Fat Bob Slim's Story

I flew to South Korea in September of 2006 to teach English and to learn martial arts during my free time. I was 103 kilograms and like most westerners, lifted weights for upperbody size and strength, but was still carrying too much fat. One day while I was jogging in Korea, having dropped to 94 kilograms for the first time in a long time, I fell--and my world fell down with me. Nothing broken, just torn tendons in my left ankle, which was even worse.With 18 more months left in my teaching contract, I coundn't jog or run or even stand for long periods of time. Fat, tired and depressed, I just unhappily went to work, came home and watched TV and ate crap, lots of it. Disabled and depressed, I shot up to an unhealthy 110 kilograms, surpassing more than 30% body fat, which only made my ankle worse. A mentor, Antonio Graceffo, recommended Thailand for weight loss. Thailand? We all know who goes to Thailand. But his was a different Thailand. Not girls and beers Thailand but boxing gloves and tears Thailand. In September of 2008 I enrolled at a Muay Thai camp in Phuket to lose weight. I arrived at 107 kilograms. Beginning with a five day all water detox, I lost a kilogram a day. Then I trained Muay Thai twice a day--longer and longer every week. I also power walked at night, sometimes went swimming in the afternoon, cycled and ate healthy and delicious Thai food. In 10 weeks, I lost a total of 14 kilograms, finishing at 93 kilograms! Then, I returned to my teaching job and continued to practice Muay Thai at a local gym and ran almost daily, and lost an additional 12 kilograms, a total of 26 kilograms in 8 months! And now I'm back, down more than 30 kilograms, for some more FITNESS, maybe some FIGHTING and perhaps a little FUN.

We have all been there: nursing a hangover with fried food and a can of cola while falling in and out of sleep to annoying infocommericals about rapid weight loss. "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days.....Shed 30 pounds in 30 days....Transform your body with our 3 month program". And we have all thought the same thing. Impossible, or at the very least, highly improbable. Well, the purpose of this blog is to inform you that under the right conditions---say training in tropical Thailand, impossibility is possible and improbability is not as problematic as one may think.This is my story; a story of detoxing and training Muay Thai Boxing on the island of Phuket; a story of losing 30 pounds in a little under 3 months and a total of 30 kilograms. And along the way, we'll meet many more people with similar stories, who have had similar success.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Getting back up again

Like falling off a motorbike for the first time in Thailand (which I did on Christmas--right of passage in Thailand), getting back up again is extremely important in dealing with your fitness goals.

I have friends visiting from Korea, and with a visa run to Malaysia earlier this week, the biggest fight of the year tomorrow, three birthdays, Christmas BBQ, drinking seriously for the first time since Halloween and then later New Years and all the Western food in between this week such as Indian twice and two burgers, the most important thing is this: getting back up again.

I'm down on myself, but I should and shouldn't be. I shouldn't have eaten and drunken so much, but I did. Now get over it and move on and move forward.

Just get up again. And get up at of bed tomorrow, start the program over again with a 6:30 run before training. Keep it habitual and it will be perpetual. Practice doesn't make perfect. It makes permanence. You shouldn't take several days off, albeit legitimate reasons, but if you do, get back in the practice of having healthy habits.

Its going to be tough this week, however. The toughest so far, and not regarding training and a strict diet, but the possibility of straying from them. Monday is the big fight night--a K1 champion is fighting and three of our fighters as well; Tuesday is a going away and birthday party; Thursday is New Years Eve and then we are closed on the following days so I'll probably be touring with some friends.

Its cheesy, but I dig the quote from Batman Begins. "Why do we fall. To learn to get back up again."
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