Author Topic: Americans take fat man walking to their hearts (Read 876 times)

beet1e · « **on:** March 23, 2006, 11:00:36 AM »

This is an interesting story about a man who is walking across America. The title of the thread is taken directly from the newspaper article.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/23/walk23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/23/ixworld.html

I've added just a few comments of my own in blue.

Quote

An obese man who is walking across America to lose weight has become an icon to a country where two thirds of the population are fat.

Steve Vaught, 40, a former marine from Ohio, weighed almost 30st [that's about 420lbs].when he set off last April from the coast of southern California.

Now, 2,310 miles into his journey and travelling at a steady three miles per hour, he has reached Columbus, Ohio, and has lost eight stone and suffered stress fractures in both feet along the way.

Mr Vaught has 500 miles and six weeks to go to his destination, the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

En route he has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, attracted more than 700,000 hits a month on his website and been showered with promotional offers.

But he has rejected a reported £2.5 million to advertise a diet pill and has refused endorsements for shampoo, vitamins and smoking patches.

The aim of his walk was not to make money but dodge an early death after he realised that walking along a supermarket aisle made him out of breath.

"I'm not trying to be a hero or an icon to anyone," he said. "I am just an ordinary guy, trying to take control of my life and figure out where it went awry. Most people see themselves in what I am doing. They wish they could do something similar to get over their own plateau, whether it is overeating, smoking or just finding a way to live a better life.

"The more I have gone on, the weight loss has become secondary, and the more I have seen the value in the journey."

This month, Mr Vaught discovered that he has broken bones in both feet.

"I have stress fractures from excessive pronation and supination - basically that means I walk like a duck," he wrote in his online journal.

Statistics show that 130 million Americans are overweight. The average American eats three hamburgers and four portions of chips a week. [ - that's the average? I remember creamo saying he ate at Jack-in-the-Box three times a week, but I assumed he was an exception!].

Mr Vaught was trim after military service. But after he was involved in a car crash in which two people died, he went into a spiral of depression and over-eating.

In his journal, Mr Vaught has mused on other factors that make Americans so fat. When he left San Diego at the start of his journey, he passed 21 fast food restaurants in four -and-a-half miles.

"I thought when I got into the country I'd leave that behind," he said. "But I've walked through the Midwest, the breadbasket, and it is one of the most unhealthy places on earth. You have acres of farmland, and you can't buy fresh fruit and veg. The last apple I ate came from South America - and it looked like it had rolled here." [LOL].

Gunslinger · « **Reply #1 on:** March 23, 2006, 11:19:57 AM »

I take issue with the "statistics" of the article. Most "statistics" that show people being overweight is based of the BMI scale (body mass index) It's basically a formula that determines what your weight should be based on your height. My BMI is around 25.8 according to http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ that says i'm "overweight" but if I had about 5 or 6% bodyfat and more muscle my BMI would be even worse yet I'd be a healthier person. I'm 5'11" and 185lbs. SO the "statistics" IMHO are scewed.

That said, I hope this guy makes it. Stress fractures are the worst and hardly ever heal correctly.

indy007 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 23, 2006, 11:31:23 AM »

Mmm, so far in the last 3 days I've had...

Monday
3 Sausage McMuffins, 2 hash browns, and a large coke
Fast food lunch of 4 fajita tacos, chips & queso (molten cheese), washed down with 40 ounces of Coca-Cola
Ate out again for dinner, lasagna squares, dinner salad, cheese coated chicken breast, 3 side dishes, and a cheesecake. Washed all that down with, you guessed it, more Coca-Cola.

Tuesday
Same McBreakfast
Fast food lunch of mini-corn dogs (covered in chili & cheese), chili cheese fries, a frito-chili pie, a snicker cheesecake, washed down with another bladder bursting 40oz of Coca-Cola.
Dinner was a trip through Jack-In-The-Box for a sourdough bacon double cheese burger, with a jumbo Cola, jumbo curly fries, bacon-cheddar potato wedges, and I stopped on the way home for a pint of Ritter's Frozen Custard (so much better than ice cream).

Wednesday
An sausage & cheese omelet dripping with grease, home fries, grits, toast, an english muffin, orange juice, and a red bull.
First time I ate relatively light recently, met the g/f at a chinese cafe. One of the few I've found that serve really sticky rice. Good stuff. I was hungry and eating cheetos an hour later though.
Went out for dinner again, had an 18oz porterhouse, lobster tail, loaded baked potato, bowl of soup, fried onion appetizer, 2 loaves of bread, and washed it all down with a few glasses of Kendall Jackson.

I eat like this all the time. It's probably where most of my disposable income goes. I only weight 145 pounds, and I'm past the point where everybody in my family's metabolism slowed down drastically. All it takes is 2 hours of vigorous sex 3 or 4 times a week. It is, by far, the best workout I've ever found. I'm gonna stick to it until I'm dead.

Hope that guy makes it though, whatever works for each person!

J_A_B · « **Reply #3 on:** March 23, 2006, 11:52:16 AM »

"weighed almost 30st [that's about 420lbs]."

Heh, today must be the archaic unit day. My wife came home a bit ago from some nursing test she had to take earlier and asked me, "What's a dram?". I don't think I want to go to a hospital that measures things in drams. They'd probably still be using leeches too.

Most of the guys my age I talk to--especially the unmarried ones--eat out a heck of a lot more often than three times a week. This wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that most fast food is only marginally more healthy than rat poison.

