Magician Penn Jilliette's suddenly slim figure has everybody talking about how he shed the pounds so quickly, especially since there was no magic involved whatsoever.
When the 6-foot-6-inch 60-year-old illusionist was hospitalized in October 2014 because he had reached 330 pounds and was in danger of having a stroke, he knew he had to do something about his weight, but he also was a firm believer that too much moderation is bad for you.
"I've never had a drink of alcohol in my life," he told Yahoo News. "I've never had a puff of marijuana. And if I did do drugs, I'd be a heroin addict and I'd drop LSD every day. Not only do I not do moderation, I don't respect it in any way."
When the doctors suggested cutting him open and inserting a stomach sleeve to limit his ability to take in food, he instead thought of a more radical idea to see just how much weight he could lose by questioning every assumption made about food and dieting, and that's where the guidance of former NASA scientist Ray Cronise came in.
Cronise advocates radical changes in diet, has a slew of friends who think the same way he does, and several helpful tech gadgets that could possibly be what Jillette was looking for. With these devices and a strict and obsessive regiment, Jillette was able to drop nearly 120 pounds in just four months, which completely revitalized his health and extended his life.
The entertainer plans to share what he did and what he has learned using Withings products with the world in a series of web videos, which will debut next month.
"I was really wicked fat. I felt awful," Jillette says in a video promoting the web series. "My blood pressure was through the roof, and even though I was on six medications, I landed in the hospital. Doctors suggested I get a sleeve...doesn't that sound cozy? Like a sweater? But it's surgery. Now, I'm not against knives. They're great...in the right situation. But I lost over 100 pounds, no surgery! That's a third of my body. Now, when I'm on stage, I move more...because I can. But my weight loss wasn't magic."
"Now look, I didn't hate myself. People see what they want to see," he continues to say in the video. "But I'm off most of the blood pressure meds now, and here's what I do know: you can feel better, you can take control, and yes, there is a trick to losing weight."
The first tool that Cronise told Jillette to get was a scale - but not just any scale, the Withings Smart Scale - which showed his weight on Cronise's phone and made all the difference.
"We became this coven of late-middle-aged obsessive men who are living, breathing and thinking about how much weight we lost today," he continued to tell Yahoo. "It was like starting a band. The wacky thing was, just a simple technological thing of a scale that talks to the Web allowed me to tap into an unpleasant cult mentality and use that as a positive thing."
He also relied on the Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, which uploaded his blood pressure directly to his doctor to help him stay on track.
As for his diet, he says, "I adopted what, in simplest terms, is called an evidence-based diet. I eat whole plants. That's the whole answer. No animal products, no olive oil, no salt, no sugar, no refined grains. You end up being a hippie, but for very different reasons."
