Weight Loss Win is a weekly series I do for Yahoo Beauty. Here is an excerpt from this week’s inspiring story.

Sal Paradiso Lost 401 Pounds: ‘I Realized That if I Didn’t Change, I Was Headed Down a Road Towards a Certain Death’

Sal Paradiso is 35, 6 feet tall, and currently weighs 286 pounds. In 2014, with his weight climbing toward 700 pounds, he realized he needed to make a major change to save his life. Click here to read the story of his weight-loss journey.