Learn How Anthony Lost 160 Pounds and Regained His Life

 

“It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” – Tony Robbins

 

During the course of being a doctor, a podcast host, a friend, a mother, a wife, and all the other hats that I wear on a daily basis I found that one thing always came to my mind, how I wanted to witness and be a part of every single person’s Healthy Human Revolution. Beyond the fact that it is always a joy to see someone celebrate successes and thrive, there is a bit of an addictive component to helping someone…I call it Veggie Crack. Yes, you read that correctly, Veggie Crack is the high you get when you stop someone’s diabetes medications because they chose to eat more vegetables. It is the rush of extreme happiness to celebrate with a patient that they lost 180 pounds in 12 months or 5 pounds in 30 days. It does not matter the size of the win. Each moment shared in victory is one to cherish and I have been blessed to experience thousands of them over the years. My hope is that as you read this interview, you too will experience a little bit of veggie crack, allow yourself to be lured into their stories and their successes and use it as fuel for your own.

 

Meet Anthony Masiello who lost 160 pounds and has kept it off for over a decade. This is no small feat and Anthony is one of the kindest most genuine people you will ever meet. Enjoy this interview because it could be you next!

 

1. Before you began your health journey what were the struggles that you dealt with?

 

Many simple daily activities were very difficult for me.  I couldn’t sit in arm chairs, that was a bummer.  At work, at restaurants, on airplanes.  Whenever there were armchairs and I had to sit, it was incredibly painful for me.  I used to hover myself over the seat, and then push myself down, to wedge my butt between the arms, and then “sit” there in pain until it was time to stand up. It was terrible, and also very embarrassing.  Especially in public places.  There’s a local diner here in NJ that I used to go to with my wife.  They knew us there, and they could clearly see that I was a big guy, but it was a crowded place, and sometimes they would try to seat us in a booth.  So, there I was, facing a booth that I for all practical purposes could not fit into. Sometimes, I could slide in, but when I did, it felt like the table was cutting into my stomach the entire time I was there.  If it wasn’t crowded, I would always ask to sit in one of the tables in the back, that had regular tables, and chairs without arms.  My wife was a good sport, and no one (diner staff, or others sitting around us) ever said anything, but it hurt.  Physically and psychologically…

 

It was a similar situation earlier in my career, when my wife and I took night classes together at the University of Maryland. There I was, 6’ 4” tall, weighing 360 pounds, with a 54-inch waist, and trying to get comfortable in one of those college chair desk things.  At best, I could get one of my butt cheeks on the chair, and put enough weight on my left foot to keep myself stable enough to write during a 90-minute lecture and discussion.  It was physically painful, mentally tough, and totally embarrassing.  Looking back, I’m impressed that I went out at all.

 

Other things were tricky too, beyond physically trying to fit myself into “normal” sized places, like chairs, desks, booths, etc. I felt like I didn’t fit in socially either.  I would hesitate to approach people I didn’t know well, because I felt intimidated, unattractive, and didn’t have any self-confidence.  I was self-conscious in social situations, at work, at my child’s pre-school, and anywhere else where I had to interact with people that I didn’t already know well.

 

2. Why did you decide enough is enough and take control of your health?

 

My decision to change was multi factored.  First, I came home from work and looked through the stack of mail on the counter.  I found a letter from an insurance company about a life insurance policy that I had recently applied for.  I was a little anxious, because I had issues getting insurance a few years earlier and ended up being put into a higher risk category, that just meant I had to pay more for the coverage.  I actually had to pay about 6 times as much as my wife, for the same coverage.  It was a bummer, but I paid it and was covered.

 

I opened the letter, and there it was.  Denied.  Nothing mentioned about going into another risk category, or follow-up medical assessment, just denied.  This company would not sell me a 20-year term life insurance policy.  It might as well have said no thank you, as much as we would love to take your money every month, you are not worth it.  Internally, I immediately translated this into a 20-year death sentence.  This huge company, with all of the data in the world, ran the numbers and doesn’t think I’m going to make it another 20 years.  It hit me hard.  I can still feel it, being told I had less than 20 years to live.  Especially at a stage in life where I should have felt like I was just getting started.

