MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - Charles Wolfe calls himself Tipton County's "biggest loser". At his heaviest, Wolfe weighed more than 700 pounds. Now, 400 pounds less, he says he is happy to be alive and that his journey is just beginning.
"Didn't go no place, couldn't go no place because no place could accommodate me, plus I didn't have any energy, was short of breath," Wolfe said.
Wolfe says he loves to be able to walk his dog, Isaiah.
Just three years ago, this former truck driver could barely make it out his front door.
In 2010, Charles Wolfe weighed 670 pounds. At times he weighed as much as 740 pounds.
Wolfe says many of his days were spent in a special bed made to support his weight.
A type II diabetic, he said food was slowly killing him.
"I'd eat two of the Big Mac value meals, big size, pies and whatever with it," he explained. "If I went to Pizza Hut, I'd get a whole pizza and bread sticks."
Wolfe says he decided to get control of his life three years ago.
He had gastric bypass in October of that year. He immediately started losing weight and was no longer diabetic.
"I sit back and ask myself, 'Why was I killing myself like that for?'" Wolfe said.
Wolfe now weighs 370 pounds.
He is now able to perform simple tasks that his weight previously made impossible.
"I can put my socks on, walk my dog, take my garbage out to the curb," he said.
Wolfe says his diet has also changed. Most of the foods he eats are baked. And he is finally able to get the exercise he says he has needed for years.
Wolfe says he looks forward to his next surgery, which will take off nearly 100 pounds of excess skin that now hangs from his body.
"I got a life now, and my life's getting better," he laughed.
Because of his weight, Charles Wolfe has not worked since 1996. That is when he went on disability.
He says he looks forward to getting down to his goal of 250 pounds and going back to work.
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Charles Wolfe before his surgery
Photo taken after his surgery
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
