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John Thomas Allaire is the Florida native making headlines for his astonishing weight loss, achieved through diet and exercise alone. Just a few short years ago, Allaire topped the scales at approximately 540 pounds. He shared that he needed to be weighed at a local fish market because the scale at the doctor’s office could not handle his size.
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He says growing up, and throughout his adult life, he turned to food to help him cope with stress. Allaire says his weight gain increased after his father passed away when he was 18, partly because of late night binging habits.
But after proposing to high school sweetheart Caila in 2015, Allaire decided he needed to make a change. He did not want his obesity to send him to an early grave.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Allaire Began Shedding the Weight Quickly After Joining a Boot Camp Exercise Program
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Allaire says he started his journey with small steps. On his GoFundMe page, he explained that he began juicing and walking at least three times per week. He lost 20 pounds before the wedding in February of 2016.
After tying the knot, Caila, a member of the U.S. Navy, was stationed in San Diego. Allaire was working for a technology company called TTEC USA in Florida at the time, as a Quality Assurance Specialist. But the company did not have any offices near San Diego. The couple made the decision that rather than look for a new job, Allaire needed to focus all of his attention on getting healthy. Still weighing 520 pounds, he joined the Camp Transformation Center and got to work.
The initial goal of the boot camp is for participants to lose 20 pounds within the first 6 weeks. But Allaire exceeded his own expectations by shedding nearly 13 pounds in the first week alone. He also threw away all of his junk food, sharing that moment in a YouTube video in July of 2016. Over the next year and a half, Allaire got rid of 317 pounds.
2. The Next Step After Losing More Than Half His Body Weight Was Surgery to Remove Excess Skin
Doctors eventually told John Thomas Allaire that he had lost all of the weight he could on his own. Allaire had gotten rid of more than half his body weight. But he still had about 20 pounds of extra skin hanging off of him.
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Allaire started a Go Fund Me campaign to help raise money for the surgery. Friends and supporters raised more than $7,000 to help Allaire with the medical bills. When the surgery was complete in March of 2018, doctors had removed about 13 pounds of skin from his upper body.
Allaire still requires one more surgery to get rid of skin from his lower body.
3. John Allaire Wanted to Help Other People Lose Weight as a Personal Trainer
On his Facebook page, Allaire writes that he wants “to help anyone I can experience the freedom that comes with living in a healthy physical body.”
He trained to become a personal trainer at the International Sports Sciences Association. He finished his certification and became a group fitness trainer in May of 2018.
Allaire has said in interviews that when he first stepped into Camp Transformation in 2016, he nearly walked right back out. He described feeling incredibly overwhelmed and intimidated as he watched other people doing the exercise routines. He now wants to help other people overcome similar fears.
4. John Allaire and Wife Caila Are Now Living in Japan
During the summer of 2018, John and Caila Allaire began their next adventure, this time overseas. Caila was stationed in Yokosuka, Kanagawa in Japan. They will be living there for the next three years. This deployment was a major reason why Allaire urgently needed the skin removal surgery; he needed to have it done before moving across the world.
John Allaire has kept up the motivation in Japan. He frequently posts updates about his exercise routines on Facebook. The info he shares on a regular basis includes calories burned and average heart rate. He frequently includes the hashtag #Blessed in his posts as well.
5. Allaire’s Previous Goals Included Working as a Broadcaster
John Allaire, originally from Melbourne, Florida, had early goals of becoming a broadcaster. After graduating from high school, he pursued that goal with an internship in the Orlando, Florida area.
He became an on-air personality called “Big John” at station 96.9 “The Game.” Allaire’s internship lasted from August 2013 until January of 2014. He followed up that experience by earning a certificate from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in 2015.
John Allaire did not continue his work in the broadcasting world. But his experience behind the mic may have helped him prepare for the media spotlight. His weight loss journey led to an invitation to appear on an episode of the Doctors in February of 2018.