"I've been fat my entire life. Every day I've woken up heavier than I was the day before. It was a fact of life and I accepted it."
These were the first words of an emotional blog post written by Jared, a guy who weighed a staggering 500lbs back in 2014.
It was at this point in his life that Jared decided to change his life for the better and lose weight. He had grown tired of being unable to do things because he was so big, so he turned to yoga.
After following a yoga DVD from the comfort of his living room, Jared lost a staggering 300lbs over the course of 390 days. And his weight loss transformation is nothing short of incredible.
Jared before and after his yoga journey
Jared said that growing up he didn't want to be fat, but he knew it would require a huge change in his lifestyle to lose weight - and he didn't think he had the willpower to make that change.
"Intellectually I knew it wasn't just about diet and exercise, it was about altering the way I lived," he explained.
"For the longest time I had no interest in changing. I knew that when I sat down to eat a box of doughnuts they would make me fatter, that my back would hurt even more, and that it would be even harder to stand up and walk around."
But then something changed. Jared decided that he did care about how he felt and how he wanted to live.
SEE ALSO:
Woman Writes Cruel Comments On Body Before Tummy Tuck, Shows Bullies Who's Boss
Woman Loses Over 7 Stone Because She Was Unable To Play With Her Son
"I wish I knew what finally clicked in my brain because then I could tell others how to change their mindset as well," he said.
Jared doesn't know what his breaking point was, but he said that it could be a combination of things: reflecting on turning 40, having to buy super-size trousers in the department store or feeling inadequate at work because he was tired all the time.
"Maybe it was all of those reasons and more. Maybe it doesn't matter, and what's important now is that I am ready to turn around," he said.
From that day forward, Jared started practising yoga from his living room. He said to begin with, it was very difficult to do some of the poses. In fact, getting down on the floor was an amazing accomplishment in itself.
Jared at the beginning of his yoga journey
During his first workout, he had to turn the TV off after five minutes because he thought he was going to collapse.
So he tried a new technique, whereby he'd watch the online videos and when he found that he couldn't breathe, he would simply stop and try to refocus while the video continued to play. He would then join in again when he felt stable enough.
His knees were stiff, his back would ache, but Jared persisted.
"Getting down on the ground was super hard and there were some moves that I simply couldn't do," he said. "But I could see a time in the future when I would be able to do them."
Now, an emotional video posted by DDP Yoga - the people behind the yoga DVD Jared followed - shows his jaw-dropping transformation.
The video shows Jared before he started doing yoga, weighing approximately 500lbs, and chronicles his amazing journey.
At the end, after 390 days of yoga, he has lost 300lbs and is so proud of his achievement that it brings him to tears.
Jared after losing weight