It wasn’t until simply recently that Jeffrey Kendall realized how much he appears the Beast, or Prince Adam, from “beauty and the Beast.” That’s because for most of his life, the resemblance had been hiding under 70 extra pounds.
“Weight has been something I’ve struggled with my entire life. i was an overweight youth, i was bullied growing up. I’ve lived my life with body-image and confidence issues,” he told Love What matters. He’d tried dieting before, but it wasn’t until 2015 — when his mother was admitted to the hospital after a brain aneurysm — that he committed to the change.
“She didn’t recognize me the first day she was back. It was a very emotional time for me,” Kendall said. “As I began losing the weight, she soon started to recognize me more and more, and i’m so appreciative to once more see that sparkle in her eye.”
Kendall says he “started out small” with “a light barbell exercise” and “pushups every day.” As he stuck with it, he grew to love working out. “soon i was waking up and going for walks while listening to uplifting tune,” he said.
And over the course of one hundred weeks, he shed 70 pounds. He was so proud of his accomplishment that he took to Reddit, posting pictures of his incredible transformation.
“I could barely sleep that night, it was amazing. The comments were all so uplifting and inspiring. Many called me a real life Disney Prince, the highest compliment of them all. It’s made me choose to chase a dream of becoming a model or perhaps an actor one day.”
“That sort of response fuels me still and i suppose it will for a very long time. I hold it close during my exercises. Now I’m chasing a bigger goal and i feel for one of the first times in my life a motivation for more.”
Kendall says throughout it all, his mom was his inspiration. “on the end of the day, I just want to make her proud,” he said. I think it goes without saying that she couldn’t be more proud of her son.
