From fit to fat back to fit all in one year

At first glance, it appears as though the designers of the site, fit2fat2fit got the order reversed on the before and after shots. The “before” shot depicts a chiseled, very toned, Adonis-type Healthy Body with the much revered six-pack. Underneath this photo are measurements that most men would probably die to boast. At 193 pounds, the photo shows a man at the pinnacle of excellent health.

Adjacent this photo is the “after” shot of what appears to be the same man. Only now he is 72 lbs heavier; his waist chest, biceps and hips are completely undefined. He now sports a belly that a seasoned beer guzzler could envy.

Interestingly, the photos, although they are halfway down the page, are what catch your attention once you hit the landing page. It’s not until you have focused on them for a moment in utter confusion that you realize what’s happening. There’s nothing wrong with your screen and the pictures on the site have not been mis-labelled. Whether he was famous before he went on this journey or not is almost irrelevant; today he is!

Fitness trainer Drew Manning of Eagle Mountain, Utah is out to prove a point. And he’s doing it the way people do things nowadays – by using social media and the Internet.

The journey Manning is on began in the first week of March 2011 when he set out to understand what his clients have been trying to tell him for years. You see, evidently it’s not possible for a man who’s been into health and fitness his entire life to know (or at least to empathize with) what it’s like for people who struggle with their weight and to achieve the goals their fitness trainers set. Fat, his clients tell him, is something you know nothing about. “Don’t tell us you know what it’s like, unless you’ve walked a day in our shoes.”

And so, Manning decided to step into their shoes and experience life as an overweight person. Not only to understand the pain they feel from other people in social situations but also to get why it’s so difficult to follow the regimen he’s set for them.

What took a lifetime to achieve for his clients, Manning had to do in six months, but gained the weight he did. He blogged week in and week out about his journey, from the first (actually 7) Krispy Kreme donuts to the final one (and all the cheesy, fatty, gooey, sloppy, sugary and greasy pieces of junk he credits with getting him there). He wrote not just about the foods he ate but also what he felt watching his Healthy Body transform into something he barely recognized and that his doctor was becoming extremely nervous about his health. During this time, his “commitment” was also to “refrain from any exercise during my fat stage”.

Happily, just as Manning was reaching the place that began to really make his doctor nervous, his six months were up. His last donut was in the first week of November. For Manning, the last six months has likely felt like a stay in prison. For someone who has literally been addicted to health and fitness for as long as he can remember, throwing it all away must have been extremely difficult!

To watch his road less traveled back to recovery check out his weekly blog. It is actually very riveting! I’ll be rooting for you Drew.

Until next time,

Peace, love and vitamin C!