When the way of life weighs you down, it's up to you to pull yourself back up. And if you don't have the muscles to pull the weight, then start exercising them. Here's an inspirational story about Blake Gauthier, who dropped half of his weight after he suffered a life-changing heart attack and turned his life 180 degrees for the better, and gradual changes made him a role model of weight loss.
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Blake Gauthier had a bad diet, lifelong bout with depression, and wasn't active
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Blake Gauthier had issues with his weight most of his adult life. Bad diet, inactivity, and a lifelong battle with depression were constantly weighing him down. He admits that he used to drink and eat all of his feelings away, delaying necessary changes in his lifestyle. He lost over 150 pounds once, but as his house renovation started, he rebounded back into his unhealthy lifestyle, as he didn't have a kitchen and had to constantly order food.
Up to a point where he weighed 530 at his heaviest
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
His life was pulled to a halt when he had a heart attack
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
The bad habits snowballed to a point where he weighed 530 pounds. At such a weight, something had to give, and it did. Back in 2018, he suffered a heart attack. Blake told the story of that fateful moment: "I was walking down the street with my girlfriend at the time—who, luckily for me, was a nurse—and suddenly I couldn't catch my breath. I remember reaching out to grab the wall of a building. The next thing I knew, I was in an ambulance. They had just brought me back after dying of a heart attack. I was revived in the ambulance on my way to the hospital and that was one hell of a wake-up call."
While laying on the operation table, Blake realized he had to turn his lifestyle around
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
At that moment, Blake realized he had to change his lifestyle completely. But since he also suffered collateral damage, he had some major hurdles to go through in his path. He tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL when he fell, so he couldn't even walk at first. When he recovered from that, he immediately started walking and moving away from his past self.
He started with just walking, and gradually took up exercises
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
"As soon as I was able to, I started walking. I changed the way I eat and I started working out. As I lost weight and saw my body changing, I pushed harder to see more changes. I started researching how the body works and how it responds to exercise and started to treat myself like a sculptor. Like what Arnold said in Pumping Iron. Instead of using clay, you exercise. To build up your deltoids, do more shoulder presses, and I keep that same mentality today. I take weekly progress photos and compare them to old photos to see what’s working and what needs more work. Currently working towards making my debut as a bodybuilder at a show in July."
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
As he kept going, his body transformed drastically
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
After some time, his abs became visible
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
Image credits: thesilverbackviking
He dropped 275 pounds, so it's safe to say that he's half the man he used to be
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He's even planning on going to a bodybuilding competition
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Blake now looks like exercise is his second nature
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The silverback viking, as he calls himself on social media, is very happy with how his life is going
Image credits: thesilverbackviking