We all have our vices — and some of us have all the vices. Gambling is certainly one of the most pernicious of the black arts; a pastime that can turn your whole life inside out like a tube sock after just one night of bad luck.
Walter Fisher knows this better than most. The 36-year-old professional poker player had been going through an imperial phase, winning hand after hand, alchemically turning $2,000 into $97,000 on the regular — to the point that he was getting rather blasé about it.
But inevitably, the lever was pulled, the trapdoor dropped, and gravity won out: There he was, $100,000 in debt, his life of vice landing him at 245 pounds — 50 pounds heavier than before his “winning streak.”
Related: Actor’s body transformation is literally insane
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This was the bottom — or was it?
Fisher was “broke, big, and isolated,” he tells the New York Post. “People dream of what I had accomplished, and I lost control.”
That’s when one of his gambler friends made an outrageously cinematic proposition: He was bet $500,000 that he couldn’t lose all the excess weight and cut his body fat to 10% in six months. (Um, who the hell are these people?)
And so the training regime began. Here’s how Fisher describes it:
“We started with 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training and an hour of weights, seven days per week. Then we went to 45-minutes of cardio and two hours of high-intensity interval training, plus weights. I ate oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast. I soon put in ten hours a day, with five hours of cardio. I drank amino acids and glutamine to keep my muscles from breaking down.”
According to his personal trainer, Chris DiVecchio:
“I had him swinging with a weighted hammer; that pushed his heart rate up while working his core. There was boxing, workouts with a medicine ball, cycling, rowing, weights.”
The results were beyond dramatic. After only three months, he’d cut 20% in body fat, and that’s when a sports medicine expert named Phil Goglia entered the fray to make sure Fisher’s diet was geared towards burning fat, not muscle.
Hard work. Dieting. Sweat by the gallon. Eventually, it all paid off in spades and the results were in: His body fat was at 8.8%. He weighed 155 pounds. And he felt like his life was really, truly entering its imperial phase this time after so many false alarms and reversals of fortune.
That’s often how these things go down, see.
Even with such an outrageous amount of money to inspire results, Fisher doesn’t think many people would’ve endured the painful workout and diet regimen. Meanwhile, he’s feeling pretty damn invincible.
radiooutmike
He should sell his program. I’d buy it.
orrine
Eat less, eat differently and exercise more? There’s no secret and magic there
RobtheElder
Good thing he won 500K. With the routine he needs to maintain that new physique, he’s got no time to work. Except for gambling profits, I don’t remember the article mentioning what he does for a living. Once your mind is hooked on the easy life, going to clean living doesn’t affect those easy money cravings. Nothing in this article says he’s stopped gambling, maintaining his healthy lifestyle, and working at some lucrative occupation, simultaneously. He doesn’t get my bet… And I’m not a better! … RobtheElder
stevetalbert
Check rentman dot com and see if he is. After looks too hard and desperate in a bad way. The before looked better..
Frank
” I soon put in ten hours a day, with five hours of cardio.
I CALL BULLSHIT unless this is a misquote…if it is NOT it is UTTER and TOTAL BULLSHIT
Lastly, now that you “fixed” you body…tell us what you did to work on your mind
Jere
He puts in 10 hours a day on his fitness routine? That’s great, I guess, if you don’t have a job or any other responsibilities. Between my commute to and from work and the actual work day itself, I’m down 11-12 hours of the day 5 days a week right there.
seaguy
Same here some of us do not have the luxury of not working.
Aromaeus
If he wasn’t working it’s possible he put that amount of time into just working out. When MTV used to do that “I Used To Be Fat” series they teens usually worked out for 8 hours a day which is why it was always done during the summer.
Bradsman
Losing it is easy compared to keeping it off.
Kathy Green
Am I the only one who thinks that the guy looked better in the before pictures? I want a cuddle bear. Muscles are creepy because they remind me of violence.
tdh1980
No, you are not the only one. Though I don’t share your view that muscle are creepy, I certainly don’t think that they look good on everyone. Those most recent images make him look…I don’t know…physically unbalanced. But kudos to him for adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Kathy Green
@ tdh1980 You need to consider that I am a woman. If I got beaten by a guy, I wouldn’t stand a chance. If you got beaten by a guy, you could simply beat back to make him stop. That’s probably why you aren’t scared by musclemen. I have never been a victim of violence. And I want it to stay that way. Therefore, I avoid musclemen and macho men.
