Idaho Falls man loses nearly half his body weight

It’s no secret that many Americans need to lose a few pounds. Recent statistics by the Center for Disease Control show that a majority of American adults are overweight or obese. For one Idaho Falls man, losing the weight became more than just a small health decision, it became a major lifestyle change that helped him lose close to half his body weight.

“My starting weight was 428 (pounds), and I am 220 right now,” said Neal Randall.

The weight loss journey began back in April of 2015 when Randall said he went through a series of life changing experiences.

“What got me started was my desire to live, and to be there for my children,” said Randall. “I had a sort of awakening when my mother died, and I believe she died from complications to obesity.”

On top of losing his mother, Randall was hospitalized for pancreatitis. “I was in recovery for a long time. I remember going to my mail box and being so physically exhausted and I thought, I don’t want to live like this,” said Randall. “I just got tired of being the fat guy. Tired of being the guy that couldn’t fit in an airplane seat. Tired of being the guy that couldn’t fit in a small car, or buy clothes at the store.”

So as Randall recovered from his hospital stay, he progressively made strides in his exercise regime. Starting with just walking down the street and back, to walking around the block, to then jogging around the block. Now he runs several miles each day and actually finished his second marathon just last weekend in Portland, Oregon.

Randall said the main reason why this weight loss effort was different was why and how he did it. “I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight in the past and never been able to keep it off. The reason being is I was focused more on getting the weight off rather than focusing on what was healthy,” said Randall. “So I decided that I wasn’t going to do it quickly, and I was going to do it in a healthy manner.”

A healthy manner for Randall meant that on top of exercising, he had to change the food he ate, and the relationship he had with food. “(Changing) my pantry was a slow process. I wasn’t intentional, it’s just how it happened as I learned what was beneficial and what was healthy for your body,” said Randall.

Randall cut out sodas, a lot of processed food and migrated towards eating food that’s “as close to the source as possible.”

“And as I did that, I started to feel better. I could feel the changes in myself,” said Randall. “That’s not to say I never had a dessert or that I never enjoyed rolls here and there, but it became a balance or a presence of mind for me.”

Losing over 200 pounds means that Randall gets to do a lot more than he used to, like skiing, hiking, and rock climbing. It also means that his body is very different from what it used to be.

“Being that large was normal to me and that was the way I lived for a long, long time,” said Randall. “So when I got down to a relatively normal weight, it’s a transition. People treat you differently, you think about food differently, you think about activities differently. A lot of times it’s hard to see yourself as a non-overweight or obese person.”

Dr. Gracie Hargraves with Creekside Counseling says this kind of experience is relatively common for people who lose large amounts of weight.

“When you loose the weight, your mindset may be different with regard to a healthier living. At the same time, who you are may not have changed,” said Hargraves. “How people treat you, may be different. So it’s adapting to that change with people.”

Hargraves said talking to a counselor can be a big help for people going through a similar transition with their own bodies. “They have someone that is going to relate to them as a person that they are, with anything that they want to talk about in the counseling process. To be with them on their journey with unconditional, positive regard. Not so much about how much weight they lost but what that means to them,” said Hargraves.