Throughout most of my life, I’ve battled obesity. As a chubby kid who developed a complicated relationship with food and had zero understanding of nutrition, things spiraled quickly. I hit my heaviest weight of 320 pounds as a young adult, but the journey to that point started much earlier.

I grew up in a big, loving family of six kids. I’m the second youngest, so you can imagine how chaotic our household was. I remember my early years (ages 5-8) as a time when my parents were incredibly attentive, and I was well-cared for by everyone, including my siblings. During this period, I was actually at a normal, healthy weight for my age.

But when I hit my preteen years (9-13), everything changed. The family dynamic became tumultuous as everyone juggled their own challenges. My parents worked multiple jobs just to keep food on our table and ensure we had enough to get by. My siblings were busy with their own lives and spent a lot of time babysitting. It was a hard time for all of us — not because anyone was to blame, but because life was simply overwhelming for everyone involved.

That’s when the bullying started at school. Combined with the chaotic home environment, I began experiencing difficult emotions at a young age. I started using food as a coping mechanism because it provided comfort. Even though we didn’t have much, I somehow always found ways to overeat or consume too many calories for my age. I had no idea what consequences my actions would have, I just knew that food made me feel better.

My daily routine became predictable: breakfast at school (a cake doughnut and chocolate milk), followed by whatever looked most appealing for lunch, which I’d eat until I was completely full. Anytime a teacher offered snacks, I’d take them. When I got home, I’d keep eating until I felt uncomfortably full. Looking back, I feel guilty knowing my eating habits made things harder for my family, but I was just a kid who didn’t understand the impact of my actions.

As I got older, I became less active, spending most of my time playing video games and watching YouTube. I kept gaining weight, which made me increasingly insecure as I entered junior high — a crucial time for any young person. That’s when I discovered my passion for acting.

I joined my school’s theatre program and was cast in the school play. It was incredible timing because I felt so alone at that point. Most people thought I was gross and ugly and constantly made fun of me. But in the theatre program, I was accepted in a loving way by most people.

Most importantly, when I stepped onto that stage, my body weight didn’t matter. For those brief moments, it felt like stepping into a completely different body — a whole new life. That’s when I fell in love with both acting and video creation. These two passions gave me drive and something exciting to focus on, replacing the constant upset and desire to do nothing but watch YouTube and play games.

As I became more involved in the arts during junior high, I naturally became more active and started eating less excessively (though I still had no knowledge of proper nutrition). I actually began to lean-out. By 8th-9th grade, I was around 190-200 pounds. Looking at my school yearbook photos, you could see a significant positive change. I was still considered obese for a child that age, but it was a great step toward better health.

Unfortunately, during my 9th-10th grade years, I developed severe depression. I’m not sure exactly what triggered it, but I had a very hard time opening up to anyone, especially my family, who didn’t understand my mental health struggles very well at the time. It was no one’s fault but my own.Then I went through some really traumatic experiences during my 10th-11th grade years in high school that I won’t discuss here.

These experiences left me struggling with thoughts of suicide and developed into a severe eating disorder. I couldn’t stop using food as a coping mechanism. The weight gain was so rapid that my brain couldn’t even process what was happening, and I didn’t realize how bad things had become until it was too late.

When COVID-19 hit near the end of my junior year, I couldn’t do my school play, my dad nearly died from heart failure (which was devastating for our family), and I spiraled during the lockdowns. I gained 100 pounds between the end of my junior year and my senior year.

By that point, I knew there was a huge problem, and I needed to lose weight. I had always felt this way and had tried before, like during my sophomore year when I lost 10 pounds trying keto. It worked, until it didn’t, and I gave up.

During COVID, I was desperate to lose weight because it made my life miserable. I couldn’t do much besides sit and play games or watch YouTube because most activities were grueling and difficult to manage at my size. I was also extremely depressed and suicidal due to my weight. I desperately wanted to lose weight, but I just couldn’t figure out how.

I tried every restrictive diet, but that didn’t teach me anything about nutrition, body science, or how to control my relationship with food. I had to focus on graduating because I was so depressed I struggled to wake up in the morning, frequently being late or skipping school.

My mom was a huge force of support during this time. With my dad recovering from his health scare, she pushed me hard to have just enough drive to finish school. Because of her support, I was able to complete all my makeup classes just three days before graduation and qualify for my diploma.

But then I had a really bad episode and landed myself in the hospital on suicide watch. This was probably the lowest moment of my life up to that point. When I finally processed what had happened, I was very disappointed in myself. However, this hospital stay became a transformational experience — a massive wake-up call that changed my outlook on life.

