The past is over, the future hasn’t happened yet… there is only today.
This sentiment is philosophical in nature, yet for Dustin Brown, it’s also a code to live by. Twenty years ago, Dustin weighed over 400 pounds and struggled with agoraphobia and compulsive eating. He felt trapped by his own body, and helpless to do anything about it.
When his father died from cancer in 2004, it was a turning point for Dustin. Dustin held his father’s hand as he slipped away and promised that he’d do something about his weight to avoid health problems of his own. Dustin threw himself into boxing, weight lifting, and walking.
Between 2006 and 2009, he managed to drop a staggering 250 pounds! Unfortunately, he went about the weight loss incorrectly, and his new diet just wasn’t sustainable. He wound up backsliding and gaining almost all of the weight back. By 2017, he reached a breaking point and resolved to lose the weight in a healthy way this time.
How did he manage to put aside his past failures and start over? He got up each day and put one foot in front of the other. One step at a time, one day at a time!
“Today was the only day I had to conquer,” he said in a video. “What are you doing today?”
In 2023, Dustin’s friend Alexus organized a GoFundMe to help him afford surgery to remove the excess skin he has from his extreme weight loss.
“He has lost 285 pounds on his own without surgery and has been left with a massive amount of loose skin,”
Alexus shared. “It affects him physically (rashes, limited mobility, chaffing, back pain) and mentally. Dustin has fought hard to regain his health and life and wants nothing more than to feel comfortable in his own skin.”
The fundraiser garnered almost $52,000, and Dustin is thrilled to finally take this next, life-changing step in his journey!
Whether you have a few extra pounds you’d like to lose or not, Dustin is an inspiration to us all. We all have challenges – it’s how we tackle them that matters!
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