Francis Paul is quite literally, half the man he used to be.

The 19-year-old weighed in at nearly 500 pounds two years ago.

Francis says he realized, then, something had to change.

“Being that heavy at such a young age, I realized that if I was going to be 500 pounds at the age of 18, my lifespan wouldn’t’ be that long.”

He started out simple, going to the gym in his home community of Eskasoni.

It took a while to start seeing any results, but with the help of a trainer, eventually the weight started to melt away.

Now, Francis has lost 220 pounds, nearly half of his former body weight, 470 pounds.

“Days went by, months went by,” he says, “next thing you know, almost two years down the road and I’m in the best physical shape of my life.”

He had to overhaul his diet, too, quitting junk food cold turkey.

Living for a few months on little variety, plain chicken and rice along with broccoli and cauliflower, and for breakfast, Francis ate oatmeal or porridge.

More than anything, he credits his time in the gym, which has grown from passion, to near addiction.

“The way that I’m living now, I guess you could say is, a day isn’t complete unless I had my workout.”

The Chief of Eskasoni First Nation says Francis’ transformation is inspiration to others.

“A lot of our First Nations people in the country have high rates of obesity,” says Chief Leroy Denny. “High rates of diabetes, heart disease, and we’re fighting back as a community, and one of the examples is Francis.”

The 19-year-old says he exercises six days a week.

Some days, he’s in the gym as many as three to five hours.

On top of that, he works at the Eskasoni Fitness Centre, where he can help out and inspire others.

“I just hope my words can help empower, or motivate people to start a new lifestyle.”

Francis says his biggest message to others: “it isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.”

“If you want to accomplish something, you’re not going to be able to accomplish it if you’re just going to be sitting down all day complaining,” he says. “If you want something, you’re going to have to get up and work for it.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.