How an Online Game Helped Canton Man Shed More Than 400 Pounds

An ocean and thousands of miles away, a stranger got tough with Brian Flemming and gave the Canton man the encouragement he needed to shed nearly 400 pounds and turn his back on destructive habits like drinking a fifth of alcohol a night.

Flemming weighed 625 at his peak weight and could barely move, he told WJBK, Channel 2. At around 500 pounds as a music education student at Eastern Michigan University, he was depressed and quit school. He started drinking on the sly and eating enormous amounts of unhealthy food.

“I never felt that I would be anything but big,” he said. “I accepted that was my life.”

But then he started playing an online game “Draw Something,” a Pictionary type game that paired him with a woman from England who battles a form of muscular dystrophy that requires her to watch her diet and take care of herself to remain healthy.

Flemming said his game partner has “very little patience for people who don’t eat well and take care of themselves, and she saw me basically throwing away these opportunities I have.”

The two had developed a friendship and she gave him the push he needed to get serious about tackling his weight.

He changed his diet, stopped drinking and began exercising, first walking in place for five minutes – a rigor that left him exhausted. But he added a few minutes at a time, then started taking 20 and 30 minute walks. Eventually, he started running.

In just under two years, he lost 380 pounds.

At 6-feet, 2-inches, he tips the scales at 230 pounds and is near his goal weight. He said he barely recognizes himself.

He wants to have surgery to remove about 30 pounds of excess skin. He also wants to work in a career that will allow him to help motivate and inspire others.

He traveled to England in December and met Jackie Easton, who he now calls his bet friend.

“She absolutely turned my life around,” he said.

Tell Us:

• How have you been inspired to make a life-changing difference in your life?