Whether you still call it Twitter or have gone along to get along with X, the microblog social media platform we all know and love hate love is home to influencers of all stripes, to include Dave Danna, the accidental influencer who simply wanted some accountability on his weight loss journey.
“I was over 400 pounds. I was getting an error message on my scale, so I wasn’t exactly sure what [weight] I started at,” Dave said in our Sunday afternoon interview. The 30-year old had never been to a gym before, so he didn’t know how to use many of the machines. “I didn’t even fit on some of them. I was definitely embarassed.”
His weight loss story is like countless others, full of extremes, starts, and stops. “My prior attempts to bottle it all up and push it all down and do it overnight and do it by myself had been failures, so I was just going to do the exact opposite: completely in public and under my own name.”
So, Dave began posting for accountability. He wanted to look back over any period of time and see for himself that he was putting in the effort, establishing new behavior patterns, and making progress. Then, the followers came by the tens of thousands. Of all places, his story gained a foothold on X — not Instagram, with its pictures and hashtags and healthy lifestyle trends — but Twitter, a place that thrives on controversy, politics, and trolling.
Perhaps the very nature of Dave’s account against that of the platform is the reason for his popularity; after all, the darker the space, the brighter the light. It doesn’t matter if you need or want to lose weight, here are three reasons you should know @DaveEDanna:
Authenticity
You won’t find filters, fillers, or photoshopped images anywhere on Dave’s feed. In fact, he volunteers pictures and stories from his past when he was at his lowest points. While almost everyone goes through painstaking efforts to curate their Stepford lives online, Danna does not shy away from the shirtless 400-pound man who would binge eat and drink over the weekend, was $60,000 in credit card debt, and failed his CPA exam. Whether he knows it or not, in doing so, he is giving all of us permission to remember the internet is not real life.
Saturday morning in 2022: eating cold leftover pasta Alfredo off my stomach for breakfast.
Saturday morning in 2024: leg day
Never. Give. Up. pic.twitter.com/eB7IWUxcQf
— Dave Danna (@DaveEDanna) January 27, 2024
Celebrity Guest Appearances
When Dave posted a video of his first-ever bench press, he asked people to help him with his form and technique. No one expected Arnold Schwarzenegger to show up with a mini benchpress workshop in the form of s thread! Over the last year, the Governator has taken a shine to Danna, checking in every couple of months on his progress, and meeting him at The Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month. Things went so well, apparently, that Dave was brought out to L.A. for a workout with the five-time Mr. Universe.
“We flew back from The Arnold Classic and I was home for, maybe, 11 hours and then flew out to LA and, sure enough, he still goes to Gold’s Gym in Venice. I did the same workout as him and he kept getting on me about my breathing. I definitely don’t breathe right,” Danna chuckled. “I wasn’t sure who exactly I should tell. I texted four or five pictures of me working out with Arnold and my dad is just like, ‘What’s going on?!’ The whole things the whole week was just completely unbelievable.”
I asked Dave who Schwarzenegger was prior to this chapter in his life and was immediately reminded of how young he is. Born in 1992, Danna uses words like “classics” and “elder statesman” to describe The Terminator franchise and The Arnold himslef. Just because he isn’t wrong doesn’t make it sting any less, but I digress. What is profound, though, is Danna’s recognition and respect for the Austrian immigrant who has not only infiltrated American politics, business, fitness, and entertainment, but has also not sold out in the process.
There is no way I’m on @Schwarzenegger‘s IG, I could cry.
Thank you so much 🙏
From the bottom of my heart you have no idea how much this means, how motivating it is – I have a long way to go & lots to learn – thank you. https://t.co/wlGdAmWhbR pic.twitter.com/P31u6TGIvo
— Dave Danna (@DaveEDanna) March 9, 2024
Inspiration
If you want to try something new, you want to follow Dave’s account because he is willing to try just about anything — except pork chitterlings! He will essentially take X along with him to Walmart for groceries, asking people how they cook this or what to make with that and, if the idea is appetizing enough, he’ll give it a shot!
“My prior diet was hours of walking a day and only eating salads, and it was miserable. At the beginning, I just cut out a bunch of stuff, like fast food, junk foods, liquid calories, alcohol, and what I was left with was fruits, vegetables, meat, and rice or grains. I make a lot of steak and chicken dishes, and I’ve started more recently into seafood.”
We focus on what diet to follow & what exercises to do to lose weight & get healthy.
When I started this I had no idea what to do, but I knew what not to do. What had gotten me to 400lbs+
If you’re struggling to start, I’d recommend thinking about what you know not do to. pic.twitter.com/YnTKnuZjaC
— Dave Danna (@DaveEDanna) June 6, 2023
“I’ll focus a lot on cooking the steak and get it medium rare. I’ll get the char I want. I’ll get the crust I want. It’s at the right temperature, and then I’ll throw in some sort of stir fry to get different textures and flavors, a better nutrient profile, and it will just be completely wrong. Like, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and carrots — they don’t all cook at the same speed, so something will be nasty and soggy and another thing will be raw.”
People of all stages, ages, and abilities reach out to Danna regularly to tell him that he has inspired them to start working out or eating better.
“One of the things that holds people back and always held me back when I was that big was a fear of being judged. I was ashamed of not knowing how to cook, basically not knowing how to feed myself, not knowing how to exercise, and being judged when I attempted those things.”
What I wish I could go back and tell myself is, really, very few people are judging you, especially in real life, especially at the gym. Most of the people who are experts want you to come back and want you to be successful. Exercising and cooking tend to take your focus when you’re actually doing them, so they’re not watching you. They are usually happy and supportive if you reach out. I think if I had realized that earlier and believed it earlier, I would have started earlier.
Humble through and through, Dave Danna is the accidental influencer you want in your Twitter X feed day after day.
