Meet Chad Dean, the man who lost over 400 pounds on “My 600-lb Life”

By
Monica Pop
-

Dr. Nowzaradan, or “Dr. Now” as we all know him, is probably one of the most famous bariatric surgeons out there. This incredible man has helped change the lives of a number of people from all over the country who struggle with their weight. We love watching him in one of the most popular TLC shows, My 600-lb Life.

One of the participants of the show who was given a new lease on life is Chad Dean, a Maryland man who weighted 701 pounds at his heaviest.

Youtube/BCN7

According to Chad, he has always been big, even when he was very young. That, however, didn’t stop him from playing football and being active during his childhood. But as time passed by, he started eating more and more junk food and reached 400 pounds. Chad tried following into his father and brother’s footsteps and became a chef, but his back problems prevented him from pursuing a career in the culinary industry. Instead, he became a truck driver and spent most of his days sitting behind the wheel.

During the time he worked as a driver, Chad gained 300 more pounds and weighed 700. “On the road, you’re sitting all day long, so you’re grabbing soda, chips, pizza, McDonald’s, things that are easy to eat,” he explained. “That’s what’s available at the truck stops.”

On top of that, he once fell from the edge of the truck and got a nasty injury which forced him to stay home. This only made things with his weight worse. “For the driving-test component, I climbed up the side to get in the truck, and I just fell over backwards,” he recalled. “My pride was shattered. The one thing I really enjoyed doing, I couldn’t do again.”

Youtube/BCN7

As both Chad and his family realized he couldn’t be living that kind of life any longer, his wife Ayesha recorded a video of him and sent it to TLC. That was the start of the first day of this man’s new life.

Once he got accepted on the show, the family moved to Texas and met with incredible Dr. Now.

“When he accepted me as a patient — that right there was the reality check,” Chad told Men’s Health. “To have someone take an interest in helping me when no one else wanted to, you can’t put a price tag on it.”

Facebook/ChadDean

After Chad lost 51 pounds on his own, he was ready to go under the so much wanted bariatric surgery, a procedure which makes the part of the stomach which receives the food smaller and helps achieve weight loss.

Believe it or not, over the years, Chad lost over 400 pounds. In the beginning he still had a hard time walking, but he never gave up. Thanks to Dr. Now and his personal trainer Brad Tillery, Chad gained back his body’s functionality.

“Never in a million years did I ever expect myself to be smaller at the age of 46 than I was at age 18,” Chad said. “Right now, from what my life used to be, I’m in heaven.”

Speaking to Men’s Health, the trained said: “With so much extra weight, he wasn’t able to move really well, so we did a combination of strength training, muscle training, conditioning, and kind of moved forward from there. He came in about three to four times a week.”

Facebook/ChadDean

The best thing about Chad is that he manages to control his weight now and haven’t gained any additional pounds in years. His meals mainly consist of healthy food, and that includes meat, fish, and lots of vegetables.

Of course, like any other human being, Chad eats junk food every once in a while, but he learned how to control his craving. “I try to take my mind off of the cravings,” he explains. “Whether it’s lifting weights or turning the radio up, you just have to get your mind off of it. And I try to reward myself once a month, but the day I do reward myself, I exercise a little bit more.”

Facebook/ChadDean

Today, when Chad has the control over his life again, he’s helping others achieve their goals and lose weight. His journey is an inspiration for millions who have seen the show. He has written a memoir, I’m In Here Somewhere: Memoir of a Food Addict, where he speaks of his struggles and what kept him going.

Its description reads, “Chad’s greatest hope is that others may learn from his mistakes, recognize their own decline into addiction, and pass on the knowledge to others that are still in gripping denial.”

Youtube/Life&Style

“Mine was an extreme case; however being even 40-50 pounds overweight is leading to, or already causing, internal issues,” Chad said in an interview with The Ashely’s Reality Roundup. “I wrecked my spleen and liver, which are now thankfully recovered. Every day I thank the stars that I didn’t annihilate my heart. Think about the stress to your ligaments and bones.

