'Love saved my life': Morbidly obese man given two years to live loses 275lbs after reconnecting with high school sweetheart

Lee Jordan, 50, would eat up to 12,000 calories - a - day

He suffered from diabetes, lung disease, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol

Now all of his health problems have been reversed



A formerly obese man has told how he managed to lose more than half his body weight after being reunited with his high school sweetheart; his now-wife.



Lee Jordan, 50, revealed to CNN that he was a slender 165lbs as a teenager but during his 20s his 5ft 8in frame ballooned to 453lbs due to a gut-busting 8,000 to 12,000-calorie-per-day diet.



It was only when he reconnected with his long lost love, Beth Schwein, that he realized he had to turn this life around. Thanks to her encouragement, he lost 275lbs and today the married couple run a fitness company together out of Jacksonville Beach, Florida.



New mad: Lee Jordan, 50, has told how he managed to lose more than half his body weight after being reunited with his high school, sweetheart; his now-wife

‘Beth looked at me, and all she saw was Lee Jordan,’ Lee said, recalling his first encounter with Beth in more than 20 years one day in 2008.



‘That’s it. There was nothing but love and acceptance in her eyes.

'I cannot express how powerful that was. That was the turning point that gave me the willingness to turn things around.’



Before his transformation, Lee had full-blown diabetes, lung disease, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.



He also spent two-and-a-half years hooked up to an oxygen supply using a machine at home and a canister while he was at work.



Transformation: During his 20s Lee's 5ft 8in frame ballooned to 453lbs (left) due to a gut-busting 8,000 to 12,000-calorie-per-day diet - today he weighs a lighter 178lbs (right) loves exercising



High school sweethearts-turned-spouses: Lee and Beth originally met in 1979 through a church youth group in the Washington area - they broke up but met for the first time in 2008

Doctors estimated that he had just two years to live.



But with Beth by his side, he lost the weight needed for gastric bypass surgery and gave his diet an overhaul.



The two originally met in 1979 through a church youth group in the Washington area and started dating.



'I never ate less than two large pizzas, followed by the super-size large family bag of Doritos, two large tubs of dip, two large boxes of cookies and a half-gallon of ice cream'

After graduation, Beth went to Radford University in Virginia and Lee followed her a year later. They had planned on getting married after finishing school but things didn’t work out.

While Lee got distracted by the party scene, Beth was more career-focused and eventually the two drifted apart.



Lee dropped out of school, moved home and got a job as an assistant manager at a clothing store.



Because it was too painful, he and Beth made a pact not to speak again.



Over the years Lee piled on the pounds due to a lack of exercise and poor diet. He estimates that he consumed 8,000 to 12,000 calories a day.



'I never ate less than two large pizzas, followed by the super-size large family bag of Doritos, two large tubs of dip, two large boxes of cookies and a half-gallon of ice cream . . . I buried my emotions in food,' he said.



Fitness fanatics: The couple married in 2012 and now enjoy doing 10Ks, half-marathons and triathlons together

All smiles: Lee says reconnecting with Beth helped him to conquer his obesity problem

He never married, barely dated and still held a flame for Beth, often sifting through a box of old memories from their time together.

Meanwhile she had gone on to build a career for herself, get married and have a family. But she still felt unfulfilled and in 2004, an aunt’s dying wish prompted her to send a letter to Lee out of the blue.



In the note she filled him in on her life and talked about how their love had been true and apologized for any hurt feelings.



'Love, acceptance and encouragement were the difference-makers for me... If you do a little at a time, you can gain so much'

Several years earlier she had suffered a broken back in a rollerblading accident and instead of surgery, she taught herself to walk again by working with a personal trainer and doing strength exercises.



Feeling better than ever before, she decided to get certified as a fitness expert herself.

It wasn’t until 2008 that she finally met up with Lee. When she saw him she decided to help him battle his obesity problem with the knowledge she had gained.



As his health improved, the two rekindled their old passion.



‘All the years were washed away,’ Lee said. ’I was alive again.’



After Beth got a divorce, Lee proposed in 2012 at the same spot in Starbucks where they had first met for coffee four years earlier.



I do: After Beth got a divorce, Lee proposed in 2012 at the same spot in Starbucks where they had first met for coffee four years earlier - they married soon after

Today he weighs 178lbs and has dropped from a 72-inch to a 34-inch waist.



He and Beth are both certified fitness trainers and often do 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathons and triathlons together.



‘Love, acceptance and encouragement [were] the difference-makers for me,’ he concluded. 'If you do a little at a time, you can gain so much.'

