“I didn’t do anything crazy,” said Bob Sears of his dramatic seven months of weight loss. “Except eat healthy.”

Sears, of Warren, said he was visiting friends last year at a holiday party. “Where did you guys go,” he asked them. “They were so small.” Sears said that they told him the same thing he tells people today. They were simply eating better, he said. A few days after the party, said Sears, there was a book on his front steps for the Whole 30 Program.

Developed in 2009 by sports nutritionists Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, the program focuses on cutting out food groups like sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes, which it says “could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it.” Like the popular “paleo” diet, but with more restrictions, the Whole 30 Program asks participants to commit to a full 30 days of clean, whole foods, without cheating, and says that by the end of that month they’ll feel better and be excited to continue.

That, said Sears, has been his experience. The claim that the Whole 30 Program “will change your life,” according to the program rules, has been true for him, Sears said.

While there are mixed reviews of the program, calling it anything from a fad diet to a positive lifestyle change, Sears said that, for him, it’s been a game changer. For thirty days, according to the program rules, participants must not consume any added sugar, even natural sugars like maple syrup or honey. Alcohol and tobacco are on the naughty list, understandably, as are grains, legumes, dairy, preservatives like MSG or sulfites, and “recreated” baked goods or junk foods with “approved” ingredients. Also forbidden for the thirst 30 days: weighing yourself. That’s because, according to program rules, “this is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer.” Weights, the program states, should be taken at the beginning and end of the 30 day program, to assess progress. But weight should not be the end goal. The point, the program emphasizes, is improving wellness.

Sears said that seven months ago, on January 17, his weight had reached its maximum – 303 pounds. “I had to do something,” said Sears. “It was just my time.” So when friends shared the Whole 30 Program with him, he said, he was at a place in his life where he was willing to commit to the 30 days. Weight had been something his family had always found challenging, with his father and mother both being on the bigger side. For four months after receiving the Whole 30 information, Sears said. “I just looked at it. I did nothing.” But he did some things. Sears said he talked about it with his doctors. He had three major providers: a primary care physician, a urologist, and a doctor treating his sleep apnea. Not only was his weight high. So was his cholesterol, and he was sleeping with machine to help him keep breathing throughout the night. Complications from being overweight had him on multiple medications and back and forth to doctors regularly, Sears said.

When he committed to start the 30 day program, Sears said, he knew he’d need something to motivate him to stay on the straight and narrow. The only way the program works, he said, is through fidelity. “You can eat as much as you want,” explained Sears, “but only healthy foods and you can not cheat.” So Sears started thinking of people who had, as he said, real struggles in their lives. The temptation to eat chicken wings, he said, should pale in comparison to cancer, loss of loved ones, and the pain of childbirth, just to name a few.

The first week, Sears said, he committed to being mindful of his father, who had multiple surgeries and lost his leg. In week two, Sears considered his mother, who’d suffered a stroke and been in hospice for the last 22 days of her life. His father-in-law, who’d suffered lung cancer but never smoked, filled his mind in week three, and in week four it was his mother-in-law’s struggle with alzheimers that kept him from giving in to temptation.

In his first month, Sears said, he stepped on the scale to discover he’d lost 24 pounds. Month two, he’d lost another 13. Then in the subsequent months Sears found he’d lost another 10.5, 13.5, 9, 8.5, and 7 pounds. Today, he said he’s down to 219 pounds in seven months≥

“It was just my time,” said Sears, who added that he’s asked often about how he’s lost the weight and what others can do to follow suit. “There was a wakeup call. I have grandchildren. I want to live a long life,” Sears said. But he can only provide the information. “You have to be ready to make that change,” said Sears of others who’ve asked him how to achieve the same results. “Two people helped me,” said Sears of the friends who’d originally given him the Whole 30 book. “If I can help someone else,” he said, “that’s what I want to do.” Sears said he’s passed out over a dozen of the Program Rules handouts, and said that people reach out to him often on Facebook for support and motivation.

That, said Sears, is what he’s all about. While his official “goal weight” from his doctor is 190, said Sears, he’s happy to be where he is and hopes that his weight loss journey can inspire others, as others’ have inspired him. Sears said that one of his favorite shows was The Biggest Loser, and he’d even completed two videos in the past that he submitted to the show in the hopes of getting on. “In both of those videos,” said Sears, “I ended up in the cemetery at my father’s grave talking about how I didn’t want to end up like that.” Neither video, said Sears, got him a callback, which was disappointing. “Now,” said Sears, “we’ve got My 600 Pound life. I realized, I’m half there,” he said. “And that wasn’t acceptable.”