Former Michigan football player (Skrepenak) opens up about health struggles, going vegan
Not sure if this is OT, but it's not directly related to the current football team. Regardless, this is both interesting and shocking, if not surprising. It has to be incredibly difficult for these athletes to go from 5000 calorie diets during playing days to a reduced-calorie lifestyle afterward.
Interesting read from MLive. Link?
ANN ARBOR, MI — At his heaviest, Greg Skrepenak weighed 535 pounds and was pretty much a homebody.
He didn't get out much.
I always encourage sticking with whole foods but dealing with vegans can be frustrating. It's so hard for them to get enough protein. Sure you can get protein from lentils or quinoa but you need to eat about 15 cups of it to get enough protein. And then you are loading up on carbs. But good luck to him in getting his health in order.
I'm a vegetarian, not a vegan, but I primarily eat a vegan diet most of the week. I do protein powder with my oatmeal for breakfast, and lentil meals for both lunch and dinner. I get enough protein without issue.
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Soy is generally good for you. It's only in really large amounts that it might mess with your hormones. It's been a part of East Asian diets for thousands of years. But yes, if someone is going to eat soy sausages, tofurkey, soy cheese, etc., then that's going to be a problem.
Also, just to clarify for others, "low-quality" protein here means it's not absorbed by the body as well as most other proteins, not that it's actually somehow bad protein.
Also also, the amount of carbs in a diet isn't nearly as important as eating low GI carbs. There was a well-received book called "The Blue Zones" looking at the longest-living populations in the world. The common threads related to diet were that those populations had heavily plant-based diets and some kind of legumes, beans, etc. were a staple of their diet.
No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?
I'm sure being in the federal pen for 2 years on a corruption conviction would make one lose weight too. He was part of a very corrupt county government in Luzerne County. I don't know if he was part of the system that was taking teens convicted of minor crimes and sending them to a youth prison. The judge was getting kickbacks. It was during the same time period and Skrepenak plead guilty and got out of the news very quickly.
"The actions of the county, through its chief policymakers, smell to high heaven, in that county officials were either expressly aware of the bribery scheme, or, at minimum, should have known about it and did nothing to intervene," attorneys for the plaintiffs alleged in a court filing last October.
Those officials included former county Commissioners Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid, former County Manager/Chief Clerk Samuel Guesto and former juvenile probation official Sandra M. Brulo, the plaintiffs' attorneys said.
I grew up in Luzerne County. I don't know about now, but it was pretty corrupt then, from Dan Flood on down.
Don't tell me a WHOLE lot of people don't know when this crap goes on.
As for Skrepanek--He "did his time"???
HOW many lives did he ruin? Another fine example of our PRIVATIZED prison system. Fucking up the lives of CHILDREN for MONEY???
Hang this fuck by his balls and let the victims come flog his fucking fat ass in public.
Funny how "Michigan Men" get a pass here.
Ruining lives of children? FUCK HIM. When you rin the lives of children, you don't just get to "do your time" and move on.
Don't worry, they'll tell you.
Often true. I'm related to one. It's also true (though perhaps not to the same degree) that Paleo and (back in the day) Atkins people can be just as annoying with their obsession about CARBS.
Allow me to generalize and say that most people talking about their diets without prompting are annoying.
That's the same way you can find a Michigan graduate (or one who pretends to be) in a crowd!
The Barge needs a similar change. Being 6'8" & 500pounds is not a good combination for a long happy life. Marc's going to help Skrep and I think it's a wonderful thing.
After talking with Marc a number of times and watching his transformation over the years, I've switched over to a (mostly) vegetarian diet over the last 3 months. I absolutely do feel better. I still eat eggs and had seafood on our vacation but haven't had a burger or steak since St Patricks Day. That, coupled with more exercise, and I'm feeling better about being 50.
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I still eat animals/white grains around holidays or in restaurants, but at home it's whole grain foods and lots of vegetables.
Once you get used to it, it's not a big deal at all. And if you look at the cardiovascular and cancer research, it's a trade-off I'm more than happy to make.
I went to the same high school as Skrepenak. I went there several years before he did.
I was flying back to the area once and wound up sitting right next to him on the plane. This was while he was still at Michigan. He was an extremely large individual.
While it was beyond cool to sit next to a Michigan Wolverine football player from my own home town no less . . . I could not wait to get off that damn plane.
excessive pizza consumption is banned and players are limited to 2 slices of pizza.
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Skrepenak is the first Michigan player I remember being around. Got his autograph when I was a little kid at a Victors Club luncheon when he was playing, and remember being amazed at how massive he was. I had to stand on a chair. It was like meeting a real-life monster. I can't imagine what that guy must have looked like at over 500 pounds. Good to see he's getting himself healthy.
I was standing next to him at Rick's which didn't have the highest ceiling to begin with. Wow, what a massive human being.
He is "down" to 425 lbs, and hopes to get to 330 lbs. Can you imagine the stress even 330 lbs puts on the body's knees, internal organs, etc.?
He probably needs to be down to at least 240-250 to be healthy.
went to a high fat low carb diet. The shelf life food I pretty much stopped eating except for Lays classic potatoe chip's and Dove dark chocolate. Homemade brownies and cookies too but not as much as before. Sugar consumption I've cut back significantly too. Anyway started this in February and have gone from 6"3' 213 to 6"3' 196 clothed. Feel great at 58. My job is plenty physical enough for exercise but I walk with my wife on occasion. Yard work is significant and three under ten years old Grandboys.
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So, his parents taught him how to sell children to prisons?