Being overweight is difficult for anybody. But when you’re in charge of somebody’s education, it can be even harder.

George Covington is a kindergarten teacher in Georgia, appeared on the first episode of TLC’s series “Too Large.” The show documents people’s weight loss journeys, and Covington’s begins with the struggles he’s had with his weight his whole life. His first diet was in pre-school!

“Even in elementary and middle school, nobody called me George”’ he said. “Everybody described me as, ‘Hey, that big guy.’ So, I was always defined by my size.”

The struggles he’s endured haven’t ended, and have become even worse throughout his career. While he doesn’t have any issues with his students, who all love him and see him for who he is, it’s the parents that have a lot to say about his weight.

“A lot of parents, they go to the front office and they complain about their kids being in my class,” he said. “You know, ‘Is he gonna be able to do this?’ I had one parent, she said, ‘What if he falls on the kids?’”

Another problem he faces while teaching is that he isn’t able to be as active as he wants to be with his students.

“When I come in my classroom in the morning, I normally stay at my desk all day because I can only walk about 10 feet or so before I have to take a breather,” he said. “So my coworkers may take my kids to lunch. They may take them to the busses.

“I would love to be able to sit on the floor and teach with my kids or take them on field trips,’ he added. “That does make me feel bad because it does feel like they’re missing out on something.”

In general throughout his day to day, he deals with a lot of restrictions. Even when he sleeps, he has to sleep with a CPAP machine to help with breathing. And during the day, it’s really hard for him to get around. In fact, he says that he has chairs placed throughout his building so that he can take breaks just from walking from one side of the room to the other.

“Every day I’m living, but I’m not living. I’m ready to do something. I’m ready to change my life,” he said.

Covington finally met with a bariatric surgeon named Dr. Charles Procter to see if he’d qualify for weight-loss surgery. The verdict: He will, if he loses 75 pounds in three months. And that meant he really needed to buckle down, exercise, and eat healthy. he lost a total of 75 pounds to qualify for weight loss surgery.

Was he able to do it? Check out the clip below and steam the whole episode in the link under the video, to find out!

Have you been watching the show? What do you think of George’s weight-loss journey?