# How much weight did The Fat Man Walking actually lose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460 "2006-09-20T19:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/1 "2006-09-20T19:17:25Z")
For those not familiar with The Fat Man Walking, he is Steve Vaught, an obese man who recently spent 13 months walking across the US in order to lose weight. He made himself into a media celebrity and signed a $250,000 book deal along the way. Here is a photo of him at the start of the trip: [http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/file\_depot/0-10000000/20000-30000/20566/folder/45544/tn\_steve\_start\_1.jpg](http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/file_depot/0-10000000/20000-30000/20566/folder/45544/tn_steve_start_1.jpg) This one was taken about a month into the trip: > **[The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/)** > > News about San Diego, California And here he is at the end: [http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/albums/bigambitions/EC\_fat6man256594x009.jpg](http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/albums/bigambitions/EC_fat6man256594x009.jpg) Steve claims of his starting weight range from 400 to 420 pounds, depending on what interview you read. Around the time of the photo of him standing by the tent, he reported that he had already shed 30 pounds. Or 40. Sometimes it was reported as 50 or 60. At the end of the trip, he claimed to have lost “over 110 pounds”. Many people commenting online opined that he actually looked _fatter_ at the end than the start. News stories in the weeks following the end of his journey began reporting lower and lower weight loss figures. It went from “over 110 pounds” to “about 110 pounds” to “over 100 pounds” to “about 100 pounds”. A recent article about Vaught in the San Diego Union Tribute stated that the loss was 90 pounds. Does anyone (besides Steve of course) know for sure what the facts are here regarding thefatmanwalking’s weight loss claims? ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/2 "2006-09-20T19:57:58Z")
This article last week in the [San Diego Union-Tribune](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060917-9999-2m17vaught.html) said: > [@](#): > > Vaught lost about 90 pounds on his trip. He has gained back 22 pounds since, he said, and now weighs 342. Based on the article, it sounds as if that weight gain is the least of his troubles since the end of his cross-country walk. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/3 "2006-09-20T20:13:20Z")
His FAQ says 102, but it is outdated by about 6 months. [http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/page/65947/#B](http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/page/65947/#B) “As of 02 17 2006 I weigh 308 lbs and I started this walk at approximately 410 lbs so the answer is obviously 102 lbs. Now for the hard part, so what!” ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/4 "2006-09-20T21:16:25Z")
Thanks for the replies. Re: the SAn Diego article, that’s kinda what I was talking about. The same paper did an article about Vaught on May 9th, and that one said he began the trip weighing 400 and lost 110 pounds. Source: [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/louv/20060509-9999-lz1e9louv.html](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/louv/20060509-9999-lz1e9louv.html) This article, from the same day, says he started at 410 and lost 100 lbs Source: [Man Crosses Country on Foot, Loses 100 Pounds - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1941973&page=1) Something is just a little odd here with these numbers. You’d think he would have had an offical, public weighing at least at the start of the much media-hyped trip. Stepping on the scale at the end and showing a 100 lb (or whatever it was) would seem to be the thing to do. And I gotta say, he _does_ actually look larger in the “after” pic than before. What an odd story. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/5 "2006-09-21T05:46:15Z")
On his site he mentions that he cut his walk short to take on the book deal and now he is planning on walking again to do it right this time. I don’t know how much weight he lost, but maybe he should have purchased a treadmill and talked to a shrink rather than walking across the country since there doesnt seem to be a noticable difference in his size and still has the same problems he had before he started. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/6 "2006-09-21T07:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=Plastic Jesus] Something is just a little odd here with these numbers. You’d think he would have had an offical, public weighing at least at the start of the much media-hyped trip. Stepping on the scale at the end and showing a 100 lb (or whatever it was) would seem to be the thing to do. And I gotta say, he _does_ actually look larger in the “after” pic than before. What an odd story. [/QUOTE] From that article from San Diego it sounds like it wasn’t any kind of media thing when he started. he was just trying to walk away from his demons. Then he started getting big coverage when he was in the middle of the trip. I don’t think he did a lot of planning… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/7 "2006-09-21T08:13:46Z")
He must have been _stuffing_ himself along the way only to have lost 25% of his bodyweight (if that’s true). Or walked really slowly. I managed to lose 30lbs during just ten days of hillwalking in Nepal, without even trying. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/8 "2006-09-21T13:52:58Z")
This is a great story. Fat, depressed guy decides to walk across America. He’s going forth on the journey of a life time. Leaving his demons behind. Doing a complete 180 in lifestyle. People start to connect with him because how can this NOT be a hope-filled story of redemption? Instead, he winds up more broke than before he left, divorced. Seemingly just as fat. He blew his book deal money and now owes the publisher money. He’s living in a hotel room. He kind of says he has peace of mind, but can’t really articulate it. They should write more stories like this. That article said that they shot film for a documentary. Man, I hope that gets made. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/9 "2006-09-21T14:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Plastic Jesus] Does anyone (besides Steve of course) know for sure what the facts are here regarding thefatmanwalking’s weight loss claims? [/QUOTE] I suspect not. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/10 "2006-09-21T14:40:11Z")
