You likely won’t recognize Quinton Aaron the next time you see him. The actor has dropped a total of nearly 100 pounds so far, and he’s not finished losing it.
The actor, 37, who is best known for his role as football player Michael Oher (Big Mike) in the 2009 Academy Award-winning film The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock, has gone from 559 pounds to 462 pounds since November 2021.
Now the actor is determined to drop even more weight by May in honor of his late mother’s birthday.
Quinton says he gained weight during the pandemic
In an exclusive story, Quinton told TMZ that the weight started piling on during the pandemic, leading him to partake in more binge-eating at home and developing an affinity for chocolate, things he said weren’t an issue pre-pandemic.
He described his pandemic diet of two Reese’s packs, two jumbo-sized Kit Kat packs, two large sandwiches per serving, and a chocolate dessert whenever he went to a restaurant.
One day, Quinton realized that he wanted to make some lifestyle changes because he had a lot of hopes and dreams for his production company, BOM Productions, and his music.
“I used the new year as a way to get a new me,” he told TMZ.
He also shared a before-and-after photo with TMZ showing off his newly slimmer figure.
His new diet consists of following a keto diet, eliminating candy bars and bread completely, eating Cobb salads for lunch, and fasting.
He’s also kept the pounds off by doing a lot of walking and stretching exercises.
Quinton’s ultimate goal is to weigh between 300 to 325 pounds, which was his weight when he was in The Blind Side. He’s hoping to reach that goal weight by May in honor of his late mother’s birthday.
Quinton was once kicked off a plane because of his weight
In 2014, Quinton was booted from a flight from Philadelphia to Rochester, New York, for taking up two airline economy seats. While he usually flew first class, there weren’t any first-class seats available on that particular flight. At the time, the 6’8 actor weighed 550 pounds.
“As I saw the seats, I’m literally hoping that no one had to sit next to me because I knew it wasn’t going to work if they did,” Quinton told ABC News.
But when another passenger arrived, Quinton had to be rebooked on another flight.
“I just grabbed my bag and just got off as quick as possible because it was embarrassing,” he confessed.
But it also served as motivation for Quinton to take control of his weight and health.
“I live in California. I want to go to the beach in the summertime with a tank top on and have girls chasing me down the beach one day,” said Quinton.
After The Blind Side, Quinton started an antibullying foundation, The Quinton Aaron Foundation. The foundation is committed to raising awareness about childhood obesity and antibullying.
Quinton isn’t the only celebrity on a weight loss journey this year
Quinton isn’t the only actor determined to lose weight in 2022.
Actress Rebel Wilson is also going through a weight loss transformation of her own, losing more than 75 pounds since 2020, and hopes to lose another 50 pounds.
RHOC star Shannon Beador also recently lost 14 pounds, which she credits to exercise and clean eating from her Real For Real cuisine business. She has been struggling with her weight off and on since 2017.