A High school senior lost 115 pounds by walking to school and changing his diet.
Michael Watson who is 18, has had a life long battle with weight but decided to make a lasting change when he looked in a mirror his sophomore year of high school.
He said, “When I looked in the mirror I was really ready to get it done and thought, ‘I can’t just fail anymore on my diet,’ I need to actually do this.”
Watson, now a high school senior in Canton, Ohio, started by walking to and from school every day, more than 40 minute round trip.
He walked to school every day of his junior year, no matter whether it was hot, raining or snowing.
Watson recalled, “When I took the bus to school, I’d want to sit by a kid and they’d say, ‘No, go sit somewhere else because I was so big.’ When I started walking, I didn’t even know what time the bus came and that was my motivation, ‘I have to walk.’”
Watson also changed his diet, working with his dad to learn how to count calories and then forgoing his normal fast food meals for salads, oatmeal and soup.
Watson started at his highest weight of 325 pounds. He now weighs 210 pounds, achieving a 115 pound weight loss.
In addition to walking, Watson now lifts weights in a home gym he created in his family’s garage.
Watson plans to find a full-time job after graduation, possibly in the food industry. He studied in his school’s culinary program during his weight loss.