Obesity in US: New York Couple To Marry After Shedding 600 Pounds Together

As they say "where there is a will, there is a way," and for Ronnie Brower, who weighed 675 pounds in 2013, his only aim was to lose weight. The New York resident was able to lose 458 pounds through a rigorous fitness regime over four years and will marry fiance Andrea Masella in their hometown of Syracuse, New York, on Saturday.

Brower's four-year fitness journey has been chronicled on Facebook and his hard work won him the admiration of Masella, who he met at his gym where she herself was trying shed weight, the Associated Press reported.

Read: Which City In US Is The Most Obese?

When Masella, 24, met Brower at the gym, they quickly developed a bond as both over their common mission of losing weight. "I was just really inspired by him and I thought he was super cute," said Masella. She added: "We started talking at the gym and I hate to sound cliche but it was love at first sight," according to AP.

Till four years ago, Brower was so overweight that he could barely leave his parents' house. He was frustrated and due to that, he got addicted to drugs, alcohol and food. The final warning regarding Brower's health came when Jeff Jones, a physician assistant at CNY Internists of Upstate New York, told Brower he would be dead in two years due to obesity.

Jones said: "The human heart was not built to stand up to that kind of weight. Unless Brower made a change, and fast, he'd doom himself to dying as a young man," according to Syracuse.com.

On hearing this, Brower returned home, feeling hopeless. He also posted a desperate message on Facebook saying he did not want to live anymore.

It was then, Brower contacted the owner of a fitness gym, and under his guidance, gave up drugs and alcohol and started following a healthy diet. He began by consuming a low-carbohydrate diet and working out three hours a day. His exercises included lifting his arms while sitting on a chair and within 100 days, he had already lost 100 pounds, reports said.

Brower said: “My job 24 hours a day was to get healthy and save my life."

Brower's wife to be, Masella had a similar situation. She weighed 250 pounds in 2014 and was on a mission to lose 120 pounds. In fact, the couple's first date was all about playing ping pong and basketball at the gym.

Last year, there were reports showing 40 percent of women in the U.S. to be obese, and American teenagers were also continuing to put on weight. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicated toward failed efforts of the government to encourage Americans to lose weight or stop putting on more weight, CNBC reported.

Overall, 38 percent of U.S. adults and 17 percent of teenagers were obese, the reports said. The studies also suggested 5.8 percent of teens and children were extremely obese.