Would you gain weight to help show a heavier person how to lose it?
Adonis Hill, a 35-year-old personal trainer from Brooklyn, N.Y., put on 70 pounds for A&E’s Fit to Fat to Fit show – after he’d already lost a bunch of weight, got fit, and changed his life around. On the show, trainers “gain weight so they can lose it alongside the clients they’re working with.”
From Buzzfeed:
It went like this: When he was 27, Hill’s business failed and he lost a lot of money. He became depressed. He stopped leaving his house and hanging out with his friends. “That’s when the weight packed on. My dreams and everything I hoped for were gone,” he told BuzzFeed Health.
Eventually a friend coaxed him outside. He started to take long walks. His walks turned into jogs. He started to eat healthier. By the time he was 29, he’d lost 100 pounds and taken up weightlifting so he could put on some muscle.
Here’s how he put the weight back on for the show:
A typical day of eating for Hill would be something like this: coffee with lots of creamer and a doughnut for breakfast, a few slices of pizza or a hot dog during the day, snack on Oreo cookies, and McDonald’s for dinner every night.
After he gained about 50 pounds, his weight gain slowed down. So, he started drinking a gallon (basically a six-pack of 16-ounce bottles) of soda every day. His initial goal was to gain 70 pounds in four months but he stopped three weeks early when his doctor told him to; his blood pressure was dangerously high.
But getting the weight off (alongside client Alissa Kane) wasn’t as easy this time around:
He went back to working out — an hour of lifting and an hour of cardio five or six days per week. But the weight wasn’t coming off as readily as he thought it would.
“I was putting in a lot of work in the gym but eating right was hard this time because I was coming off an old addiction… I had to wean myself off unhealthy food.” To kickstart his weight loss, Hill started a high-fat, high-protein, very low-carb diet, which allowed his body to more readily burn fat. (By the way, you should consult a doctor before changing your diet in any way, but particularly if you’re pursuing a diet that is very low in any one macronutrient.)
Eventually, Adonis shed the weight and got back to his delicious norm, plus Alissa is steadily meeting her goals as well!
“Hill lost 57 pounds and Alyssa lost 58 in four months,” writes Buzzfeed. Check out the photos.
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SOURCE: Buzzfeed | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Instagram