At his heaviest, big rig truck driver Benjie Burns tipped the scales at nearly 400 pounds. He had high blood pressure, diabetes and took a number of different medications. Because most trucking companies consider insulin-takers a liability, Burns knew it was time to make some hard choices about his health and potentially his profession.
With the prospective loss of his commercial driving license on the line, Burns knew he had to make better food choices, specifically on the road where the convenience of fast food typically trumps nutrition. That’s when he decided to turn to Smoothie King as part of his low calorie diet and exercise program, which would allow him to stay behind the wheel, drink his meals and make the healthiest choices possible.
Burns went from 375 pounds to 255 pounds so fast that doctors claimed that kind of dramatic of weight loss was usually reserved for patients who had undergone gastric bypass surgery. Additionally, he no longer has to take his diabetes and blood pressure medication due to his improved health.
A regular customer of Smoothie King franchisee Mark Faust in Easley, South Carolina, Burns’ began incorporating 7-8 miles of walking and kickboxing into his routine along with replacing two meals a day with smoothies and he credits the franchise for giving him a renewed lease on life. Click here to read the full story in the Easley Progress.