Americans take fat man walking to their hearts

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/23/walk23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/23/ixworld.html

An obese man who is walking across America to lose weight has become an icon to a country where two thirds of the population are fat.

Steve Vaught, 40, a former marine from Ohio, weighed almost 30st when he set off last April from the coast of southern California. Now, 2,310 miles into his journey and travelling at a steady three miles per hour, he has reached Columbus, Ohio, and has lost eight stone and suffered stress fractures in both feet along the way. Mr Vaught has 500 miles and six weeks to go to his destination, the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

En route he has been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, attracted more than 700,000 hits a month on his website and been showered with promotional offers.

But he has rejected a reported £2.5 million to advertise a diet pill and has refused endorsements for shampoo, vitamins and smoking patches.

The aim of his walk was not to make money but dodge an early death after he realised that walking along a supermarket aisle made him out of breath.

[Atman]

1. Uh...just how much is 30st?

I assume it means "thirty stone," but what's that in American? LOL!

[Nickster]

2. 1 stone=14 pounds(420 Lbs)

[Atman]

6. Thanks. Fat Americans will watch this guy walk...from their Barcaloungers

...with a bag of chips and a 2 liter bottle of root beer balanced on their guts.

[rockymountaindem]

3. I think one stone = 14 pounds

I read that in an English lit. textbook one time.

[Inland]

9. Um....carry the three....six hectares? Fourteen rods?

A square fathom? 2000 Leagues? Ten Acre-Feet? Two cords? A peck?

[MADem]

4. The fat man walking dot com!!!

http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/page/78028/index.v3page;jsessionid=a5srde8k97rgg

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. He's a good guy.

I've been to his website. He's actually accomplished something this past year, as opposed to Shrub . . .

[951-Riverside]

7. I've never heard of him

but then again I rarely watch Oprah

[patricia92243]

8. Stress fradtures in his feet? He is walking too fast. He will never

make it if he does not slow down. I hope it is not already too late for him to slow down - if he has stress fractures already - he probably will not finish.

[mike_c]

10. he's had the stress fractures for much of the last 2000 miles...

...if I read his dispatches correctly, and only has about 500 miles to go.... You should check his website-- he's really done a remarkable job. It has been a life transforming experience for him.

[Kailassa]

11. Being a fatty who has wondered about doing something similar,

this guy has my heartfelt respect and admiration.

[eridani]

12. Ride a damned bike, ferchrissakes!

No impact injuries unless you fall off. Distance bikers have a tendency towards bone loss, but fat folks are usually way ahead of the curve on bone density, so that shouldn't be a factor.

[Kailassa]

13. I ride everywhere,fast. I don't have a car.

But I've adapted to that so thoroughly that it doesn't have much effect, exercise wise.

[eridani]

14. Riding across the entire country might, though.

Though if you are fat and get regular exercise, no weight loss is going to last unless you commit to permanent semistarvation.