Man gives up Internet, loses 70kg in one year

CHANGE OF DIET: After 10 years of sedentary life, a man decided to replace his smartphone with a feature phone and take control of his diet and exercise regime

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





Wanfang Hospital’s Obesity Prevention Center urged people to follow a balanced diet and exercise regularly, citing an example of a 47-year-old man who gave up surfing the Internet and started to exercise more and shed 70kg in one year, regaining control over his health.

The man, surnamed Lin (林) said he had always been chubby growing up, but after being injured in a car accident about 10 years ago, he fell into a sedentary lifestyle and his weight ballooned.

Lin said that for the past decade, he spent nearly all of his free time sitting in front of the television, surfing the Internet or sleeping, and would sometimes sit in front of the computer for six hours while eating deep-fried food.

Lin is 1.61m tall, but his weight increased to as much as 151kg at one point, and he was diagnosed with type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood-sugar levels, as well as sleep apnea (pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep), so he had to wear a continuous positive airway pressure nasal mask during sleep.

“I always panted heavily when climbing stairs. For example, because I sleep on the third floor, I had to rest one or two times when climbing up three flights of stairs,” he said, adding that he finally decided to join a weight loss course at the hospital’s Obesity Prevention Center last year.

Lin said that in addition to maintaining a balanced diet, he decided to cut off all Internet access at home and replaced his smartphone with a feature phone to force himself to go out more often and exercise.

His weight dropped to 74kg in one year.

Wanfang Hospital physiotherapist Lin Yen-nung (林硯農) said sedentary lifestyles are one of the main reasons for obesity, and that obesity is an important factor in sleep apnea.

Controlling intake of calories and following a balanced diet are both important in losing weight, center nutritionist Fang Ching-i (方晴誼) said, adding that eating more vegetables and protein is important, as is avoiding deep-fried food, spicy hot pot (麻辣鍋) and processed foods, which are usually high in fat.