There’s one photo that inspires Scott McDonald like no other.

It was captured right after a hike with his fit mother and sister and wracked his mind for weeks.

“My belly was sticking out and my face was huge,” McDonald said. “It was like ‘Oh man, I've got to do something about this.”

McDonald eventually connected with Windsor weight loss specialists at Benchmark Medical Group. He’s gone from 304.5 pounds on May 14 to 230 pounds in early October — shedding about 75 pounds in that 5-month span. He's now the lightest he's been since being a recent high school graduate.

McDonald’s weight loss journey began with an intake interview and weigh-in. He was given a new diet to abide by and the results were instant, as McDonald lost 16 pounds in his first two weeks.

"It made it pretty easy to stick with just seeing progress right away,” McDonald said. “Any diet I’ve ever tried before, I never saw results after the first couple weeks. This was different.”

McDonald underwent a complete lifestyle change. He gave up drinking alcohol, eating sweets and began filling up mostly on a variety of salads. He kept his passion of smoking meats, but left the ribs for his family while sticking to chicken and leaner meats himself.

The sacrifices were tough, but the results spoke for themselves.

McDonald added in cardio exercises at his home gym that helped him shed even more pounds. Along the way he had weekly check-ins with Benchmark Medical and asked frequent questions both in-person and over text messages with the Benchmark Medical experts.

McDonald is now on the last leg of his journey. He’s hoping to shed another 10-20 pounds.

“It’s been a great life-changing experience that I’d recommend to anyone,” McDonald said. “It is amazing how different you feel because of weight loss. It’s been a spectacular transformation.”

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