Since 2011, Luis Trigo has lost 245lb on a journey to fitness that would see him come back from the brink of depression.
Trigo, ??, weighed 400lbs (28.5 stone) and was morbidly overweight. He realised his life needed to change after he was forced to quit his job because he couldn’t stand for full shifts any longer.
His girlfriend has left him and his doctor told him his unhealthy weight could kill him.
Six years down the line and Luis, who refers to himself as a ‘Former 400 pounder’ is now a personal trainer, health coach, nutritionist and motivator.
Trigo, at his lightest weighed just 150kg – and now through a programme of weight training has reached a happy and healthy 170kg.
He documents his transformation through Instagram as inspiration his ‘fit fam’.
Luis told the podcast Steel Shredded he’d always struggled with weight:
I actually started off heavy as a child. I’ve been heavy since middle school, I was obese by high school so it’s always been a part of my life. I always hovered around the upper 200s.
It snowballed when I started college and then work. I didn’t pay attention to my nutrition because I was paying attention to my grades. I didn’t pay attention to my health, before I knew it, I was in the 300s.
Trigo told listeners about his breaking point, saying:
Basically what happened was that I was 350lbs at the time, and I couldn’t even stand at work. My job was in warehousing and I could barely handle it within a couple of hours. I was constantly sluggish and tired – so I quit my job to concentrate on my nutrition.
Unfortunately when I did that, I lost my long term relationship which made me depressed which made me blow up from 350lbs to 400lbs in a span of two months.
I started having heart palpitations and diagnosed as pre-diabetic the doctor said if you don’t change now, you’re going to die. You’re 24 years old and 400lb.
From that moment, Trigo resolved to ‘do something about it’ rather than ”sit here and die’.
For starters, the fitness fanatic – who described himself as being ‘extremely ignorant’ – cut out sugary drinks and foods and began to exercise, saying he ‘teared up’ when he realise how unfit he had become.
He said:
My exercise at first was very humbling, basically I walked up and down a hill by my house because that’s all I could handle. At first, it was a very slow steady journey.
But with a lot of hard work, intelligence and determination, Luis has found a fitness regime and diet that he can stick to – and he’s now healthy and happy.
This guy is an inspiration.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.