At 540lbs, Andrew Goldblatt fell into a deep depression due to his weight and the passing of his father.
Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Andrew was always a big guy and when his father passed at the age of 15, it pushed him into a deep hole he could not get out of - he wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and eat all day.
Andrew told Truly: "I tried to lose weight a ton of different ways but putting back on the weight was a lot easier than expected."
Andrew would comfort eat, constantly eating and drinking. He said: “I couldn’t fit into most cars. I couldn’t go on rollercoasters or sit at my desk."
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To make matters worse for Andrew, he began having regular seizures and the turning point came when he had a seizure in his bedroom.
Andrew said: “I had a seizure in my bedroom and I was too large to get down the steps in the stretcher. The only option would be cutting down the side of my house so they could forklift me out."
This was a huge wakeup call for Andrew that triggered the start to his weight loss journey. Due to a new food regime and intense workouts, Andrew has managed to lose 230lbs and continues to encourage others to do the same.
"When I first started losing weight, all I did was walk a mile around my block" said Andrew.
This is a great first takeaway: walking is one of the simplest, most accessible forms of exercise you can do. It's low-impact, meaning it's not very harmful to our joints, and we can incorporate it easily into our day by eschewing the car or bus.
Once walking becomes part of your day and you're able to build up to fitness, you could transition to more strenuous forms of exercise such as running, resistance training or swimming.
All you need is a good pair of the best shoes for walking, and you can check out our guide to walking for weight loss for more information on getting started.
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