Sullinger facing heavy burden

This kid's weight problems are in his control. Can't blame anyone else and he will "find a way" when a contract is on the line. After-game snacks become oranges, apples, etc, etc. 20 pounds is not that much for a young athlete if he wants to handle it.

He can become an all star level player with better conditioning and if he stays closer to the offensive lane so there is going to be a lot of money out there for him at some point.

even if he gets in the best shape (and I think he will), he will always be a below the rim PF.

that forever limits him to me.


wow he was near 300# this year!!

Found in the comments below the article:

Patrick Curtis · Follow ·  Top Commenter · Chief Monkey & Founder at Wall Street Oasis

FRUIT CUPS?!? STOP EATING FRUIT CUPS! No protein or fat will make you STARVING! Stay away from simple sugars...eat a lot of protein and complex carbs (chicken, veggies and beans). If this kid is eating fruit cups and thinks it's ok, I really question the Celtics training / nutrition staff.

You need to control his fluctuations in BLOOD SUGAR. Fruit is one of the worst things for that...NO PASTA, NO BREAD, NO RICE, NO JUICES, NO GATORADE....and if you're boozing, stick to a simple scotch. Unlimited veggies, beans and meats and watch the weight melt off.

Get this kid proteins and good unsaturated fat please and his crazy hunger will be much more manageable! Love you Sully, hope you can turn it around! Make the goal 245, I know you can do it! We need you.
______________________________________________

So true, NO PASTA, NO BREAD, NO white RICE, NO JUICES, NO GATORADE, plus no potatoes, no fruit, no alcohol.  That is my new diet.  I can eat meat, veggies and beans.

I am diagnosed as pre-diabetic and I have to lose 10% of my body weight per my doctor (my goal is 20%).  I am walking 40-60 minutes per day and I have already lost 8 pounds.

Sully and I will compete as to who will lose 50 pounds faster.  I'll let you all know how it goes.

gyso

"The Celtics asked him to report to training camp this past October at 260-265 pounds, but instead he showed up 20 pounds heavier and gained even more weight as the season progressed"

He put on weight DURING the season? That's no mean feat.

My favorite line from the article:

"This was no heckler poking fun at his gut."

Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE.

dboss,

I was saying that he should get out the oranges and apples for his midnight snacks if he wants to lose the weight.

You are right in the article did say that he was going the fruit as snacks, and as a life long fat boy, i also agree that weight is difficult to control for many people. I do know, however, that if the financial future for my entire family's family is on the line, that I would get the weight off and keep it off.

Blaming his weight issue on genetics is deflecting, rationalizing, and not facing the real issue. There's no doubt that genetics play a big role in metabolism and weight for the general population, especially once you get older, but we're talking about a 23-year-old professional athlete who plays a cardiovascular-intense sport and has an activity level that probably requires triple the calories of an ordinary person his age just to keep from losing weight.

He needs to take a long, hard look at the amount and type of food he eats, along with a long, hard look in the mirror for where the responsibility lies, not at his genetic profile. He can wait until he's his dad's age before blaming his genetics.

There are two components within our control to keep our body fat low: what we put in and what we burn. Between practices and games Sullinger has the burn part taken care of.

I'm sure that plenty of help is available on the input side. The team, with so much invested in the players, almost certainly has nutritionists on the payroll.

He just has to follow the advice of the nutritionists.

The resources and information is all there. It's up to him.

Weight gain/loss is all about calories in vs calories out, not the types of food. Sure some things have less calories and are more filling (indirectly making you eat less calories) but 200calories from rice and 200calories from jelly beans will have more or less the same effect on your weight. Sure, you need to get your micro nutrients in and you need to get your proteins in more muscle building/retention, fats for the fat solubles and so but at the end of the day there is no magic with skipping this or that food or adding this or that food.

It is simply the body doing its accounting on what you put in and what you take out. Moving more means more out and eating less means less in but there is no magic to it really.

dboss wrote:For those that are surprisingly dismissive about disorders I can state with a very high degree of certainty that dealing with disorders is NOT an easy task.

dboss

This is for sure! The disorder part can be very difficult and tricky, what creates weight gain/weight loss is not so tricky

dboss wrote:For those that are surprisingly dismissive about disorders I can state with a very high degree of certainty that dealing with disorders is NOT an easy task.

The article didn't mention anything about Sullinger having an eating disorder. An eating disorder is a very serious condition that is quite different from typical overeating or poor nutrition habits.

What information do you have that Sullinger has an actual eating disorder?