“Yes, it’s hard to change your lifestyle,” he added. “But it’s even harder to try to recover what you’re steadily destroying day by day.”

Posted by Chad Dean on Saturday, 22 September 2018

Today, Chad is again working as a truck driver. He’s healthy and happy!

22-month-old Russian girl who spent 4 days in the woods vows to “never run away from mom again”

By
Monica Pop
-

Believe it or not, a 22-month-old girl from Russia who wandered into the forest last Tuesday was found safe and sound after four long days. Little Lyuda Kuzina managed to survive without food or water, although searchers believe she drank water from the streams. Her body was covered in insect bites, and luckily, she somehow stayed away from the wolfs and the bears the Tyomkinsky area is knows for.

Lyuda was playing in the garden with her 4-year-old sister while her mother, Antonina Kuzina, was chatting to a neighbor when the girl headed towards the woods.

Hundreds of professionals and volunteers joined the search. They all feared the worst when they failed to locate the toddler the first day as the nights dipped down to 50 degrees.

“There was such despair when she was lost,” Antonina said, as reported by the Mirror. “So many people were looking and not finding her, we thought maybe she had been knocked by a car or kidnapped. After three nights in the forest, of course, we already thought that at best we will find her unconscious. On the second night there was a heavy shower, and the third night was cold.”

On the fourth day, the search team stopped to take a rest when they heard a noise. To their surprise and huge relief, it was Lyuda.

“The volunteers told me they hadn’t been far away from the spot on the first day,” Antonina said, according to BBC. “It was only on the fourth day when they heard a ‘squeak’ that they found her in some branches under a tree.”

The moment they spotted her, the search team assured Lyuda that everything was going to be just fine. They told her she was the bravest girl in the Universe. She, on the other hand, started telling them fairytales and told them she was a princess.

“Lyuda immediately stretched out her thin arms and snuggled tightly to her rescuers,” a member of the search team told a local newspaper. “Everyone cried — experienced and first time volunteers, local residents, everyone was sobbing.”

Lyuda was taken to the hospital where she recovered from the bug bites and nettle rashes.

“She’s quite adamant she’ll never run away from Mum again,” Antonina said, according to the BBC. “Although quite how long she’ll remember that promise, I have no idea. But at least she says so.”

We are glad Lyuda was found and we hope she would keep her promise to never embark on such a scary adventure again.

School cafeteria employee fired for giving hungry boy free food

By
Monica Pop
-

As kids, we were often told how an act of kindness can go a long way, but it turns out that these days being kind may get you into trouble. 

Bonnie Kimball is an awesome lady who worked at the school cafeteria of Mascoma Valley Regional High School. She really loved her job, although she was given wide array of responsibilities that included operating the cash register, selling drinks, making ice-cream and smoothies, and more. 

“We didn’t even call it work. We got up in the morning, we took care of our families and we went to take care of the kids,” she said during an interview. 

Source: GoFundMe

One day while on the job, a student filled his lunch tray with items worth $8 but didn’t have the money to pay for them. After he told Bonnie about it, she said he could have them and asked him to tell his mom about it so that she could add money to his account. 

Bonnie simply couldn’t let the boy stay hungry and she was certain his parents would pay for the lunch as soon as he informs them about it, which is exactly what happened. 

This kind act of hers was noticed by the district manager of Café Services – the food services company that employed her, and he believed what Bonnie did was simply wrong. So instead of a praise, she was given the sack. 

This happened on March 28, only a day after she let that boy eat the lunch his parents paid for as soon as they were notified about it. 

Bonnie recalls how the manager walked past her that day and asked her what was on the boy’s tray. The following day she was handed a letter of termination and was told “not to cause any scenes with the contract.”

“‘Do you understand what you did was wrong? That was theft,’” Bonnie said she was told.

