‘Horrific’ Photo Made This Dad Lose Half His Weight in a Year without Medication. He’s Since Dropped 220 Lbs.

A father of two shed over 220 pounds — without relying on weight loss medications — after a single wedding photo prompted him to take control of his health through diet and exercise.

For 36-year-old Dale Forrest, weight had always been a challenge. A decade ago, he successfully lost nearly 200 pounds by quitting alcohol and watching his food intake, according to the Daily Mail.

But over time, the weight crept back. Forrest said the gain was tied to a decline in his mental health and self-esteem.

A self-confessed “heavy snacker,” Forrest admitted to regularly eating three pasties a day and consuming multiple takeaway meals daily for nearly ten years, eventually reaching a peak weight of 32 stone (about 448 pounds). Though he had previously dropped more than 10 stone (approximately 140 pounds) in 2015, loneliness and depression led to a cycle of unhealthy habits and weight gain.

Even after meeting his wife Kat in 2021 and becoming a father to sons Bailey, now 3, and Tate, 1, Forrest said his weight issues persisted. It wasn’t until he saw his wedding photos in September 2024 that everything changed.

“I thought I looked horrific,” Forrest recalled, per the Daily Mail. “The first thing I said to my wife was, ‘I need to make a change.’”

At the time, Forrest’s typical day started with pasties and ended with pizza and beer. The wedding photos served as a wake-up call. Determined to change, he cleared the house of snacks and began limiting his calorie intake.

His first milestone was simple but important: dropping enough weight to feel comfortable starting physical activity.

“I was so unhealthy that I couldn’t walk 100 meters without getting tired,” he said. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to exercise until I had lost some initial weight.”

Within a month, Forrest had lost nearly 30 pounds and began walking regularly, gradually working up to 10,000 steps a day. By December 2024, just three months after starting his journey, he was down nearly 100 pounds and brave enough to step foot in a gym — an intimidating experience for him at first.

“I thought everyone was looking at me thinking, ‘Why is this guy here?’” he admitted. “I was self-conscious about my body, especially my legs.”

Today, nearly a year later, Forrest has cut his weight in half and is now training for a charity boxing match. He currently weighs around 210 pounds.

Though he calls it “the hard way,” Forrest said he intentionally avoided weight loss injections like GLP-1 medications. “I wanted to see what I could do naturally and what was possible,” he explained.

Now, Forrest shares his transformation and ongoing fitness journey on TikTok, where he often reflects on the motivation behind his lifestyle change. In one video, he credits his sons as “my reason for living, getting healthier, and improving my quality of life.”

“Good old-fashioned exercise and diet got me here,” he said, again referencing the Daily Mail. And “here” is a place where he can finally be active with his children.

“Before I lost the weight, I used to tell them to go play with their mom,” he said. “Now, when they ask, ‘Daddy, can you put me on your shoulders?’ I can be there for them. It’s the best decision I have ever made.”