Reclaims Life


      Man Loses 370 Pounds the Old-Fashioned Way, Reclaims Life                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ABC News’ Maureen White reports:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In 2010,  Neil Burns weighed a whopping 680 pounds.  Too tired to go about his daily life  because of his size and with his eating habits spiraling out of control, the 44-year-old father from Richmond, Ky., said he felt  as if  he were  in prison.

“I couldn’t walk or move,” Burns said. “It was just miserable.”

Starring down at the scales, he said he knew something had to change.  “It was like a ton of bricks hit me,” he wrote on his website about the  pivotal moment. “I started and haven’t looked back.”

(Credit: Ashley DeFisher/Courtsy of Neil Burns)Since then, the 6-foot-4 Burns has shed 370 pounds, almost half his body  weight, and completely changed his life the old-fashioned way, through  diet and exercise.

”  Good Morning America” sent  Chris Powell, our weight-loss correspondent and host of ABC’s ”  Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition,” to visit Burns at his home to check  on his progress and see his  remarkable transformation.

From the photo albums to his closet, it’s easy to see how far Burns has  come over the past 23 months. His old shorts, sizes 8-XL, are far too  big now, and his watch swims around his wrist.

Burns’ first step was to get on a  healthy eating plan. A former fast-food fanatic, he used to eat about 10,000 calories a day, subsisting on value meals at places like McDonald’s and Dairy Queen.  Plus, he said he’d drink a staggering 24 sodas each day. He traded all  of that in for an 1,800 calorie a day diet of  healthy staples,  including turkey sandwiches, spinach salads with chicken and protein  shakes.

Next he slowly introduced exercise into his life. Burns worked his way  up to an intense exercise regimen – an hour and a half of weight-lifting in the morning and then cardio at the gym at night. His two-a-day  workouts burn an average of 1,000 calories a day.

For cardio, Burns took up zumba, a Latin-inspired dance workout class, which he now swears by.

“Being a single guy in a room full of single women  … I thought my odds  are pretty good!” Burns said. (Since Burns’ weight-loss story aired on  local TV and online, he has been proposed to seven times – and even  received a few marriage proposals through Facebook.)

He loved zumba so much – and saw real results that he  kept it up, even becoming a certified instructor.

The last component is what Burns calls his “Jedi mind tricks” – what he  does to keep himself mentally in the game. First, he, says, commit to a  workout buddy.

“I have a friend, Tanya, and if I don’t show up at the gym, she is going to call me!” Burns said.  He credits his support system of friends and  family as one of the most important things that kept him going.

Second, his most important policy: Admit when you cheat.

“I yell at myself and say out loud, ‘I just ate an 18-inch pizza and a  two liter of Mountain Dew.’ [I] yell … and get all of my anger out,” he  said. “Getting it out in the open. It’s just the only way to go.”

To give himself even more incentive, Burns created his “Skinny List,” a  list of 37 things he can do now that he has lost weight. (  See full list below)

The motivational list ranges from simple tasks like vacuuming, which  required too much movement for Burns before his weight loss, to brushing his teeth without losing his breath, being able to sit in a chair with  arms, and buying clothes off the rack like everyone else. It also has  activities that he has dreamed of doing for years but couldn’t, like  hiking, going horseback riding and fitting into a sports car.

Burns and Powell took a trip over to the local Ford dealership to check  that last item off of his “Skinny List.” Buckling his seat belt (without a problem) in a Mustang convertible, Burns drove over to his gym, the  Richmond Athletic Club – a short ride, but a journey that has been two  years and 350 lbs in the making.

Burns is now a motivational speaker and has set up a website,  Burnsweightloss.com, to share his story and help others lose weight.  Today, he weighs 310  pounds and he says he has approximately 40 more pounds until he reaches  his goal weight of 270 lbs.

“There’s nothing you can’t do when you put your mind to it,” Burns said. “Your mind, body, heart and soul. There nothing you can’t do.”

Do You Have an Incredible Weight-Loss Story? Tell ‘GMA’ and Chris Powell

NEIL BURNS’ SKINNY LIST

1. be able to sit in a chair with arms

2. fit into an airplane seat with no seat belt extension’s

3. walk up and down stairs like everyone else

4. pick something up off the car floor without having to get out of the car

5. lay down flat in bed and not feel like lungs aren’t going to collapse

6. fit through a turnstile

7. buy clothes off the rack

8. not being the big fat guy in a group on guys night out

9. not having to stretch out shirts so they will fit

10. knees – ankles – feet not hurting

11. Not hearing “wow” you’re big from little kids

12. have a watch that fits without extensions

13. fit into a sports car

14. fit into a booth at a restaurant

15. bending over to pick stuff off the ground

16. being able to see my feet

17. not breaking chairs

18. going to the pool and not wearing a shirt

19. quit being lapped by 80-year-old mall walkers

20. being able to tie my shoes when there on my feet

21. doing spin class and not feeling like I got violated

22. go horseback riding

23. fitting into a public rest room

24. walking on the beach at sun set

25. being able to play sports with my son

26. brushing my teeth without losing my breath

27 walking into Wal-Mart

28. walking to mail box

29. not being stared at

30. being able to look at myself in the mirror

31. feel worthy of love

32. using a vacuum cleaner

33. being able to do laundry standing up

34. being able to unload and load the dish washer standing

35. going hiking

36. not having strangers taking pictures of me

37. being able to walk thru a door way without going sideways                                                                                                                                                                                             Sorry everyone I couldn’t post the video It wouldn’t let me for some reason all I could get was a link. But you should definitely watch it nothing like a good dose of Inspiration to get you going. If Neil Burns can do it so can you! Well I hope this story has Inspired you and that it will help you in some way along you’re weight loss journey. And a Big way to go Neil Burns!

  Link to video:                                                                                                                                  http://news.yahoo.com/video#video=29529911

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