I don’t even think Steve himself does. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/11 "2006-09-21T15:26:55Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] He must have been _stuffing_ himself along the way only to have lost 25% of his bodyweight [/QUOTE] [Like in this pic?](http://calorielab.com/news/wp-images/post-images/steve-vaught-roadkill.jpg) Geez… ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/12 "2006-09-21T17:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] he winds up more broke than before he left, divorced. Seemingly just as fat. He blew his book deal money and now owes the publisher money. He’s living in a hotel room. [/QUOTE] I just found his yahoo group. What a weird place. From what I can gather, it is populated mostly by a group of super-obese women who almost seem like fat-enablers. Currently they are angrily attacking a member who questioned why Steve is eating nothing but fast food. They say he has “no choice” but to eat Mickie D’s 3 times a day… ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/13 "2006-09-21T17:36:12Z")
I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the guy. He created an opportunity (unintentionally, it seems) but he couldn’t handle it and he squandered it – I’m okay with that, and don’t fault him for it. But _now_: > [@the article](#): > > Vaught had decided in the middle of his trip that he could never go back to owning a towing company or managing an auto-repair business, as he had in the past. “I did not want to go back to that life,” he said. “ **It felt like if I went back and got a job then everything I had done for those 13 months would have been for nothing**". . . . Vaught’s days recently are filled with writing journal entries, walking around downtown, finding ways to visit his children, who now live in Rancho Bernardo, and making arrangements for the future. He has come up with a plan, of sorts. He wants to travel the world. Shit-fire, man, i]I\* want to travel the world too. I love to write and I love to walk around downtown, and I don’t get to do as much as I’d like of either because _I have a job_ that I need to keep to earn money so that I don’t live in a 9 x 9 room in a flophouse with a hallway that smells of urine. If you have to get a job, then it was all for nothing? Then it was all for nothing, my friend. I don’t diminish his accomplishment, but damn. Things didn’t work out. Pull yourself together and move on. If there are psychological reasons you can’t, then get help, so you can live a productive life. But the idea that your remarkable accomplishment exempts you from having to support yourself is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/14 "2006-09-21T18:50:10Z")
[QUOTE=anson2995] This article last week in the [San Diego Union-Tribune](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060917-9999-2m17vaught.html) said: Vaught lost about 90 pounds on his trip. He has gained back 22 pounds since, he said, and now weighs 342. [/QUOTE] But an [earlier](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20060509-2217-vaught.html) San Deigo Trib article said this: > [@](#): > > He now weighs about 300 pounds, down from more than 400. 300 plus 22 does not equal 342… Weird thing is, this is the same reporter, same newspaper publishing all these conflicting weight data. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/15 "2006-09-21T21:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=Plastic Jesus] What the heck is chicken fried steak anyway? [Like in this pic?](http://calorielab.com/news/wp-images/post-images/steve-vaught-roadkill.jpg) Geez… [/QUOTE] It’s steak fried the way fried chicken is, and I believe served with wonderfully fatty gravy. I’ve always longed to try it but am trying to eat more healthfully. Woot! Vermont is on the less obese end (no thanks to me). ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/16 "2006-09-21T23:53:47Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] He must have been _stuffing_ himself along the way only to have lost 25% of his bodyweight (if that’s true). Or walked really slowly. I managed to lose 30lbs during just ten days of hillwalking in Nepal, without even trying. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: Yeah because everyone’s metabolism is exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/17 "2006-09-22T15:51:09Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] :rolleyes: Yeah because everyone’s metabolism is exactly the same. [/QUOTE] Steve has made no excuses, at least so far, of any “metabolism/thyroid” problems. He has readily admitted that his obesity is solely the result of his own bad bahaviors, i.e. massivly overeating and not exercising. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/18 "2006-09-22T16:02:43Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] It’s steak fried the way fried chicken is, and I believe served with wonderfully fatty gravy. I’ve always longed to try it but am trying to eat more healthfully. Woot! Vermont is on the less obese end (no thanks to me). [/QUOTE] If you have never tried it, you are missing out! Most Dennys type places serve it (IHOP, Waffle House) and it is best with two fried eggs, toast with butter and you can even throw in a couple pieces of sausage and bacon! Hijack over. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/19 "2006-09-22T16:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] If you have never tried it, you are missing out! [/QUOTE] When I first saw your screen name, I thought you were the Fat Man himself. He was also a former Marine apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Jesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@Plastic\_Jesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Jesus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460/20 "2006-09-23T16:11:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Steve: "I’ve walked through the Midwest, the breadbasket, and it is one of the most unhealthy places on earth. "You have all these rolling acres of farmland, and you can’t even buy fresh fruit and veg. [Source](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4818036.stm) Ah, well that explains it then. Poor guy! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-did-the-fat-man-walking-actually-lose/373460.md?page=2)