Colt Ford is healthier than ever after a heart attack last year in which his heart had to be revived twice.

The singer suffered a heart attack that left him in a coma for eight days.

“I’m wearing a 32-inch waist now instead of 44 — but I’ve told everybody there’s much easier diets,” Ford told PEOPLE. “I’m looking at it as a blessing. I’m going to be healthier than I’ve ever been.”

Ford, 55, said Mountain Dew and fried chicken, once staples of his diet are now a thing of the past.

“I loved that stuff,” said Ford, who weighed 340 pounds at one point. “I was a terrible eater.”

Ford is now 190 pounds thanks to a new diet and a treadmill.

“I’ve changed everything,” he said. “If I go by Whataburger, I’ll eat a grilled chicken sandwich. I don’t do all the fries and stuff,” he says. “McDonald’s used to be my (expletive), and I loved it but I haven’t even craved it.”

In fact, for his birthday, his wife wanted to celebrate with one of his regular stops.

.”When I woke up, my wife Megan goes, ‘ I’ll take you to Waffle House,’” he told PEOPLE. “And I said, ‘Nah, I don’t want to go.’ That’s when I knew I had won. I broke the habit.”

In April, Ford told “Big D & Bubba” he’d just got back to his bus and texted his fiancée as the heart attack began. He’s been in intensive care since the incident and has canceled shows through August.

According to Taste and Country, Ford said he died “multiple times.”

“I had so much trauma in my body and my heart, I had to have three stents put in,” he said.

Doctors, per the report, told him he had a 0.1 percent chance of living, and all methods used to keep him alive were used. In addition, his gallbladder failed.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.