Pizza solves everything… unless you’re this thirty-something-year-old man on a diet to save his life. If you’ve been feeling hopeless, as if your life is spiraling downward, know that you’re not alone.
The story of this kicked-out hospital patient in need of assistance will remind you that life can take us by surprise in unexpected ways. Everyone deserves a second chance to atone for bad decisions they’ve made in the past. But what happens if you blow your one chance?
Meet Steven Assanti, a 33-year-old 778-pound man from Providence, United States. This man had a food addiction and was attempting to turn his life around by committing to a special weight-loss program.
Assanti was admitted to Rhode Island Hospital and wanted to lose weight and reach 550 pounds. He spent around four months in the hospital receiving treatment, trying to get better so he could finally receive a gastric bypass. Being at his weight put him at risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular death, thus this strategy was created in the hopes of saving his life.
And over the past few months there, he had managed to lose 20 pounds.
“I just love to eat … It’s an addiction, and I realize that. And it’s a disease,” he said.
Addictions to food function similarly to other addictions. Foods heavy in fat, sugar, salt, or artificial sweeteners stimulate the brain’s pleasure centers and produce “feel-good” neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. As a result, the brain continues to crave it more and more.
However, he broke the rules of his care plan by ordering the takeout meal, “I just love to eat … It’s an addiction, and I realize that. And it’s a disease.”
While he was on a slow but hopeful road to recovery, one bad decision would be all it takes to turn his whole path upside down…
While still a patient in the hospital, Steven Assanti made the decision to give himself a prize for his accomplishments. He felt he deserved a “cheat meal” because of the progress he had already made toward his objective. He ordered himself a pizza to be delivered to Rhode Island Hospital.
However, it was not part of his medical plan.
Assanti was kicked out of a Rhode Island hospital after knowing that he ordered pizza saying he was not committed to his weight loss goal.
Since being kicked out of his hospital room in 2015, Assanti later went on to join the show “My 600-lb Life” He did eventually get weight loss surgery although it was a rocky road filled with cheat meals, tantrums, and even a painkiller addiction.
He now brags about dating someone. In 2018, he posted on Facebook two weeks after Valentine’s Day the following:
“Good morning friends and to the best girlfriend in the world Stephanie Sanger. I love you baby with my soul n heart. I want everyone to continue to know you’re the reason why I look forward to my future, our future and I hope it grows bigger, you’re the best baby real talk. Keepin’ ten toes down fellas. Have a good day!”
It looks like Assanti didn’t throw away his life for a slice of pizza after all!
Watch the video below:
Sources: Awm, Buzzkeys, Boston25news