Transformation Tuesday: Father drops 300 pounds through DDP Yoga

Editor's note: This article contains mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You are not alone.

Diamond Dallas Page has made a living out of helping others.

The World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer has been changing lives for over two decades with his DDPYoga program, a fusion of yoga for men who “wouldn’t be caught dead” doing yoga.

He developed it after he suffered a broken back, and soon realized that his workout regimen couldn't just enhance lives, it could save them.

Since 2004, Page has been seeing his program work miracles. We'll look at this Jersey Shore boy’s most inspirational stories through our Transformation Tuesday feature. All have a story of how DDP YOGA changed, and in many cases, saved their lives.

Justin Dobbins

• Age: 45
• From: Joplin, Missouri; originally from Broken Arrow Oklahoma
• Starting weight: Over 700 pounds
• Current weight: 330 pounds
• Wife: Elise
• Daughters: Paili, 18, Skylar, 13

When Justin Dobbins started DDPY, he had nowhere else to go.

Literally.

A father of two, a husband and a hard worker, Dobbins had a lot of reasons to turn his life around.

He tried everything and had given up. He was seconds away from ending his life when he decided to try again.

While scrolling through his social media pages, he saw DDP Yoga success stories, and figured “why not me?”

He lost more than 400 pounds, became a Positively Unstoppable champion and has taken care of all the injuries he sustained from carrying around that large frame.

Now, he has all the great things he’s always had and he’s able to enjoy them. Here is his transformation story.

Before starting your wellness journey, can you describe your physical and mental state and how it relates to your self image?

"I don’t talk about it much, but it was in my DDPY video, I was sitting outside with a pistol in my mouth, I was done. I was unhealthy, everything hurt, and even at 700 pounds, I worked a full time job. I would work, come home and go right to bed. I had a barrel in my mouth, all that kept me here was my wife and kids. That’s when I realized I had to get up and get moving. I went sugar free, I still haven’t had sugar. I haven’t had a break once. I treat it like it’s drugs and alcohol. People said it was unsustainable, but I’ve done it. My self image was pretty darn bad."

How long did it take for you to decide something needed to change, and was there a specific event that motivated you to start?

"Sitting with a gun barrel in my mouth, that was rough. Only place you can go is either out or up. That night, my wife talked to me about keto in November. I knew cutting sugar would help. I didn’t want her to be on a strict diet. My wife told me I could do it and I did."

Was this the first fitness program you have tried and what made it something you stuck to?

"I had gone to the gym and worked out. I never got my diet in control, but I swam and worked out. I played football back in school. But DDP Yoga is the first time sticking to something, long term."

Do you remember a particular moment when you began to believe that you were changing your life and that you were going to succeed?

“When I lost my first 100 pound. So, Jan. 22, 2019, until May 20-something, 2019. On our wedding anniversary, I weighed in at 99 pounds (down). When I started my journey and I said no more sugar, one of the things was to have a cheat meal on my anniversary. I told her I don’t crave cheesecake anymore, and I’ve gone this long without any screwups, let’s keep it going. So four or five months. And once you start feeling better, you feel good and the weight starts falling off. I lost 250 pounds by the end of the year.”

What were the key factors in your success that made the difference?

"When I say I hit rock bottom, I was laying on rock bottom. Some say they hit rock bottom, but mine might have been a little scarier. So fear motivated me. A lot of it was knowing I don’t ever want to feel like that again. To me, it comes to a cheat meal, I think back and it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to have 30 seconds of enjoyment, and I don’t know what kind of pain it would give me. I don’t want to suffer or beat myself up. I’m a stubborn person from the Midwest. That’s how my family is wired. It just took me 40 years to figure it out."

What types of changes did you make to your eating habits?

"Everything. I quit all sugar, I still haven’t had sugar. I had a complete overhaul. I still stick to an 80% protein lifestyle. If I do have an occasional cheat meal, you can make pizza out of cauliflower. That’s about as wild and crazy as I get."

Do you have a different perspective on what you are capable of today?

"For sure. I don’t typically think I have too many limitations as far as getting around things. I just need to figure things out before I jump into it. One of the big problems I had pop up when I visited a doctor in his office, not really doing too well. I explained I didn’t feel like myself, within 20 minutes, we had to change courses. My doctor is trained to pick up post traumatic stress disorders. I hit four in 20 minutes. That summer PTSD and a few other things I can’t pronounce due to the rapid weight loss. They explained it to me, people get ready to have gastric bypass, most doctors require counseling. The body isn't meant to have those rapid changes. I lost 350 pounds, my brain was ‘who is this dude?’ I never had self worth or any kind of confidence at 700 pounds. Nobody messed with me because I could handle myself, I carried it well. But now I have self confidence. People were treating me differently. I’m getting looks from people I’ve never gotten. It was disgust, and now it’s ‘who is this guy?” Two years with behavioral health. Everyone thought you lost weight, you should be happy. I was, but  I never had this happen. The mind is a crazy thing."

Can you describe how this journey has impacted your life?

"I have a totally different life, I have a totally different life. I can’t put it into words. I have a brand new life. I have one more surgery to go and I can’t think about when that’s over. I’m working on a social media post for three months trying to put it into words about how much different it is. 700 pounds to 330, no limitations. It’s crazy, you can’t describe it. I needed back, knee and ankle surgery. I don’t need any of them anymore. After I had my surgery last September, I couldn’t work out until February."

From a physical perspective, how much did you weight change, and what are you able to do now that you weren’t able to before starting on this journey?

"Everything. Seriously, everything. It was a life change. A complete life change. We do all kinds of stuff. We take family vacations. We’re living life. Before, I was existing, now I’m able to live. It’s living life, getting out and enjoying things normal people enjoy. Every day I’m surprised I did it. But I also knew my family told me several times, once you made up your mind, you’d be able to do it. They also harped on it. Do this, do that. It just took me to the point where I was ready. I’m fortunate I didn’t die before I did it. I was over 500 pounds in high school, but nobody knew it because I carried it well."

He said it

“DDPY introduced me to yoga and bridged the gap between shamalamadingdong and calisthenics. I was doing workouts, but nothing right. I never would have thought of flexibility being so important. My job is very physical, so my business is through the roof because I can do twice as much as before. I build handrails, furniture, a lot of gates, anything custom metal, do repairs. Getting fit has helped my business. DDPY helped me with flexibility, stabilized my balance. It helped me rehab and rebuild my body.”

On his family

“They were everything, they were the reason I did it. I wanted to end it. My wife and kids kept me here. I didn’t want someone else raising my kids or marrying my wife. I’m glad I started it when I did because I was in shape for my daughter’s high school things. She graduated this year. She was in the marching band, so I could volunteer. She was with archery, and I was able to go to it. If I didn’t lose the weight, I wouldn’t have done anything. I have five more years with my other daughter in the band. My weight loss completely changed my life. It’s the difference between black and white. I’ve tried to put it into words and it’s impossible.”

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Transformation Tuesday: Father drops 300 pounds through DDP Yoga