How a 17-Year-Old Video Gamer Cut His Weight in Half
Taylor LeBaron is much like your average teenager in that he loves video games. The difference is that Taylor parlayed his joy of video games into a very impressive 150 lbs weight loss.
Now 17, he has authored a book called "Cutting Myself in Half: 150 Pounds Lost One Byte At a Time" featuring his own fat burning system dubbed "The Ultimate Fitness Game".
The Georgia teen weighed about 300 lbs as a 14-year-old. Not surprisingly, he was embarrassed by his state, especially when a classmate pointed out that he had a "double chin". Well, the industrious teen devised a video-game-like game plan to change his life. And, change his life he did, losing 150 lbs over the course of 18 months.
LeBaron approached his fat loss strategy the same way he would a video game. In his words:
You have enemies, you have allies, and you have money. You have to play smart; otherwise, you run out of your money. Your score needs to be high at the end of the day... When I get a new videogame, one of the first things I do is check out the opponents to see what I'm up against. When I know the enemies, I can create a plan of attack.
Accoding to LeBaron, the top 5 "enemies" of physical fitness are:
- Inactivity
- Food choices
- Large portions
- Liquid calories
- Stress
Commentary
I think this is a wonderful and inspiring story. We can only hope that Taylor's message will inspire other overweight teens to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes it's about speaking a "language" teens can relate to.
It's probably fair to say that video gaming still does more overall harm than good to our teenage population. Hopefully, however success stories like Taylor LeBaron's, combined with the popularity of fitness-based video games, can start becoming part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
You can check out Lebaron's interview on The Today Show.
Did he say anything about cutting back on the video games? I guess that since I grew up with a plain ol' 8 bit Nintendo system, I have little patience with video games. I can play them for maybe 20 minutes and then I get bored with them. My brother-in-law, on the other hand, will come home from work and play them for hours. Sorry, the idea of that just doesn't appeal to me.
ReplyThe idea appeals to me! But I have no time for such things. The only thing I do for a couple hours each day is running... guess it's all choices!
ReplyMy little brother lost TONS of weight doing the only thing he would stick with - DDR. He plays it as much as I run. Personal preference-- great when you can make your exercise your hobby! (He is a "professional" gamer. Gets paid and free computers and trips and everything.)
No, the idea doesn't appeal to me either, Spectra. I didn't have video games as a child, and had no desire to have either. Makes me think when my own child is older, perhaps she shouldn't have one either, I'm sure they are more addictive the younger kids are exposed to them!
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