Lee Jordan, who once weighed 454 pounds, shed 276 pounds to win back the love of his college sweetheart, after more than 20 years.
The Virginia man had not seen the love of his youth, Beth Schwein, in two decades. When they talked before meeting, Jordan told Schwein he was no longer in shape, but did not reveal his full challenges with obesity. He expected the love of his youth would react with pity and disgust when she saw him again. Instead, she treated him as she always had done before, inspiring Jordan to lose his excess weight.
The two met at a church social event, when he was 15, and she was a year older. The two started dating, and Jordan followed Schwein to Radford College. While he spent long hours partying at college, she was more disciplined. The two went their separate ways - Schwein graduated, and Jordan dropped out from college. He soon began working a retail job, and started overeating.
Jordan struggled with his weight, and rarely dated. Every time he lost weight, he would quickly gain it back. He spent years looking over old photographs and letters from his one-time sweetheart, telling his friends "I only love Beth."
Schwein lived a typical American life, including a marriage and family. But, in 2004, she contacted her former love, writing him a letter. In it, she described to him how she severely injured her back while rollerblading, and worked her way back through physical therapy. This experience inspired Schwein to become a trainer herself, working with others who suffered injury or disease.
"If I could do this, then I could help somebody else. It wasn't about doing anything extraordinary. It was about doing little things every single day," Schwein told CNN.
In 2008 doctors gave Jordan just two years to live, due to complications from obesity. The two met again that year, and Jordan became determined to return to a healthy weight. At the time, Jordan wore pants with a 72-inch waistband. Today, he has brought that number down to 34 - the average waist size for American men. He now weighs just 178 pounds, down from his original 454.
The two became engaged in 2012, and married soon after. They now participate together in long-distance running. They are using their experiences and challenges to coach others facing similar circumstances.
"Love, acceptance and encouragement (were) the difference-makers for me. If you do a little at a time, you can gain so much," Jordan told the press.
