World of Warcraft Diet

November 1, 2006 8:54 AM

41 lbs in 90 days
Man discovers that World of Warcraft makes him oblivious to everything in the outside world.
Man puts keyboard stand over his exercise bike.
Man loses forty pounds in three months.
Whether or not that's a healthy rate to lose weight, we'll find out later.
posted by talldean (41 comments total)

If he combined this with the Oxo diet he could fade away.
posted by biffa at 9:04 AM on November 1, 2006

*over 100* hours of cardio?!! In three months. No. Way.

In other news: Fat nerd plays DDR, loses weight. Gets hot Cosplay girlfriend.
posted by shownomercy at 9:05 AM on November 1, 2006

I just had this discussion over on Qt3, but I used to work for a company that interfaces and networks lifecycles and treadmills, and during its infancy it was all that we coder nerds could talk about: Using the software we'd already developed to control forward movement in a MMO based on how hard you push yourself on the exercise equipment.

Back in that day, the game of choice was Asheron's Call, and the developers weren't as draconian as Blizzard is about 3rd party applications (which inevitably caused the game to lose its luster for me). It was a relatively simple thing to compile a little application that used the same hooks off of the RS-232 port, mount the keyboard and the mouse, and start running.

One night we held a little competition to see who could run across Dereth, the ingame world. Not a one of us made it.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:10 AM on November 1, 2006 [4 favorites]

It's really strange how the BBC article you link to, biffa, goes from stone and kilograms to pounds and feet in just a few paragraphs.
posted by dozo at 9:12 AM on November 1, 2006

has england actually figured out what the fuck system of measurement it wants to use yet?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 9:16 AM on November 1, 2006

Isn't this part really the most important?

Truth be told, Warbiking was only part of the regimen, which included weightlifting, a low calorie diet, and even fasting

This reminds me a little of Subway Jared.
posted by ORthey at 9:16 AM on November 1, 2006

100 hours of cardio in 3 months = about an hour of cardio a day. There's nothing unbelievable about that. Cool idea, though, to motivate him to get on the machine.
posted by tumbleweedjack at 9:18 AM on November 1, 2006

dozo - I don't find it strange (speaking as a Brit) - we don't talk about fractions of stones (for per-week weight loss), and the kg goes in because we're all supposed to be conversant with those these days (except, you know, most of us aren't). The only marginally strange thing is that they didn't convert the feet into cm.
posted by altolinguistic at 9:19 AM on November 1, 2006

This post is worthless without before/aft pictures.
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 9:20 AM on November 1, 2006

That's what I need to do for metafilter...
posted by delmoi at 9:28 AM on November 1, 2006

I use freeweights while flying from city to city within the game. I've lost around 30 lbs in 3 months, but I cheat and haul my fat ass to a gym 4 days a week.
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:32 AM on November 1, 2006

I always thought that a killer app for WoW would be to team up with gyms and offer this sort of thing. If you're playing while on a bike, or a treadmill, or a stair climber or whatever, you get a buff that you can't get any other way. Could be a good way to get players in gyms too.
posted by crawl at 9:35 AM on November 1, 2006

I imagine it would be hard to raid:

"More dots! *puff* Spread out *puff* more! Deep *puff* breath *puff* get to the *puff* sides!"

We'd only be good for solo farming. Could we sell the gold to pay off our club membership?! ; - D
posted by cowbellemoo at 9:41 AM on November 1, 2006

I find playing Tourist Trophy on the PS2 while I'm on the exercise bike keeps me going. I catch myself pedaling faster on straightaways and slowing down a bit on turns though.

(That game is damn hard but stubbornness > all.)
posted by Foosnark at 9:44 AM on November 1, 2006

Metafilter: worthless without before/aft pictures.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 10:04 AM on November 1, 2006

Now I really can get the physique of my Night Elf druid!

I'm so there!

Oh wait, she's female..... nevermind.
posted by elendil71 at 10:05 AM on November 1, 2006

I did this for a few winters with my road bike on a stationary trainer. I wasn't playing World of Warcraft -- rather, I was surfing the internet and reading blogs -- but it was a great way to pass a couple of hours. Didn't lose anywhere near 41 lbs. though.
posted by moonbiter at 10:36 AM on November 1, 2006

I've been working on something very similar to this idea of interfacing the Net with aerobic workout, but instead instead of losing weight, I developed one giant muscular arm.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:40 AM on November 1, 2006 [2 favorites]

I've been working on something very similar to this idea of interfacing the Net with aerobic workout, but instead instead of losing weight, I developed one giant muscular arm.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

I think everyone's figured out that game by now, though I hardly call that "aerobic".
posted by Talanvor at 10:47 AM on November 1, 2006

I used to go to a gym that had a rowing machine with a game attached. Basically, they figured (correctly) that people would spend more time on that machine if there was a 'competition' aspect to it, rather than just blindly pulling on a weighted cord.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:59 AM on November 1, 2006

I think everyone's figured out that game by now, though I hardly call that "aerobic".

