FARK.com: (6668136) Gamer uses video game strategies to lose 150lbs, writes book about it. Achievement unlocked

		Gamer uses video game strategies to lose 150lbs, writes book about it. Achievement unlocked (dailymail.co.uk)		48
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48 Comments (+0 »)

TheNyquilKid

2011-10-23 12:49:18 PM

Still will never get laid.

RivenSilver

2011-10-23 12:50:06 PM

Too bad he can't devise a strategy to not be an ugly ginger boy.

bravian

2011-10-23 12:52:16 PM

FTFA His lifestyle plan, starting immediately, saw him drop junk food, count calories and get more active - including taking long walks and playing fewer sedentary video games.

So eat less and exercise. Give this guy a nobel prize.

namatad

2011-10-23 12:54:03 PM

Sum Dum Gai

2011-10-23 12:56:18 PM

bravian: So eat less and exercise. Give this guy a nobel prize.

I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

BarbadoSlim

2011-10-23 12:59:12 PM

So he's down to what? 320, 325 now?

bravian

2011-10-23 01:11:30 PM

Sum Dum Gai: I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

Again - hardly new. Its the basis of every weight loss system out there. But it all boils down to eat less and exercise.

/my motivating factor is not to have a heart attack at age 40 like my fat asshole of a brother

ZeroCorpse

2011-10-23 01:11:59 PM

Sum Dum Gai: bravian: So eat less and exercise. Give this guy a nobel prize.

I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

WHAT motivational framework? "I don't want to be the fat teenager anymore." is pretty universal. The fact that he thought of it as a video game (or whatever) is no framework; it's just his way of tricking himself into switching addictions from gaming to working out. It's certainly not worth buying his book for.

He's still an addict. He just changed to an addiction that was less detrimental and more aesthetically-pleasing.

MoronLessOff

2011-10-23 01:14:49 PM

Dance Dance Revolution.

It kept me a slim 175 (I'm tall) for a looooong time. Also helped a buddy of mine buy a new wardrobe because his fat clothes were too big.

NotARocketScientist

2011-10-23 01:15:32 PM

I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

I would have liked to hear more about his motivational framework. As an overweight gamer married to a really overweight gamer we could use some motivation. Reporter should have at least covered the outline.

Unoriginal_Username

2011-10-23 01:30:18 PM

SiON42X

2011-10-23 01:35:23 PM

I'm going to write a weight loss RPG. Journeying has to be done with pedometer proof, calories are decided with dice rolls. You only get dessert if you crit, farkers.

Gobobo

2011-10-23 01:36:53 PM

Well done to the young chap, as obviously his parents' parenting skills sucked sweaty balls

MoronLessOff

2011-10-23 01:37:21 PM

Ed Finnerty

2011-10-23 01:42:08 PM

So they finally got GTA San Andreas in the UK?

Where wolf

2011-10-23 01:44:24 PM

NotARocketScientist: I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

I would have liked to hear more about his motivational framework. As an overweight gamer married to a really overweight gamer we could use some motivation. Reporter should have at least covered the outline.

I actually get to use this:

Link (new window)

Site doesn't say much, and I didn't watch all the videos, but I would assume it's really about setting small, individual goals/achievements. Rather than crash diet, exercise, and fail at a preposterous goal you start small and work up. Sit down and plan out dinners for a week. Track all your food on something like Calorie Counter (by Fat Secret -- great little android app) The Calorie Counter was all I needed to lose five pounds in a week. Forcing yourself to take responsibility for what goes down your gullet is a big part of it.

Same with the exercise. First walk: half a mile, tops. Add ten feet each time if you need to make the gains that small. five pushups between games/matches/whatever. Ten crunches if you die in a raid. shiat like that can, and does, work.

/5'10, 190 lbs
//Follows all of the above advice, still fat due to beer
///Delicious, home brewed beer

Mister Peejay

2011-10-23 01:44:39 PM

"I felt so clever when I found a way to game the Fitocracy system by incorporating a set of easy but high-scoring activities into my regular schedule. Took me a bit to realize I'd been tricked into setting up a daily exercise routine."

/not obscure, this is FARK

Where wolf

2011-10-23 01:47:03 PM

Mister Peejay: "I felt so clever when I found a way to game the Fitocracy system by incorporating a set of easy but high-scoring activities into my regular schedule. Took me a bit to realize I'd been tricked into setting up a daily exercise routine."

/not obscure, this is FARK

imgs.xkcd.com

That wasn't even tough.

bacongood

2011-10-23 01:49:02 PM

ZeroCorpse:
He's still an addict. He just changed to an addiction that was less detrimental and more aesthetically-pleasing.

I am pretty sure we are all addicted to something. Sometimes they are called "passions", sometimes "addictions". Frankly, if you aren't addicted to something you are probably a pretty boring person.

