Gormy is an Instagram influencer @gormy_goes_keto. He has a history of food addiction, starting as a child. At his heaviest, he weighed 540 pounds. He built a life that supported and enabled his food addiction and focused his world around food. As long as he could access food, he didn’t care about his health issues, reduced mobility, or an unhealthy lifestyle. Gormy realized, after not being able to find work, that he needed to change and get into better shape.

He developed habits such as “sneak eating,” how he would only lose weight to please his parents, and how Gormy didn’t have any ownership in moving toward a healthy lifestyle. As an adult, he realized that he needed to lose weight to get a job. He got to his goal weight of 210 for his 40th birthday in 2011. Then, he decided to have a cheat meal, which turned into a cheat weekend and then snowballed into completely giving up into eating any type of healthy food. He put on 100 pounds in the first month of eating in this fashion. Gormy went from 210 to 480 in 6 months. Listen in to find out how Gormy went from resigning life to moving to be an inspiration to others.

Show Notes:

• [03:23] I introduce Gormy and he gives background on how he developed Gormy Goes Keto.
• [04:12] Gormy talks about his food addiction history, dating back to when he was a child.
• [07:15] After college, Gormy’s food addiction turned for the worse.
• [08:58] Gormy talks about the physical challenges of being obese.
• [10:15] He talks about how he avoided doctors, even with multiple medical conditions.
• [12:31] The psychological impact of his parents paying him money to lose weight when he was a child.  
• [17:19] His second diet, at 16, he started off at 350 pounds. He would “sneak eat” food and throw out the wrappers so his family didn’t know what he was eating.
• [23:42] As soon as Gormy found a new job on the East Coast, he was back eating again and gained back much of the weight he lost.
• [34:09] Gormy resigns himself to dying and writes a letter to his family.
• [40:01] We compare food addiction to drugs and alcohol addiction, what do these have in common?
• [43:34] Gormy remembers his stepmom crying because she thought he was going to die because of his weight. 
• [45:51] Eating too much has become normalized in our society.
• [48:18] Gormy realizes his responsibilities have changed when his dad asks him for help to take care of two newborns.
• [50:33] Gormy realizes his life has impact and that he is now responsible for somebody else other than himself.
• [54:19] He thinks about who he wants to be as a person, as well as what does he want to weigh?
• [01:00:50] What steps does Gormy take now for his accountability?

Links and Resources:

• Real Recovery Talk on YouTube
• Gormy on YouTube
• Gormy on Instagram
• Gormy’s Blog
• The Fat Guy Forum on Apple Podcasts