Megachurch pastor Eddie Long, who preaches at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia in the U.S. state of Georgia, is barely recognisable these days, and it's because he lost a ton of weight.
Long shares the secret to his massive weight loss in a YouTube video. "This is Bishop Long. You say, 'Bishop! What happened to all of you?' Well, all of me is melting away," Long says in the video.
Long credits his "somewhat" vegan diet for helping him trim down. He says he wants to live to be 100 years old, give or take a couple of years. And he knows he won't be able to achieve that if he makes frequent stops to Popeye's.
"That was my weakness, the biscuits with the honey and chicken wings, spicy and all of that," he says. "You know, basically, many of us are still eating from a slave menu and need to check that. I have gone total raw vegetable, that's right, total raw vegetable and so I'm somewhat of a vegan. And for all you vegans out there I never thought I'd do this, never thought it but I am and it's really, really given me a lot of energy."
He previously revealed that he had suicidal thoughts, but the pastor seems to be fine now — both physically and emotionally — and he credits "the medication that God gave to feed your immune system" for helping him achieve his goals.
"You know what? If you really want to move through this world and have influence, you gotta be spiritual, you gotta walk by His commandments and you know you have to be healthy. You know the Bible says, 'Behold I want you to be in health,' and the prosperity and all of that and so I want to be in good health because I know God's given me something for me, for the church, for the kingdom and He's given you something," Long says.
