Quitting job helps music executive lose 130 pounds

ATLANTA - Eighteen months ago, Charlie Jabaley could never have imagined he would be riding his bike across Atlanta's Piedmont Park, much less across the country.

Because, growing up as an overweight kid in Chamblee, Georgia, Jabaley's dream of being an athlete seemed out of reach.

 "So I decided, 'You know what? I think business is cool,' Jabeley says.  "So, I buried my dream and I became 'CEO Charlie,' and I would go to school with my suit on and my briefcase instead of a backpack."

Then, in high school, Jabaley found hip-hop.

That's when his life took off.

By his mid-20's Jabaley he was managing artists like the rapper 2 Chainz.

"And the bigger my business got, the bigger I got," Jabeley says.

Then, 18 months ago, at 305 pounds, Jabaley got sick. 

"And that was the point that I knew everything in my life had to change, because I felt like I was facing an early death," he says.  "I went back, and I walked away from the music industry, completely.  I said, 'I'm going to follow my dream and be an athlete.'"

He started with his eating.

"Meat was 80% of every meal," he says.

He asked himself what turned out to be a life-changing question.

"I said, 'If you are what you eat, is what I'm eating dead or alive," Jabaley remembers.

He chose to give up meat and go vegan.

"I want to consume things that are alive, and full of energy," he says.  "So, I shifted away from "dead" food, I became plant-based."

Then, he started exercising, which was tough at 300+ pounds.

"And when I started telling myself, it's going to be easy, my body started to believe it," he says.

Jabaley has lost 130 pounds.  

He's now traveling the US on "The Dream Machine Tour," trying to encourage others to get healthier.

He says he used to wake up every day feeling afraid -- of food, of life, of everything.

"But now when I wake up, I feel love," Jabaley says.  "Like, I love looking in the mirror. I love trying on my clothes. I love taking pictures. I love going out."

You can follow Charlie Jabaley's journey on Twitter @charliejabaley.