One Foot in Front of the Other

A Man's Journey Away from Obesity

Breaking nearly all of the documented long-term weight loss recordsAndrew Leon LeClair has maintained a successful weight loss of 125 pounds for an unprecedented thirty years! Andrew began his lifes journey with a seemingly normal childhood, but the challenging reality of his youth and family life set the tone for his accelerated path to adulthood. Because Andrew realized that he was unwilling to accept limitation or defeat, he chose to take control of his life, rearrange his priorities, and find a long-term strategy to overcome obesity and achieve success and happiness. As a child, after watching his parents suffer in the face of tragedy while dealing with his own struggles, Andrew turned to food for solace and comfort. During a time when baby fat was a fashionable expression of denial, no one knew then what challenges would await Andrews arrival later. After years of emotional warfare and dysfunction, divorce was inevitable for Andrews parents. While his mothers second marriage was apparently better for her and initially pleasant for the children, that alliance quickly evolved into upheaval, forcing Andrew to grow up and embrace adulthood sooner than anticipated. Food remained steadfast within Andrews life as he tried to find his way through a multitude of grown-up challenges. Though he knew he was not living the healthiest life, he did not view it as a pressing problem either. His lack of concern eventually changed after he witnessed the health issues that resulted from his fathers destructive behavior and disinterest in physical fitness and healthy habits. Andrew realized that he had to find a way to prevent the same fate in his own life and wanted to figure out how to lose the weight that hindered so many of his aspirations. Although Andrew knew that a quick fix did not exist, he was willing to take drastic measures to achieve weight loss. It was a frightening time for Andrew, but the thought of having a serious illness like his father scared him even more. After embarking upon a risky surgical weight loss procedure, Andrew quickly found out that it was not an end to his problems, but the beginning of a new life with more challenges and adversity. He realized that he would have to commit to changing his entire life from food intake and portion control to exercise and fitness in order to begin dropping pounds and having any chance of maintaining that weight loss. Andrews new path was not easy, and every time he believed he had found a plateau within his journey that would allow him to relax and let down his guard, a new and unexpected conflict or challenge would arise, testing his tolerance and ability to overcome and move forward. In the midst of Andrews physical lifestyle changes, he discovered a career that could be rewarding and provide financial stability. However, with so many life-altering changes occurring along the way, he found himself tangled within battles between maintaining a healthy physical existence and reaching for his professional dreams. Andrew knew that if he had any chance of achieving his objectives, he had to plan a permanent strategy that would provide balance within the various facets of his life. Throughout the ensuing years, the media has placed an increasing amount of focus upon weight loss and fitness with the use of diet programs and products, exercise equipment, and television reality shows promoting weight loss competitions. These types of shows stir up media buzz and public support. However, when the shows are over, the participants often return to their old habits because they chose to lose weight for rewards rather than for life. Consequently, the public hears reports of those same individuals regaining their previously lost weight, along with a few additional pounds. Andrew did not want to be that type of statistic, which was evident by his thirty years of weight loss maintenance after gastric bypass. Unlike many others, Andrew did not pursue weight loss for financial gain or m