A morbidly obese man who tipped the scales at 540lbs has completely overhauled his unhealthy lifestyle and shed more than 300lbs. But after losing more than half his body weight, he has been left with nearly 20lbs of excess skin hanging from his body.
In just two years, San Diego resident John Allaire has gone from 540lbs to 230lbs by swapping junk food for healthier options and regularly working up a sweat at the gym, and this week he spoke about his journey on The Doctors – when he was surprised with free skin-removal surgery.
‘The thing I have always wanted the most is just to be able to function and move and look like a normal person and put on clothes like a normal person,’ he said.
Transformation: John Allaire went from 540lbs to 230lbs in just two years
Struggle: John’s incredible weight loss left him with 16 to 20lbs of excess skin on his body
Incredible: John and his wife Caila posed inside of one of his old T-shirts while celebrating him losing 297lbs in 15 months
‘To be able to maybe experience things like normal person in every sense is a blessing.’
John explained he was just six years old when he started turning to food for comfort to deal with his parents’ divorce.
He got heavier and heavier, but his weight really spiraled out of control when he was 18 and found out his father had Stage IV cancer.
‘I came home and my dad walked out, and I didn’t know what was going on,’ John recalled. ‘He hugged me and said in my ear, “John, I’m toast. I’m done.”‘
Bad habit: When he was just six years old, John started turning to food to deal with the pain of his parents’ divorce
Heartbroken: John’s weight really spiraled out of control when he was 18 and found out his father had Stage IV cancer
Out of control: Caila said her husband’s eating habits only got worse after his father died
John said his father was given six months to live, and he found himself turning to food while dealing with the devastating news.
‘I would go to a fast food restaurant and buy a bag full of food and that was my medication,’ he explained.
John’s wife Caila said her husband’s eating habits only got worse after his father died, and he hit his lowest point when he went to have his first physical exam since high school.
‘The doctor had to send me to a fish market because they did not have a scale that would weight me,’ he said. ‘They told me I was 540lbs.
Happy occasion: John and Caila are picture together on their wedding day
Scary moment: John hit his breaking point when his doctor had to send him to a fish market to get weighed. He was warned that if he didn’t lose weight, he would die at a young age
Making changes: After struggling with numerous diets, John signed up for a boot camp program that he came across on Facebook
‘The doctor tried to tell me as plainly as he could that if I didn’t not do something about this I was going to die at a young age.’
John said his doctor’s grave warning was enough to get him to start trying to lose weight, and while he tried plenty of diets, he couldn’t stop his late-night binging.
Caila recalled finding stashes of Coke cans, snack wrappers, and cookies hidden all over their home.
It wasn’t until John signed up for a boot camp program that he came across on Facebook that he really started to overhaul his diet. He even made a video of himself cleaning out ‘all of the crap food’ that was in his house.
Steady: The weight loss boot camp helped John shed pounds and inspired him to overhaul his diet once and for all
Success: In just one year, John went from wearing a 4XL jersey to a 2XL jersey
Accountability: For John, the key to losing weight was finding a community of like-minded people who had the same goals, so he wasn’t doing it a alone
Caila admitted that the first six weeks were extremely difficult for John, and she wasn’t sure he was going to make it. But things started to get easier and easier for him.
Although he is proud of his incredible weight loss, he is always looking to set a new goal to keep himself with getting complacent.
With 16 to 20lbs of skin hanging from his body, John started a Go Fund Me campaign in hopes of raising $40,000 to have skin removal surgery, raising more than $5,700 since December.
But thanks to his appearance on The Doctors, Dr. Michael Zarrabi and plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Barrett have offered him free skin reduction surgery in celebration of his success.
Hope: With 16 to 20lbs of skin hanging from his body, John started a Go Fund Me campaign in hopes of raising $40,000 to have skin removal surgery
Dream come true: When John appeared on The Doctors this week, he was surprised with an offer for free skin removal surgery
For John, the key to losing weight was finding a community of like-minded people who had the same goals, so he wasn’t doing it a alone.
‘[It was] the most effective form of accountability I can imagine,’ he said.
John has documented his weight loss journey on his Instagram page, and he frequently shares photos of his healthy meals.
His wife couldn’t be more proud of him.
‘He’s amazing. He’s put in a lot of hard work and discipline,’ Caila said. ‘He’s endured a lot of challenges and failures but he just kept trying.’
She added: ‘He finally found his success story.’