 

As I stood there, 33 years old, on medication for high blood pressure, weighing 360+ pounds, with a 54-inch waist, I felt depressed and hopeless.  Thinking to myself, how did this happen?   Why did this happen?  I’m not a bad guy.  My life isn’t so bad.  I’m not so unhealthy, am I?  Or, maybe I am…

 

Looking back, there were lots of good things happening in my life.  My wife and I were married, in love, living in our dream home, and starting a family. We already had one 18-month-old son, and our second was on the way.  I had a good job that I actually enjoyed.  We did lots of fun things like snowboarding, biking, skateboarding, and spent lots of time with friends.  At the same time, there were things that were difficult for me.  At 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 360 pounds, it was painful for me to sit in arm chairs in the conference rooms at work.  I overflowed my seat on airplanes when I had to travel, and I had to ask the flight attendant for the seat belt extension just so I could buckle up.  I couldn’t shop for clothes in regular stores, everything had to be ordered. And, I had to buy heavy duty everything from ladders to do work around the house, to oversized kitchen and dining room chairs.  I couldn’t even weigh myself on a standard bathroom scale.

 

I actually shrugged off all of those things with a simple statement – I was a giant. and I just went about living my life.  Being both tall and fat, I somehow justified it as me just being bigger, taller and wider, than everyone else.  I’m sure others saw right through that, and I now know that as a classic victim mindset, but at the time it was enough for me to brush it off and not really do anything about it.  Until one day, at the local fair…

 

Late in the summer of 2005, I was walking around the local church fair with my wife Cathy, and 18-month-old son Evan. I was carrying Evan against my chest, like dads do, and we were pointing out the rides and games, with all the flashing lights and ringing bells. I’m not sure what he was thinking, he seems to just be curiously taking it all in, and not sure what to think. As we walked around one corner though, his eyes lit up! Evan spotted it. There, right in front of him, was Thomas the train!! I actually don’t even remember if it was really Thomas or not, but to Evan it was definitely him. His face immediately lit up, and he started squirming in my arms, and pointing at the train anxiously. He was getting really excited, and that got me excited for him! We walked straight toward the train and as we got close, I started to pull Evan from my chest to hand him to Cathy, so she could take him on the ride. But, as I did that, he held on to my shirt and tugged. He was pulling on my shirt, and didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to be handed off to Cathy. I could tell, he really wanted me to take him on the Thomas the train ride. I took a deep breath, and pulled him off my chest anyway, and put him in Cathy’s arms. The truth is, there was no way in the world that I would fit on that train. At 6 feet 4 inches tall, having a 54-inch waist, and weighing over 360 pounds, they simply didn’t make rides for people my size. Certainly not a children’s ride…

 

Anyway, after pulling him off my chest, Evan refocused and was back to being excited about getting on the train! They handed their tickets to the conductor (ride attendant!), and climbed aboard! They were getting ready for the ride of his life!

 

What happened next, literally changed my life forever. While I was standing there with a smile on my face and watching them climb aboard, the attendant asked me to please step aside and wait behind the railing. That’s when it hit me. I looked down, and there I was, literally, standing behind a metal fence and just watching, as my wife and son circled the track. They were giggling, smiling, laughing, pointing, and having a great time. And, I was standing there, outside the fence, watching. Literally watching. Like an outsider, or an observer, who wasn’t allowed in to participate in my own life. I was physically unable to do something that I REALLY wanted to do. Something that my 18-month-old son really wanted me to do. And, as they went around and around, I just stared, and thought, and I asked myself – is this the kind of dad I am? Is this the kind of father that I’m going to be? Is this the kind of husband that I have become? What else is my wife going to have to do for us, because I’m not able to? Is this really the kind of life that I have made for myself?

 

Combine my experience at the fair, all of the little annoyances that were starting to add up, and now being denied a 20-year term life insurance policy, and I was ready to change!  I made a decision, without even realizing it at the time, that this was my rock bottom, and I was going to turn my life around.  I was so determined, because this was so important for me, I wanted to be healthy, and I wanted it to last!

 

That was the point in time that I knew, enough was enough, my future was going to be different because I was going to take control of my health, and my life!

