An Omaha man credits his amazing weight loss to old-fashioned diet and exercise, and he said it's a technique anyone can use.
John Lapitz lost 600 pounds with no fad diets, no liposuction and no gastric bypass. He told television station KETV that he is obsessive-compulsive, and that contributed to his ballooning weight.
"Sometimes used to have as many as many 50 or 60 fast-food sandwiches in (my freezer)," Lapitz said. "If I'm going to binge today, then I'm going to eat the world. There's no way I can stop halfway through the day."
His addiction to food nearly killed him when he weighed 700-plus pounds.
"I would think nothing about, if they'd get fast food, having four or five big double cheeseburgers," Lapitz said.
He's also a numbers guy, and knows exactly how much he was taking in every day.
"I had to be eating at least 10,000 calories a day, and I think I was averaging more in the 12- to 13,000 calories," he said.
He spent most of his days in bed for five years.
"Sometimes I really wanted to die," Laptiz said. "I would sometimes go maybe two or three weeks without seeing anybody except my sister-in-law and the lady who delivered my Meals on Wheels," he said.
Fearing he wouldn't be able to make it to the bathroom by himself anymore, he said he decided to cut his calorie intake in half. He said he still ate junk food at first, but then he tried something he thought he hated -- vegetables.
"One day I tried broccoli, and man, I loved it. I couldn't believe that I liked broccoli. The next day it was cauliflower. I couldn't believe I liked cauliflower," Lapitz said.
Next, he started exercising, taking one step at a time.
"I would start here, walking in and touch the sink, walk back and touch this, and do that somewhere between, well, generally 127 times," Lapitz said.
Eventually, he was walking 10 to 12 miles per day, and over the course of five years, he believes he's dropped 600 pounds.
He wowed his doctor.
"He's a remarkable man, and I'll always remember his story," said Dr. Robert Hollins, a plastic surgeon at the Nebraska Medical Center.
Hollins said others can follow his patient's lead.
"It's unusual, but we do see people change their diet, change their lifestyle and are able to lose massive amounts of weight. Other patients have lost 200 pounds -- just with diet and exercise," the doctor said.
Hollins said it is rare to see Lapitz's style of weight loss without bariatric surgery because many people just don't have the same dedication to reach high goals.
Laptiz is 68 and enjoying things others take for granted, such as fitting inside his shower for the first time in 20 years.
"Just the thrill of that -- the water coming down on me, the hot water, the real soap, all that kind of stuff," he said.
To others, Lapitz suggests finding something you can stick with and making it a lifestyle.
