‘I had a 12 can-a-day Mountain Dew addiction — including a can for …

A man who used to drink a whopping 12 cans of Mountain Dew^[1] a day has told of how he shed half his weight in an incredible transformation.

Forklift driver Chris Stewart, from Freeport, Illinois, developed a serious fizzy drink addiction^[2] that saw him balloon to a US size 5XL.

The junk food-loving 37-year-old would put in a huge McDonald's^[3] order for his lunch every day, followed by a frozen meal for dinner and would wash it all down with a dozen Mountain Dews throughout the day.

But after tipping the scales at 28st 8lbs he finally decided to make a change when he saw a photo of himself that made him feel "sick".

Before his weight loss^[5], Chris would usually start his day with a can of Mountain Dew for breakfast and would then move on to two McDonald's cheeseburgers, fries and a McChicken sandwich for lunch, while dinner was often a frozen pizza.

The former supermarket manager would spend most of his day lounging in his office and "barking orders" before coming home to slump on the sofa.

But it wasn't until he saw a picture of himself at his dad's funeral he knew he needed to flip his life around.

Chris finally decided to make a change after seeing a photo of himself at his dad's funeral (Image: Chris Stewart / SWNS)

He said: “I saw that picture and it made me feel sick. I needed to do something.

“I was drinking a 12-pack of Mountain Dew a day. I’d stuff my face with whatever I could."

The funeral photo made him realise his poor diet and soaring weight could kill him.

"Who is going to carry my casket? I thought if I didn’t change something I’m going to die," he added.

Chris and wife Nicole went on a weight loss regime (Image: Chris Stewart / SWNS)

Following the terrifying reality check, Chris and his wife Nicole, 36, started working hard to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Now he's lost a massive 14st 9lbs and is down to a US size XL

"My wife and I put in a different order for food. I used Pinterest to look up healthy recipes. Now I am half the man I used to be. The energy I have is crazy," Chris said.

In a major shakeup to his daily diet, Chris ditched his morning Mountain Dew in favour of a smoothie packed with protein shake, banana, mixed frozen fruit, peanut butter powder, chia and hemp seeds.

He quickly started losing weight (Image: Chris Stewart / SWNS)

He swapped his regular McDonald's lunch for a meat and cheese wrap and instead of devouring a whole frozen pizza for dinner, he started making homemade pitta pizzas.

He also replaced his beloved Mountain Dew with sparkling water and started snacking on peanut butter oatmeal bars instead of guzzling down sugary drinks.

At work, Chris started finally doing some of the heavy lifting instead of sitting on his bum all day and soon started to notice the weight falling off him.

He purchased an exercise bike to carry on getting more active and started by cycling for 10 minutes before building it up to 20 minutes every day.

Nicole lost weight to support him (Image: Chris Stewart / SWNS)

Now he gets in a two-hour walk after work every day and recently started a new job in July 2023 as a forklift driver to spend more time with Nicole, who works as a manager.

He said he couldn't have shed the weight without her help.

“I’m so glad she stayed with me. I was a disrespect to our relationship. Weight loss is easy. I just switched my mindset. It’s you versus you," he said.

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References

1. ^{^} Mountain Dew (www.dailystar.co.uk)
2. ^{^} fizzy drink addiction (www.dailystar.co.uk)
3. ^{^} McDonald's (www.dailystar.co.uk)
4. ^{^} 'I get annoyed when people hit on me after I've lost weight — it feels gross' (www.dailystar.co.uk)
5. ^{^} weight loss (www.dailystar.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Give the Daily Star US Facebook page a follow (www.facebook.com)