 

3. How did you become a Healthy Human?

 

In March of 2006, I found Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live.  I read the description and reviews, and it made a lot of sense to me.  From the reviews, it sounded like it worked for a lot of people, and they were getting results, so why not me?  I ordered the book, started reading it, and changing my diet immediately!  I focused on eating more, lots more.  More fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, and less of everything and anything else.  I did not make hard rules in the beginning about the things I would not eat.  I really did focus on eating more vegetables and fruit, and letting that crowd out the bad stuff.  It was a good plan for me.  There were no feelings of failure, and I woke up every day on a mission to eat more healthy vegetables and fruit than I had the day before, and it worked!!

 

I started losing weight immediately!  After losing 30 pounds in the first 2 months, it settled in, and lost almost exactly 8 pounds a month, every month.  It didn’t come off evenly, at 2 pounds a week though.  Sometimes it would start slow and then drop in a few days, and other months it would be more even.  Either way, I did watch the scale daily to see, learn, and understand what was happening with my weight.  I really liked what I was seeing, and I was noticing it in other areas as well.

I started going to see my doctor every few weeks, so she could help me track these changes.  She started ramping down my blood pressure medication, and I started having fewer migraine headaches. She was also very impressed with the rate I was losing the weight, and told me to keep doing what I was doing! I really liked hearing that.  It was a totally different experience than the doctor’s visits that I was used to.

The weight kept coming off, and by the end of 2006 I had lost a total of 90 pounds, and was feeling better and more energetic than I ever had before in my life!  With all of this newfound energy, I decided that I wanted to step-it-up, and I was going to start running!

It’s worth taking a second here, to point out that I lost more than 90 pounds without exercising at all.  I mean nothing.  I never went for a walk around the block.  I never went for a bike ride.  I didn’t step foot into a gym, nothing, absolutely nothing.  I want to make that crystal clear, to highlight the power of a whole-foods plant-based diet.  However, now, with 90 pounds gone and my body being healthier than ever, I had energy, more energy than ever, and I actually wanted to do something with it.

 

I started walking and then I would run for 30 seconds or so until I lost my breath, and then I’d go back to walking.  I did that for a half hour, every day, and just kept trying to run a little longer each time.  I progressed pretty quickly, to the point where I could run a minute, then a quarter-mile, then a half-mile, then eventually I could run for a full mile.  I would warm up, run a mile, take a walk break, and run another.  I just continued and the runs got longer and the walk breaks got shorter, until I could run a few miles in a row.  At that point, I signed up for my first 5k race, and I was hooked!  After the race, I just continued, eating a healthy whole-food plant-based diet, and running farther and farther, and in September of that same year I ran my first half marathon in 1 hour and 47 minutes!

 

At that point, I knew that I was a very healthy human. I had lost a total of 160 pounds, with new weight of 197, my blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol were all ideal without medication, I was no longer getting migraine headaches, I was down 18 inches to a 36-inch waist, and I re-applied and got that life insurance policy.  In the preferred category!  On top of the medical and physical things, the piece of mind that I gained knowing that I am truly healthy on the inside means a lot.  Bing a very active part of my kids’ lives, and knowing that I am going to be with them for a very long time, really means the world to me.

4. What lessons did you learn along the way?

 

Oh boy, I learned so much along the way!  In fact, even now, 12 years after switching to a whole-food plant-based diet, I’m still learning why this change worked for me, and how some of those lessons can be applied to help others.  The biggest take-home message for me is how important mindset is when making this, or any other lifestyle change.

 

Everything from developing a strong purpose for making the change, something that is often bigger than ourselves, to carry us through the really tough times and situations that will undoubtedly present themselves.  Once we have that purpose, we have to pay very close attention to our own self-talk. The things we think, believe, tell ourselves, and tell others, really do shape our behaviors and actions, and that is so important while we are developing new behaviors, neural associations, and habits.

 

At the end of the day, those neural associations and habits are what enable us to sustain our new lifestyle for the long term. These become our automatic actions that happen without us even having to think about them, or in other words our new normal.  And, that’s the goal.  We don’t want to rely conscious logical decision making every time we decide what do to or eat, we need the right healthy choices to just happen, automatically. If we have to rely on active, conscious, logical decision making every time we decided what to eat we would be exhausted! However, when the decisions make themselves for us, like driving home from work or somewhere very familiar and we don’t have to think about using a turn single for example, because those actions just happen.  When our food and activity decisions get to that point, we are rock-solid!

