Personal Trainer making himself obese on purpose!

jrich1

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/why-a-personal-trainer-is-making-himself-obese-on-purpose-2583990





Normally, I share weight loss success stories - WooHoos!, as they’re known at FatFighterTV. But today, I want to tell you about the opposite – a fit guy who is deliberately making himself fat.

Since May, Drew Manning has gained about 70 pounds on purpose. And he’s not done yet.

Drew is a personal trainer and has always been the “fit guy.” He’s now on a journey he calls Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit where he spends six months (he has about 4 weeks left) eating unhealthy food and not exercising, then he will take six more months to get fit again. Why? To experience for himself what it’s like to be overweight, how tough it is to lose weight, and ultimately show others how to get fit. But this is sooo extreme! And I hate that Drew is deliberately making himself unhealthy. I asked him all about it…

FatFighterTV: As someone who has always been fit, how can you stand doing this to yourself?

Drew Manning: It’s been very tough physically, mentally and emotionally to let myself go like this. The first couple of months were the hardest. I felt like I was going through withdrawals, just like any other addiction. I was jealous seeing people running, going to the gym, and being in shape.

Also see: How Cammy lost 100 pounds

FFTV: Are you concerned about your health?

DM: Yes, definitely. With a BP reading of 161/113 you can’t NOT be concerned. I haven’t felt in danger yet, but I still have 4 weeks left to go. People tell me all the time to stop now, but I look at it like this…..if others can live years with these unhealthy risk factors, like high BP, glucose levels, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, etc. then I can last another 4 weeks. Plus I want to show people how living a healthy lifestyle can change all of those risk factors.

FFTV: Are you enjoying eating all those unhealthy foods?

DM: Yes and no. To some extent, all of these foods that I’m eating (sugary cereals, granola bars, juices, white breads, white pastas, sodas, crackers, chips, frozen dinners, mac n cheese, etc.) taste delicious. But then I feel like crap later on and I get hungry again and crave those same foods.

See also: Healthified Chicken Salad Sandwiches

FFTV: You’ve gained about 70 pounds now since May – how do you feel?

DM: I’m to the point where I feel lethargic and uncomfortable. I definitely feel “addicted” to these foods. In the beginning, I did not like soda, but now I can’t go a day without, otherwise I’ll get the headaches, bad mood, etc. Emotionally, it’s taken a toll on my confidence level, even in my marriage. I don’t like the way I look in public; nothing fits right; bending over to tie my shoes or clip my toe nails has become so difficult. I’ve definitely taken those things for granted.

FFTV: You mentioned that you want to gain an understanding of how hard it is to be overweight – what have you learned so far?

DM: I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how intense and how real these food cravings are. I think a lot of people associate the word “addiction” with drugs and alcohol, but I do believe this addiction (to America’s processed foods) is real and very similar. I know I’ll never know exactly what it’s like for every person that’s overweight and I don’t claim to, but at least I understand better than I did before when I never had to struggle with this. I hope to learn a lot more in the second half of my journey, from fat 2 fit.

###

I really hope Drew makes it through all this okay. You can follow his journey here.

ArchyJill

Well, I think it's kinda cool. From my own experience I know that personal trainers are great at giving advice they've never had to follow. For instance, my guy said to keep my fat intake at 10%...he had NO CLUE what that meant in terms of real life behavior until I convinced him to start tracking his own calories and fat intake. I will be following this story for sure!

JasonSwetland

I saw that. The author acts as if he might die at any second for eating crappy foods. Oh the drama. You know what will happen because of this guy doing this? He will become a better trainer. Much more well rounded and supportive in apositive way of the changes and how hard it is to make changes once you have fallen into an unhealthy eating ifestyle.

He will become an advocate for sensetivity and understanding the tremendous change that is required and hopefully he will make a positive impact o n those trainers that have never had to loose weight and get fit.

I applaud what hes doing and I think it will be quite a challenge for him to get out of the crappy food habit and get into a good regimen again and he will learn a lt about himself. I wish him good luck and ca't wait to watch him transform not just to a healthy individual again but a wiser person as well.

Avalonis

Thats an awesome idea!

BUMP!