When I got out of the hospital, I decided enough was enough. I needed to do something meaningful with my life. At that time, I wanted to be a video editor for a YouTuber I enjoyed watching, so I found a way to connect with them and put myself out there. My drive and passion really helped. Within a couple months, I was fortunate enough to land the job.

During my time there, I learned valuable lessons about my career, drive, and teamwork. I got the chance to learn about responsible money management, though I made plenty of mistakes at first! I learned from those mistakes and eventually moved out of my parents’ house. This gave me breathing room to spread my wings and learn independence.

I was working hard, pushing myself, going to therapy, and trying to improve myself. I started doing theatre again, which brought me joy, but my weight became a huge roadblock during a dance audition. I gave it my all but ended up dislocating my knee, resulting in a serious injury. This was a massive wake-up call — very embarrassing and frustrating for many reasons.

While bedridden, I made a personal promise that it was finally time to commit to the weight loss journey I had always wanted to pursue.

I was around 320-330 pounds when I began. This time, instead of trying all the nonsensical weight loss advice I’d been given that never worked, I had a feeling I was missing something crucial. I started doom-scrolling the weight loss side of TikTok, watching so many videos that I trained my algorithm to only serve me weight loss content.

That’s when I started getting videos from “The Biggest Fella” — a well-known creator who focused on learning about weight loss mechanics, eating in moderation, non-restrictive dieting, understanding calorie deficits, healing relationships with food, and sharing recipes. His content was incredible and completely changed how I understood nutrition and weight loss.

Within the first month of January, following what I learned online, I lost 15 pounds. By May, I had lost 50 pounds. I was learning how to habit stack and improve things daily in small, manageable steps. 

As I continued to lose weight and see success, it just got easier because of that snowball-momentum effect. Many things in my life started improving, which was highly motivating.

About 6-8 months into my weight loss journey, I started posting about it online. I was nervous at first because I didn’t want it to seem braggy or rub people the wrong way. But it was received very positively, with many people finding it admirable and inspiring, so I kept posting progress updates on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

By October 2023, I had lost nearly 70 pounds. I felt incredibly accomplished! My job became easier, I had more energy to work harder and grow in the company, I could make new friends with more confidence, and I could do theatre again with less risk of injury and a greater ability to move and enjoy it.

But something still didn’t feel right. I still had a pretty bad relationship with food and was still obese, even though I’d lost significant weight. I started plateauing around 260 pounds and got worried I wouldn’t reach my goal of 220.

I decided to get a consultation from The Biggest Fella’s coaching plan. His videos had really helped and inspired me, and I thought maybe with me having already lost 70 pounds on my own, he could help me reach my goals.

Working with Noah as my coach was transformational. Over the course of our coaching, I reached 230 pounds — not quite my goal weight, but I transformed in so many other incredible ways. He helped me understand the fundamentals of weight loss, nutrition, and mental health in ways I couldn’t have before.

After we stopped working together, I kept going and lost another 20 pounds, getting down to 200 pounds. 

It was an incredible, rewarding, and surreal feeling. I also started posting my own TikTok videos about weight loss, offering what I learned as free information because I really wanted to help people. I felt so blessed to have accomplished losing 120 pounds and wanted to give back to those who needed it, just like Noah had helped me.

Fast forward to today, nearly a year later. I’ve lost a bit more weight and have been able to maintain my weight loss, which I’m even more proud of. I know now that I will never go back to who I was before. I refuse to let that happen.

As I’ve been posting videos frequently over the last year, I’ve realized this is something I truly need to continue doing with my life,and I feel empowered and inspired to help others with their journeys. 

I want to create a community similar to Noah’s that inspired me. I want to be a coach and help people navigate their journeys because I know how hard that can be.

This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and because of my lived experience, I know I can help a lot of people. Whether or not they work with me as a coach, I want to keep giving back to the community by making free videos about weight loss: tips and tricks, advice videos, mindset shift videos, recipes, and more. I feel like I have the ability to inspire and help many people, and it brings me so much purpose and fulfillment.

I’m also planning to lose another 20 pounds soon, and I’m really excited to see what the next chapter of my life brings as I approach my 23rd year and continue bettering myself in every aspect I can.

I’m so excited to serve the community that once served me and completely changed my life. Thank you to everyone who has helped, guided, cheered, and supported me on this journey. Thank you to my friends, and thank you especially to my family and my amazing parents. 

If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about my journey or my coaching services, you can find me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube with @brysonbhealthy. Email me here: brysonwanner@gmail.com

Feature Image: Bryson Wanner before his weight loss journey and after. Photo courtesy of Bryson Wanner.