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.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Recommendation for Fitness Students.


For Fitness Students, I think 10-12 weeks is the perfect amount of time to considerably change your body. If you look at weight loss programs such as P90x and Body For Life, they also advocate a 3 month program.

Regarding training in Thailand, first things first: Be natural and GET OUT OF BED when the sun comes up.

6:00-6:30: Wake up, shower.

6:30-7:00: Stretch and do some light cardio depending on your ability. You can walk the street, speed walk, ride your bike, jog, hop on the elliptical or do some sprints up the hill. And do your stretching with Johm in the morning.

7:00-9:00: You should really, really, really take advantage of the group training classes. As a beginner, you'll get a lot more specialized attention. You'll learn how to jab, punch, hook, elbow, knee, kick and block. Its intimidating watching the fighters hit the pads at times, buts its also motivational. That will be you in several months!

Most people are discouraged by the group training. However, the best part is this: you can walk away whenever you want. If you want to stop at 8, then stop at 8. But at least you got in an hour and half of exercise! That's more than the average person back home.

9:30-10:30: You are in the tropics. Take advantage of the beach and water. Head down to the ocean and either swim some laps---if you still have the energy, practice your Muay Thai in the water or just relax and float around.

10:30: Breakfast.

FREE TIME and SLEEP TIME

2:00 or 3:00 Do a VIP with one of the Thai trainers. And tell them your goals. Make sure they know you are more concerned about weight loss and fitness than muay thai technique.

Lastly, I recommend one of two things: Either do a Yoga class down the road at 5:00 or do one last cardio session at night, after dinner.

Keep the meals frequent and light and don't worry too much about the eating if you are doing lots of cardio. Just don't eat a lot before going to bed (unless you find that you don't have the energy in the morning to train).

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: Change up the routine if you find yourself getting bored. My first year, I usually didn't train on Wednesday morning and Saturday morning after the first month. I would go for long bike ride, 2 hours at least. Usually, I would ride by bike over the hills to Kata beach. If I couldn't bike the hills, I would just run with the bike.

Likewise, my friend Liz and Michelle started to do a session of Yoga at 5 at night instead of their afternoon Muay Thai group class, and my other friend opted for afternoon weight lifting sessions at the local gym.
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