 

The most empowering realization in doing all of this, is simply knowing that it’s a process.  We cannot expect ourselves to be perfect on day one.  We cannot expect our new lifestyle to feel comfortable or easy in the beginning. We actually have a lot of mental work to do while we are also working toward our physical and medical transformations, and it is hard work!  The good news though, is that by sticking with the changes, and being consistent and fair to ourselves, we learn how to handle challenges, and we learn techniques for staying on track, and we learn that we can do it, and we can truly and sincerely enjoy eating an incredibly healthy whole-foods plant-based diet!

 

5. What is the most incredible experience that you have had in this process?

 

I’ve had so many truly incredibly experiences throughout the process of changing my lifestyle, and they continued even after the process of making the change.  Some of the more obvious are the athletic experiences, doing all of these things that were difficult or impossible for me before.  Things like snowboarding all day in the highest peaks of the Swiss Alps, or Rocky Mountains, or running the New York City Marathon, or running the Heavy-Half in Leadville Colorado with my family, where the race starts at 10,000 feet elevation, and then goes up another 4,000 vertical feet over almost 8 miles, only to turn us right back around to run another 8 miles back down to the start.  Those are all truly amazing experiences that shape who I am today, but the truly most incredible experiences are getting to know and spend time with the most amazing people in the world.

 

First, there is my family.  The life that we have today would not have been possible if I had not made both the physical transformation that I did, and had I not done the mental work that enabled me to make and sustain that change.  I’m a so much better husband and father than I could have ever been before.  And, all of the amazing things that we get to do together as a family are so important to me. I truly am an active part of my kids’ lives, and that means the world to me.  We run, snowboard, play basketball, bike, ride dirt bikes, and do everything else together as a family.  I have these incredibly experiences burned deep into my mind, like running down a trail with the kids in the fall, with the colored leaves falling, and my wife Cathy and I watching our sons Evan and Henry running ahead of us, chatting away, on a 4 or 5-mile run.  Thinking back on these memories bring a smile to my face instantly.

 

Second, are all of the incredible people that I have met who are living their own new lifestyles, and working to share their experiences and insights with others for the sole purpose of helping them to experience the same things that we all do.  My plant-based friends are some of the most empowered and positive people in the world.  When we are together there is no complaining, there are no victims, there are only happy, positive, empowered, grateful people who have a true appreciation for life, and I love that!

 

6. What advice would you give to someone considering the whole foods plant-based diet?

 

In short, do it!  And, to elaborate just a little bit, do it now!!  Seriously, what are you waiting for?  I really doubt that there is anything I can do or say that will make someone else change their entire diet and lifestyle.  I’ve tried, and I cannot convince anyone with words of how worth it this lifestyle truly is, or how incredibly amazing I know they will feel. I say it, and people listen, but I know they don’t really understand.

 

It’s very similar to having a first child.  People try to explain to expecting parents what it’s going to be like, and how they are going to feel, and the things that they are going to do, but it goes in one ear and right out the other.  Every expecting parent has their own ideas of what it’s going to be like.  They have a plan, the think they know what to do, and they say all of the things they are not going to let happen to them, until they come home with their newborn child and every single thing they thought or planned goes straight out the window. Their life is literally turned upside down, and they can’t even find a single minute to quickly brush their teeth.

 

That’s the best parallel that I can come up with related to switching to a whole-food plant-based diet.  There is no way to prepare, or understand what it’s like, then to just do it and experience it for yourself.  And, unfortunately, I don’t mean try it for a day or two.  That’s not early enough time to experience the state that I’m trying to describe.  It takes time, and it’s not easy, but it is so worth every single ounce of effort that it takes.  And, this is not just coming from me, everyone who fully commits says the same thing, and that’s why we all don’t seem to have a problem sticking with it. It’s amazing, and it’s worth it, so please do it for yourself!

 

7. What is your favorite recipe that you would like to share?

The Best Baked Falafel Ever!!