Gigi_licious

I can't wait to lose weight. Fit people are tan!

Baldylocks30

i think this is ridiculous, he will now have those fat molecules in his body forever unless they are removed surgically. When you lose fat you dont lose the fat molecule, it kinda empties and this is why people who have been overweight fluctuate so easily, because once you eat fatty foods you fill these empty molecules up in your body - this is their sole purpose in your body and it is what they are made to do so they want to be filled! You cannot lose these, they can become dormant but unless you have surgery - ie liposuction etc then you are stuck with them.

Avalonis

i think this is ridiculous, he will now have those fat molecules in his body forever unless they are removed surgically. When you lose fat you dont lose the fat molecule, it kinda empties and this is why people who have been overweight fluctuate so easily, because once you eat fatty foods you fill these empty molecules up in your body - this is their sole purpose in your body and it is what they are made to do so they want to be filled! You cannot lose these, they can become dormant but unless you have surgery - ie liposuction etc then you are stuck with them.

I think thats kind of the point. He wants to know the struggle that real people have.

_SusieQ_

He may develop some better ways to train people to lose weight, that it true. But he can never understand the mental part of being fat, of going your whole life feeling like the odd man out. Everyone KNOWS why he is gaining weight. They may question why he wants to put himself through it, but he won't be judged for actually being FAT. He can never under the true struggle.

Again, he might learn many ways to help people lose the weight physically, but he won't understand FAT.

Elizabeth_C34

This is really great, albeit a little nuts. I think a lot of people who never let themselves go don't understand how hard it is to get back in shape. It's nice to see a trainer who is willing to get out of his comfort zone to help identify with his clients.

This guy will have a great experience to share.

kyle4jem

While I applaud the sentiments behind his actions... most of us Fatties never got fat overnight. It was a slow and steady gain over many years.

If you're in the peak of health and fitness like Drew was prior to his mission, I'm not surprised his body is reacting adversely to his new slob-out regime.

But I do think that it's really easy for PT's and other health & fitness professionals to spout rhetoric without ever having known what it's like to be fat and lazy.

I wish him every success.

_SusieQ_

While I applaud the sentiments behind his actions... most of us Fatties never got fat overnight. It was a slow and steady gain over many years.

If you're in the peak of health and fitness like Drew was prior to his mission, I'm not surprised his body is reacting adversely to his new slob-out regime.

But I do think that it's really easy for PT's and other health & fitness professionals to spout rhetoric without ever having known what it's like to be fat and lazy.

I wish him every success.

Yup, agree with all of this^^^

IronSmasher

If it's real, it's completely pointless.

I assume there's a video diary to go with it, because that just looks like a bad photoshop job.

Scott613

I'm not sure what to think of this?!?

Avalonis

He may develop some better ways to train people to lose weight, that it true. But he can never understand the mental part of being fat, of going your whole life feeling like the odd man out. Everyone KNOWS why he is gaining weight. They may question why he wants to put himself through it, but he won't be judged for actually being FAT. He can never under the true struggle.

Again, he might learn many ways to help people lose the weight physically, but he won't understand FAT.

Not true, the vast majority of people that he runs into will not know his backstory, they will judge him for being a chubbalub.

Kimdbro

I'm interested in watching his progress.

poisongirl6485

I saw that. The author acts as if he might die at any second for eating crappy foods. Oh the drama. You know what will happen because of this guy doing this? He will become a better trainer. Much more well rounded and supportive in apositive way of the changes and how hard it is to make changes once you have fallen into an unhealthy eating ifestyle.

He will become an advocate for sensetivity and understanding the tremendous change that is required and hopefully he will make a positive impact o n those trainers that have never had to loose weight and get fit.

I applaud what hes doing and I think it will be quite a challenge for him to get out of the crappy food habit and get into a good regimen again and he will learn a lt about himself. I wish him good luck and ca't wait to watch him transform not just to a healthy individual again but a wiser person as well.

^^^ This.

Jeff92se

I wonder if he was hired to do a "before" / "after" advertisement?

LexieSweetheart

He is obviously very dedicated to his craft and I respect that. He will have an advantage over trainers because he will understand the struggle at every level.