Big Change The Film Podcast

This weeks guest is Bob Blackburn who lives in Virginia Beach. He was a former Marine, professional wrestler, and and said that his previous training was “at the buffet.” Bob at his highest weighted 340lbs and at the age of 53 was diagnosed with diabetes. He said to himself, “I am not dying from this, I am not choosing this way.” Since then he has been able to beat the diabetes and loose 114lbs. Thanks for watching and enjoy!

This weeks guests are Jeannette Rainbow-Galvin & Gary Rainbow. Gary is Jeannette’s father and combined they have lost 140lbs. Gary had a triple bypass at the age of 39, angioplasty at 43, a, stroke at the age of 51, and Jeannette was told that she would have colon cancer by the age of 45. Jeannette says that for her dad it was “do or die” and they both decided to change their diet and have both completely turned their health around. We have a wonderful conversation and I hope that you enjoy it.

  This weeks guest is Jessica Oropesa from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jessica says that she was overweight for much of her life and at her highest was 257lbs. She says that she felt invisible, completely unworthy, completely undesirable, and extremely lonely. She says that she woke up one day and said to herself, “I’m not going to be miserable today, I am not going to be miserable anymore.” We have a honest conversation about how she was treated when she was bigger, depression, and her incredible journey to loosing 100lbs. Here is our conversation and thanks for watching!

Today's guest is Shelley Crockett from Burlington Ontario Canada. Shelley says that she has been overweight most of her life and went on her first diet at the age of 12. At her biggest she was 317lbs, pre-diabetic, and realized that she needed to do something to turn things around. She has since lost 75lbs and we have a great conversation.

This weeks guest is Teresa Cassle from Charleston West Virginia. Teresa says that her health started to tank in her 20s, she developed Hashimoto’s Disease at 28, had to have her gallbladder removed, fatty liver disease, as well as diabetes. Since then she has been able to lose 70lbs, regain her health, and says that she is in the best shape of her life. Here is our conversation and I hope that you enjoy.

This weeks guest is Michelle Richardson who lives in Duluth, Georgia. Michelle says that her weight had fluctuated over the years and at her highest she was 278lbs. She found out that she was pre-diabetic and simply said that she refused to have diabetes, high blood pressure, and realized that it was something that she could control. She now rides bikes, hula hoops, skates, runs, and is now getting ready for her first marathon later this year. Her total weight loss is now up to 115lbs and I hope that you enjoy our conversation.

This weeks guest is Matt White who lives in Randolph, New Jersey. Matt says that he grew up obese. Had to buy adult clothing as a child, and said that for him it had “become the norm.” In his family he had obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and believed that it was, as he said it, "the book that was written for me, it is my destiny.” His life change when had a wake up call, one of his arteries leading to his heart was 99% blocked, and he realized that his lifestyle could effect actually seeing his children grow. Now he has lost 100lbs, his children can put their arms around him, and he is now an ultra-marathoner. We have a great conversation and I hope that you enjoy it!  

This weeks guest is Jim Fisher who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jim was overweight growing up, says that everyone in his family was overweight, by the 3rd grade he weighted a 100lbs, and at his biggest was 350lbs. He said, “I thought I would spend my whole life fat…. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would always be that guy that would be huge…. I didn’t think there was anything I could do about it.” Through a series of unfortunate circumstances Jim decided to take his life back, has lost 187lbs, and is now an ultra endurance runner preparing for his first 100 mile race. We have an awesome conversation and I hope that you enjoy it

This weeks guest is Nick Wo from Phoenix, Arizona. At the age of 31 Nick was 407lbs, had high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, acid indigestion, severe lower back pain, struggled with depression, and said he has basically given up. Both his father and uncle died at the age of 45 from health related illnesses and believed that he would also die by the age of 45. In the last 10 months he has lost 125lbs and we have a great conversation about his journey. Connect with Nick at www.facebook.com/nick.wo

This weeks guest is Jason Singer from York, Pennsylvania who had a top weight of 373lbs. He was smaller as a kid and says that after getting off of Ritalin after using it for 13 years, he became a food addict. He ate lots of tasty cakes, donuts, and pop tarts, and we even talk about the day that he ate 15 hot dogs. At 23 years old he was having chest pains and at 27 was told that he needed to be on blood pressure medicine. He now is 193lbs lighter and has a new life. 

