Television personality and AZfoothills.com columnist Nadine Toren is scouring the area, finding savvy Valley features, bringing readers “on the scene.” Every day she’ll introduce you to celebrities, athletes, and give you an inside look into local events and hot spots. She'll touch on topical issues, and keep AZ fans posted on all the big talkers around town.

Imagine gaining 300 pounds...that's exactly what happened to one Valley guy after filling up on fast food.  Check out his inspirational story, and how he eventually lost his weight.

At 25 years old, Mesa’s Charles Hutchinson started his love affair with food.  Dinner easily consisted of a trip to Wendy’s, ordering a quadruple bacon cheeseburger, two double stacks, two large fries, chicken nuggets, and a large soda.  For dessert, he skipped ice cream; instead, downing two bean burritos, two tacos, and nachos from Taco Bell. 

“I relied on food to help cope with my mother’s unexpected death,” said Charles Hutchinson, the Valley’s ultimate biggest loser.

Charles turned to food to fulfill his inner-emptiness.  To him, eating was comforting and familiar, but his habits became a bitter cycle.

“I avoided looking in the mirror and felt I didn’t deserve to be happy.”

Between 2004 and 2010, Charles gained a whopping 300 pounds, going from 290 lbs. to nearly 600.  But that didn’t stop the young 20-something from getting hitched. 

In 2005, he married his high-school gal-pal, Carly. 

“I saw Charles for who he was, not how he looked.  Besides, I had a problem myself,” said Carly Hutchinson, Charles’ wife.

The two took to eating for entertainment.  Over the course of a couple years, Carly joined her husband in gaining weight, putting on 100 additional pounds.  They admit it was an unhealthy dependency, but that didn’t stop them from chowing down.

“I just love food,” said Carly.

But in 2008, Charles received a major wake-up call: he was hospitalized after being diagnosed with an infection in his blood-stream. 

“The possibility of death became a reality,” he said.

His final splurge at Wendy’s was literally his last gluttonous supper.  After downing his 5,000+ calorie meal, he went to bed with his heart pounding—and that was it…he immediately decided to turn his life around.

“The next day Carly and I joined Weight Watchers.”