Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Haber.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Zachary. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
By the age of 21, I weighed over 300 lbs (137 kg), and by the time I turned 27, I had soared to 375 lbs (171 kg). At my heaviest, everything was difficult. Everything I did revolve around my weight- and I had to make exceptions and sacrifices because of my size. Going through young adulthood at my size, stunted my confidence as well as my mental wellbeing. I lacked self-respect and self-love. I struggled with depression, anxiety and anger management issues. I just felt lost in this world. Safe to say that those are not issues in my life anymore. Like many of us, I struggled with my weight my entire life. Being overweight was the only life I knew. The summer before my 28th birthday, one of my best friends told me “Zach- I love you. I don’t want you to die.” I don’t know- those words really stuck with me. Shortly thereafter, other friends and family seriously urged me to make some lifestyle changes. My roommates and I ended up joining the same gym which kept me accountable and honest with myself. And slowly but surely, the weight began to drop. Once the results started to manifest, it became a competitive challenge that I had with myself- almost a game. I remember looking in the mirror one day and I said to myself “you’re doing this! This is actually happening!” I haven’t looked back. And in the 1.5 years, I have been on this journey to a better me, I have lost 165 lbs (75 kgs) with diet and exercise but gained so much more: a life worth loving and living filled with experiences, not things. I am continually working on my relationship with food and I know that will never end. I am mentally stronger than yesterday which continues to push me to greater victories- daily. I feel like I received a do-over in life and I will never take it for granted! My outlook on life is so much more positive and that by far has been the most rewarding thing I have received along this journey!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Losing the weight was definitely no easy task and it required a lot of sacrifice along the way. I think that when I started my journey, I didn’t know what those sacrifices really entailed at the time, but I came to learn that friendships and relationships would be challenged. My relationship with food was another obstacle that I had to overcome, and still, continually do. Similarly, I have to constantly remind myself that I am worthy enough- for success (both personal and professional) and I have had to learn over time how to go easy on myself through the process. These are all changes, obstacles, and challenges I have had to struggle through to find the silver lining at the end of the road.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
There have been so many. Too many to count.
I think the biggest lesson I learned is that to make a life change like this, I had to do it for myself and not for anybody else. I started losing weight because I had a love interest and thought she would love me back if I was a different size- so I was motivated to lose weight quickly. As I was losing weight and learning to love myself, I came to realize she wasn’t that into me, and I learned that any future success on this journey would have to come from within myself.
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