AUSTIN (KXAN) — When Nick Geoppo walked into work he didn't know the attack he was about to experience would lead him to a self-discovery journey that changed his life.
"I laid down on the floor thinking I was having a heart attack but it was actually a panic attack," Geoppo said as he recalled about the moments that led up to this point. "I was 274 pounds. I was working a job that I hated for 60 hours a week."
Geoppo said he didn't have a community, he was in an unhealthy relationship and felt he had no control over his life - a path he said led him to depression and anxiety. The processed foods didn't help either.
"Up to this point, I went an entire year never having a home-cooked meal. I only ate out only takeout in junk food. Never had any food in the in the house," Geoppo said.
The 274-pound man then took a drastic move. He quit his job, broke up with his girlfriend, moved to a different state and for the next six months he lived in isolation to focus on his relationship with food. Geoppo says he was a new man after shredding 75 pounds during those six months. He told himself this weight loss would be different than the previous attempts.
"From 2013 to 2019, I gained and lost 50 plus pounds every year. And I did it by going on these crazy fad diets. I lost weight on the chicken and broccoli diet, the keto diet, and all these other fads that I found were unsustainable," he said.
After losing 75 pounds in six months Geoppo felt great, confident and wanted to celebrate.
"I wanted to date all the women that I wasn't dating when I was obese and felt bad. I wanted to go and experience all of the things and reward myself for all the hard work that I've done on myself in the last six months," Geoppo said.
The celebration ended with gaining ten to 15 pounds back a month later.
"And I'll never forget laying their bed going. This is just my life man," Geoppo said.
He picked up his cell phone at night when he was having trouble sleeping and started to document his struggles. The restless man would record videos where he talked about having the worst cravings and thinking about all the fast food places that popped up in his head.
"I would go back and watch the video. I would watch the video as if it wasn't me, as if I was my own therapist as if I was my own friend," Geoppo said. "Some people don't even know what the hell their problems are. At least I know my demons. And mine is food and not knowing how to have a healthy relationship with exercise, nutrition or my own self, body soul."
He started to run. Signed up for half marathons and completed them. The next year he ran 10 half marathons and five full marathons the following year but he was still eating processed foods and drinking.
"I moved down here and signed up to run a 50-mile race," Geoppo said. "Now, my identity has changed from the guy that was obese to the guy that was losing weight, to the guy that's an ultra marathon runner. I had a full shift in obsession."
Things quickly changed.
"We're two weeks out and I go in for my regular doctor checkup," he said about the unexpected diagnosis - Wolff Parkinson White syndrome - a rare heart condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast or irregularly. It's caused by an extra electrical pathway in the heart.
"And this doctor that I had never met looks me dead in the eye two weeks before this 50-mile race that I had been training for a year and moved down to Austin specifically to be a part of this community and run these races tells me that I have to get heart surgery," Geoppo said.
While Geoppo felt lost after being forced to stop running - he then found freedom with whole and natural foods. His diet transitioned from processed foods to meats, fruits, rice, vegetables, potatoes, and hydration.
"For the first time ever, I started feeling really good. When I made that transition to more single-ingredient foods, I started counting ingredients more than counting calories. All of the energy that I had ever wanted in my whole life I found was tied to just eating healthier food, my sleep got better," Geoppo said. "My conversations with other people got better, I was more focused, I was more energized."
Geoppo is now sharing his roller-coaster weight journey to coach people struggling with weight loss. He's also the host of the Drop It Podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, where he shares his personal experiences and talks about what helped him conquer his demons.
"Obesity can be the best that's ever happened to you should you just let it be. All of the lessons all of the self respect the joy the pride you are looking for may be in the journey of addressing the thing that you are not willing to address or that you don't think is possible," Geoppo said.
