Drew Carey, Parade Magazine: No More Mr. Fat Guy
How the famously funny chubby comic shed nearly 100 pounds—and reclaimed his life
Excerpt from the Parade Magazine Article (click to read the whole article):
Fast-forward 2555 hamburgers to November 2009. At 262 pounds—his heaviest ever—Carey was poised to bust the seams on his 44-inch pants, a symbolic barrier for him since it was the largest size carried by the Gap. He had also developed a litany of weight-related health conditions, including type-2 diabetes. But it was Connor, fiancée Nicole Jaracz's 5-year-old son, who gave him the incentive to get serious. "I couldn't keep up with him," Carey admits. The comedian would be left breathless and sweating after just a few minutes of playing. "I'd be like, ‘Connor, I can't,' and he'd say, ‘C'mon, Dad!' That was a terrible feeling. I thought, I'm never going to see him graduate high school."
Carey sent a plaintive e-mail to Marc Vahanian, the trainer he'd worked with after his 2001 surgery. It said: "Are you still in the lifesaving business? Because I need to have my life saved." Vahanian started Carey on a fitness routine and in February referred him to Dr. Chris Renna, who has 30 years of experience in preventive medicine. Renna devised a customized nutritional and behavioral program.
