Ronnie Brower was struggling with his ever-increasing weight and when it peaked at 675 pounds, he decided to do something about it. A combination of dieting and working out over a four-year period allowed him to lose an amazing 458 pounds. His weight-loss efforts, which he chronicled on his Facebook page, caught the attention of a woman at the gym, who was also trying to lose weight. Now they are set to have a happy ending together.

His weight-loss efforts, which he chronicled on his Facebook page, caught the attention of a woman at the gym, who was also trying to lose weight.

Now they are set to have a happy ending together.

Teamwork in weight loss leads to romance and marriage

As reported by the New York Daily News, Brower, 32, and Andrea Masella, 24, formed a close bond during their shared mission to lose weight and have lost, in all, 578 pounds between them. They will be getting married on Saturday in Syracuse, New York, their hometown.

Masella said of Brower that he really inspired her, but that she also thought he was really cute. They started talking at gym and she says, while she doesn’t want to sound like a cliché, it was “love at first sight.”

Food was a coping mechanism

Masella, a hairdresser, has said the couple will continue to support one another in their commitment to a healthy lifestyle and will also inspire and counsel others going through similar weight problems.

She added that they were both using food as a coping mechanism, but with counseling, they have found the way to change.

When Masella met Brower he had already lost much of his excess weight. She herself weighed 250 pounds back in 2014 but was soon on her way to losing her unwanted pounds.

Depression and addiction led to fitness and weight loss

As for Brower, he opened up to say he was depressed and was addicted to alcohol and pills. He was also eating up to two large pizzas or ten double cheeseburgers in a sitting.

At the age of 28, his doctor told him if he kept doing this he would be dead by the age of 30.

This pushed Brower to make a change in his life. While he is slim and happy now, when he hit his peak weight in 2013 he also hit rock bottom, as he was so big he found he could barely leave home.

The International Business Times reports that a friend urged Brower to contact Nick Murphy, the owner of Mission Fitness. With Murphy’s help and guidance, he managed to quit both the alcohol and pills and started to follow a low-carbohydrate diet to lose weight.

He also began to work out at the gym for three hours a day. Within the first 100 days, Brower had lost an amazing 100 pounds.

Once the majority of his excess weight had gone, Brower then had to undergo four surgeries to remove a total of 30 pounds of excess, sagging skin. Saying it was “really intense,” Brower said he was grateful for Masella’s tender care as he went through the experience.

To make things perfect for the loving couple, Murphy will be Brower’s best man and he described the relationship as being a “match made in heaven.”

Murphy chronicled Brower's weight loss in a TED talk, included below.
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