At just 17 years old, Christopher Charron had put on 540lbs due to a horrific childhood trauma.
Earl Wallace, the mental health assistant at Christopher’s school saw that the teenager was desperate for help, and wanted to do whatever he could to lend a helping hand.
“I would look at him and see that the weight was kind of hindering him and I felt like if I could help him lose the weight, he would be able to come out of his shell a little bit,” said Earl.
Christopher blames his unhealthiness on being lazy, but it was much deeper than that. In 2007, Christopher’s father stabbed his long-term girlfriend to death, before attacking his own children, including Christopher. His father pleaded guilty and has been in jail ever since.
To deal with his anxiety and depression, Christopher would eat, but with the help of Earl, the teen had a chance of overcoming his demons.
Earl gave Christopher a strict diet that eliminated most carbs and red meat and relied heavily on vegetables, lean meats and fish.
Christopher also joined Retro Fitness in Edison, NJ to exercise with Earl, and describes the first week being terrible.
“I would get tired after five minutes,” he told Today.com. “When I was out of breath a lot I would say ‘I don’t want to do this; I want to go home.’ But I just kept doing it.”
At first, the diet was really hard because Chris loved eating hamburgers, but after seeing that he lost 6lbs within the first two weeks, he felt good. “I was extremely excited. I would always just see my weight go up, not down,” he says.
And now, after losing 325lbs in two years, Christopher’s new lifestyle consists of him going to the gym with or without Earl. Christopher’s mom Debbie Charron says, “Earl says” are “the two favorite words from Christopher’s mouth.”
He has had the single largest weight loss of over 2.5 million Retro Fitness members (nationally) that came through the doors in the past 11 years. He works out five to six times a week, and feels incredibly lucky that Wallace pushed him to succeed. “He would always make me keep doing it. He wouldn’t let me give up,” Chris says.
Earl says, “I am just happy that he’s able to live a normal life. Today I am proud … he lost almost two people. His whole personality changed. I am happy. He earned it.”
Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you…
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[Featured Image Credit: Today.com- Debbie Charron]
Teen Who Ate To Escape Tragic Past Loses 325lbs Thanks To One Man’s Kindness is an article from: LifeDaily