How a Pensacola man transformed his health and mindset

For one local man, that step came unexpectedly at the Grand Canyon and led him to a fitness center, where he says he reclaimed his life, health, and mental well-being after a lifetime of obesity.

Leon Nichols of Pensacola said his struggle with weight gain began in the third grade.

“I went from being the skinniest kid in class to almost the heaviest,” said Nichols.

He eventually weighed more than 400 pounds.

As a child, he said he was told that a hormonal condition might be to blame. Later, he said he was told he has autism.

“It was like not having anything inside of me working,” said Nichols. “Suddenly the kids that I could fit in with didn’t fit in with me and I got excluded. I didn’t know how to talk and how to laugh. I was always the last kid picked for everything,”

What he knew inside was that he felt unhealthy and unhappy. Still, life went on. Leon married, had a family, and continued to gain weight. Until what he calls a “spiritual experience” during a family vacation to the Grand Canyon.

“It felt like my body turned on. Like something kickstarted. Like somebody actually turned it on,” said Nichols. “And I told my son, I can’t come over there and take pictures, but I feel like I could run. I actually feel like I could do something. I feel like I can go home and do the gym.”

And so he did. Leon spends nearly every day doing some form of exercise. He is now a regular fixture in Planet Fitness. He said he’s lost more than 200 pounds.

“It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it,” said Nichols.

It didn’t happen overnight, and it took a lot of work on his physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

“All my life, I really struggled until I came to be at peace with who I am. For me, first and foremost, I had to have God help me and then I had to help myself by finding someone to help me be better than I am.”

That “someone” is his family, community of faith, and also his friends, including those in the gym where he is something of an inspiration, for his weight loss and his attitude.

“It’s taken me to 57 to where I’m actually looking at myself in a mirror and seeing what I always thought I was and that’s a big thing and I understand that takes a lot of effort”.

His word to those who are also struggling with “weight,” both inside and out?

“Start. Just start. Think about who you are. If you can’t change that, then why are you going to change it on the outward look? You have to actually love yourself. And it’s taken me almost a lifetime to get somewhere even close to that. I am who I am and that’s bigger than who I look like.”