Personal Trainer Goes from Fab to Flab
Ok….I came across this story and figured it was interesting to share and discuss…as I am sure there will be some great insights from it. But basically (as you will see in the video below) a personal trainer who was very low body fat decided to become overweight…..just to see what would happen….
So what do you think of this? Great social experiment? Dumbest thing to do ever? Just a good PR move that will land him a major movie and book deal? What are your insights into this? Does one really need to go to these extremes just to “understand” where others are coming from? Is the lesson worth the potential health issues/damage that may not be undone? Is this really the motivation people need or should have? (as I have already mentioned about how much I dislike the biggest loser TV show)
28 Reader Comments
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He does look like he’s pregnant…. or constantly pushing out his gut to make it look like a beer belly… but it is real. And It will be a lot harder to lose than it was to gain.
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He has a long way back, Its amazing how his body changed. Not only that it goes to show how gaining the extra weight/fat but eating the bad diet threw his hormones out of whack which is evident by looking at the difference in his bodies shape and lack of muscular definition……
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If he did it for his clients, as he claims, he is an idiot that is mocking them. If he did it for PR, genius. People are not heavy because they decide to be, it’s an emotional issue and an ignorance toward healthy eating, and to a lesser degree, genetics. Just because he gained a lot of weight, and will lose it (no doubt with a little lipo if need be), doesn’t mean everyone is able to do that. He doesn’t understand his clients any better. This is akin to me living on the streets for a week and claiming to understand a homeless person. God, this pisses me off. And, I am a bodybuilder, trainer, and boxer, so I am not just making excuses for the overweight.
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I just don’t know what to make of stuff like this ;-(
I guess “mass media” really likes the shock value factor…..
I’m sure he will have some more clients shortly….
I just find it bizarre.
Marc
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Fascinating. It’ll be interesting to see how easy or hard it might be for him to lose the weight, or if his metabolism has actually changed. At formerly 6’2″ and 176, I think he’d benefit much more from some heavy squats and dead-lifts on his road back to “fit”, as opposed to the cable fly cross-overs and other isolation exercises he’s doing in the vid.
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I’m sure his training is something he will have to change up….as he has never had to actually lose weight (aka like you said, he doesn’t need the cable crossovers). Me wonders if he was getting any results for his clients in the first place….hence his need to get “in their shoes”. Of course…..$$ is a great motivating factor and the media coverage already shows that a documentary/book will probably do him well.
Interesting to note majority of the weight gain appears to be visceral fat (hence the preggo belly)…it will come off much quicker than someone who had more subcutaneous fat which tends to be more stubborn.
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I would not recommend doing what he did…
-Rafi
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Hey Wendy, why be so judgmental? Seriously? How is he mocking his clients? If you are the said bodybuilder, trainer, boxer, whatever, don’t you want to have as much experience as possible to share and give back to your clients?
How is this akin to living on the street for 1 week? That makes no sense. He has been gaining weight for 6 months, just like my buddies who graduated college, went to a sedentary job, packed on some weight and are now turning to me for help.
So while this might not be the healthiest thing to do, it’s definitely going to allow him a better understanding of what his clients are going through because HE HAS NOW BEEN THERE.
I grew up chunky my entire life. I never saw my abs until I was a freshman in college. Because of this, I have much more respect and patience for those who are trying to lose weight instead of just being some kid who was skinny his entire life and packed on some muscle once I hit puberty. How would that help me relate to others trying to lose weight?
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Hey JC, simply gaining weight IS NOT going to put him any closer to understanding his clients. Physically, maybe. He can now understand that they become fatigued faster. However, what leads people to gain weight? Unhealthy habits. Unhealthy habits are caused by making bad choices either by emotional eating or ignorance towards what healthy eating actually is. He has no idea what makes Bob tick, why Bob overeats, and how to help Bob change his habits.
It’s akin to living on the street because I could go out and live in a box for a week, but still have no clue as to what it’s like to truly be homeless. Likewise, this guy gained some weight and is going to lose it rather quickly. Thus, he really doesn’t know what it’s like to be overweight for years, or a lifetime. See, it does make sense.
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so, then what do you suggest he do to understand his clients? Really?
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That’s a rhetorical question. He can’t. What would you do to understand an anorexic, a midget, a woman, or someone of a different race? Simply losing weight, walking on your knees, sensitivity training, or black or white face isn’t going to do it and it’s insulting. He can talk to them, train them, and keep them motivated. That’s what trainers do.
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I think his motivation was noble. It’s not easy to go through what he is going through now. I was always a skinny and petite kid. I gained 25 pounds during my first year of college (which was a lot for my 5’4, petite frame) and became really depressed. It resulted in an eating disorder and all kinds of yo-yo dieting that I’ve battled ever since (now in my 40s). Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to him.
However obnoxious this may sound, there is a lot of emotional stress and pressure on someone who has always been perceived as thin and attractive to stay that way. That is why so many models develop eating disorders and drug addictions. To say that Bob couldn’t possibly understand what his clients go through is a little dismissive. It may not be the “same” as being obese, but I’m guessing the emotional toll is close.
