Adam Castle knows people may be inspired by his 170-pound weight loss but his advice is simple for those aspiring to follow his footsteps – don’t.

“Whoever you are, whoever’s reading this article, you’ve got all of the power that you need in order to do everything that I’ve done and more,” said Castle, who weighed in at almost 400 pounds two years ago before his declining health spurred him to find the help he needed – both physically and mentally – to turn his life around.

“All of our journeys are different,” he said. “We all start from different places, we all come at it from different levels of accessibility.

“But what I’ve done is nothing extraordinary. It’s always really been just one foot in front of the other for the last few years.”

A learning disability and the ensuing bullying he experienced in elementary school led to years of overeating.

“The way I used to deal with my trauma was by eating,” Castle said. “I would eat when I was happy and when I was sad and when I was celebrating and when I was bored. It became an addiction.”

But at 30 years old and experiencing difficulty walking, joint pain, nerve damage and early onset arthritis in his neck, a trip to his doctor revealed he had developed Type 2 diabetes.

“The doctor basically said to me that I had some damage in my organs, to my liver and kidneys and heart and that if I didn’t change my path I wouldn’t be around to see 40,” Castle said. “He also said that if I worked really hard that I could put my diabetes into remission.”

But Castle realized he would never be able to get his body in shape without dealing first with the mental health issues he was carrying with him – high stress, anxiety and trauma. Help came with a visit to the Canadian Mental health Association – Windsor Essex County Branch.

“I understood that I wasn’t dealing with just weight loss. I had to deal with a lot of stuff from inside out first,” he said.

Today, Castle eats no processed foods, no added salt, sugar or fat, only fish, eggs and vegetables.

He also began exercising – only able to do 15 minutes of cycling on a recumbent bicycle at first because of the pain.

“It was a big shift but one that I saw a lot of results from – almost immediately. The weight started coming off.”

That led to the purchase of a road bicycle.

“That really kicked everything off last year. I rode over a thousand kilometres last season from July to September. I fell in love with it,” he said.

“It felt like being like a kid again when you have your first bike and there’s like that freedom that sort of comes with it and being able to explore and have adventure. It was this really cool, sort of transformative outlet for me.”

Castle is this year’s CMHA-WECB Ride Don’t Hide ambassador, raising funds to support the bereavement program, client assistance fund and mental health training and education.

“Ride Don’t Hide is a way to take care of your physical and mental health,” said Kim Willis, communications director for the association.

“We know we need to talk about how mental and physical health work in tandem and Adam sharing his personal journey is so appreciated because it helps to show that there is a way out.  And that with resources, support and outreach we can save lives.”

To find out more, visit www.ridedonthide.com/windsor.

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