RIP Jared Lorenzen

I just posted that there was one quote that, as someone who's been overweight pretty much his entire life, has always stuck with me and chilled me to the bone. And I thought I didn't remember who said it or wrote it.

"I'm 50, and I might feel it more deeply than he does. Nobody who's 65 looks like we do."

It was Tommy Tomlinson.

I'm 61, and I'm just a little more scared tonight.

RIP, Jared. I hope you find some peace you didn't have before.

 

I’ve pretty much been the extra-70-pounds type. I shrugged it off as just genetics.

A few years ago I was put on a medication for a different issue that had a risk of me becoming a diabetic. Guess where the A1C was next time I went to the doc?

It’s been a struggle for me, even with the diabetic diagnosis. Metformin is probably saving my life now, but that also has complications. I really need to take better care of myself. Jared Lorenzen’s death is a bit of a wake up call.

 

Keto works. Between my wife and me, we’ve lost a 9-year-old.

 

Well, you know, it didn't used to be considered "so difficult." Avoiding obesity-related diseases was once the least of our health concerns, as we had far scarier and less preventable ailments to concern us back then.

And it still on the surface appears as easily solvable as ever: just don't overeat, try to avoid crappy junk food, spend at least one hour per day working yourself into a serious sweat with physical exercise, and limit the time you spend sitting on your ass in front of a screen (whether it be TV or computer). Amazing what a difference such simple steps make.

But today most of us are conditioned not to view it that way. We live the wrong way until we're messed up enough to get put on medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, or some other obesity related condition ...and then we can scapegoat it as a medical rather than lifestyle condition.

 

I understand and agree with your point -- up to a point, because appearances, as they say, are deceiving.

There is a difference between simple changes, and easy ones. Once you've crossed that bridge -- and many have, due to their own poor choices and/or society's generally more sedentary ways these days -- such changes are not easy. Anyone who thinks they are has not had to try to make them to the extent that someone who suffers from morbid obesity has to do.

I've said it before, but losing 30 pounds is not quite the same thing as having to lose 130. Or 230, or more. And in such cases, there are usually components to weight issues that go beyond just someone's lifestyle.

 

Ditch as much sugar, wheat and other bad carbs as you can. In a week, you won't miss them much, and your body will have to burn off more fat because of those missing carbs.

But RIP to the Hefty Lefty. He was fun to watch.

 

You WILL miss them. I let myself go in my early 30s and lost 20 lbs at 35 doing pretty much that (plus exercise). I’ve by and large stuck with that and kept it off for 13 years now but you never stop craving carbs and sugar. Key is moderation so you don’t get overwhelmed by the cravings - but you do have to cut it all out for a while before you’re in a position to moderate. The one thing I’ve never gone back to is soda, sport drinks and fruit juice. I cut that out entirely and don’t miss it.

 

I hate to continue the diet talk on this thread and cause it to go on. If the diet thread shows up I will delete and put this there.

One very helpful step is to account for what you are eating. The program myplate lets you track what you eat. Not the M. Obama myplate but this is associated with the livestrong web site.
It is super easy, you just put in what you eat and a list comes up and you narrow it down to the specific food and amount. It has entries for just about everything, brand names, restaurants, etc. It will give you a good visual of just how much you are eating in a day. Including sodium, protein, fat, etc. You can input your info and how much you want to weigh and it will tell you how many calories you can have. I prefer to calorie count because that way I can eat what I want, just in moderation. I don't think depriving yourself of certain groups of food works very well in the long run.
Definitely do a "fat day" where you can at anything. I find I am anxious to get back to eating right after that. It reminds me of how lousy I feel when I overeat.
And the move more part is half of the process. Why deny yourself all that extra food if you are not getting the most out of it. Exercise is a must. It can be as easy as taking a walk every day.
So, I strongly suggest people track what they eat to get a real honest picture of what they are eating every day.

 

Exercise is an absolute must. I do five early mornings a week in the gym (for me personally, the key has been group exercise -- it helps with motivation and accountability and you work harder -- I've been doing CrossFit for 5 years and it's definitely not for everybody but if I wasn't doing that, I'd still need a regular group workout with constantly varied routines that I don't have to think about programming. I hear good things about Orange Theory and a lot of regular gyms have good classes too. It can get expensive, but if it keeps you moving regularly, it costs less than health problems). You don't want to just lose weight -- you want to develop some muscle mass and strength so you can handle functional movements as you get older. But it's still 80 percent what you eat. Either way it can be tough to find the right thing and stick with it. And every day can feel like a small battle. Even though I've never been obese, I've been overweight and sedentary and I've had experience losing the food battle and finding all sorts of excuses to avoid working out. I read Tomlinson's Lorenzen piece a few years ago and it really hit me hard. Most of us who've struggled to stay fit haven't had to fight these battles publicly with all the ridicule and body-shaming that goes along with it. Such a sad story -- I wish it could have been a better outcome.

 

Tommy Tomlinson writes a follow-up piece for ESPN.com. At one point, Lorenzen was up to 560 pounds.

Tommy Tomlinson: How Jared Lorenzen inspired so many, including me

 

Good post.

Personally, I think exercise is quite a bit more than 20 percent of the matter, and is the main difficulty for many, particularly these days.

In olden days, I doubt there were many obese, or even just overweight, people. Everything was more physical. Most workers were farmers, ranchers or laborers. Women did cleaning by hand and washboard, not machinery, and did constant, necessary self-sustained gardening. Even in our less far-back younger days, kids walked/rode bikes to school, and before that, all general transportation was more physical. Horseback-riding is excellent exercise; riding in a car or on public transportation is not.

Today, people usually have to make a point and go out of their way to exercise. It has to be incorporated into a day, whereas it used to just...happen. It's a subtle difference to the way things used to be, but I think it's a significant one.

If you're way out of shape and can't exercise well or easily, and/or you hate doing it, you are, frankly, unlikely to go out of your way for it. Exercise doesn't become a great, wonderful or fun thing to someone until they lose the weight, enough to notice and feel a difference. It's a paradoxical and unfortunate reality.

I also understand that this is an RIP thread, but I don't see anything wrong with addressing diet and weight issues here. In fact, the one criticism I'd have made of the original article on Lorenzen's death is that it just said he died of kidney disease and heart problems. To me, there was a glaring if well-intentioned, omission in that.

I think it should have read that he died of weight-related kidney and heart problems.

 

There's no doubt that was the cause, but Tomlinson's story says that the weight issue has not yet been determined as fact.