I was pretty sure I was going to fail when I started my DDP YOGA journey. With 40 just a few months away, I figured I was too old to have any luck with getting fit. I had always heard that it was harder to do as you got older, and 40 was the epitome of starting that inevitable descent into old age. I had so much going on in life that I figured I would soon fall back into my usual bad habits. 

It’s safe to say that I have been pretty big my whole life. When I was born I weighed 10 lbs 4 oz. I graduated high school at 235 lbs. When I got engaged to my wife, I weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 360 lbs. I was able to get down to 315 lbs by our wedding day by simply cutting out soda and fast food, though I soon got back up to 330 lbs shortly after the ceremony. There were times throughout my life when I would have big losses of weight followed by huge gains. Nothing seemed permanent, except for me accepting that I would always be big.

Stress from relationships, work, my parents getting divorced, and life in general were big contributors to my roller coaster weight ride. So too was the liking I took to regularly going out for food and drinks with friends. I liked to have a good time and wanted to make sure everyone I was with was having a good time as well. Credit card companies loved me, and there was a time or two where I thought I was going to lose everything I had because I could not afford to pay my bills. I don’t think I consciously looked to consume food to make me feel better. There were even times when food would stress me out because I knew I wanted to eat healthy foods, but I would not allow myself to do so. I started working a night job to help pay my bills which was great, but it also meant crazy long days and horrible late night food choices. My diet was a mess, my head was a mess, my activity level was a mess, my life was a mess.

Not long after I got married, my wife and I learned we had we would soon be welcoming our son into the world. I was certainly excited about our family growing, but it sure scared me. I was approaching 40, and completely out of shape. How was I going to practice sports with my son? How was I going to roll around on the floor and play with him? Heck, how long was I going to be around to see how his life progressed? I started searching for weight loss methods on the internet and came across the Arthur video. This got me thinking that DDP YOGA was the answer to all of my problems. I ordered a Max Pack, heart rate monitor, and mat shortly after my son was born. But being a new parent wiped me out and I never started. I later saw an interview with Mick Foley where he mentioned his weight loss was due to DDP YOGA which reignited my desire to start. The only problem was it still took me a few months to actually do so.

It was the end of August 2016 when I actually got started. I weighed in at 330 lbs. I set a goal of 300 lbs by Thanksgiving, which was my 40th birthday. Ultimately, I wanted to get down to 200 lbs, something I was not so sure I could do. I began by following the beginner schedule in the program guide as well as the Phase 1 eating program. I was working 3 nights a week so I made the decision to make some really big changes to my lifestyle in order to make the nutrition component work. Sunday mornings we’d go to the farmer’s market, and Sunday evenings I’d cook for the week. Tri-tip roasts, chicken breast, ground buffalo, and an assortment of vegetables replaced bags of fast food and taco truck burritos.

I made the decision to improve my life and was actually sticking to it. The “Living Life at 90%” video spoke to me. By mid-October I hit my goal of 300 lbs; by my birthday I was down 50 lbs.

Since starting the program, I have continuously looked for information from others to help improve my progress. I moved on to Phase 2 and ultimately Phase 3 of the nutrition plan. I try to workout 2-3 hours a day, 7 days a week. Along the way, I found out that I have osteoarthritis in my right shoulder. Through modifications, I have been able to continue with DDPY which has actually helped it feel much, much better.

Today (July 2017) I’m down to 204 lbs, I should be able to reach my goal of 200 lbs in the next week or two. More importantly, I feel like my life actually has some direction and purpose to it for the first time in a long while.

Update - February 2018

Since my last update in July 2017, I wound up blowing past my goal of getting under 200 lbs. I decided to try to get to 180. This was a special number to me. I started DDPY weighing 330, but my highest weight just a couple years before that was 360. I thought losing half of my body weight would be a pretty cool tale. Less than 15 months after starting DDPY I was down 150 lbs and hit that magic number of 180. Weight loss aside, I also wrapped up my DDPY Level 1 Certification. It’s been a tremendous feeling sharing all if the wonderful things about this program with others.

John White is a DDPY Certified Level 1 Instructor who offers DDPY classes in the Stockton, CA area. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/themightydubzilla/