Detroit-area barber cuts hair and sheds pounds

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    BIRMINGHAM, Michigan (WWJ) — A Metro Detroit barber is in the midst of a lifelong journey and transformation.

He’s cutting hair and cutting pounds.

It seems like an easy task for Dustin O’Neil, but he said it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done.

O’Neil has been cutting hair for more than a decade at the Barber Pole in Birmingham, and he’s fighting a challenge that gets harder every single day.

“I started it because it’s something I knew I had to do, and the opportunity just came, and I just had to take it,” said O’Neil.

When the opportunity walked into his shop, he took it.

“I feel better now than I ever have, and I think it’s all because of the gym,” said O’Neil.

O’Neil has been working out hard every day for 14 months and has lost more than 120 pounds.

He is brave and open about his weight-loss journey and shared several before and after photos with us.

At his heaviest, he was 350 pounds.

Of course, diet also plays a key role in the transformation.

Between haircuts, O’Neil has just enough time to walk back into the break room, grab his ground turkey and rice, and scarf it down.

Back in the chair with Samy, his client, O’Neil focuses on one thing at a time.

He is meticulous about his work, whether it’s crafting a cut or watching his weight.

“Cutting pounds is difficult physically and mentally, and it takes a long time to lose what I’ve lost,” said O’Neil.

As his clients reflect on their own haircuts, he looks back on his journey, which, according to him, still has ways to go.

“It’s definitely worth it, and it’s something I hope to continue for the rest of my life,” said O’Neil.

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