A newsworthy story, however, it is not.
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It was interesting. He acknowledged the limits of the experiment. But even after being obese for just nine months it looks like it’s going to be a long haul. I think he will have more empathy for his clients.
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Pretty interesting stuff, although the similarities to the Fast Food documentary a little while back are evident.
It’s really difficult to get the full experience of being on the other side of the fit fence. Only so much can be gained or learned by this experiment because he knows what to do to reverse the process.
“But plenty of people have knowledge” you say?
Well, the other side of the coin is goal setting and motivation. Even with all the health knowledge in the world, the will to succeed and be healthier needs to be strong.
Mike
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I think this was a very interesting way to see see things through his clients eyes.
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Speaking as someone who dropped 150 lbs…who went from being obese to being healthy…The first thing I found that was offensive was the comment and face of the person reporting on it. I find it detestable how we as a culture speak about those who are overweight.
If it was necessary for him to gain weight for him to understand what his clients were going through through I find that a tad sad. I can empathize with others without having to go through their troubles myself.
I am also unsure if it is good PR. Knowing someone has lost weight doesn’t necessarily make it easier on you. In fact I tend to get the opposite reaction from friends. The fact that I HAVE lost the weight seems to make them feel like they need to come up with excuses for why they haven’t. It has not motivated them to actually try to though. If anything it just seems to alienate them.
This is what seems to piss people off the most about my weight loss. The fat loss was the easy part. It really was. EASY. Melted right off. Took some patience, but I never really hit a plateau. The hard part was the mental aspect, the social, and basically changing your lifestyle. The food was the easy part.
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Most adults that I have worked with that are overweight, have been their entire life. It wasn’t just for a period of time. These people know as much if not more than most about how to eat, they just can’t bring it into their lives on their own. They have struggled….or maybe not. Point is no one knows the societal problems one goes through without truly living it. Doing this purposely as an experiment and then struggling or not to lose it, in NO way is the same.
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Of course its not the same but atleast he can get an idea what it feels like to be carrying around an overweight body. He did say he is finding it a lot harder to lose it then it was to gain the weight.
Give the guy a break it takes guts to purposely go from Fab to Flab. So what if some of the motivation for doing it was marketing. This experience may just give him a little bit of insight.
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Kind of like starting to smoke so that you can prove to other smokers that you and they can quit. Not worth the risk.
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I think many fat people would find it insulting. Many others will say “it’s not the same” because he forced himself, it didn’t just happen via an escalation of bad habits. Losing will be harder than gaining, but he’s not naturally fat, he’s artificially fat. It will come off easier for him than for his naturally fat clients.
He still doesn’t know his clients, and now he’s shown that really knows them less than he thought.
To do it right, he should have secretly pretended to let himself get fat. Then pretend to hit rock bottom. Then pretend to struggle to lose. Ah well, he can always try for the vegan gimmick like so many other fitness pros.
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This has actually been a hot topic around the web. Fitness trainers get all fat. lol. Well he’s getting back into it. Nice article
Shaun
SFB
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I’m surprisd how out of proportion his stomach looks. I thought there would be a lot more fat on other areas of his body. BTW will doing this not give him a lot of saggy skin around his stomach when he does lose the weight?
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From in-shape to out-shape & then getting back in-shape, it will be a long way. Its easy to gain but difficult to loose weight. Its crazy to do something like this.
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Obviously you guys havent seen all of the documentary videos that is on this guy. He is haveing worst problems physically and mentally than someone who has been obese their entire life. He has been seeing a psychologist for depression and has become addidicted to fats and sugars. He has developed diabetes and high blood pressure and has gone from being able to 100 situps 7 months ago to not even being able to do one complete situp and was completely out of breath for attempting that. I havent done any situps in years and after watching the video I was able to do 15 in strict form and wasnt as winded as he was after attempting one. He must must have muscle atrophy in his stomach wich is kinda odd, because you do a situp every morning when getting out of bed.
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There was also a new report 6 weeks after he did these videos on his attempted diet and workouts and he has only lost 10 pounds.
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According to the video, he didn’t do this “just to see what would happen” but to gain empathy into the plight of his overweight clients. The insights from having battled his way back from 90 pounds overweight, sick and out of shape will indeed be valuable, but it seems a very high cost to pay to learn empathy.
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Ok….. Was there a ‘blip’ in the program that sends featured articles? In my e-mail in-basket, I received this article today (October 20, 2009) and noticed that all the comments are dated in August. When I looked closely at the featured article date, it was posted back on August 20, 2009. Is this just a coincidence – 8/20 versus 10/20 – or is it just me.
I tried viewing the video but it told me it is no longer available.
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Mike OD Reply:
@ Lisa – Sometimes Feedburner acts up and does something like that (as I got the same email). It may also have to do with a redesign on the site we did over the weekend. Either way, I’ll see if I can find the video again…as not sure why they took the video down at the source. Here’s another version of that story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFk4kgHZUfM&feature=player_embedded
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Fatty foods…ahhh yes it is ALWAYS the fat.
And then they show a plate full of donuts.
Typical lipophobe propaganda slipped in there.
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