James Newton can relate to those who suffer from depression due to body image. He once weighed 378 pounds. But for him, it was not only how he looked but about his health as well.

The 36-year-old Fultondale resident struggled with obesity starting at age 18. A compulsive eating disorder led to excessive weight gain. Eventually it became dangerous.

Obesity comes with a number of health problems. Heart disease, gout and diabetes are just a few of many other consequences of being obese. It can also lead to depression and self consciousness of one’s image, though it doesn’t always happen.

“I was going to die if I had kept on doing what I was doing,” he said. “My eating disorder would’ve killed me at 400 pounds. I would have had a heart attack at some point.”

Newton said that he had back issues and constant knee aches as well. His obesity led to depression and social isolation. He had trouble moving around.

He turned to the EatRight clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for help. He was put on a program called Optifast. Since then he has lost 45 percent of his body weight — roughly 170 pounds.

The program is overseen by Dr. Jim Ard and other professionals in the medical, fitness and psychology fields. Newton consulted a doctor and a psychologist, who are both affiliated with UAB. He had bloodwork tests every week to make sure that he was safe in the program.

The trainers at EatRight put Newton on a fasting diet that consisted only of a nutritional chocolate drink developed by Nestle Health Sciences. He lost several pounds in the first 15 weeks they slowly reintroduced him to food. He shed the rest of his weight by exercise, mainly by running on a treadmill.   

Losing weight was a relief for Newton, not to mention an improvement on his overall health.

“This has been a life changing thing for me,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with my weight since I was 18 years old. I played three sports in high school and ate whatever I wanted to. And when I went off to college I put on about 30 pounds a year for the first four or five years. I got up to about 330 pounds. It was miserable. My self esteem was low.”

In fact, his dedication and success earned him and two others a prize from Optifast’s “New You” contest. Michelle Williams of Minnesota and Shauna Connelly of Arizona were the other winners. The prize will be a trip to New York City. There the winners will receive a makeover and a shopping spree.

Newton has taken up a new ambition. Currently he is training to run in the Vulcan half marathon that will take place this fall. He is married to Theresa Newton and keeps a dog named Dylan, whom he credits as a partner during his exercise.

“I used to say that the only time you’d catch me running is if someone was chasing me and my life depended on it,” he said. “So it turned out that my life did depend on it, in fact.”