Café Services released a statement once Bonnie’s case was exposed to the public. A spokesperson said that they “would never authorize an employee to not feed a student or staff member a meal.” 

Jaime Matheson, the director of human resources, added:

“Although we are not at liberty to discuss the confidential details regarding an employee’s employment or termination from employment, we can share that the company has policies and procedures in place that are shared with and acknowledged by team members.”

“When established policies and procedures are not followed corrective action is put in place up to and including termination.”

Source: GoFundMe

The letter of termination, however, clearly stated that the reason for Bonnie losing the job was the incident with the boy. This is what it read:

“On March 28, a District manager was on-site and witnessed a student coming through the line with multiple food items that you did not charge him for. This is a strict violation of our Cash Handling Procedures, the Schools Charge Policy and Federal Regulation governing free meals.”

Two colleagues of Bonnie who said they would act the same if they were her quit their job as a sign of protest against the company and its ridiculous policies.  

“These guys really took care of our kids. They put our kids first and their focus was really our kids,” Christina Moodie, a mom of a student from the school said. 

Bonnie really misses being around the kids. One may say her job wasn’t anything special and she can always find another one, but the fact is that she really enjoyed working there and she now feels really sad. 

“I’m just dealing with so much right now: the public, paperwork. One minute I’m mad and the next minute, I just want to forget it all happened. I guess I’m mourning my job,” she said.

The school district has nothing to do with the incident as Bonnie was hired and later fired by the Café Services. But the school renewing their contract with Bonnie’s former employers speaks of the fact that they didn’t really care for Bonnie’s case. 

However, after the story spread around, the mother of the boy in question was reported to have shared on Facebook that Bonnie giving her son a free meal wasn’t why she was fired. “I have three children, and they are all well-cared for and well-fed,” the mother told the Union Leader, as quoted by The Washington Post. “She did not get fired for feeding a hungry child.”

The president of the Café Services, Brian Stone, on the other hand, claimed that Bonnie had given the teenager much more than just one meal. “This student hadn’t been charged for anything for the previous three months,” Brian said. “This employee was dishonest and was let go for not following procedures.”

Do you believe Bonnie’s termination is unjustified? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below. 

Off-duty officer notices a distressed mother with her baby chocking and turning blue – He grabs the baby and performs CPR

By
Monica Pop
-

Police officers are those people who go above and beyond for the safety of the members of their community, not because their job requires them to do so, but because they are simply used to doing good and being there for people in trouble.

As officer Gilbert Troche of the San Pablo Police Department was out with his family, he noticed a woman by the side of the road. She was standing next to her car and had her baby in her arms. From what officer Troche could see, the woman was clearly distressed and in need of help.

“She appeared to be crying hysterically,” he said, according to KRON-TV. “She was holding her baby kind of against her shoulder, so I stopped the car, I jumped out, and I went over to her.”

Without hesitating, he rushed towards her and asked her if everything was okay, but it was then that he noticed her baby wasn’t breathing.

Officer Troche grabbed the little one and started performing CPR. He then told the mother to call 911. Luckily, the baby’s throat cleared up, it threw up, and then started crying. It was the sound everyone was hoping for.

The department shared the incredible story on their Facebook page, praising Officer Troche’s brave act.

“This past weekend our very own Officer Troche was out enjoying his time off with his family when they came across a mother stopped on the road in a state of distress.

“Officer Troche realized her baby was having a medical emergency and he leapt into action. He began life-saving measures on the infant and was able to get the baby breathing again.

“Officer Troche’s heroic actions are nothing short of a miracle and we are extremely proud to have him as a member of our Police Department. His quick thinking and decisive action no doubt saved a life.”

Needless to say, he was dubbed a hero by everyone who has stumbled upon the uplifting story.

“I definitely don’t feel like a hero,” Officer Troche said. “I think that anybody in that situation that [had] seen her there as distraught as she was would have probably tried to do the same thing.”

Thank you, officer.

Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt in Capitol riot speaks of the events which led to his decision to fire a shot

By
Monica Pop
-

Seven months have passed since the Capitol riots during which five people lost their lives. One of them was Officer Brian D. Sicknick who was severely injured while physically engaging with the rioters who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential elections.  

“He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” the Capitol Police statement said at the time of his death.

Three other people were reported to have died of “medical emergencies,” according to the police. The fifth person who lost their life during the riot was 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt from Huntington, Maryland, an ardent Trump supporter who held strong political views.

Babbitt was fatally shot in the shoulder by a member of the US Capitol Police. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Months after the fatal riots, the officer who shot her, Lt. Michael Byrd, gave interview to NBC News’ Lester Holt and spoke of the shocking events that led to his decision to fire a weapon, calling it his “last resort.”

“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he revealed during the interview. “I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors. But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers.”

It was his responsibility to protect the House members who were inside the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.

“Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were,” Byrd said. “There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out. If they get through that door, they’re into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress,” he added.

Byrd told the lawmakers to take off their pins and “blend” with the staff members in case they get close to the rioters. He was only able to know what was going on from what he could hear from the police radio; screams by his fellow officers who were attacked with chemical agents.

“It was literally broadcast over the air,” Byrd recalled. “I said, ‘OK, this is getting serious.’”

As rioters started smashing the glass doors in an attempt to get their way into the chambers, Babbitt climbed through one of the doors. After pleading the mob to get back, Byrd fired the gun.

Once the public learned it was him who killed Babbitt, he and his family started getting life threats on a daily basis. No matter how devastated he felt, Byrd says he believes he did what he had to. “I know that day I saved countless lives,” he said. “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.”

Byrd has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department and the Capitol Police. He claims that he had never had a political agenda, something he’s been accused of. On the contrary, when Trump was president, he escorted him through the Capitol numerous times.

“I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green. I don’t care about your affiliation,” Byrd added.

He wants people to understand that he was only doing his job the best he could. There was imminent threat and danger to the members of Congress, and he only did what he believed was the right thing to do. He concluded his interview saying: “I just want the truth to be told.”

Byrd has been serving as an officer for 28 years.

Man on a mission to locate his daughter spots truck stranded in floodwaters – saves couple and their three dogs

By
Monica Pop
-

The floods which struck Tennessee claimed many lives and destroyed a huge number of houses and properties.

Despite the terrifying road conditions, a man named Tyler Stanley started his car and went to check on his daughter who was affected by the rising water. He took his mother with him and hoped he would reach his girl on time. As they were driving along the train tracks, which were elevated above the water, they spotted an elderly couple and their three dogs stuck inside a nearly submerged truck.

Although he was in a rush to get to his daughter’s place, Stanley was aware that time was running out for the couple, and in case he didn’t stop and try to save them, they could easily drown.

Bonnie and Doug Whitfield, 71, noticed Stanley stopping his car. They felt relieved knowing they were now standing a chance to be saved.

Stanley threw a rope towards Bonnie and Doug and told them to hold onto it and let the current drag them near him. It was then when he managed to pull them to safety. The three pups were rescued too.

“My goodness, this guy — you know, he stopped to help us when he was trying to find his children, you know,” Doug recalled. “He was, he — he was on a mission, a, a dire mission himself, you know.”

After the successful rescue mission, Stanley managed to locate his daughter, and they were all able to get home safely.

As for Bonnie and Doug, all of their 12 properties were completely flooded and destroyed, but they were lucky to be alive. Their children got into contact with Stanley and thanked him for saving their parents from certain death. They told him that they consider him family now and will be sending Christmas presents every year.

“And the dogs, too. He saved the dogs,” Bonnie said. “I would say, I love you, 10,000 angels around you.”

“He’s very kind-hearted,” Doug added. “[A] real gentleman.”

