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Current mood:  adventurous
.. http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">.. name="ProgId" content="Word.document· name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12">.. name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">.. rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CRONLES%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml">.. rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CRONLES%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx">.. rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CRONLES%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml">.. -->[if gte mso 9]>.. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 .. -->[if gte mso 9]>.. ....[endif]-->.. -->[if gte mso 10]> ..[endif]-->.. -->[if gte mso 9]>.. ....[endif]-->.. -->[if gte mso 9]>.. ....[endif]-->Hi everyone out there on Myspace! My name is Ron Lester. Thanks for checking out my page! Feel free to ask me any questions, and please send me an invite to be my friend! :)
I've been blessed to be able to work as an actor since as long as I can remember, and have been featured in mainstream movies and television shows during the course of my career.
My career really hit gold about 10 years ago. I was featured as "Billy Bob" in Varsity Blues and won a Nickelodeon spotlight award for my role as Sugar Daddy on the WB's "Popular". Life was great . . . kind of. While I loved making people laugh, and working in "the business", I was hired because of my weight. I was always the funny, overweight sidekick. At the height of my career, I was a whopping 508 lbs. and about to die. Even though I was as successful as I'd ever been, I was one of the very first male celebrities who realized that unless I took drastic measures to curb my weight, I'd never be able to enjoy my success.
I decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery and make a change for the better. I had my surgery on December 12, 2000. Taking the plunge to undergo Gastric bypass surgery was the toughest decision of my life. In the end, I lost a total of 348lbs and gained a new lease on life.
Through this journey, I've been blessed with a special insight to life and the human condition. My unique situation and my willingness to discuss it helps people to realize that there is always hope no matter what your size may be. I am living proof that with fortitude and determination, anything is possible. We can achieving seemingly impossible goals . . . even if those goals seem as small as living a "happy and normal life".
For me, the greatest reward is that I've learned how to love myself and accept who I am – Fat or Thin. Let me say it again as it's so important . . . my greatest reward is that I love myself. MY WEIGHT NO LONGER DICTATES MY SELF WORTH! I have personally gone through so many ups and downs in my life, and I still deal with rough realities like depression every day. But the value of being able to be here, and to share my experience with you, and to be strong makes those realities less rough.
Maybe you know what it was like to grow up the way I did - being the "fat kid," only to become the fat adult as well as an eating disorder survivor. The heartache and tribulations that comes with those ups and downs are incredible. My whole life was largely spent on and off diets and weight loss fads. I was in and out of clinics and fat camps. There was even a moment in my life where I was hospitalized for my eating disorder. I was the only fat person as well as the only male in a lock down facility occupied by women that were suffering from anorexia. As you can imagine this truly was a clash of two worlds. These women looked at me with disgust and hate. I learned that the negative feelings I was receiving turned out to be their own personal feelings and reflections of themselves. Later, I took this moment of my life and shared it in an episode of my television show "Popular".
Once I finally decided enough was enough, I used my celebrity status (and a lot of money!) to skip some very important steps in getting my gastric bypass surgery. And here was where I learned that sometimes sideskidding procedures is not always the best idea! I waived recommendations to have a psychologist give me advice and treatment which would have given me the tools to deal with the new life changes that come from losing over 300 pounds!
I landed in NYC on Dec. 20th, 2000 for my surgery. I met with my doctor for the first time and less than 24 hours later I laid down on the operation table and closed my eyes…not knowing that I was about to have a serious brush with death.
During the first step of my procedure, I flat lined. Something within kept my hanging on, maybe it was that I knew if I didn't finish what I had started, I would die anyway. Six months later, I realized the surgeries didn't stop there, and my GBP procedure was only the beginning. I found myself requiring 17 plastic surgeries over the next 4 years to remove the excess skin that was left after losing over 300 pounds of fat.
Most people, including me, thought that losing the weight was the best thing that could have ever happened for me. Free from the shackles of obesity (and misery), what else would I be but happy and free? Well, there's more to it than that. There is more to that story, a hurtful truth almost more hurtful than being fat. I realized that losing the weight didn't cure my problems. If anything, losing the weight only helped shine the light on what was wrong with me on the inside. Cutting away my weight revealed my true inner self - a place where my fears and insecurities were buried for many years under layers of fat. Once thinner, my self-image issues and self-esteem struggles found their way to the forefront of my life. And it's a battle I personally fight to this day - when I look in a mirror, that funny fat guy is the one staring back at me. I know I am physically distant from that image, but that old friend is still familiar and very much part of my identity.
So why do I pour everything out like this? It's my belief that when you open yourself to others, they open up to you. And you can only help someone find their path if they can see where you have been and where you're going. I, like so many other people, struggle with my weight. I've got a new lease on life, and it has come with a price. I've learned how to live in my new world, and encourage others to find theirs.
In my case, my weight was what made me popular. It's how I made money as an actor! So now, I am a pro at talking to people about my own personal weight loss and how it shook my identity to the core. The mental effect of no longer being recognized for something that made you memorable in the first place is pretty intense!
I've been through a lot in my life and I think I deliver the message in such a way that it isn't limited to just those dealing with a personal or family member's weight loss, but a health concern, identity concern and a life-changing experience.
Whether I am speaking at a Health expo, College, University, High School or any other event...one of my greatest attributes is my ability to share my personal story. My personal story has involved coming to terms with my own issues, in dealing with the real person that was trapped was down inside for a long time. My hope is that by sharing my true self, others are freed to bring out their "trapped" inner sprit. I now feel free to be me. My wish for every person struggling with their weight is for them to feel this, too.
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3:33 AM
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