Well Being: Finding the will to lose the weight

Edwin Blakeney's bulk was a virtue when he was a defensive tackle at Conestoga High School. Not many other suburban boys weighed 295 pounds. He was just what a lineman should be - massive and immovable.

He continued playing football for the semipro Upper Darby Sharks until a torn meniscus sidelined him. By then he had learned a trade and was shearing locks at a barber shop in West Philadelphia.

As a boy, he was chubby but active. He played sports, raced around on dirt bikes, lifted weights. In his late 20s, he began to slow down. He moved less but kept eating - potato chips, Snickers bars, milk shakes, cheesesteaks, pizza.

His weight climbed, his girth expanded. In 2001, when he was 32, he was so obese that he had to go on disability. He tipped the scale at 385 pounds, nearly a hundred pounds more than he weighed in high school. His blood pressure soared. He had to take medication for diabetes. His overloaded knees and ankles ached constantly. He couldn't fit into normal seats and chairs. His worried mother and children begged him to do something.

"I was in a slump," Blakeney says. "When something bothered me, I would convert it to food and keep eating."

In October 2009, Blakeney's weight peaked at 480 pounds. A couple of weeks later, he was watching a strongman competition on television.

"I started crying," Blakeney recalls. "I was tired of looking and feeling the way I did. I decided I wanted to get back to my football weight so I could feel better and live longer."

He began walking around his Ardmore neighborhood, two and three times a day, and changing his diet. In his words: "I got away from all the things I loved." Instead of pork and beef, he ate skinless chicken. Instead of pizza and cheesesteaks, he consumed salads and protein shakes.

A neighbor who witnessed Blakeney's daily constitutionals, now progressed to speed-walking, was impressed. He never missed a day, even when the weather was foul. The neighbor, Denise West, happened to work at the Main Line YMCA.

"Come to the Y," she urged. "You'll get the weight off faster."

Blakeney heeded her suggestion. Because his income was low, the Y offered financial aid so he could afford the membership fee.

As an ex-jock, Blakeney knew his way around a gym, but the staff made sure he had what he needed to succeed. People like Kyle George, program director for wellness and sports, offered guidance and instruction.

Blakeney began his workouts on the treadmill. After five minutes, he was exhausted. He lifted free weights and performed resistance exercises on various machines. Wisely, he proceeded gradually; his body responded immediately. In just two days, he lost 13 pounds.

Blakeney went to the Y six days a week, and his workouts lasted two hours or more. He increased his time on the treadmill to 30 minutes, then switched to the more challenging elliptical trainer. He rounded out his cardio exercise with two miles of pedaling the stationary bike. Then, an hour and 20 minutes of pumping iron. He targeted his upper body one day, his lower body the next, repeating the cycle three times a week.

"I got into a routine and was losing 15 pounds every month," Blakeney says. "When I hit a wall or plateau, I changed the workout. I didn't lose faith."

Today, Blakeney, 42, six feet tall, weighs 310 pounds. His clothing size has dropped from 6X to 2X; his waist, from 64 inches to 48.

"I feel great," he says. "I have a lot of energy. I'm no longer taking medication for diabetes and high blood pressure. The only pill I take is a vitamin. Most of all, I can move."

As his body has improved, so too have his confidence and self-esteem.

"People who haven't seen me in 10 or 15 years don't know who I am. That's the best thing, the reaction from people."

He considers himself a work in progress and hopes to shed another 60 pounds, which would put him at 250.

"I want to get rid of the meat and have cut muscle and a ripped chest," Blakeney says. "I want to look in the mirror and see no belly hanging over."

Blakeney calls the Y his "second home."

"I'm grateful for everything the staff did," he says. "The trainers were eager to help. They kept motivating me."

Mary Frances Reilly, Main Line Y's executive director, calls Blakeney "an inspiration."

"Everyone admires Edwin," she says. "A lot of people set goals, but having the fortitude to put in the work to reach those goals is another matter. We say to people, 'Look at Edwin. If he can do it, you can, too.' "

How did he do it?

"Just determination and will power," Blakeney says, "and plenty of sweat and tears in the gym. It's something I should have been doing all along."