Fort McMurray evacuation inspires man to shed a staggering 335 pounds

How this oil worker from Fort McMurray lost 300+ pounds Tony Bussey tells his amazing story of weight loss and how anyone can do it.

An obese man was so bothered by taking up two seats on a rescue plane during one of Alberta’s worst wildfires that it inspired him to shed a staggering 335 pounds.

Dad-of-one Tony Bussey was so overweight, 567 pounds at his heaviest, that he was unable to put socks on due to the size of his stomach.

His evacuation during the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires was the spur he needed to finally tackle his weight.

The 43-year-old shared his astonishing weight loss journey with CTV’s Your Morning in the hope of motivating others.

“The evacuation was my ‘enough’ moment,” he said.

“When they put us on the bus I was spilling over into the next seat, so much so that they couldn’t even put a person next to me.

“You’ve got a line-up of people waiting to come on the bus and they couldn’t get on because I’m taking up two seats. And then when I get on the plane, same thing.”

Bussey brought what he calls his “fat pants” onto the show, a pair of size 66 jeans that were too small for him.

Looking back at pictures of himself at his most overweight, Bussey said he sees despair and sadness.

His diet consisted of anything deep fried, anything fatty, junk food, lots of diet pop and very little exercise.

“I couldn’t even wear these jeans any more, I had to wear size 7X gym pants,” he said.

“All the years of being overweight, bad decisions, bad eating, bad habits of basically just lying on a couch, wasting my life away, I had enough.

“Life is too beautiful to be wasted on a couch. At that size you’re eating yourself into an early grave.”

Bussey cut out bread, pasta, processed sugar and hasn’t touched junk food in two-and-a-half years.

He started walking for five minutes at first and built on that each day.

“I look at it as an alcoholic would treat booze,” he said.

“I look at it (junk food), I despise it, I detest it, it almost took my life away.

“There’s other things in life you can look at for a treat, travelling, buying a new pair of jeans, meeting new people, putting my socks on is a treat right now.”

Originally from St. Lunaire-Griquet, N.L., Bussey has worked at energy company Suncor, changing tires on heavy equipment, for almost 17 years.

He has also cut out processed sugar, pop, breads, pasta and eating late at night.

“Don’t put it off, just start, once the weight starts coming off it’s like a snowball effect,” he said.

“It becomes easier to keep doing and as you see the benefits in your life, there’s no feeling like it.”