A college student lost 220 pounds after swapping his fast food diet for a ‘taste bud cleanse’ which saw him start out eating nothing but unseasoned potatoes for two weeks.
Obese Dylan Wall, 21, from Dixon County, Tennessee, weighed 425lbs when he graduated high school in 2017.
But when he visited Austin Peay State University for a new student day he knew he had to make a change after he could not keep up during the college tour.
He stopped eating all his usual high-calorie meals and snacks and survived on nothing but potatoes for two weeks, then went on a strict no meat or dairy diet, and began a tough exercise regime.
Dylan Wall, 21, from Dixon County, Tennesee, weighed 425lbs before he decided to make a change in his life. Pictured left before and right now
Due to his extreme weightloss, Mr Wall is left with a lot of excess skin which he hopes to have an operation to remove
Mr Wall now weighs around 200lbs and says his life has never been better.
‘During a tour of my college, I lost my group because I couldn’t keep up,’ he recalled. ‘I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it to my classes on time if I stayed on that course.
‘Around the same time, my sister also gave birth to my nephew. I didn’t want to set that example for him.’
The first step of his weight loss was curbing what he called his ‘flavour addiction’.
He said: ‘I started by doing a taste bud cleanse. I ate only potatoes with no seasoning for two weeks. It really helped with my cravings.
‘I then cut out all dairy and red meat. For the most part, I just counted my calories. I didn’t try to make my healthy food taste good. I just ate to fuel myself. I wanted to break my flavor addiction and didn’t want to eat for pleasure.’
Before his new diet, Mr Wall survived on a diet of fast food, meat and processed carbs (pictured before)
At the beginning of his diet, Mr Wall started a ‘taste bud cleanse’ and only ate unseasoned potatoes for two weeks (pictured now)
Before his weightloss Mr Wall had survived on a diet of fast food, meat and processed carbs.
‘I’d usually get something from McDonald’s on the way to school. I would get more than a normal portion for sure,’ he added.
‘For lunch, I’d get a double portion of whatever the school lunch was. I didn’t really have a set dinner. When I got home, I’d eat on and off until I went to sleep.
‘Usually I’d have two or three sandwiches. Other than when I left to go to school, I didn’t really leave the house all that much. It was pretty much like that until the day I graduated high school.’
Mr Wall then switched his breakfast to egg whites with two pieces of low-calorie toast and for lunch, a turkey sub with no cheese.
‘For dinner I would have something like chicken breast with three types of veggies and rice.
‘It took just under a year to lose 180 pounds. I didn’t step into the gym until I lost that first bit of weight.’
Once he was ready to begin working out, Mr Wall started off slowly, introducing some cardio.
The 21-year-old student decided to make a change in his life after he struggled to keep up with other students during a tour at Austin Peay State University (pictured during his journey)
He added: ‘I really wanted to be able to do cardio. It was the bane of my existence. At 30 stone, it wasn’t easy to run in gym class so I did cardio every day when I started.
‘Eventually, I got down to a 7:30 mile. Gradually, I also added some upper body stuff, squats, and deadlifts.
‘After the weight loss, I was left with a considerable amount of extra skin. I wanted to fill that up with muscle mass. I wanted to bulk back up the right way.
‘The last three-and-a-half stone came off a little bit slower. It took another year to get down that last 50 pounds.’
He swapped his unhealthy diet for a dinner of chicken breast with three types of veggies and rice. Pictured before
Mr Wall is now planning to have an operation to remove his excess skin. He said: ‘I would do the surgery. I don’t think I knew how mentally taxing being left with the skin would be. After coming this far and losing so much I’m still left with that reminder everyday.’
The 21-year-old has now begun concentrating on helping the people in his life with their weight issues.
He added: ‘I met my current girlfriend 50 pounds into my weight loss. Since we got together she’s lost five-and-a-half stone. My dad also bet me $100 to see who could lose 60 pounds the fastest.. I won but he lost the 60 pounds too.’