A man who used to eat enough rice to feed a village and thought he was “dying” due to his weight has revealed how he lost 19st 7lbs.
David John Castañeda used to spend his days lying in bed and eating until it “physically hurt”.
It was a never-ending cycle he struggled to break free from, which meant he was missing out on the best years of his life.
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At his heaviest, he weighed 33st 2lbs.
And his habits were proving lethal – to the point where he genuinely thought, at just 19, he was dying.
But in a clip, racking up 15.6m views and 2.3m likes, he reveals his ‘unrecognisable’ transformation.
“The constant battle with hunger consumed my thoughts and wore me down,” the weight loss coach told Need To Know.
“I didn’t exercise and my eating was out of control.
“I wasn’t doing it because I was hungry – it was because it had become a habit.
“I had lost the ability to recognise when enough was enough.
“My body was also covered in bedsores; I had discolouring in my neck and insulin resistance.
“Even the scales stopped registering how much I weighed after a while, as it didn’t have enough figures.”
David, from Texas, US, would eat an eight-egg omelette with cheese, ham and bacon for breakfast, followed by an entire packet of pasta with beef or chicken and “countless” slices of bread, as well as large stacks of tortillas with each meal.
At dinner, it’d be more meat and enough rice to feed a village.
Snack-wise, he’d chow down on bowls of cereal, crisps, popcorn and ice cream.
While he had tried to lose weight before, he always ended up gaining more than he had lost.
Until his mindset shifted one day in October 2023.
He said: “I spent a lot of time asking myself why I could never stick with it.
“Eventually, I realised it wasn’t the diet that intimidated me; it was how long it would take.
“The thought of having to fight the urge to quit my habits every single day for years felt overwhelming.
“Then I changed my perspective completely: time waits for no one.
“Whether I chose to change or not, the months and years were going to pass anyway.
“I could either stay where I was and have nothing to show for that time.
“Or I could use that time to become the person I wanted to be.”
He started off with his biggest challenge: controlling his appetite.
David, now 22, then moved on to the keto diet, followed by water fasting, until he developed better self-control and healthier habits.
To maintain his loss, he transitioned into a calorie deficit.
While at first, he hated the gym, he “forced” himself to show up each day.
He said: “I was embarrassed because I was extremely overweight and wasn’t very strong.
“I constantly worried about people watching or judging me.
“Over time, though, the gym became a place where I challenged myself, instead of somewhere I feared.”
He battled with giving up multiple times, especially when results took longer than expected.
But, within just under three years, he’s lost 19st 7lbs.
Now, David eats lean protein sources, such as chicken breasts and ground beef, along with vegetables, potatoes and eggs.
He aims to eat around 200g of protein per day, with 60g of fat and 250g of carbohydrates.
And it’s made him a hit with the ladies, as his dating life has gone from non-existent to full of energy; now he has the confidence to approach anybody he wants.
In the video, David poses next to three of his friends, as he did before, compared to now.
Users have flocked to the comments to share their reactions.
“The type of glow up I’m trying to have fr,” Fatima said.
Someone else commented: “You guys, I’m still swiping in disbelief.”
“The kind of guy you reject in college and then you meet him in a random bar in the future,” Kiki added.
Dolly said: “LMAO literally a new person.”
“Bro became Superman,” commented someone else.
David added: “I tell everyone that losing weight naturally, as opposed to using weight loss drugs, is very different.
“It gives you a mindset that cannot simply be injected.
“Every battle is just that much harder.
“Now, physically, I’m able to do things I never thought were possible.
“There were times I couldn’t run a mile; now I can do 5K in under 30 minutes.
“My confidence doesn’t come from the way I look – it’s come from what I’ve proven to myself.
“Before, I spent a lot of time imagining the life I wanted.
“If there’s something I want to do now, I get up and do it.
“I feel like I’m truly living instead of existing for the first time in my life.”
