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In 2018, Philadelphia Eagles fan Nick Bricker was watching his team win the Super Bowl when he decided it was time for him to make a change. “I was a very, very heavy drinker and a heavy smoker — 35 to 40 beers a night and two packs of cigarettes every day,” he says.
His weight had climbed to 437 pounds, and he needed a rescue inhaler to help him breathe, medicine to control acid reflux and two different medicines to lower his blood pressure. “My breathing was so bad I had to live in the guest room on the first floor because I couldn’t walk up the stairs to my bedroom,” he says.
Today, the 52-year-old’s breathing problems are gone, his acid reflux has cleared, and he expects to get off his blood pressure medication soon. His pulmonologist told him his lung function was back to 100%, up from 30%. And not only can he climb the stairs in his house, but he also walks about 12 miles, or 25,000 to 30,000 steps, a day.
“I look back at older pictures and I get angry at myself. But the positive thing is that I did something about it,” he says.
He broke two bad habits cold turkey
“I was watching the Super Bowl, and the clock was ticking down. There was a second left, and I got up, dumped my beer in the sink and put my cigarettes in the trash. I said, ‘I’m done.’” At first, he thought he would quit smoking and drinking for a month. That month turned into two, then five, and he decided he was done for good.
But the weight didn’t come off, even though he estimated that quitting drinking cut 8,000 calories a day from his intake. He thought his metabolism had changed to the point where he would never be able to lose weight. He was still eating large portions of foods like pizza, wings and…
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