Rapper Heavy D Started Weight Loss Plan Soon Before Death

He may have had his problems with weight and fitness, but Heavy D was trying to improve his health until his very last days.

According to TMZ, 44-year-old Heavy, who weighed 344 lbs. at the time of his death, recently resumed a workout regime and was training with a fitness expert who had helped him lose hundreds of pounds in the past.

Tony, Heavy’s trainer at the Ultra Body Fitness gym in Los Angeles, discussed a fitness plan with the rapper just three months before he passed away. Tony had helped Heavy lose 150 lbs. in 2008. Tony recalls Hev as a hard worker who, in better days, exercised daily.

Heavy D had also lost a significant amount of weight–135 lbs.–in 2002, in a bid to jumpstart his acting career.

In a 2003 interview with the Television Critics Association, Heavy recalled advice from a director. “I went on a couple auditions, and one director was kind enough to say, ‘Look, you would’ve had this part but you’re not fitting, you’re stifling yourself.’ He was right. I kind of always knew it in the back of my mind.”

A private funeral for rap legend Heavy D will be held at a historic black Baptist church in a northern suburb of New York City.

Grace Baptist Church of Mount Vernon announced Friday that the funeral for Heavy D had been scheduled for Nov. 18.