NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- Twelve states and two kidney stones later, the fattest man to walk cross-country will finally reach his last stop - The Big Apple.

Steve Vaught, 40, is expected to walk over the George Washington Bridge and head down to Rockefeller Center. Late last week, he crossed over the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border.

The San Diegan hasn't entirely become a buff body after the yearlong trek, but he still thinks it's a huge success.

He's lost 115 pounds and still tips the scales at 305 pounds, but he says "I am a changed man. I can't believe I could walk across the country when before I couldn't walk across Target."

"It has taught me so much about me and my life, and I think I have helped others."

Having been unemployed, suffering from depression and tipping the scales at 420 pounds, Vaught said goodbye to both the burritos and his wife and three kids, walking out of his home last April 10th.

His only long-term stop was for 21 days to exercise and put to use some nutrition advice he obtained from a trainer he met in Dayton, Ohio. Aside from that respite, he has been constantly in motion, walking from eight to twelve hours a day, eating at roadside restaurants, then staying at cheap motels or pitching a tent somewhere.

Vaught carries a backpack, weighing 50 pounds, filled with all the necessary accoutrement's for a cross-country trip, such as a tent, sleeping bag, first-aid kit, four gallons of water, change of clothes, a laptop and a stove.

There is no support team, or a publicist, or even a cause. He does have a large following, fans who track his progress on his Web site, thefatmanwalking.com.

Vaught has been approached by a dating service called largefriendfinder.com, as well as various salesman, looking to market diet pills and vitamins with his name, and even a porn distributor.

One company, selling a range of diet supplements, nearly obtained his signature on a contract, but he objected to their "quick fix" idea for weight loss.

Vaught is currently seeking to be rid of a $200,000 book deal after problems arose over content.

He says that  everyone wants to profit from his weight loss and say that he couldn't do it without some other supplement or help, but he says "It's just not true, you don't even need vitamins, you just need the will."

At the age of 18, Vaught joined the Marines after dropping out of high school in Youngstown, Ohio. His four-year tour was spent in Cornwall, England protecting an American government compound. Coming back to the U.S. with a wife, he worked odd jobs. Driving on a San Diego street, three months after a divorce, he struck and killed an elderly couple.

After being sentenced to 30 days in jail, he was released after only 10 days, but the accident subjected him to a debilitating depression.

Finding himself fraught with apathy, he began to eat himself to death, or as he puts it a "coward's suicide." He moved around, slept in a car for half a year, and gained 100 pounds in one year.

Moving back to San Diego, he married April, his best friend' sister, and had two children, Marc, 4, and Melanie,9. Despite the stability of a marriage and a home, he continued to gain weight.

He says he now has over $1,000 worth of sports equipment deteriorating in his back yard.

Vaught has been criticized for leaving his wife - they are getting a divorce - and his home-schooled children for this voyage of self-discovery. However, he feels that staying at home was equivalent to "walking out on the kids, because if I didn't do this, I think I would be dead in 10 years."

"Now April and I are better off being friends, and I'll be a better father to my kids because I am a better person for this."

Now nearing the end of his journey, Vaught will definitely have many tales to tell. He has been chased by irate property owners and has had trash thrown on him from motorists, including  bolts and a 32-ounce Big Gulp drink.

The struggle to lose weight isn't entirely over. The past couple of days have been emotionally stressful and he has been so wound up over this finale - it will air on the "Today" show - that he's gained over 20 pounds.

His new perspective will help him deal with any possible embarrassment, "If I get to New York and I'm fat and people don't like me, so what?" he said. "At least myself and the kids will like me."