AUGUSTA, Ga. – He's a teacher who's learned some valuable lessons from his students and is hoping to become Augusta's Biggest Loser.

Bernard Milligan is an English teacher at East Augusta Middle School. He said he needs to draw all the inspiration he can to lose the weight.

"It's the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life because it's constant,” said Milligan. “I see food every day. Leaving the gym the other night, I looked at the Wendy's sign and I swore that little girl was smiling at me."

For this teacher, diabetes and poor circulation in his legs were about to teach him a tough lesson.

“I'll never forget that Friday night when the doctor came in and I said, ‘how are my legs Dr. Rocker,’ and he said, ‘well, I'll let you know in the morning.’ I said, ‘in the morning, what will you let me know?’ He said, ‘whether we're going to amputate,’" said Milligan.

It was a message that hit him hard. Fortunately he kept his legs, but a lifetime of poor eating habits had finally caught up with him, despite what his family thought.

"They were always saying, oh, he's just big boned. Well, it's a little more than big bones now," said Milligan.

"I push the kids I teach, hard," said Milligan. "If I am pushing the kids and I have high expectations for them, I want to model that behavior for them also."

Milligan went to school to be a lawyer, but after teaching part time, he became addicted to it. Through teaching he saw how much of an impact he could make on his students' lives, but he never imagined the impact they could make on his life.

He remembers one particular incident when he first realized his students supported his weight loss goal.

"One day, one of the teachers asked me to bring something to the cafeteria for her. It was from Wendy's,” said Milligan. “The kids thought it was mine and they went wild. They were saying, 'Mr. Milligan, you're not supposed to be doing that,' and so I knew they're watching my behavior, watching my success and I'm going to do it."

He said his students are teaching their teacher something for a change.

When Milligan started Augusta's Biggest Loser, he tipped the scale at 421 pounds. Three weeks into the contest, he has lost more than 30 pounds.