East Tenn. man loses 200 pounds, hopes to inspire others
Jason Lyles lost more than 200 pounds since 2018, despite a heart attack on the treadmill.
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - It’s time to make those New Year’s resolutions. Jason Lyles hopes to inspire others who are looking to lose weight.
Lyles used to weigh 526 pounds and was diagnosed with diabetes.
“I let myself go and get this big. I can get myself out of this and get back to where I need to be,” said Lyles, who has been a regular at Maryville Planet Fitness since 2018.
Lyles has made incredible strides since, but there have been hurdles along the way.
“I lost my first 100 pounds and had a heart attack back there on the treadmill,” Lyles said.
He said it was a widow maker heart attack. There was a blockage in his heart’s biggest artery, and he believes it would have killed him had he not been active.
“There was a time that I was scared, but then I got mad at myself for the fear I was allowing myself to have,” he said.
Lyles has been in the gym ever since. In total, he’s down a little more than 200 pounds.
The key for new gym goers is to just keep going, according to Lyles.
“There’s times I pull up, I’m hoping the plumbing’s busted, so I don’t have to come in here,” Lyles said. “But I keep showing up.”
Getting in the gym might be one of your New Year’s resolutions. A trainer with Planet Fitness said the key to sticking with it is to be patient.
“Taking it one day at a time creates the habit itself,” said Alyssa Latham, Fitness Training Support Manager. “And making it a habit creates consistency, even after January and the ‘new year, new me’ wears off.”
Lyles said he’s been following an inspirational quote during his journey, “Love yourself enough to want it, hate yourself enough do it.”
Lyles said it’s been a challenging road, but it’s all been worth it and he has no plans of stopping.
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