‘Low-tech’ grandpa catches parents off guard sending texts about their baby

By
Monica Pop
-

Grandparents are awesome. Everyone who got the chance to spend their childhood days by their side has to be a very lucky person. These people are full of wisdom and knowledge, and they can teach us a lot about the journey called life. What they enjoy the most is spending time with their grandchildren who they get to spoil rotten. We all know that whenever the parents say no, grandmas and grandpas are there to say yes. 

David Waterhouse is a retired Dallas officer and a grandpa to an amazingly sweet baby named Ty. Besides being an awesome babysitter, this grandfather whom the family fondly calls “Pawpaw” has a great sense of humor. One thing he isn’t really good at is technology. In fact, he has no clue how to use the more advanced mobile phones or other devices which is sometimes the reason for his daughter and the rest of the family to have a good laugh at his expense. 

YouTube

When Ty’s mom, Stephanie Waterhouse and her husband took a trip together, they asked Pawpaw to step in and take care of Ty. Needless to say, this proud grandfather was more than happy to spend time alone with the little one. He took a flight to Kentucky and was eagerly waiting for the fun time with Ty. 

He had a few surprises for his daughter up his sleeve. Not only he wanted Ty to have a great time, but he also made sure for Stefanie to have a good laugh while away from home. Once you see the unique photos he took of Ty, you’re going to burst out laughing too. This is all way too sweet to handle. 

YouTube

What he did was print a bunch of captions while he was still back home in Dallas. He had a plan of taking all these hilarious photos even before he got to Kentucky. He could have done it using Stefanie’s printer, but having said he is a “low-tech” guy, he didn’t want to risk it not knowing how to use hers. This means he was looking forward to spending this fun time with Ty. The little guy has to be really happy to have a Pawpaw like David who loves him to the  moon and back. 

Stefanie calls these beautiful photos “Memes by Pawpaw” and the interesting part is that her father doesn’t even know what meme is. He’s just goofing around with his most beloved grandson. 

YouTube

Actually, David isn’t so clueless when it comes to technology. He might have difficulties understanding how Facebook and other social networking sites work, but when he was younger, he initiated the creation of a database that tracks criminal information for the Dallas Police Department. 

His idea was later used by the FBI and served as a model they used for creating the national database. 

It looks like David is really a very special guy, both as a police officer and as a grandpa who’s doing things right. 

His photos are worth seeing. We hope this will inspire other grandparents out there to make memories like these with their little ones. 

Chef Guy Fieri cooks 2,200 meals for first responders battling the Dixie fire

By
Monica Pop
-

Speaking of chefs who made a name for themselves not only because of their incredible cooking skills, but because of their heart of gold, one of the names that comes to mind is that of Guy Fieri. This man is known for going above and beyond for others when they need it the most, and his latest act made us fall for him even more.

As fire departments from all over the country, including the Murrieta Fire and Rescue Department, from Southern California, are battling the Dixie fire, the single largest fire in California history, chef Fieri did his part in helping these brave people by doing what he does best; cook.

Credit: San Jose Fire Department

Murrieta Fire and Rescue shared on their Facebook page that the famous chef made over 1,000 pounds of pulled pork sandwiches on Tuesday for the tireless firefighters and all the people braving the fire. With the help of 25 volunteers, the mayor of “Flavortown” prepared 2,200 meals.

The San Jose Fire Department shared a photo of chef Fieri with the firefighters with the caption:  “It’s a challenging & rewarding experience for our members. Big thanks to @GuyFieri for providing meals to crews at the #DixieFire base camp today.”

Other departments shared similar photos and expressed their gratitude to this incredible man.

Speaking of his gesture, Fieri said: “There’s a lot of first responders who can’t make it to the base camp. So we sent it to the fire lines. We sent it to a lot of the sheriff’s department and CHP that were out blocking roads.“

Last year, he did the same for the first responders of the Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by preparing 2,774 meals. Chief Fieri was there to offer free meals for the firefighters braving the Santa Rosa fires in 2017, and those participating in the Carr and Camp Fires of 2018.

Chief Fieri truly is one of a kind.

1...567568569...872Page 568 of 872