A Nova Scotia man is proving that hard work really does pays off, after losing nearly half his body weight in less than a year.
At 24, Ryan Clarke weighed nearly 400 pounds. The Glace Bay man was eating fast food three times a day. He never wanted to leave his home and he suffered from both depression and anxiety.
His doctor warned him he would likely be dead by his 30th birthday.
Clarke says that prognosis was the motivation he needed to get his life back on track.
“I just decided today was the day,” Clarke told Global News.
He admits that at first, he never thought he’d be able to stick to a fitness routine. He had tried exercising in the past, but said he felt uncomfortable, self conscious and like everyone was staring at him.
After a few weeks of hard work at Platinum Fitness, he started to notice results. He said that was all it took to motivate him to keep going.
“I’m basically addicted,” Clarke said.
Clarke hits the gym twice a day — an hour of cardio in the mornings before he goes to school and weight training in the evenings.
“I’m so proud of him,” said Alyssa Clarke, Ryan’s wife.
The couple has been together for seven years.
Alyssa Clarke says in the year before her husband started to lose weight, he had become a different person — suffering from severe depression and basically eating his life away.
200-pound transformation
When Clarke started his transformation, he weighed in at 383 pounds. In 10 months he has lost 183 pounds.
Alyssa Clarke says the weight loss has not only transformed Ryan when it comes to shedding pounds — it’s also made him a healthier, happier man over all.
Clarke is now off anti-depressants, he’s eating healthy and no longer lets his weight control him.
Clarke has started both an Instagram account and a Facebook page, which he uses to not only share photos of his progress, but also to inspire others to start their own weight-loss journeys.
“I want to make people the next success story.”
On top of studying to become a paralegal, Clarke is working toward getting his nutrition and weight loss certification so that he can help people at all levels of fitness achieve their own personal goals the way he did.
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