In 2015, Chris Jimenez was in a bad place.
He weighed 360 lbs. and struggled with even the most basic tasks such as tying his shoelaces. It was a wake-up call for him and became determined to totally turn things around.
Four years on and that’s what Chris did, weighing in at a healthy 185 lbs. and inspiring others to also become the best versions of themselves.
Watch the inspiring story of Chris below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Chris, from California, said: “Before my journey, I was a very depressed person. I never went out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody and I was always playing video games, never active.
“I actually wasn’t living my life being big as I was, because I was so limited to what I could do.
“I realized that going down that path was not going to lead me anywhere down the line, except for a heart attack at a young age.”
Aaron, his older brother, added: “Since I can remember he was always the bigger kid in the class.
“At 10 years old or eight years old, something around there – they were telling him that he wasn’t going to make it past his 21st birthday.”
Chris said he lost an astounding 180 lbs. by mainly ditching sugary food and being more aware of what he ate. He combined this with high-intensity cardio sessions at the gym and weight training to build muscle.
When he started, he couldn’t last more than two or three minutes on the treadmill. Now, he can “comfortably” go for 15-20 minutes at a time.
“I wasn’t in no way shape or form physically active. I was just eating and eating and eating,” Chris said.
Of his first day at the gym, he said: “I actually remember the day.
“The hardest part about the beginning was actually mentally coming here [into the gym] because I thought people were laughing at me.
“Now it has turned into a passion.”
Shawn Karai, who owns New York Fitness where Chris regularly works out, said it’s normal for Chris to work out twice a day.
He said: “To get what Chris has done takes a whole lot of effort.
“He is doing what 99.99 percent of people couldn’t do. He is in here and he is dedicating to how he eats and he maintains going to school, going to work, working out twice a day.
“He has done remarkable things, he really has.”
Chris is currently saving up for an operation to lose all the excess skin he had from shedding all that weight.
Chris was adopted while he was young and used food as a coping mechanism for his problems and that caused him to pack on the pounds even as a teenager.
He explained: “My biological mom wasn’t mentally fit to be a parent and eventually we got put into the foster care system.
“One day she just couldn’t take the pressure anymore and took her life.
“Thinking about it now, losing your mom that young, your family not stepping up to take you in, it just made me feel like I was just not wanted.”
While he says that his depression wasn’t wholly caused by his eating habits, he said it “played a role” in getting so big.
“I was bottled up and food was always there for me,” he added.
Janice, his adoptive mother, said: “It was very hard to see what he was going through with his struggles when he was younger.
“We don’t know what his life would have been like if he stayed like that.
“The metamorphism that he went through, like the caterpillar, he is just beautiful.”
Sebastian, Chris’ younger sibling, witnessed first-hand how his big brother struggled with his body.
He said: “He would always be covered up with the shirt on.”
But now, Chris’ journey has even inspired Sebastian to go to the gym. The siblings are often found in the gym rather than in front of a video game.
Sebastian added: “He didn’t feel good about himself and to see him turn this all around… I am proud of him.
“He is my inspiration and I can’t wait to see where he goes on his journey.”
Chris said his dating life was “non-existent” before due to his weight and self-confidence issues. But he has a girlfriend now named Dyani who is very supportive.
“I didn’t think anybody would be with me. I wasn’t living a quality life. I wasn’t even living life really.
“She’s just so funny and great and I feel like I can truly be myself around her.”
And for others who are trying to lose weight, Chris says to never give up.
“I remember when I first started my weight loss journey, looking into the mirror, not for one second I liked the reflection of it. I just saw a broken person.
“Now I look at myself and I see progress, I see goals I see what I want out of life.
“To everybody that wants to transform their body and transform their lives, it is possible.”
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