Posted on May 15, 2025

Elkhart Man Accidentally Loses 137 Lbs After Pill Mix-Up

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Elkhart, IN — In a town where most weight loss journeys end in regret and deep-fried Oreos, one man has shocked doctors — and himself — by accidentally shedding 137 pounds after mistaking a trendy online supplement for his daily multivitamin. Donnie B., 58, says he ordered the bottle after clicking a pop-up ad that promised “cellular energy” and featured a woman doing yoga on a mountain. “I figured it was just B12 or something,” Donnie said. “Didn’t expect to lose enough weight to legally qualify as a different person.”

Since starting the pills, Donnie says he hasn’t changed a thing about his diet, exercise routine, or crippling addiction to gas station burritos. “I still sit in the same recliner, yell at the same TV, and eat like I’m prepping for hibernation,” he said. “Only difference is now I don’t need to roll onto the floor to tie my shoes.”

Friends and family didn’t notice the change at first. “We just thought he was wearing baggier clothes,” said his sister, Carla. “But then he stood up at Thanksgiving without using the armrest, and we all kind of panicked.” Donnie’s cousin, Rick, was less impressed. “Honestly, he just looks like a less sweaty version of himself,” Rick said. “Still can’t grow a beard. Still thinks Olive Garden is real Italian.”

Donnie says the real turning point came when his jeans, once held together with hope and a fraying braided belt from 1998, simply gave up mid-aisle at Menards. “They just slid right down like a curtain at a high school play,” he recalled. “Some kid pointed and yelled ‘It’s alive!’ and I knew I had to check the scale.”

The results? Down 137 pounds, four shirt sizes, and one bowling league nickname — “Big Donnie” is now just “Donnie.” He says his doctor was so surprised he re-weighed him three times and asked if he’d been in a coma or joined a cult. “He said, ‘Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.’ So I told him the truth: I had no idea what I was doing.”

Despite his accidental success, Donnie insists he’s not one of those “fitness influencers.” He doesn’t meal prep, juice kale, or post shirtless mirror selfies — mostly because he still uses a flip phone and hasn’t had a mirror since his ex took the last one during the breakup. “I’m just a guy who clicked the wrong ad and somehow ended up looking like a divorced version of his old self. It’s weird.”

Reactions around town have ranged from disbelief to full-blown conspiracy theories. One neighbor claimed Donnie had joined a secret Ozempic cult that met behind the Meijer on Thursdays. Another insisted he was wearing a “fat suit” all these years as some kind of social experiment. “You don’t just lose 137 pounds without something shady going on,” said local Facebook commenter Cheryl, 62, who also believes the government is hiding recipes at Olive Garden.

Even Donnie’s ex-wife has chimed in. “He never looked like that when we were married,” she told reporters. “Although back then he thought vitamins were a scam and butter was a beverage.” She reportedly texted him a “u up?” message last week but was immediately left on read.

Donnie has also noticed a few side effects, none of which were listed on the bottle — mainly that women now smile at him in public, and people stop assuming he’s the one holding up the line at Subway. “I used to get the side-eye anytime there was a delay,” he said. “Now they just think I’m an athletic guy making tough sandwich decisions.”

Still, not everything has been sunshine and loose-fitting pants. Donnie’s old recliner now feels “too roomy,” and he says he keeps instinctively turning sideways to fit through doors he no longer has to squeeze through. “I walked through a turnstile the other day like a normal human,” he said. “I actually got emotional.”

Since the transformation, Donnie’s become a bit of a local legend. People at Walmart stop him to ask what “program” he’s on, and someone even left a handwritten note on his truck that read, “You inspire me. Also, do you still have that deep fryer?” The Elkhart Moose Lodge offered him a guest speaking spot at next month’s chili cook-off, but Donnie declined. “I don’t really have a story,” he said. “I clicked the wrong thing and got skinny. What am I supposed to say? ‘Oops, here’s abs’?”

He’s also been invited to three Facebook weight loss groups, a walking club for “older hot people,” and a questionable MLM pitch involving fat-burning crystals and essential oils blessed by a woman named Trudy. “She told me my ‘energy field was ready to blossom,’” Donnie said. “I told her I just wanted to eat cheese sticks in peace.”

Meanwhile, his sudden visibility hasn’t gone unnoticed by local businesses. A gym offered him a free lifetime membership in exchange for a before-and-after photo, but Donnie turned it down. “I don’t want to be anyone’s poster child. Plus, they wanted me to wear a tank top and smile. I don’t do either of those things.”

Even his dog, a judgmental pug named Carl, seems confused. “He keeps sniffing me like I’m a stranger,” Donnie said. “I think he misses the old me. The one that dropped snacks more often.”

Word of Donnie’s “miracle mistake” has spread fast. His neighbor Janice, 61, says she ordered a bottle of the same supplement the day after she noticed Donnie carrying in groceries without grunting. “He used to breathe like a busted furnace,” she said. “Now he floats up his porch steps like he’s in a Bon Jovi music video.”

Janice says she’s only been taking the pills for a few weeks but swears her pants “zip without prayer” and she can finish a phone call standing up. “Something’s working,” she said. “I don’t know what mitochondria are, but mine feel motivated.”

Even the cashier at the Family Dollar asked Donnie for the link after he walked in wearing jeans that required a belt “for non-functional purposes.” Donnie says he just tells people it’s the pink bottle with the weird name. “Whatever it’s doing, it’s working,” he said. “I haven’t had this much energy since 2003 — and that was just Mountain Dew and bad decisions.”

The bottle itself has become a small-town legend. One woman claimed just looking at it gave her enough motivation to clean out her pantry. Another man swore he lost five pounds just putting it in his online cart, though that may have been due to excessive sweating from Wi-Fi issues.

Not everyone has seen dramatic results — one guy named Wayne said he only lost 20 pounds, “but I also quit drinking Yoo-hoo and started walking to the mailbox again, so who knows.” Still, he keeps the bottle next to his remote “just in case it’s absorbing through proximity.”

As for Donnie, he says he has no plans to go back to his old self — or his old pants, which he donated to a local church rummage sale under the label “portable shade tent.” He still doesn’t quite understand what the supplement does or how it works, but he doesn’t need to.

“All I know is, I clicked something I wasn’t supposed to, and now my knees don’t scream when I get in the truck,” Donnie said. “I ain’t a doctor, but I’m not winded anymore — and for a guy my age, that’s basically a miracle.”

He paused, then added, “Also, I can see my feet again. Turns out I got nice feet.”