By In 15 Months, This 441-lb Man Lost 228 Pounds and Now Runs Marathons to Be Healthy For His Kids
In just 15 months, this 441-pound man who couldn’t fit in a theater seat lost 228 pounds and completed a full marathon.
The motivation to change came when the 31-year-old acknowledged that he did not have the energy to play with his two young children.
Since realizing just over a year ago, Rob Sparkes has changed his eating habits, started running during the pandemic and now weighs just 216 pounds.
“Before, I couldn’t even climb a flight of stairs without feeling out of breath,” said Sparkes, a salesman for Weston-Super-Mare in England.
Before losing weight, Sparkes was consuming a whopping 6,000 calories a day and leading a completely sedentary lifestyle, saying, “The most I walked was from work to the store to buy food.
He detailed his food intake on a typical day:
4 toasts before work; a bacon roll, a Coke, and some fries mid-morning; half-pound burger with fries or huge sandwich and a family bag of fries for lunch; mid-afternoon snack with chips and chocolate from the vending machine; then start eating more chips as soon as you get home from work.
For dinner, he recalls, “I’d order takeout, usually a huge pizza, and later watch TV and eat popcorn.”
“I would also drink about two liters of Coca-Cola every day. I just couldn’t stop. I got into a bad routine. “
His doctor was genuinely surprised that he didn’t have any underlying health problems, but warned him that it was only a matter of time until he developed diabetes and joint problems.
“I had just had my second child and I was worried that I would not be around for my children,” she told SWNS.
So in September 2019, he changed his diet and started trying to lose weight.
“I don’t really have snacks anymore. I eat a lot of chicken and vegetables. “
After losing some weight, Sparkes turned his attention to his fitness.
In March 2020, he started running using the Couch to 5K app and joined a running club. On December 20, he ran his first marathon.
“It was supposed to be official, but they were all postponed due to Covid, so my running club made an unofficial one.”
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“I had my wife and kids waiting for me at the end, and it felt amazing. I ran it in five hours and 24 minutes, but I ran everything. “
He has four marathons booked for 2021 and runs a half marathon most weekends to keep fit.
He also raised £ 1,280 for the Alzheimer’s Society by climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, a 25-mile hike to the 3 highest peaks in Yorkshire.
Sparkes says his wife has played a big role in his success by being so supportive.
“She was worried when she saw me gain weight, but there was no stress or tension with the marriage,” he said. But she “loves to lose weight.”
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Now that he has achieved his fitness goals and lost weight, Sparkes is considering reconstructive surgery to remove excess skin.
After 2021 he also plans to start training for his first ultramarathon, a 50-mile race that only the most expert runners attempt.
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