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Extreme Makeover: Man Loses 216 Pounds

When his mother died of cancer in 2006, Alex Respess weighed 459 pounds but he was determined to commit to a weight loss program and a healthier lifestyle. After one year and an appearance on "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition," he achieved his goal.

A death-bed promise made to Alex Respess's mother just before she lost her battle with cancer sent the Duluth High School graduate on an incredible year-long journey to better health and an appearance on ABC's docu-drama "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition."

Respess says his entire family suffered from obesity and his mother, Kim Respess, made his dad promise to lose weight and get healthy so he would be around to watch Alex and his two younger brothers grow up.

Touched by her desire to see her family get healthy, Respess made the same promise to himself that his father made to his mother. He was 6-feet-3 and 459 pounds when he made the commitment to a healthier lifestyle, a commitment that started with a letter to Chris Powell, the trainer on "Extreme Makeover."

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"Chris must get hundreds, if not thousands, of letters like mine," Respess said. "I guess there was something in my story that touched his heart and made him choose me." 

Shortly after being selected, he began his odyssey.

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"It was pretty crazy at first," he said. "It was really a culture shock."

The first order of business was to reduce his caloric intake which he admits was between 4,000 and 5,000 calories daily.

"Sugary soft drinks were the hardest thing to give up," he said. "I would usually consume about four liters of Coke each day."

Next came exercise. Plenty of exercise. It started slowly at first, with walking and swimming. But then it quickly progressed to five hours of exercise daily, four hours of cardio.

"The hard part was getting started each day," he said. "Once I got started it was pretty easy.

To make sure he did get started, Powell moved into Respess's Duluth home for the first 90 days and stayed with him. But after Powell moved out, Respess admits he began to backslide some.

That is when Powell took him for a day of boot camp at Fort Benning, Ga. Respess says the encouragement he got from the soldiers on the base motivated him to keep going until he achieved his goal.

Respess's episode on "Extreme Makeover" aired on June 6 when he recorded an amazing loss of 216 pounds. Now, at 243 pounds, he says he is healthier than he has ever been and he is trying to inspire others, including his two brothers to get healthy also.

"It was hard but it was totally worth it," he said. "There were times when I didn't want to do it and I didn't do it. But those times were few as evidenced by the weight loss. I wouldn't trade the experience for the world."

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