Real life weight loss: I lost 286lbs and had my loose skin surgically removed

After years of bullying about his weight, Michael Sebti, 24, from Meximieux, France, wanted to hide himself away from the world.

At his heaviest, Michael weighed 445lbs. He told YouTube channel Truly, who documented his weight loss journey: “My goal was to hide myself from people because when they used to see myself, they would criticize me, bully me, laugh at me, so my goal was to be… To hide myself from them.”

However, Michael found the determination to change his lifestyle and through following a strict diet and doing home workouts, Michael managed to lose an incredible 286lbs over the course of two years. Michael said: “As I am a proud person I will say I was able to gain that weight alone so I will be able to lose that weight alone and I will do everything alone.”

 Watch Michael's inspiring weight loss story here: 

Michael has since realised that his diet became too restrictive and has adapted to a more balanced diet. For Michael, the hardest part of his journey was his loose skin and he consequently had three surgeries to remove it. In the video above, he will be revealing the results to his friend Romain.

Michael, a self-confessed perfectionist, is happy with his body image now but still feels there is room for improvement and now has his eyes set on another goal: bodybuilding.

His advice for anyone wanting to lose weight? Michael said: “Just believe in yourself, don't let anybody put yourself down. And each time people who will criticize you, who will put you down, use them as a fuel, as a fuel for your workout, as a fuel for your goal.”

Our takeaway? Michael is shown doing lots of great high-intensity exercise, such as boxing, and sprint training, in order to lose weight. These exercises are classic weight loss moves that burn a ton of calories. They also build a lot of mind-muscle connection, especially boxing, which requires co-ordination and learning a new skill.

It's why so many boxers use skipping to keep fit – skipping requires the same ability to co-ordinate your feet while doing a very strenuous exercise. Coincidentally, skipping is also one of our best exercises for weight loss.

Sprint training takes running and applies the principles of HIIT training to it, which means it's both great for cardiovascular endurance and fantastic for weight loss. All you need is the best running shoes for men or best running shoes for women to get started: on your normal run, try sprinting for 30 seconds, jogging for 30 seconds, rinse and repeat.