Quantel Thomas was a desperate man on January 1, 2018.
Doctors told him that he was at risk of developing diabetes so he went out and worked to trim himself from 284 lbs. to 180 lbs in 10 months. But that’s not even the most remarkable part because he managed to do all that without the help of a personal trainer or fitness program.
Watch to learn more about his inspiring journey below.
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Video credit: Rumble
Quantel, now 20, said: “I had no surgeries, not even a diet plan, no workout plan, no coaches, nobody told me, this is all just me. It’s all just, what do I have to do to be good, to be the best version of myself? It’s not about just the results.”
And the results were clear enough and encouraged him to continue.
He said: “In one month, I went from 284lbs to 255lbs – the first difference I saw was my face. I went from no neck to all of a sudden my face looking a little slimmer. Just looking around my whole body and I was like ‘Wait a minute, I do look slimmer!’ As soon as I saw that, it just changed.”
Quantel can now deadlift up to 475 lbs and bench press 285 lbs. Currently, he’s at 204 lbs. as he bulks up in preparation for going into bodybuilding. He’s currently studying Exercise Science in college and wants to become a personal trainer when he graduates.
Jayme, Quantel’s mother, can’t believe just how much her son has changed in under two years. From being termed as obese, he can now bench press his former weight.
She said: “He’s lost so much weight, he looks like a totally different person. We look back at old pictures, and I’m just in awe of who he is today. His drive is like no other, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Quantel had always been overweight but his weight issues worsened after being forced to stop playing football for health reasons. He became severely dehydrated during one game and was sent to the hospital for rhabdomyolysis when he suddenly had a seizure.
He said: “They flew me all the way to Children’s Columbus for four days on an IV shot. I finally left and didn’t play sports after that, and that’s when all the weight started gaining. Just gaining, gaining, gaining, and once I hit 18, I reached 300 pounds.
“I just liked to eat. I was always hungry. Like I ate whatever I wanted. Pizza Hut? Let me get that whole thing. Some chicken? Let me get all the chicken. Some fries? Give me all the fries.
“At first, it honestly made me feel good and then afterward there’d be days where I ate, then go to the bathroom mirror and look at myself like, ‘You fat boy, why are you doing that?’ I just looked in the mirror in pure disgust.”
Several attempts at losing weight did let him go down from 303 lbs. to 284 lbs. but not to the levels that he desired.
Quantel’s struggles were also compounded by depression. It was a vicious cycle where he would binge-eat because of his depression and weight only to become more depressed as he grew heavier and realized how unhealthy his eating habits were.
“I was constantly sad. And I didn’t like being sad,” he said.
“I really hated myself. I let all this negativity just consume me. I just didn’t know how to deal with it.
“I actually went to the hospital and they basically said ‘hey man, you got to think about your health, you’re here gaining all this weight, you gain 20 pounds each and every month man. They basically said I was pre-diabetic. I was that close.”
As soon as he started going to the gym, Quantel soon noticed the changes to his physique. Losing 104 lbs. not only improved his weight but also his outlook on life.
He said: “I got to fix this mindset. How can I just love myself for who I am? So I just started working out.
“Getting the pump is like one of the best feelings in the world, that’s the main reason why I come into the gym each and every time.
“I would say the transformation is all mental.
“To be able to love me, that’s the true ultimate milestone.”
Replaced!