One man's incredible journey to lose 200 pounds while working at a fast food restaurant

theGRIO REPORT - John Likely says he feels like he can "fly" now that he weighs around 240 pounds. But it wasn't always that way. Likely once weighed roughly 500 pounds and could barely stand for more than 10 minutes at a time without needing to rest...

John Likely says he feels like he can “fly” now that he weighs around 240 pounds.

But it wasn’t always that way. Likely once weighed roughly 500 pounds and could barely stand for more than 10 minutes at a time without needing to rest.

He secured a job at Zaxby’s, an Alabama fast food joint, and he says his life changed. Likely told Al.com his manager Clint Short and other employees believed in him.

“They gave me life,” Likely said. “They gave me hope. They actually believed in me.”

Short helped Likely as soon as he showed interest in changing his life. Short became his trainer, his coworker O.T. Green helped out with nutrition tips and Zaxby’s owner Scott Brown got him a gym membership.

Zaxby’s other coworkers helped not only to pick up the slack at work but to keep him from the fried foods he was serving.

Nearly two years later, Likely is down to 239 pounds and is preaching his new lifestyle to everyone he meets.

“Everybody who I see I’m telling them about healthy living,” he said. “And this is from the 500 pound John Likely from back in the day. If you do this and you do that, if you have faith and believe in yourself you can do anything.”

Read more about Likely’s incredible journey on Al.com

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