Living Well
Man on a Mission
Living life fully as half the man he was and working to help others
I
n 2012, Marlowe Whitlow was just 20 pounds shy of
made me make the move was that every time I went to the
500 pounds. The husband and father of four tipped
doctor and told him about the pain I was having he told me the
the scales at 480 pounds and at the age of 39, he was
truth. No matter what I said was hurt his answer was “You’re
too fat.” I tell the story all the time and laugh about it but the
taking six different pills a day. His knees hurt. His back hurt.
But what really hurt was when his daughter wanted him to go
truth is it was not funny at the time.
on a carnival ride with her and he couldn’t because he was over
Another thing was the fact that I was on six different medicathe weight limit.
tions. That was not what I wanted to do anymore. The truth is
Whitlow decided to change his
I think that they made me sicker.
life. He changed his diet and
I really could name a whole lot
of things that were heavy on my
started exercising. Now he
weighs 240 pounds and said he is
mind. Like not being able to find
a man on a mission.
the clothes I wanted in my size.
“I’m on a crusade to help other
people reach their goals,” WhitWhat caused your weight
gain?
low said.
He encourages others through
There was a time I just ate whathis Facebook page that has 5,000
ever all day every day, not lookfriends, many who have watched
ing at what I was putting in my
his metamorphosis.
mouth as most of us do daily.
Living the life, eating out all the
Now 42, he is still reaching for
his own goals, but the native of
time not understanding how the
Kankakee, Illinois also has a goal
things that they were putting in
to see his hometown log 5,000
the food was killing me.
pounds of weight loss. Whitlow
shared with The Well Magazine
How did you lose the weight?
I lost weight with many differhis weight-loss journey and how
his pain led to his passion to
ent programs. Some worked
help others live a healthy and
better than others and some I
wealthy lifestyle.
was just not willing to live the rest
Before and after: Marlowe Whitlow is now physically half
of my life doing. There is only one
How much weight have you
the man he was.
way to think about it and that is
lost?
that you are not on a diet but that you have made a lifestyle
I was once 480 pounds just a day away from a heart attack. I
change.
am now down to 240 pounds.
Cardio was a big part of my success. Bike riding has become
a
big
part of my life and something I really enjoy doing now.
What motivated you to lose the weight?
Over the past year, I have been able to do some great things
There were I few things that just started to make life just hard
since I have two trainers, Kris Kalmese and James Jones. They
for me. One was that when I had all that weight on me there
have had a great deal to do with the strengthening and condiwere things that just hurt all the time, which made getting
tion of my body.
around not so much fun. But I think the biggest thing that
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The Well Magazine Fall/Winter 2015