From shed to ‘shread,’ a Henderson man’s weight loss journey

HENDERSON, New York (WWNY) - He’s gone from 440 pounds to being a body builder, and is now going from the fitness center to center stage.

Jacob Stevenson will tell you “My food was horrible. McDonald’s almost every single day. Fast food every single day.

“I remember in high school for a New Year’s Eve Party I polished off a whole large pizza and 20 wings by myself.”

Stevenson grew up battling with his weight. It was a conversation with his doctor that made him understand his life was on the line.

“I went in for a normal checkup and he looked at me dead in the face after seeing my blood results and my weight and he said if you do not do something drastic today, you will not live to be 50 years old,” Stevenson told 7 News.

So Stevenson set out to make changes, though not just for himself.

“My wife and I do want to have a family some day, and at 440 pounds plus it’s really hard to chase around a toddler in a field, or out front, or even just be there for them.”

In three years, Stevenson shed more than two hundred pounds. Come October, he’ll compete in “Summer Shread,” a body-building competition in Texas which celebrates peoples’ journeys to a more healthy lifestyle.

He explains the event this way: “For people who aren’t physically fit to tell their story about transforming a negative that they were doing into something positive.”

There are plenty of positives now for Stevenson.

“Probably the biggest things that change is energy level. I did six 5k’s last year alone, and at 440 pounds I couldn’t even walk a quarter mile without oxygen.”

And as for his chances at Summer Shread?

“It’s me versus me. It’s me versus my 440 pound self so I automatically win right there.”

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