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Growing up in Linden, Vidal Raby had a difficult time from an early age.

He not only struggled with his schoolwork, he also struggled with his weight.

“When I entered preschool, I was the biggest kid in preschool. The kids always said, ‘man, he’s big.’ Even teachers said he’s bigger than the other kids,” Raby said. 

However, Raby didn’t let that discourage him from being successful. He eventually found keys in his life to unlock the healthy person he could be both mentally and physically.

Now, he wants to share those lessons with others as a health coach and also in his new book titled, “The Fat Boy from a Dirt Road: A Transformative Journey to the New U.”

In the book, Raby details his experiences growing up in Marengo County. He knew he had trouble learning in class and performing on tests. No one knew that he had dyslexia until they decided to test him for it in the 12th grade.

“I never heard of it. Nobody in my family ever heard of it. I couldn’t pronounce it. The only thing I was told was if you have it, you see things backwards,” Raby said. “I am better a learning by hearing, but I can take this paper. To this very day, I can read this. You might read it one time and comprehend I have to do it two to three times.”

Raby had passed math, but failed the English and reading tests With the diagnosis, he was able to get a teacher to help him read the test questions, and Raby was able to pass it. Once he found out he was dyslexic, he was able to find some tools to help him with classes.

But before then, Raby kept had trouble in the classroom. In the meanwhile, he also kept putting on the pounds. The constant struggle of being obese led to him being teased and picked on throughout school. 

In many ways, Raby felt like his educational struggles and obesity were likely connected to each other. 

“I tell people there’s a reason why they’re upset,” Raby said. “It’s something they’re hurting about. They don’t just walk around upset all the time. So of course when I felt like that I couldn’t learn, I believed that that contributed to me just gaining weight.”

One of the misconceptions that Raby, and perhaps family members as well, didn’t understand was that not all foods are created equal. 

“I never had a sweet tooth. Now I had a problem with carbohydrates ’cause I didn’t know what carbohydrates were growing up,” Raby said. “I mean baked potatoes, macaroni and cheese, you know? Most people think, ‘oh that ain’t sugar.’ Yes it is. It’s what you call processed simple carbohydrates that turn to sugar. Your body have two to three hours to burn that off. That’s when your insulin raises up. And if you don’t burn it off, your body stores it and turns it into fat.”

Raby learned that you had to replace those simple carbs with complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, keno and other.

“And you’re not pouring sugar or syrup all over it,” Raby said. “You just have to pull back. Rome wasn’t built overnight. The transformation is not gonna be built overnight.”

In his book and in his coaching, Raby encourages people to slow the process and do a sustainable lifestyle change. He recommends not trying to lose more than a pound or two each week. 

“Statistically, if you lose between a pound and two pounds a week, you got a 92% chance of the weight staying on it,” Raby said. “You have to change your habits, change your lifestyle and you have to do something that is sustainable.”

That’s what worked for Raby. After he topped out at 260 pounds at the end of his junior year, he started exercising and slowly began changing his lifestyle. He dropped to 248 by the start of his senior year but kept working until he had weighed 178 by graduation.

Instead of pursuing what he thought was his dream of joining the military, Raby decided to pursue his health journey. In the book, he shares his journey over his entire life up where he is now as a certified health coach with New U Health and Wellness.

The book also includes his “3 Strategies To Become The Best Version of Yourself: Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness, and Understanding How It All Works Together!”

The book is a certified Amazon bestseller in the “bullying” category. Raby hopes that his story will help those who are feeling bullied.

“One of the reason I told my story — and there were some pain points to tell it — because you want kids now to be supportive of someone that’s struggling with something,” Raby said. “See I had friends that teased me. At that time, it wasn’t like they would do something to make me harm myself. Kids nowadays will literally try to make another person, another child to harm themselves.”

If Raby would have given himself advice growing up, he would have told him to not give up.

“If I can go back and talk to that guy, I would tell that kid don’t give up. Help is own way,” Raby said. “I would tell that kid now in this area to look on social media, try to find someone that’s positive, that’s giving out information. Somehow you can get started. Even if it’s just taking a walk around your neighborhood. It’s talking about instead of eating a candy bar two to three times a week, why don’t you eat the candy bar once a week and eat an apple or orange during the rest of the times” Just little simple changes. That’s what I would tell that kid right now.”