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.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

THREE THINGS




I can't overemphasize three things when trying to lose weight here at Phromthep:

1. Diet. Its most important. Danny places a lot of emphasis on green smoothies. Try his program and see if it works for you. If it does, stick with it until you plateau. Then, alter your diet.If it doesn't work for you, change your diet. This is what my friend Antonio Graceffo recommends based on his experiences:

my diet: no carbs, no sugar no soda, no bread, no noodles no pasta no potatoes. eat only meat, vegetables and fruit. i buy grilled meat and fruit on the street in Thailand three times a day. my cost for food drops to almost nothing and the weight just peals off.em>

In short, if you don't recognize the food in its natural state, don't eat it. And stay away from the rice. And stay away from the Buffet.

2. Cardio. Cardio is more important than Muay Thai training, in my humble opinion. You should do both, but if you have to choose, go with cardio. Do Muay Thai AT LEAST once a day--morning, but cardio two or three times a day: morning power walks, swimming with the swimming group, cycling or my favorite: walking up Phromthep hill to watch the sunset.

BUT DO THE CARDIO AND DO MORE AND MORE AS THE WEEKS PASS BY!

3. Change Things Up:

Take the morning off and bike ride at least twice a week for 2-3 hours. Head down to Kata Beach. I did that when I was between 94-103 kilograms last year. If you can't bike the hills, walk the bike up the hill. And if you are nuts like me, carry the bike on your back and try to jog up!

And if you need someone to bike with, just ask me.


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