J_A_B

stiehl · « **Reply #4 on:** March 23, 2006, 12:54:13 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by J_A_B

Most of the guys my age I talk to--especially the unmarried ones--eat out a heck of a lot more often than three times a week.
J_A_B

Being married means eating out at the same place all the time.

RTSigma · « **Reply #5 on:** March 23, 2006, 02:02:12 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by stiehl
Being married means eating out at the same place all the time.

If you can't see the pun here, then you must go to church every sunday and sniff your socks when you take them off.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #6 on:** March 23, 2006, 02:51:43 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by RTSigma
If you can't see the pun here, then you must go to church every sunday and sniff your socks when you take them off.

personally I love to hate fast food. I eat it when I'm in the mood but I find it much easier to keep a budget if you bag a lunch and stick to pizza and grocery store delis when you need a meal in a pinch.

Sandman · « **Reply #7 on:** March 23, 2006, 04:34:49 PM »

If you're going to walk 2500+ miles, there are better routes.

http://www.fs.fed.us/pct/

Of course, you probably won't end up on Oprah.

Gh0stFT · « **Reply #8 on:** March 23, 2006, 04:35:19 PM »

bla bla bla...
folks, eat what you like, but DO some exercise on a daily base!
I eat at Burger King & Mc Donalds often, hey and i'm still alive!
1 day cardio, next day muscle training, 5 days a week 30min is
really more then enough. My body fat percentage is at 14% (age 37, weight 183lbs)
Beside Burgers, I eat high protein and low carb food.
No, i dont smoke, but i like to have some drinks

Live long, and prosper!
Gh0stFT

FiLtH · « **Reply #9 on:** March 23, 2006, 04:46:28 PM »

Eat what you want..live..enjoy..for tomorrow you may die! I'll be damned if I go through life eating twigs and berries only to end up getting flattened by a truck.

Ripsnort · « **Reply #10 on:** March 23, 2006, 04:55:30 PM »

Junk food= Yuck!

The closest thing I've eaten to junk food in the past 5 years is a Subway Sandwich shop (Whole wheat, Turkey, no mayo)

xrtoronto · « **Reply #11 on:** March 23, 2006, 06:12:53 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Ripsnort
Junk food= Yuck!

The closest thing I've eaten to junk food in the past 5 years is a Subway Sandwich shop (Whole wheat, Turkey, no mayo)

no mayo:O

That's like roast beef without the horse radish

Chairboy · « **Reply #12 on:** March 23, 2006, 06:58:44 PM »

I found a fantastic breakfast the other day, ironically at a fast food place. Carl's Jr. has a protein bowl, which is a bowl with a scrambled egg with bacon bits mixed in served on a small sausage patty. A little bit of cheese for flavor.

Super great tasting, and more importantly, it was something I could physically eat in the morning (tricky with my gastic band).

Airscrew · « **Reply #13 on:** March 23, 2006, 08:16:42 PM »

ok, I'll play. 45, 6ft, 190lbs. 33 inch waist. I sit all day at work in front of a computer, except for 3 nights of bowling, no real exercise, some walking When I was 35, I weighed 160lbs and had a 31 inch waste.

When I was in my teens, I would eat 10 tacos at supper, 12 Pancakes for breakfast, 4 sandwiches for lunch. Some people go back for seconds, I used to go back for thirds and fourths. Dinner wasnt over until I ate everything, my mom didnt have to put away alot of leftovers. I didnt hit 100lbs until I was 15. at 18 I only weighed 140lbs. In basic training for the Air Force I actually hit 180lbs for a couple of months, but from the age of about 20 to 38 I maintained about 160lbs, never more than 170.
Lunch for me was almost always two foot long chili dogs or half a pizza, couple of subway sandwichs. Breakfast was pancakes and sausage, eggs hash browns, bacon, coffee, juice and milk.

People have told me I am blessed with a high metabolism. That may have been true years ago but I think as I get older my metabolism doesnt work as well as it used. Along with that I dont eat any where as much as I used to.

typical day for me
Breakfast, bowl of cereal (usually Coco Krispies, Krispy Kreme chocolate dount, a two small 8oz bottles of 2% milk.)

between breakfast and lunch, 4 - 5 cups of coffee with 1 packet of Nestles Hot Chocolate and either a bag of chips (doritos, fritoes)

Lunch - depends on the day it varies, I hate to eat the samethings all week. Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, small fries / 2 fajita tacos (beef or Chicken) / Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas / Quiznos sub / Burger King Texas Double Whopper with mustard and jalapenos / pizza. All those eaten with at least one can of coke or a large coke.

between lunch and supper - couple candy bars.

Supper - varies - Bowling 3 nights a week its usually fast food, hot dogs, burgers. When I can eat at home tacos, lasagna, baked or broiled chicken, steak, roast, sausage, pizza Peas, carrots, corn, beans, potatoes etc.

This all varies with me because I only eat when I'm hungery. I have skipped lunch, and then only had a sandwich for supper.

I think this is why some people tend to get overweight. "Hey when I was 19 I could eat a large pizza and drink a pitcher of beer all by myself" and now 30 years later they keep eating like that

Jackal1 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 23, 2006, 10:07:25 PM »

Fat Man Walking
Subtitle: A Journey Across America
Author: Steve Vaught
Publisher: Harpercollins
ISBN: 0060899387
Format: Hardcover
MSRP: $24.00
Version: 2006

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Nuff said.