Does that make Big Baby a light weight compared to Sully?

112288

dboss,

Eating disorders are specific conditions that often have serious health consequences beyond carrying the extra weight and often have associated serious psychological and emotional issues.

Actual eating disorders are far more serious conditions than having unhealthy eating habits and food choices. If that was all it took to classify as an actual eating disorder, then half the country would qualify as having an eating disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder

I guess it depends on how you define "disorder."

I bet that Sullinger's percentage of weight that is fat is lower than most people walking around on the streets and lower than most NFL linemen and many MLB players. But he is fat by the standards of NBA players.

One of the things that has always intrigued me about basketball is that it's something to which we can all relate personally.  For many of us, that's never more true than when it comes to the need for weight loss.

The problem is, in weight loss, one size doesn't fit all (in both a literal and figurative sense).  Most people who have had some success in shedding poundage have methods that they recommend to others; but the methods usually work better for some people rather than others.  Just look at the number of published diets out there.

In my case, none of the prescribed diets seemed to work on a long-term basis.  Even when a given diet helped me to lose weight, it failed to help me retain or expand (so to speak) on the weight loss.  My "secret" was serendipity.  Over a couple of years, I have systematically lose a couple of pounds-or-so every month—a total of 30 pounds and counting.

But, a couple of years ago, a routine blood test showed an excess of potassium.  Most people have to watch out for low potassium.  It turns out I have to watch out for high potassium.  So while a lot of people were deliberately heaving up (again, so to speak) on bananas, avocados, potatoes, low-fat yogurt, dried apricots, salmon, etc. in order to increase their potassium levels, I was going in the opposite direction.  I've always been a milk-lover; and, for 25 years, I've never had any milk except non-fat. Now, however, I find that milk is high in potassium, and skim milk is the worst of the worst.  So now I drink fake milk (aka soy or something of the type).

After a couple of months of focus on low potassium, I checked in with the doctor and found that I had dropped so much potassium that my reading was now too low.  So I was told to "cheat" once a day.  Naturally, I found cheating to be a natural course of events, especially since I did it mostly with skim milk.

Concurrently with my potassium loss, my weight registered something like a five-pound drop in those two months.  It turned out that certain foods I limited because of their potassium levels were also high in fats or calories.  So I found myself sneaking in the back door to weight loss.  And it's been working every since.

Moreover, I discovered that, over time, losing weight also shrank my stomach.  So I wasn't so hungry so quickly.  When my wife cooks, I usually eat it all (because it's good and she's really heavily into nutritional food preparation).  But, when we go out to eat, I regularly leave at least half my food on the plate and take the leftovers home to provide another healthy meal.

The reason I wrote about this is to emphasize that, although it's often very difficult—especially for some people—to find both the right process and the right mentality to lose weight, it's highly likely that, for nearly every individual, there's some approach that can work.  And, in Sully's case, a vast array of assistance is readily available and affordable.  I'm sure that, in his mind, he has rationalized with all the usual suspects (the problem is genetic, muscle is heavier than fat, the dog ate my resolve, etc.).  But, for most people, even less than exercise in my opinion, weight loss is a matter of shutting up and eating less volume and fewer bad things.

C'mon Sully,  Be grateful for your talent, and display that gratitude by working your butt off to lose weight.  That way, maybe you won't be so "butt-ugly."  Oh wait.  Maybe you should keep your butt as so as to retain your "basketball weaponry" while losing elsewhere.

Sam

Even if Sullenger has an 'eating disorder' and is not just a lazy eater, it is still his responsibility to do something about his weight if he wants to use professional basketball as the means to feed (pun intended), clothe and house his family for the next couple of generations. I would guess that he is not going to support himself with only his freshman year of education at Ohio State like he can as an NBA player for the next ten years.

Sam,

My main issue is that I really enjoy eating.  I can really put the feed bag on!!  Whenever we go out to eat, I usually clean up my entire plate and then Janie offers me a little of hers.  When I order take-out, I don't slow down until there is just a little bit left and then I eat that because there is not enough left to save for leftovers.  Portion control wasn't part of my existence.

Before, it was just the issue of being overweight and having a poor BMI.  Now there is a underlying health issue that has gotten my attention.  Now I eat a lot of salads and brown rice stir fries.  Zero alcohol, no desserts, no 2% milk, no pizza!  I have also been more consistent with the walking every morning.  Even with it raining this morning, I walked over 60 minutes.

