Rapper Rick Ross dropped 75 lbs. after he had a seizure in 2011 and his doctor said he needed to lose weight to save his life

Weighing 350 lbs., sleeping for just three hours a night, and pounding back 24-oz. steaks at 4 a.m., rapper Rick Ross was living life to what he thought was the fullest. But two seizures within six hours of each other in 2011 – which required his private jet to make an emergency landings both times – forced Ross to reevaluate everything.

At the urging of his doctor, Ross changed his diet and exercise and saved his life, losing 75 lbs.

“I’m happy,” he tells Men’s Health in its September issue, on newsstands now. “I’m still losing weight, and now I’m starting to build hard muscle in places.”

The key to Ross’ weight loss was taking things slow, rather than trying quick fixes that wouldn’t stick.

“If I quit all the things I loved cold turkey, I knew it would only be so long before I went back to my old ways,” he says.

Instead, Ross allowed himself to have the fast food from Checkers and Wingstop that he always loved, but only between noon and 5 p.m., and only two or three days a week. And for the rest of his meals, Ross worked with a chef to come up with healthy recipes that he would actually want to eat.

He also started working out with a group of friends for motivation, and came up with his own version CrossFit, which he calls “RossFit.”

Four days a week, Ross goes for a warm-up jog, and then sets up five exercise stations with moves like deadlifts and pushups, working through them for 30 minutes.

Ross says that finding workouts and foods that he would actually enjoy was the key.

“My advice for anyone looking to lose weight is to not make it feel like a job,” he says.