An obese couple lost a staggering 196 kgs or 432 pounds to become parents, after struggling to conceive for seven years.
Dustin Hall, 37, shed a phenomenal 317lbs or about 144 kgs, and his wife Raquel, 34, lost 115lbs or about 52 kgs after doctors told them that losing weight was their only chance at parenthood.
Dustin underwent a gastric bypass in July 2016 and adopted a high-protein, low-carb diet to take him from a massive 534lbs or about 242 kgs to a svelte 217lbs or about 98 kgs in just two and a half years.
Raquel was inspired by his success in having the same operation in December 2018 and in April 2020 she discovered she was pregnant.
The couple, from Lathrop, Northern California, became parents to Presley on December 21, 2020, and insisted that their weight loss journey made parenthood possible.
“The only reason we can have kids is because we lost a significant amount of weight and we kept it off,” said Dustin, who works in insurance.
“I couldn’t be an active father at 534lbs.
“I couldn’t even tie my own shoes at that weight.”
Raquel, who works at a non-profit, said: “We had been trying for seven years and you do get discouraged.
“I had never seen the two lines on a pregnancy test before.
“I felt like we did it, we got healthy and we accomplished this.
“Being a mom is worth every second of weight loss, every calorie burned, every sweaty moment in the gym.”
Dustin’s doctor had warned him that if he did not shrink his bulky frame he could die within six months.
“He said that if I didn’t turn things around, I might not be here in six months,” Dustin recalled.
“I was having a hard time breathing in the middle of the night, I couldn’t tie my shoes, I couldn’t walk more than 100 yards without having to sit down.
“The conversation with my doctor scared me into shape.”
Dustin underwent the procedure where a surgeon creates a small pouch in the stomach restricting how much food it can hold.
He also drastically overhauled his diet, avoiding fast food and instead building meals with chicken, fish or seafood, fruit and vegetables.
“I was really uneducated about food.
“I would commonly have anywhere between 13,000 to 15,000 calories a day.
“I would go to Taco Bell and have 2,500 calories for lunch.
“I drank two or three 2-liter bottles of soda a day.
“I’m now focused on nutrition and whole foods and staying away from processed food.”
It took him two and half years to shed all the weight and go from a 7XL to a large top size.
“I did HIIT workouts.
“I also looked at why I used food as a coping mechanism.
“Mindful meditation was really important for me – just taking a few moments to practice breathing.”
Raquel was motivated to lose weight herself when she realized that her husband weighed less than she did.
“He already had a six pack by the time I started.
“It really hit me when all of a sudden he weighed less than I did – I didn’t want that.”
She also suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that makes it harder for women to get pregnant.
“I never ovulated even with medications and so my doctor said that my chance to become pregnant was to lose weight.
“I followed what Dusty did.
“I had a gastric bypass and I went low-carb.
“We stuck to our program and I worked myself up to going to the gym six times a week.”
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Soon the couple’s dates involved exercising together instead of going out to eat.
“Dusty and I would go to the gym together on Saturdays,” Raquel said.
“We’d go hiking together – our dates began to look different.”
Raquel’s exercise and diet regime took her from 298lbs to 183lbs.
Despite their weight loss success, the couple was still astonished when Raquel became pregnant.
Dustin said: “We randomly took a test and it showed a very faint second line.
“We decided to get a second test and it popped up saying pregnant.
“My eyes lit up, I looked at my wife and I was speechless.”
Dustin is convinced that he and Raquel are parents thanks to their staggering weight loss.
“My pursuit of getting healthy was so that I would be able to pick up my child and get down on one knee to play with her,” he said.
Raquel added: “Losing weight allowed me to get a life I didn’t know I could have.
“It is still the most amazing dream and even better than I imagined.”