If you were to see Neil Burns three years ago, you'd probably know he was obese.
"I stepped on the scale...and when I did, it said that I weighed 680lbs. And then it broke," said Burns.
Not so anymore. Burns cut his weight in more than half...down to 280lbs.
He said he used to eat 15,000 calories a day and drink more than 24 sodas.
It's a trend not uncommon in the U.S. According to
2012 Gallup data, obesity (having a BMI, or Body Mass Index, of more than 30) was at a rate of 26.2 percent.
Kentucky's obesity rate: 29.7 percent.
Burns said when he was obese, it was hard to breathe; he couldn't walk more than 10-15 feet without needing to use an inhaler.
Friday, Burns was lifting 160lb weights at the gym.
How he did it: diet and exercise.
"Anybody can do it. I'm nothing special--I used to dig ditches for a living," he said.
Burns said his grocery bill--since switching to a healthier diet--is now a third of what it used to be. He added that you don't need a gym membership to get to a healthy weight, either.
"It costs nothing to do situps or crunches. It costs nothing to walk."