Part of the "awakening" was due to me moving to NC and getting a different doctor.  My blood sugar was getting a little towards the high range, but my doctor in Maine sort of ignored it and concentrated on my cholesterol issue.  She got me on statins, brought the numbers down and problem solved.  My new doctor saw the elevated glucose and pointed out the road ahead if I didn't change my habits.  That road included diabetes and all that goes with it.  She also suggested that if I lost the weight and ate more sensibly, I could get off the statins.  Win - win for me.

At least it is fixable for me.  I can go back to eating normally once I get the weight off (doggy bags are my friend, don't eat it all!). Now that I can pretty much walk 12 months a year around here with out walking on icy roads and non-existent sidewalks, I will just keep doing it.  When it gets intolerably hot, I can walk in the mall, which is built in a loop and it is about 1 mile around. If I lose enough weight, I may go back to jogging and running a bit, which I used to enjoy and takes less time for the same benefit.

In regards to Sully, his issue may be eating when he is bored late at night.  It may also be eating the wrong things.  However, he should have the support group in place that enables him to make better choices.  Big Baby failed in this aspect and it probably cost him millions over his career.  I hope Sully figures it out in time.

gyso

What Sully is dealing with is no different than any ADDICT. He has an eating disorder than cannot be taken lightly or dismissed as "his own doing". It iis easy for some to that he just has to stop sugar, pasta, alcohol, whatever. Remember, this is a young guy who will have to come to grips with this problem in his own way. I am sure he is getting advice from all sorts of "experts", but it is a very hard thing for him to deal with.

My heart goes out to him, he kind of sounds like a lost soul right now.
Here is hoping that the right person steps forward with the right diet and exercise program for him that will make his life easier as he moves forward.

I just am commenting because this problem is not just happening to a kid like Sully, it is everywhere.
Rosalie

gyso,

If the "underlying health issue" is related to blood sugar, you're wise to nip it in the bud.  I can testify that it can only lead to bad things.  I'm now blind in the right side of my right eye.  I have enough peripheral vision to drive in Boston traffic, but I may never throw another behind-the-back pass with my left hand to my right side.  Oh wait, I never did that before anyway.

Kidding aside, medication has kept my count in the normal range when I take it every morning.  But there's nothing that can stop one's blood sugar from "spiking" after even the blandest meal.  So it really pays to keep it as normal as possible in the non-eating periods.

The hidden danger is that, in an effort to eat the right foods along with the medication, one can get LOW blood sugar.  For example, my blood sugar plummets overnight, so I have to make sure it's a bit above normal when I go to bed.  I've had three episodes of night time hypoglycemia in my life, including two overseas where I didn't have a kitchen full of immediate antidotes available.

The first was in Athens, Greece, where I had a dream that I was fighting a bunch of hoods, and it turned out I was actually fighting my wife.  Yet still, I didn't wake up.  She called the EMTs. They came, and I kicked one of them in an unfortunate place, and they refused to treat me and left.  She finally called a private doctor, and between them, they got some juice into me, and we wound up taking a long tour that day.

The second was in Paris, where they called the Fire Department, and I wasn't so far gone and fortunately responded quickly to some non-diet Coca Cola.

The third was in our home, where I wound up writhing on the living room floor and kicking a hole in our bedroom door.  The paramedics had to come twice that time.

It turned out that I was OVER-medicated for diabetes.  My doctor cut out 75% of my medication, and things have been great for about four years.  Always in the normal range when I test myself every morning.  No hypoglycemic fits although I've caught myself a couple of times headed in that direction and have eaten protein bars immediately.  (Ingesting sugar is only a quick fix, as you spike up and then way down again.  Protein is the best long-term fix for low blood sugar.)

Regarding weight, my doctor says that exercise is fine, but the number one problem with me was that I was over-eating—especially since I have a bad back and have mobility problems.  n my case, it was the volume of food rather than the types of food.  He convinced me to try eating less at each meal; and, after a few very hungry nights, my body adjusted, my stomach shrank somewhat, and I started losing weight regularly without becoming hypoglycemic.  I generally lose a couple of pounds a month.  I've now lost 30 pounds in about 2.5 years; and, when one loses that gradually, the likelihood is greater that it won't be gained back.  I recall going through a period where I had to convince Sally that I didn't dislike her food just because I wanted less of it, and she's now really into it, inventing meals that are geared to my dietary needs.  She has even become extremely interested in the chemistry of cooking.

Everyone's different, and it sounds as though you've got the right recipe (pun intended) for success in the weight/eating department.  Good luck with it.

Sam