I Am The Egg Matt Drudge Smears Upon His Body

2011-10-23 02:12:27 PM

namatad: bravian: FTFA His lifestyle plan, starting immediately, saw him drop junk food, count calories and get more active - including taking long walks and playing fewer sedentary video games.

So eat less and exercise. Give this guy a nobel prize.

came here
left here

Same.

tzzhc4

2011-10-23 02:16:54 PM

Let me guess the secret to weight loss was eating less and exercising?

StoPPeRmobile

2011-10-23 02:35:04 PM

bacongood: ZeroCorpse:
He's still an addict. He just changed to an addiction that was less detrimental and more aesthetically-pleasing.

I am pretty sure we are all addicted to something. Sometimes they are called "passions", sometimes "addictions". Frankly, if you aren't addicted to something you are probably a pretty boring person.

Spoken like a true addict.

DiabolicalAsparagus

2011-10-23 02:59:34 PM

So what was his exercise routine then?
I thought it would be like this Android game called Zombie, Run!

abb3w

2011-10-23 03:10:27 PM

Where wolf: That wasn't even tough.

Though a better choice might have been "I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time."

imgs.xkcd.com

Pichu0102

2011-10-23 03:16:28 PM

What would be great would be an actual bunch of games that in order to play, you have to go walking or running with your phone/device.

ZeroCorpse

2011-10-23 04:04:06 PM

Pichu0102: What would be great would be an actual bunch of games that in order to play, you have to go walking or running with your phone/device.

Oh, you mean like baseball, football, paintball, tag, hide-and-seek, basketball and soccer?

What a cool invention! Going outside!

Toquinha

2011-10-23 04:07:04 PM

Pichu0102: What would be great would be an actual bunch of games that in order to play, you have to go walking or running with your phone/device.

They already have an app for that. (new window)
Here's another one. (new window)

Pichu0102

2011-10-23 04:27:40 PM

ZeroCorpse: Pichu0102: What would be great would be an actual bunch of games that in order to play, you have to go walking or running with your phone/device.

Oh, you mean like baseball, football, paintball, tag, hide-and-seek, basketball and soccer?

What a cool invention! Going outside!

I'm not aware of many adults that have one or more friends, let alone a group who want and are availible for doing things like that.
A digital game that only lets you play once you've walked enough, alone, would be more useful for the average person.

doglover

2011-10-23 04:46:58 PM

Toquinha: They already have an app for that. (new window)

That's not even a game. That's a stop watch.

The other app was cool.

doglover

2011-10-23 04:53:19 PM

doglover: Toquinha: They already have an app for that. (new window)

That's not even a game. That's a stop watch.

The other app was cool.

I take it back. That epic win app is just a to do list with RPG skin. $2.99 for a "game" with nothing but accumulating gold and no shop to buy anything in? No thanks. Call me when there's an update.

Colour_out_of_Space

2011-10-23 04:57:35 PM

I thought that it was going to be some guy who constantly jumped everywhere he went.

kroonermanblack

2011-10-23 05:25:09 PM

Man, three posts in to get 'wtf, fatty fatkins eat less run moar' posts. I figured it would be the top.

Also, kudos for shiatting on a kid for losing more weight than most 'normal' non americans even see. You might be wonderman and perfect, but when your entire lifestyle (as I would say at 14 and 300 lbs) is monstrously wrong....changing that is pretty damn impressive.

/is fat
//is having a bad day

Mentalpatient87

2011-10-23 05:39:33 PM

You know who has no excuse? WoW players...

Raid wipe? 10 pushups
Flight path? 20 setups
Raid starts in an hour and you're done with dailies? Run around the block once or twice.

Mentalpatient87

2011-10-23 05:40:17 PM

*situps you farking phone!

Benni K Rok

2011-10-23 06:24:07 PM

Quick, somebody tell Jim Sterling.

colithian

2011-10-23 06:37:12 PM

There's a new Kinect game called UFC: Personal Trainer. I'd love for someone a year from now to write a study about how well it actually worked and how many people actually stuck with the program to lose weight.

maxximillian

2011-10-23 07:21:03 PM

Lot of haters in this thread.

trerro

2011-10-23 07:27:29 PM

bravian: FTFA His lifestyle plan, starting immediately, saw him drop junk food, count calories and get more active - including taking long walks and playing fewer sedentary video games.

So eat less and exercise. Give this guy a nobel prize.

On one hand, yeah, duh.

On the other, he has 2 key points:
1. Get a permanent lifestyle plan, not a temporary diet.
2. Structure it in a way that you'll WANT to do it.
Neither of these are difficult concepts, and they aren't news either, but these are the 2 reasons many fail to lose weight. They're significantly less obvious than "diet and exercise". The fad diet of the week is, at best, going to take some weight off temporarily. A permanent, personal plan will actually fix your weight problem for good.

Hideously Gigantic Smurf

2011-10-23 07:28:16 PM

Cool! Anyone know where I can find this book?

