Blake Lorio recognized something had to change, and that he had to make it happen.
“The Hahnville High School alum had always struggled with his weight – “I was always known as ‘the big guy,’” he said. He estimates that at his heaviest, he weighed over 500 pounds. But after seeing a photo of himself taken around Christmas of 2021, Lorio was taken aback.
“I was like, ‘wow, I look like that?’” Lorio said. “I didn’t really realize it. I don’t take many pictures and I don’t think I grasped where I actually was with it … I just felt like, this can’t be what it is.”
It no longer is. Lorio committed to changing his life – he has lost approximately 300 pounds over the past four-plus years, crossing that milestone just a few weeks ago.
“Once I set a goal for myself, I’m going to do whatever it takes in order for me to get there,” Lorio said.
The photo was the final domino to fall and spur him into action, but Lorio had a different kind of weight on his shoulders before beginning this journey.
His father had been diagnosed with kidney failure and his mother with congestive heart failure. During the worst of their struggle, Lorio found himself running between different hospitals and rehabilitation facilities while caring for them both. He said he is grateful to be able to say that both of his parents are in stable health today.
Long hours at work as a CPA combined with mounting family responsibilities left him little time to focus on himself. The experience also served as a wake-up call.
“It kind of made me realize that I have to focus on my health,” Lorio said.
He first made sweeping changes to his diet.
“I never cooked at home – it was all fast food,” said Lorio. “McDonald’s before work. Then we worked right off of Veteran’s (Blvd.) and I had every place in the book to go eat.”
He eliminated bread and soda completely from his diet. He focused on making sure his meals included ample protein.
The largest step was scaling back to one traditional meal a day – something Lorio said is likely not the best path for everyone to go on but is something that’s worked for him. His routine consisted of coffee in the morning and a protein shake for lunch.
That got the ball rolling. He would weigh himself once a week, and each week he’d see the number on display gradually decline.
“I was so motivated and locked in on my diet that I never saw a gain,” he said.
Still, he never allowed himself to become overly fixated on the scale.
“It’s just a number. This is more about how you feel,” Lorio said. “And I just continued to feel better as I went on.”
As he lost the weight, more positive effects began to surface.
Lorio suffered from sleep apnea, which affected his sleep quality and energy level during the day. As he lost weight, his condition improved. He was able to stop using the CPAP machine he used to treat the condition. His sleep improved, along with
his energy.
“I’d fall asleep at times during my lunch break,” said Lorio. “I’d have headaches in the morning … I started feeling so much better.”
He used Walmart delivery work as an additional source of physical activity during the early stages, essentially turning the side job into part of his exercise routine.
As he gained momentum, he added daily exercise to his routine and took it seriously. He hired a personal trainer at Anytime Fitness in Destrehan who has since become a close friend. For the past two years, he has gone directly to the gym from work each day.
During his most consistent period of weight loss, he estimates he dropped between 10 and 15 pounds a month.
He said he feels better in virtually every aspect of his life and no longer has to make decisions based on his size or physical limitations. Previously, he avoided amusement parks because he worried he wouldn’t fit on rides and knew certain activities would be uncomfortable or impossible. He also described how everyday tasks became difficult.
He recalled visiting Las Vegas and walking approximately 40,000 steps in a day, something that would have been unimaginable before his transformation.
Lorio said he feels free again.
“I feel 100 percent better in every aspect of life,” he said. “It’s not like I can’t live my life. Now I’m living my life and now I’m just living it healthier.”