This weeks guest is Yona Klein from New York who has lost 180lbs. Yona says that his diet consisted of pizza, cookies, donuts, and whatever else he could get his hands on. He struggled with sleep apnea, migraines, hypertension, high cholesterol, and was also pre-diabetic. He has a whole new life now and I hope that you enjoy our conversation

This weeks guest is John Dempsey who is originally from Long Island, NY. He was previously approaching 400lbs, was on cholesterol medicine, blood pressure medicine, and his doctor told him that he could keep him alive on pills. He says that just walking up the stairs would difficult for him and that he was, as he says, “one Chinese buffet from even more health issues, or even death" if he hadn’t changed his life. Since then he has changed his health around, is now a runner, and says that he is a more compassionate person. Here is our conversation and I hope that you enjoy it!

“Weight loss is a long process, health is a long process… you deserve to live a life where you feel your best and you are proud of your life"   This weeks guest is High Carb Hannah who lives in Arizona. She says that she remembers being the chubbiest girl in 6th grade and struggling with her weight since she was a child. By the age of 20 she was an alcoholic drinking 2 bottles of wine per night, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, and would binge eat 1000s of calories at a time. Since then she has completely transformed her health and lost 70lbs. She is now a YouTuber who has over a quarter of a million subscribers inspiring people to eat healthy, exercise, and take care of themselves.  

This weeks guest is Melissa Dodd-Ruesing who has lost 80lbs. Melissa says that she was always bigger and actually remembers being called chunky by her doctor when she was 9 years old. At her biggest she was over 300lbs says that she had accepted the fact that she was going to be fat because everyone in her family was big. After a failed Lapland surgery, she decided to change the way that she looked at food and has transformed her life. We have a great conversation and I hope that you enjoy it!

This weeks guest is Angela Montanez from New York. Angela was very sick as a child and her doctors didn’t expect that she would live past the age of 10. As an adult Angela developed bad eating habits, said she ate pints upon pints of Hagen Diaz ice cream,  and dubbed herself the “bread queen.” Since then she has completely changed her life around and has lost 120lbs. She was even in People Magazine’s annual “Half their size” issue in 2016. We have a fantastic conversation and I hope that you enjoy it. 

This weeks guest is Brian Flemming from Canton, Michigan. Not very long ago Brian was a size 60 waist, drank a fifth of vodka every night, ate 7000 calories a day, and was 625lbs. Brian says that everything was a huge effort even mundane things like getting out of his car and changing his clothes. Since then he has completely turned his life around and has lost 390lbs. He started only being able to walk in-place for 5 minutes a day in his house and has since run his first marathon. He has an incredible story and I hope that you enjoy our conversation. 

This weeks guest is  Heather Kaufman from Buffalo, New York. She is the wonderful wife of Tim Kaufman and herself has lost 60lbs. They spent much of early life together eating pizza & wings, both became overweight, and eventually Heather found herself having to put Tim’s socks and shoes on daily because he was unable to. In the last several years she has turned around her own health and just last year they climbed the highest peak on the East Coast together. She encourages others to be there for their spouses who may also struggle with their weight as well as making sure to take care of yourself so that you can take care of others. We have a great conversation and I hope that you enjoy it!

This weeks guest is Jonathan Young who lives in Delhi, Louisiana. At his largest Jonathan weighted 335lbs. A turning point for him was being denied entry to a amusement park ride and realizing that it simply wasn’t safe for his body to be on the ride. He started turning things around with walking his first 5k and now has lost a total of 115lbs and is a marathoner. We have a great conversation and I hope that you enjoy it Connect with Jonathan on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.c.young or on his blog at justcauseyou.wordpress.com

This weeks guest is BJ Swingle from New Jersey. BJ says that everyone in her family is only large side and that everything was focused around food as she was growing up. She first realized that she was overweight in the 6th grade and says that over her life she has lost between 40-60lbs 7 times. After having a child she realized that she wanted to be a role model for her son and that her and her husband wanted to be around for very long time. We have a great conversation and I hope that you enjoy it! Connect with BJ at www.facebook.com/bjswingle and https://veggiejerseygirl.com/ 

This weeks guest is Jackie Cobb who lives just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Jackie says that her weight has fluctuated since she was a kid and that she was heavy most of her adult life. She says that she wasn’t conscious of what she was eating and how she was treating her body. The thing that changed everything for her was loosing her mom, dad, and brother all from unconscious unhealthy eating and poor lifestyle decisions. She has lost 56lbs and says that even though she is over 45, she is the most active she has been in her entire life. Here is our conversation and I hope that you enjoy it!