Jorge talks to ET about his glow up and reveals the book that completely changed his life.
90 Day Fiancé season 4 star Jorge Nava is opening up about his weight loss transformation. Jorge shocked fans last April when he revealed his significant weight loss while serving time in prison, and is talking to ET about how he was able to kickstart his journey and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Jorge was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2018 for marijuana possession and was released in May 2020. His 90 Day Fiancé journey revolved around him and his now ex-wife, Anfisa Arkhipchenko, whom he met on Facebook. Anfisa, who hails from Russia, came to the United States to be with Jorge -- who's from Riverside, California -- though his family was concerned she was using him for money.
Jorge's life has since completely turned around. He is now a father to a newborn baby girl, in a happy relationship and tells ET's Melicia Johnson that his current life is a "dream." Jorge attributes his weight loss to a change of mindset.
"Being in solitary confinement for a little bit, you kind of get to think a lot," he says. "You get to read a lot of books and kind of change your mindset on things. I got the taste of success a little bit when I was able to change my mindset to change my personal appearance, like, with literally a small seed. Like, I read a book, and what I learned from this book, it kind of gave me the motivation to change myself."
Jorge says the book that changed his life is Tony Robbins' bestselling 1992 book, Awaken the Giant Within, which shares techniques for mastering one's emotions, body, relationships, and finances. Jorge says he made a conscious effort to lose the weight, and points out that some inmates gain weight in prison. Of course, the journey wasn't easy, particularly, when he was getting started.
"It has to be something that you choose to do," he says. "I felt, honestly, at the very beginning when I was going through it, I felt hopeless, I felt powerless. And I felt like I couldn't do anything to reflect my outside environment. It wasn't until going through all of this that I was able to see that I shouldn't try to control what's going on out in the outside, but try to change what was within, and that little change sparked everything that has happened now."
Another big mindset change for him has been setting goals and trying to achieve them as quickly as possible.
"I feel like I've been procrastinating in my past," he says. "I was like, 'I'll get to it when I get to it,' and now I'm just with the mindset like, 'I have to get it done, there's only a little bit of time.' And if you keep procrastinating, you never get to accomplish any of your goals. And now I'm like, no matter what, even if I fail, I still try, I still plan another way to do it. And to this day, I feel like I accomplished mostly everything I've envisioned when I was locked away."
Jorge doesn't regret his time in prison and looks at it as a time of growth.
"It was able to change me to a better person," he notes.
Jorge was 318 pounds when he went into prison and weighed 185 pounds when he was released. He acknowledges that he's since gained "a little bit of daddy weight," but feels OK with his 35-pound weight gain.
"I still feel healthy," he says. "When I was 185, I felt really, really skinny. I don't feel like I've overdone it. I guess it's kinda just maintaining a healthy diet, really. That's what it really comes down to. Like, weight loss comes to 95 percent diet, and five percent in the gym."
Jorge says he's read all of the comments from 90 Day Fiancé fans about his transformation.
"I'm glad that I'm able to inspire even to the very least, at least one person, because I have gone through and read comments and stuff like that and they talk about my experience inspiring them at their very lowest," he says. "And it's definitely a great feeling knowing that I'm able to change at least a little bit of somebody's life."
Jorge isn't the only 90 Day Fiancé cast member who's experienced significant weight loss. ET spoke to Angela -- who's starring in the current season of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? -- last month, and she revealed she's lost 100 pounds after undergoing surgery. Watch the video below for more.
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