Rex Huskey
I like the padding too!
miserylovedme24
Same here, I think he looked wayyyyy better before.
eliasadc
i wish i can do that
RobtheElder
I guess anyone can do what our example guy did, but did you have the promise of 500K at the end of all the sweat? And when you get there, what will the skinny, athletic you live on? Be careful what you wish for, my friend… RobtheElder
xanderbear
Mmmmmm, before. ?
MikeE
It kills me to see all those bodybuilder/model/pornstar types twitter pics, with their “motivational” comments: nothing is impossible, hard work, live right, blah blah blah.
Chronic pain from arthritis? Try to get through a simple exercise routine with that.
Muscle pain from neuromyalgia? Yeah, even light weights make it nearly impossible.
I eat as “right”as is possible. I’m diabetic and changed my diet 7 years ago (I was already eating very well at the time, but I reduced carbs more, and removed sugars).
I TRY to exercise, but my body doesn’t always let me. I may be fine one day to get through 2-3 minutes of cardio (I use an elliptical trainer), and yet the next day none of my lower-body joints are collaborating.
So all these “motivational” memes do is piss off people who simply physically can’t do the 5 hours at the gym every day.
Yup, I’m bitter all right, and I own it.
I used to work out 5 days a week, weighed 180 lbs, at 5’11”, and not an ounce of fat on my body. Those days are gone.
Now I’m one of those “gross old men” (according to a Queerty article, at 55 I’m considerably over the hill as far as bars and grindr and whatnot is concerned. I may as well just join a monastery).
And no, I don’t find 20 yr olds attractive at all. But it would seem that guys near my age only want twinks now.
Kathy Green
Well, I love “gross old men”. But, sadly, you aren’t into women 🙁
RobtheElder
You’d be surprised what those monks know about health. You’d also be surprised what those monks are packing under those robes. And so many monasteries make wine as a sideline these days. Not Whine, Wine, real wine… RobtheElder
stevetalbert
Try yoga and hot tea. Oh, and masturbate a lot.
68rivere
Stop making excuses…you bitter old queen….
Nahald
And he’ll gamble all that money away in six months or less.
Brian
Why do so many men wax their chest, stomach and arms? I will never understand that. It’s tedious, expensive, painful, and bad for the skin. I liked his natural fuzz.
baggins435
1) Not everyone likes being hairy.
2) Just about every before and after photo regarding weight loss or muscle building has a hairless after pic because it shows off the body better.
stevetalbert
The hairy pic looks vetter. His shaved wax look makes it seem like he lost the weight from chemo
grethomory
i will bet you money this guy used to be thin at one time and then got large. it’s alot different for a person who has been large all of their lives to cut the weight. i’m not saying it can’t be done, because I am living proof…but it’s gonna take you waaay more than a year
seaguy
I will just stick to not letting myself go like that so I won’t get to the point that I have to live part time at a gym.
DCguy
What a shocker, somebody gets offered half a million dollars to lose weight and does it.
Luc
This is totally unrealistic. This is why people FAIL when they go to the gym. Nobody has this kind of time or resources. To suggest that your average person can make this kind of transformation in 5 months is to set them up for failure. Real transformations can take years of commitment and steady work in the gym and kitchen. And it is totally do-able! But not in 5 months, not unless you have a magic wand…. or a lot of time on your hands, nothing better to do, and a couple of professionals willing to guide you.
Luc
And furthermore, I’ve got to ask, how the hell was he paying for all this coaching? How was he paying for his gym membership? He’s $100K in debt and still has enough money to burn that he can afford to live without working AND pay for his new fitness lifestyle??
The reason I’m poo-pooing all over this is because, you could show real transformations here, that real people have made, and thereby perhaps actually inspire readers, or teach them applicable lessons in fitness.
Tayriffic
He’s got to do what makes him feel good in his own skin, so I don’t want to criticize his choice, but DAMN I think the before picture is hot af! So handsome and natural. More power to him, and absolutely no judgment. I just want to point out that contrary to the narrative promoted by some (not all!) of the typical Chelsea/Weho muscly gay circuit mo-bros types, MANY of us guys actually find over muscly too-many-abs guys QUITE unattractive and far (FAR FAR FAR!) prefer the guy from the before pics. Thankfully, what each person does for his or her own body isn’t determined by me and my opinions, and everyone gets to decide for themselves what transformations they want their bodies to undergo.
gary69mike
Good for him! Kudos!