TheWizard

2011-10-23 07:32:19 PM

Where wolf: NotARocketScientist: I think what he's claiming as an achievement is creating a motivational framework to meet those goals.

I would have liked to hear more about his motivational framework. As an overweight gamer married to a really overweight gamer we could use some motivation. Reporter should have at least covered the outline.

I actually get to use this:

Link (new window)

Site doesn't say much, and I didn't watch all the videos, but I would assume it's really about setting small, individual goals/achievements. Rather than crash diet, exercise, and fail at a preposterous goal you start small and work up. Sit down and plan out dinners for a week. Track all your food on something like Calorie Counter (by Fat Secret -- great little android app) The Calorie Counter was all I needed to lose five pounds in a week. Forcing yourself to take responsibility for what goes down your gullet is a big part of it.

Same with the exercise. First walk: half a mile, tops. Add ten feet each time if you need to make the gains that small. five pushups between games/matches/whatever. Ten crunches if you die in a raid. shiat like that can, and does, work.

/5'10, 190 lbs
//Follows all of the above advice, still fat due to beer
///Delicious, home brewed beer

I cut out junk food, and dropped 30 lbs. But beer. Oh that sweet nectar. It's keeping me at 180.

Drubell

2011-10-23 08:38:43 PM

I have a treadmill next to my gaming TV. If it's a game that doesn't have a lot of camera shifts, I can play while walking.

This doesn't work well in action games where you have a lot of camera stuff though. You naturally want to follow the camera and end up falling off the treadmill like an idiot.

FuryOfFirestorm

2011-10-23 09:06:32 PM

Jumping on turtles burns a lot of calories and it really works your glutes.

FuryOfFirestorm

2011-10-23 09:09:10 PM

SiON42X: I'm going to write a weight loss RPG. Journeying has to be done with pedometer proof, calories are decided with dice rolls. You only get dessert if you crit, farkers.

I think the last few Pokemon games came with a pedometer that turned mileage in experience for your Pokemon. The more walking you do, the quicker your Pokemon levels up.

Of course, some lazy f*cks rigged theirs to a turntable or a fan and defeated the whole purpose or the thing.

boss_logga

2011-10-23 10:58:47 PM

I am tired of Americans being rewarded for screwing up royally and then fixing their mistakes. Some of us are capable of maintaining our shiat without having to nose dive into the crapper first.
First Jerrod now this clown. He gets to run the Olympic torch. Screw him. I have half a mind to get morbidly obese and then crawl my way back to health just so I can become famous for being a complete asshat.
SEND ME YOUR BACON!!

Lord Binky

2011-10-24 02:52:36 AM

Just as I always suspected: many of you are just hateful people. A fat guy turns his life around and loses weight so you just find new reasons to deride them and dislike them. My Ignore list has exponentially grown now, and I hope all the bad things in life happen to each and every one of you, and only you.

And one of you will, of course, will try to hide yourself and others behind James Van Der Beek to attempt to excuse yourselves of your utter indecency.

isaaczeke

2011-10-24 02:14:36 PM

Lord Binky: Just as I always suspected: many of you are just hateful people. A fat guy turns his life around and loses weight so you just find new reasons to deride them and dislike them. My Ignore list has exponentially grown now, and I hope all the bad things in life happen to each and every one of you, and only you.

And one of you will, of course, will try to hide yourself and others behind James Van Der Beek to attempt to excuse yourselves of your utter indecency.

The problem is that a lot of people in the world get their self-esteem from putting others down, and fat people are one of the groups that it is socially acceptable to harass, insult and outright hate. Treating others badly gives the small-minded an outlet for their anger and lack of self-worth. I find it funny that the common claim is "eat less and exercise, it's easy, anyone can do it" when the tens of millions in the US alone who are obese are ready evidence that it is *not* easy for everyone. If it's easy, why are so many people fat?

As someone that has quit drinking, quit smoking, and lost 120lbs, I found the weight loss the hardest by far. It's not just about eating less and exercising more, it's about carefully adjusting most aspects of your life so that you can eat less and exercise more without going crazy.

Mentalpatient87

2011-10-24 02:40:23 PM

shortymac

2011-10-24 04:33:58 PM

FuryOfFirestorm: SiON42X: I'm going to write a weight loss RPG. Journeying has to be done with pedometer proof, calories are decided with dice rolls. You only get dessert if you crit, farkers.

I think the last few Pokemon games came with a pedometer that turned mileage in experience for your Pokemon. The more walking you do, the quicker your Pokemon levels up.

Of course, some lazy f*cks rigged theirs to a turntable or a fan and defeated the whole purpose or the thing.

I had that game! More walking = More money and it had a bunch of mini-games on there!

I didn't think about hooking it up to a fan though, I did sometimes just watch TV in my bedroom and shook my hips. (Which I guess is MUCH better).

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