Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit, Personal Trainer Gains 70 pounds on purpose…? (read below)
I have my homepage set to Yahoo!… I came across this article as one of the top stories on the news ticker. A personal trainer has decided to make himself obese on purpose so that he can understand what it’s like to be obese. As fitness professionals, what are your thoughts on this? Please read the short article to understand his position before answering. http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/why-a-personal-trainer-is-making-h…
Hi Marlan,
after reading the article, I had really mixed emotions. I try to take the most positive angle and truly believe that the trainer has the best intentions to understand how it feels to be obese. And I also have no doubt that he will succeed in morphing himself back into his former trim physique.
We all know that diet and exercise will enable people lose weight and get fit. This trainer will prove that point, and I sincerely hope that he will not suffer any long-term effects from his experiment.
But what will be the point at the end of it? Will this be a self-congratulation of the “if I can do it, so can you”-kind?
People do not set out to make themselves obese. The factors of getting there are numerous, from family upbringing to emotions to lack of education. A 70 pound weight gain is usually the result of many years. I hated to see the comment in the article of “letting myself go like this”. I did not like this phrase at all. It contains a judgment that I would not dare to render on an overweight person.
Overweight people rarely had a habit of regular exercise. As trainers, we may hear their stories how much they enjoyed PE – 40 years ago. It is a challenging job for us to re-acquaint them with their bodies’ inate ability to move.
In summary: I applaud the best intentions of this trainer. No doubt, he means well. But I fear that this experiment will prove nothing new.
The if I can do it so can you, may not be valid.
The NIH and the NHLBI evidence report on obesity (find it online) suggests that there exists at minimum a 40% genetic factor. Other scientists are suggesting that impulse control may be a brain wiring issue, or a not firing correctly problem.
It may be that obesity is not as much self determined as we once believed.
Danielle
In addition to reading the short article, I went further and went to his site http://fit2fat2fit.com/ complete with the PayPal donation button.
I would like to think that this trainer is doing this solely to inspire people to get and stay fit but I am having a difficult time in doing so.
Wow, just wow. I know my answer is different than everyone else’s. But I think this guy is a rock star. I will be following his progress for sure. It’s something different, a wakeup call to some people. To hear someone who knows what it’s like to be fit and healthy describe their everyday life like it’s some horrible thing. I think its different coming from him vs coming from a fat person becoming thin. If you’re fat going on thin then it’s all about benefits, getting better. If you’re thin going on fat it more like everything is only going to get worse. Since so many people aren’t taking steps to get thin, maybe what they need is incentive to not get fatter.