The desire to present your best self to your spouse on your wedding day is a common one among couples in love. In the ceremony, you hear the words “Til death do us part,� and you want that life together to continue for a very long time.

So, if there’s a nagging thought in the back of your head that the “in sickness,â€� part may become a reality sooner rather than later, you might be prompted to make some lifestyle changes.

John Thomas Allaire did just that. After proposing to his high school sweetheart, Caila in 2015, John was determined to lose weight. At 540 lbs, with a BMI of 70, [1] John was concerned that Caila would have to take care of him if he started to experience health problems that were inevitable due to his weight.

‘Even though Caila loved me as I was, and she was ready to commit to marrying me at 540 pounds, I was like, “There is no way that I can, in good conscience, drag this woman through the difficulties that I am going to go through the rest of my life if I don’t lose weight,â€� John told the Daily Mail.[2]

John began juicing and walking at least three times a week. By the time their wedding rolled around in February of 2016, John had lost just 20 lbs. He knew he needed to do more. He tossed out all the junk food in the house and joined a program at The Camp Transformation Center in San Diego.  John lost 300 lbs over 15 months.[1,3]

The Path To Weight Gain

John recounts that after his parents’ divorce his mom would often pick up extra desserts in stressful situations.  The pattern of “Comfort Eatingâ€� continued for John. The year his father became ill with cancer, John shot up from 380 lbs to 500 lbs  – categorizing him as morbidly obese.[4]

Saggy Skin After Weight Loss

Losing weight slowly and building muscle during the process can help to reduce the amount of excess skin.  However, when losing a vast amount of weight, such as in John’s case, there is no way to completely avoid the after effects of loose skin.[5]

Surgery

After John’s remarkable weight loss John was left with about 13 lbs of excess skin. John opted for surgery to his upper body to remove the nine feet of unnecessary skin. Contouring surgery is very expensive, and John started a GoFundMe to help with the costs.[1,2]

John’s wife, Caila, said before her husband’s surgery,“The surgery is just gonna improve his overall quality of life, I think. He’s finally gonna feel, like, completely free… there’s not gonna be any baggage from his obesity.â€�[FB]

John commented that he was now able to complete, with ease, tasks he had struggled with in the past. Things that most people take for granted like tying their shoelaces used to pose a problem for him.

Reasons that excess skin can be a source of frustration:

• Overall mobility is affected.
• Clothes are still ill-fitting due to the excess skin.
• Rashes can develop from the chaffing of excess skin.
• Self-esteem takes a dive: after working so hard to achieve the weight loss, the expectation was a toned body.

Not everyone is bothered by the excess skin associated with weight loss.  Krystina Wright, 31, from Warwickshire, England lost 97 lbs and had this to say:

“When I’m walking, [the skin] around my legs is obviously looser than somebody who hasn’t lost weight but I just ignore it. I’m so happy with my journey that everything negative about my old self doesn’t seem to matter.�[6]

Susan Hawkins, from Atlanta, lost 150 pounds as a result of a sleeve gastrectomy. While she doesn’t love the saggy skin, she prefers it to her former obesity and views it as a “badge of honor.â€�[7]

Healthy New Beginning

John has gone through the Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer program by the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). He will be undergoing another surgery in the future to remove the extra skin from his lower body. What a great motivator, love is. John is now able to enjoy a better quality of life with his wife.

More Inspiration

Check out which habits Hannah Lester changed to lose 100 lbs and read about one couple who succeeded in losing weight together.

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