December 2016 | MensHealth.com 25I’ve always been a big guy. I come
from a family of big people. My father
was 6'4" and weighed 275 pounds.
He used to say that once I learned
how to make a bologna sandwich, it
was all over from there.
I lost my dad when I was 16. He was
diagnosed with liver cancer in Jan-
uary 2005 and passed away seven
months later. Thanks to my football
coaches and a good support system in
my small town, I stayed focused and
kept my playing weight at 336. But
by about 12 months after my senior
year in high school, I’d gained 50 to
80 pounds. I didn’t have any direc-
tion. The very man who’d taught me
everything wasn’t there. I had no idea
what I wanted to do. But one thing I
did know how to do was eat. My mom
used to make one pot of spaghetti
for the family and then another pot
of spaghetti for me. I’d eat the whole
thing within a day or two. I once ate
100 wings in a sitting. I was eating for
reasons I didn’t understand.
Even now, as I’m about to enter
my 30s, there are a lot of things I
wish my father had told me. But I’ve
learned. After I make a mistake,
I take action to correct it and make
sure it doesn’t happen again.Vinson Smith, this year’s
most compelling Belly Off!
story, weighed 500-plus
pounds. Then he lost half
his weight and took up
yoga. What’s your excuse?
As told to Brielle GregoryPHOTOGRAPHS BY JEREMY M. LANGE
“I LOST
285
POUNDS”