|
The thin man IT'S Day Seven of 2002. Do you know where your New Year's resolve went? Resolutions are usually history by Day Five, swept away with the fading excitement of the new year and the return to the daily grind.
John Arndt is living proof that
a 500-pound man can change
his life, for goodBy Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.comAnd if you've already faltered, it's tempting to throw up your hands and whine, "It's too haarrrrd."
Aww.
There is such a thing as a second chance. Just imagine hitting a reset button and renewing that resolution or setting a new one today, or Jan. 15, or May 15, whenever you want, according to John Arndt, who recommends, "Don't call it a resolution, call it a goal, and keep it to yourself. Don't tell friends, family or your co-workers because publicizing it will just give you added stress and pressure and set you up for failure."
He should know.
|
On the eve of Jan. 1, 1998, I wrote about Arndt and his battle with obesity. At 498 pounds, weight was no mere vanity concern. He had difficulty breathing and sleeping, and often could not bear to get out of bed. He moved to Hawaii in 1995, he said, to die.But once relocated to paradise, he rediscovered his enthusiasm for life and knew he was about to start a lifestyle change that had to work. It was a matter of life or death.
Over the next 2 1/2 years, he lost 287 pounds -- not through any magic pill, potion or formula, but with a disciplined routine of proper nutrition and exercise.
Such success stories abound, but so do second, nonpublicized endings in which subjects regain weight, return to former destructive behaviors or otherwise relapse.
In five years the 35-year-old Arndt has never stopped moving forward. He's lost more weight and, at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, has started a Web site, www.ilost310.com to tell about it. And his resolve didn't stop with simply regaining control of his body.
|
He's now president of LifeStyle Changes Inc., a nonprofit consulting company he runs via the Internet from California, to help others who want to improve their lives. He is his best example of change.>>>>><<<<<
Five years ago, Arndt was an optician working in Hawaii Kai who was willing to share his story with anyone in need of empathy and a flesh-and-blood role model of successful weight loss. After all, people are too media-savvy to believe back-of-magazine ads that show slim people slouching or puffing out their bellies in "before" pictures while sucking in their gut in "after" pictures.
He continued to work in the optical business as an image consultant after moving to Santa Monica, but also kept in touch with those he was helping in Honolulu. When he was given an opportunity to buy into the optical business, he realized his interests lay elsewhere.
"I had a lot of celebrity clientele, and it was fun, but I had reached a plateau. I had to decide my real reason for moving to L.A. Some people had approached me to do an infomercial, but I wanted to educate people the right way. I thought I could offer people a more realistic way of thinking of weight loss."
LifeStyle Changes Inc. was born. Where in the past he had spoken of his weight loss with a sense of awe and wonder, like an alien who finds himself transported into someone else's skin, today he speaks with the evangelical fervor of someone who has seen "the way." And he no longer has qualms about sharing his goals.
This year, he aims to publish two cookbooks espousing healthy nutrition. He is also working with a local medical group to offer a series of inspirational health seminars here.
Last year, his ambition was to start the skin-care line he had been dreaming of for four years. The John Arndt line will be launched next month in Hong Kong, where his dyed blond locks lead people to mistake him for the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. This marks an improvement from his image five years ago, when he might have been considered a ringer for the late actor John Candy.
Skin care was Arndt's concern when he started to lose weight. Although most of his skin shrank back to normal, he noticed bagginess under his upper arms and thighs due to years of lost elasticity from being stretched.
"I started reading about how to keep it healthy in a way that would prevent me from needing (cosmetic) surgery. I learned to make my own formulas from natural ingredients like vitamin E so that people today cannot tell that I lost that much weight.
"I can wear a tank top and take a walk along Venice Beach if I want to."
He's working on the skin-care line first due to his partner Neuman Young's Asia contacts and the fact that he figured weight loss is a nonissue there.
"Hong Kong doesn't have overweight people," he said. "There are always people there who want to lose or gain 10 pounds. Well, anyone can do that. It's a matter of just doing it."
If all goes well, the skin-care line, aimed at women who want to keep their skin looking young, will provide the financial life support to allow Arndt to continue running LifeStyle Changes as a nonprofit.
"I thought of setting it up as an online club where people would pay membership fees, but I don't want to charge people to help them.
"I'm an advocate of the idea of following your heart. If you do what you want to do and put out the energy, you'll be amazed by what comes back.
"When people I consult with visit me, I go pick them up in a Rolls-Royce, and immediately it makes them feel better. I want them to see the power of change. I don't want to tell people how to lose weight, because most people already know 'the rules.' I just share my story."
He can't help being drawn to people who are overweight, and in their behavior he sees his former self."I was in a restaurant, and I saw a woman who weighed about 400 pounds. She was trying to blend in, and when she got up to leave, she shied past the other people and just walked out the door. She let her friend pay at the counter while she walked to the car as fast as she could, and waited. And I remember doing things like that, feeling inferior and insecure.
"Now I can walk into any room and not feel intimidated. And now I just don't want to leave. I'm like, 'I'm here to stay, so you wanna talk, let's talk.'"
He is sensitive to the feelings of the grossly overweight but no longer holds back from approaching them, knowing that a few months can mean the difference between life and death.
"I met Israel Kamakawiwo'ole about four or five months before he passed away. Back then, I was too shy and not in a position where I could have helped him, and I've always regretted that. Now when I see people who may need help, I'm not afraid to go up to them."
Arndt lives without the fear of a relapse, knowing that he has progressed beyond the quick-fix, temporary diet phenomenon by completely revamping his life.
|
"You do need patience because there are no quick fixes," he said. "At the same time, you can't dwell on the negatives because if you do you'll live in fear and you will fail. But how could I even contemplate going back that way when I've been there and know how miserable I was? Some days I couldn't even get out of bed."Now I'm in tune with my body. I know when I've put on five pounds, and I know that I just have to walk around more."
He had grown up in a family of restaurateurs in Oregon and always had access to food. When something tasted good, he said, he had to have more and would often finish an entire pizza or pie.
He lost weight by walking every day and slowly dropping certain foods from his diet to the point of dropping red meat, poultry and dairy products. Today, he is completely vegan.
"It's not for everyone, but not everyone has to be like that," he said. "You have to decide what's right for you and then take small steps, set small goals. After you've obtained them, re-evaluate your life and set your next goal a little higher."
This advice can be applied to any aim and, just as his company name suggests, involves consciously changing the way one lives and behaves.
"Everyone needs to be accountable, but people always find excuses like, 'Oh, I can't go to yoga class because I have to work late.' Exercise is easiest when it becomes part of a daily routine, like waking up and showering or brushing one's teeth. When it's second nature, it's done.
"Find something that works for you. It doesn't have to be complicated, because a complicated routine can be self-defeating. If you're trying to lose weight, just make time for a 15-minute walk every day. In Hawaii there's no excuse for not walking. You can walk on the sidewalk or at a shopping mall."
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spellings of the planned John Arndt skin-care line and of Neuman Young.
Click for online
calendars and events.
