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North Carolina man, once obese, goes from YUCK to HOT!

A man who dropped over 100 pounds in less than a year now wants to motivate others to change their lives — while striving to reach even higher himself.

Taylor Robertson, 27, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, tipped the scales at well over 300 pounds in October 2021 when he decided to make changes in his life.

The first thing on his list? He quit drinking.

"I drank for probably six years straight," Robertson told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.

He said he drank about a bottle of liquor a day, to the point where he "started making bad decisions."

With the help of his fiancée, Robertson got sober — and immediately dropped about 30 pounds without exercising.

Inspired by this weight loss, Robertson turned to YouTube for diet and exercise tips.

He found that eating one large meal a day of chicken and rice worked well with his lifestyle, and he also began to work toward exercising more.

In nine months, Robertson lost 130 pounds, he said.

Robertson credited his tendency to take things to the "extreme" for his success in transforming himself — and for how he got so heavy and unfit in the first place. "When I was drinking, I took that to the extreme," he said. "I want to change my life, and I took that to the extreme as well. So I started running."

At the start of his running journey, Robertson said he "couldn't run a quarter-mile without feeling like I was absolutely dead."

Running was "hard as hell," he said — but he decided to push on with it. He now runs 5K races frequently and ultimately hopes to complete the Ironman triathlon.

Throughout his fitness journey, Robertson turned to retired Navy SEAL-turned-runner David Goggins for motivation, listening to his talks and videos "every single day," he said.

Goggins, who was also once 300 pounds, according to his website, changed his own habits to become "the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Air Force tactical air controller training and the U.S. Army Ranger School, where he graduated as ‘Enlisted Honor Man.'"

Goggins explained in a video on his website, Bigthink.com, that he doesn't believe in popular and trendy mantras of the day, but in incremental growth — and doing hard things one step at a time.

"If you sit there and have that mentality of ‘triple down every day' at what you're good at, you will never grow," he said in the video — instead recommending doing things that are hard.

He also said, "Mental toughness is a lifestyle. It's something that you live every single day of your life." (SEE Goggins during a "Fox & Friends" appearance in the video at the bottom of this article.)

He also said, "When I was growing up I was a lazy kid, and everybody asks, ‘How did you get to where you’re at today?'"

Goggins continued, "It started off by recognizing, honestly, that my bedroom was dirty … I lived a sloppy life."

He began to make "very small increments of change," he noted. "I started making my bed. I started cleaning my room."

Goggins said that over a period of time, "your brain doesn't like it but it starts to realize, ‘This is a new way of thinking.’"

He also said, "You live uncomfortable to gain growth."

Fox News Digital reached out to Goggins for further comment.

This mindset helped Robertson, too, as he continued his own journey to health and self-discipline.

After quitting drinking, Robertson found he had a sudden increase in free time — and he got "kind of bored."

"I was like, ‘Well, maybe I'll go to the gym since I have the time,'" he said. "Drinking had consumed all of my time."

After getting a gym membership, Robertson said he "just kind of became obsessed with it."

Inspired by Goggins, Robertson began making a point to exercise when he did not want to do it.

"Anything that was hard, [Goggins] would do. If he felt like he didn't want to do it, he would do it," said Robertson.

He began keeping a duffel bag of workout clothes in his car so that he could get in a run at any time, regardless of where he was going.

Robertson, a plumber, works for himself — and fits in exercise whenever he can.

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by Anonymousreply 17January 26, 2023 2:03 AM

"Any time that I'm not working, I'm in the gym," he said.

And while his fiancée thinks Robertson's diet and exercise plan is "psycho," he said, she is relieved that he's no longer drinking and partying. She has also joined him on a health journey of her own.

After losing quite a bit of weight to the point where he said he was in disbelief when he looked in the mirror, Robertson decided to start a TikTok account to inspire others to make changes in their own lives.

He now has almost 40,000 followers.

"I can see that if anyone could be an inspiration, it could be me," he said.

"Because I was the fattest, most hillbilly-looking [person] you could imagine."

Robertson used grit, hard work and determination to get where he is today.

"There were zero steroids, fat burners or any other substances used," he said. "Just hard work and consistency."

Robertson knows there are other people like him in need of motivation and inspiration to change their lives.

He also said he knows there are a lot of "chubby, blue-collar" guys out there who "think they can't get in shape … I was one of them."

Robertson's biggest advice? "Just get started."

"Just start walking. Try it. Just try a diet," he said.

"And if it's too hard to walk, ride a bike. If it's too hard to ride a bike, I don't know, twiddle your thumbs, but do it so much you can't do it anymore."

He added, "That's what I did."

by Anonymousreply 1January 26, 2023 12:04 AM

Before and after.

Omg.

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by Anonymousreply 2January 26, 2023 12:04 AM

it can happen for elders and fraus too:

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by Anonymousreply 3January 26, 2023 12:13 AM

Nahh. I can't get past the truly stupid expression on his face.

by Anonymousreply 4January 26, 2023 12:22 AM

His hair and shoes are criminal offenses. Do better.

by Anonymousreply 5January 26, 2023 12:24 AM

The face needs work

by Anonymousreply 6January 26, 2023 12:24 AM

At least you got rid of the awful facial hair. That look is rampant in NC

by Anonymousreply 7January 26, 2023 12:27 AM
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by Anonymousreply 8January 26, 2023 12:31 AM

Fit? Yes. Hot? No.

by Anonymousreply 9January 26, 2023 12:33 AM

You’re right, r3, but it can be much more difficult for elders, especially if they are set in their ways.

It takes much more effort. This young man’s advice, however, is spot on. Just start. Once you start to see progress, it’s encouraging.

Nine years ago I lost 95 pounds. I started slow and told myself I’m not going on a diet, but I’m going to cut down on what I eat. If I go to McDonald’s, instead of getting $40 worth of food just for me, I’ll get a meal. A single meal. Then I started substituting soda for seltzer and weighed myself daily. Once you see those pounds starting to come off, you really second guess if you want to snack while you watch TV, etc. and after a while I didn’t miss the snacking at all.

I kept promising myself I’d have a cheat day and eat any- and everything I wanted, but seeing the progress I was making, I kept saying, “nah, that’s ok because I don’t want to get on the scale tomorrow and be disappointed.”

I went from 265 to 170. Now I hover anywhere from 170-190 and I don’t miss anything because I’ll let myself have stuff, just not in the vast quantities I had been years ago.

by Anonymousreply 10January 26, 2023 1:10 AM

I would definitely hit it!

He looks hot.

by Anonymousreply 11January 26, 2023 1:15 AM

Why thank you, r11, that’s very—oh, him.

Uh, yeah, I’d hit it too.

by Anonymousreply 12January 26, 2023 1:26 AM

I need to see a before and after of the dick

by Anonymousreply 13January 26, 2023 1:40 AM

Good on him for getting healthy and fir. But he's still got the same extremely ugly, dopey face though...

Hot? Absolutely not.

by Anonymousreply 14January 26, 2023 1:42 AM

R2, we saw. It’s in the OP.

by Anonymousreply 15January 26, 2023 2:02 AM

Let’s see his before and after dick pic.

by Anonymousreply 16January 26, 2023 2:03 AM

Amazing that he doesn’t have horrible drooping skin.

by Anonymousreply 17January 26, 2023 2:03 AM
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