After tipping the scales at 500 pounds, a man from California who struggled with obesity was shocked by an unexpected diabetes diagnosis. Shortly afterward, he lost his right big toe to amputation. This event motivated him to turn his life around.
Maryland-born Robert “Bobby” Jones Jr., 50, who lives in the Bay Area of California has been a binge eater all his life.
The American Diet
By the time of his high school graduation, Mr. Jones’s weight had climbed to around 200 pounds, but he “still looked small.” At the age of 20, he got a job at a library.
“You sit a lot, and I didn’t work out at all,” he said. “Every year I got bigger. I used to fall asleep on the job. ... I ended up getting laid off, and then from there it just kept going.”
By 2012, Mr. Jones had hit 500 pounds. He ate out at fast food restaurants every day. A typical order, he said, included two large pizzas, cinnamon sticks, chicken wings, and a 2-liter soda. He would gorge on candy, slushies, and popcorn at the cinema and says that his no-vegetable repertoire was the “American diet,” heavily laden with carbs.
His weight affected his mental state as Mr. Jones said he didn’t want to get out of the house anymore and began to see a therapist.
“I was depressed,” he said. “I always wanted to stay home. Especially going out in public, people look at you and stare, and it used to affect me a lot emotionally, psychologically, mentally, and physically.”
‘We Can’t Save Your Toe’
His doctor suggested weight loss surgery. However, Mr. Jones was determined that if he lost weight, he would do it the natural way, but it was hard to stay motivated.“I was already depressed,” he said. “You have to have that positive motivation, and I just didn’t care. ... I would do real good for a couple of weeks, and then I'd revert back to my old eating lifestyle.”
Despite that, over the next few years, Mr. Jones managed to lose around 130 pounds as he was craving “a better quality of life.” However, the dramatic turning point came in 2021 after he tested positive for diabetes. The very next day, he sought medical advice for a serious infection in his right big toe.
“I go into the emergency room, and they say, ‘Robert, we can’t save your toe,’” he said. “I was numb because then I thought about all the days I ate bad food. Every day, all night, I was crying, like, ‘Why did I do this?’”
Mr. Jones’s big toe had to be amputated, and the next six weeks in the hospital changed everything.
“I was on a restrictive diet, I had no choice,” he said. “Then I was four weeks in a nursing facility, so as I started changing my diet, the weight went off. I lost, like, 23 pounds in six weeks just by changing my diet. ... I told myself, ‘I do not want to lose any more body parts,’ and my whole mindset changed.”
Making Changes
Mr. Jones’s mother has been a big part of his weight loss journey. After his surgery, she has had to help him with everything, becoming his caretaker.He continued to make changes and soon adopted a vegan diet that was low in carbs and high in protein, and also does intermittent fasting. However, he emphasizes that you “don’t have to be a vegan to lose the weight.” However, he believes that for a weight loss journey to be successful, the emphasis is 90 percent on diet and 10 percent on exercise.
“My quote is, ‘You can’t outrun a bad diet,’” he said. “You can work out all day, but if you have a bad diet, you’re just not going to lose weight.”
As his foot healed, Mr. Jones also began doing cardio five days a week, on a treadmill, bicycle, or walking, and strength training a different part of his body every week. Witnessing the change in his weight, his mindset completely changed. Soon, others also began to see a difference and gave him words of appreciation.
“All the positive comments really fueled me,” he said.
Learning how to balance without his right big toe was a challenge. However, Mr. Jones’s biggest challenge was becoming “mentally aware that this is a lifestyle change for the rest of your life.”
In the two years following his toe amputation, Mr. Jones lost another 160 pounds, bringing his total weight loss to 290 pounds to date. Today, he weighs 210 pounds. He was also able to successfully reverse his diabetes just three months after being diagnosed.
Nothing is Impossible
Mr. Jones’s mother has been his “biggest supporter.” He said she is tearful whenever she thinks of how close she came to losing her son.
“You should never have to bury your child, so I think it’s a big relief,” Mr. Jones, said. “The best thing is when somebody hasn’t seen me in a while. I’ve had a couple of people walk by me, didn’t even know it was me. That’s the best feeling when they look at you like, ‘Oh my God, you look so good!’ ... I’ve had a lot of positive support.”
Mr. Jones, who has downsized from a 7XL dress size to a large, has had to get used to life at a healthy weight and leave behind his old habits, such as holding onto the railing when he climbs stairs or purchasing an extra seat and using a seatbelt extender when flying.
Although his goal is to get his weight down to 180 pounds, in the meantime he’s focused on working out and eating healthily, saving money for skin removal surgery, penning a book about his weight loss journey, and planning for his return to college for a master’s degree in business after successfully earning a bachelors degree in 2022.
Mr. Jones feels “blessed” to share his story in the hope of inspiring others to make a change in their lives.
“I always tell people, set small goals ... like, ‘Okay, next week I’m going to walk two miles,’ ‘Next week I’m going to lose two pounds,’ or ‘Next week I want to add an extra vegetable to my meal,’” he said. “Short-term goals also minimize procrastination ... Stay motivated, stay positive, stay encouraged, and surround yourself with positive people.”
One of Mr. Jones’s favorite quotes is: Nothing is impossible. “The word itself means, ‘I am possible,’” he said.