Just because you can get to completion without breathing you shouldn't assume everyone else is as quick off the draw.
posted by srboisvert at 11:07 AM on November 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

I used to go to a gym that had a rowing machine with a game attached.

Hey! Gyms used to have video-game-type things on the bikes where you would be racing against some guy onscreen. But I havent seen one of those in years....Perhaps they werent so popular after all?
posted by vacapinta at 11:08 AM on November 1, 2006

I'll bet you don't have to look too far to find the inverse of this...
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 11:16 AM on November 1, 2006

I was amazed by the number of snarky, negative comments on the original article (not here in the MeFi thread). You'd think people would be happy about anyone managing to drop some weight, but... wow. Lot of haters out there.
posted by browse at 11:17 AM on November 1, 2006

I once lost 55lb in 50 days. 600kcal/day diet. I don't think that was healthy though.
posted by Arcaz Ino at 11:20 AM on November 1, 2006

Truth be told, Warbiking was only part of the regimen, which included weightlifting, a low calorie diet, and even fasting;

Aside from the fasting, it seems he had a pretty reasonable diet. The rapid weight loss may not be too good, and the weight may come back if he starts eating fatty foods again.. but overall, he did this the right way (eating the right foods, exercise).
posted by triolus at 11:30 AM on November 1, 2006

I don't think the rate of weight loss is too worrying. I think doctors usually recommend a rate of 1 to 2 pounds per week. This works out at 3.2 pounds per week, but at 274 pounds he was a big guy to start with: he can probably healthily lose at a faster rate than most people.

Also weight training + cardio + diet like he did is ideal: he won't have just been losing muscle.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 12:49 PM on November 1, 2006

Whoever he is...he is one tough badass.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:51 PM on November 1, 2006

im in ur m3tab0lizm, burnin yr f4t
posted by WoWgmr72 at 12:52 PM on November 1, 2006

Gyms used to have video-game-type things on the bikes where you would be racing against some guy onscreen. But I havent seen one of those in years....Perhaps they werent so popular after all?

my gym has a few row machines like that -- I love to kick that guy's scrawny ass
posted by matteo at 1:07 PM on November 1, 2006

The best exercise / game combination I've ever seen is Namco's Prop Cycle. Playing the entire game all the way to the end was actually quite a workout. It was a hell of a lot of fun, too. I wish there was a home version.
posted by Potsy at 1:22 PM on November 1, 2006

Lot of haters out there.

I was going to write something mean-spirited about overweight WoW players, but it turns out most of the hatred in the link stems from not reading the article. Bless their lazy whining hearts.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 1:34 PM on November 1, 2006

That's about the same amount of weight I lost in the first 90 days of the South Beach Diet last year.
posted by Doohickie at 2:04 PM on November 1, 2006

That's about the same amount of weight I lost in the first 90 days of the South Beach Diet last year.
posted by Doohickie at 2:04 PM on November 1, 2006

Potsy, thanks I was trying to find the link for that. I played that game in Vegas once, and even though I was in reasonable shape at the time, it seemed quite hard. There's also a kayaking game that is similar, but with a little less resistance. You used to be able buy a home version of the rowing game.

I lost thirty pounds in three months once, and don't know how I could have lost more (maybe by not eating fast food all the time). 41 pounds is quite an achievment.
posted by BrotherCaine at 2:15 PM on November 1, 2006

I guess in between raids he could have been buffing up with some Tetris...
posted by Spacey at 2:56 PM on November 1, 2006

People who start out obese can very easily lose two to three lbs a week safely, so his results are not that crazy. He started out at over 270 at 6"1', which would definitely be obese. Looking at the current pic, he definitely has a stocky, muscular build, so the lifting paid off.

I think the main thing is that he didn't just jump on the bike and expect the weight to drop off - he lifted weights and modified his diet. He also limited his warcraft to time when he was on the bike. Congrats to him for finding a great way to motivate himself and stick with it.
posted by rsanheim at 4:15 PM on November 1, 2006

I used to go to a gym that had a rowing machine with a game attached. Basically, they figured (correctly) that people would spend more time on that machine if there was a 'competition' aspect to it, rather than just blindly pulling on a weighted cord.

My parents have one of those in their house. I loved that thing in high school. They threw clothes on it.
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:07 PM on November 1, 2006

Well tonight was the first night of the rest of my life (as they say).

I lost 70 lb. last year, but I've put about 20-25 back on. It's starting to get discouraging. For some reason I just can't make myself go back on the diet. So I made myself a deal:

Whenever I watch a hockey game (and I have NHL Center Ice, so that's at least 4 nights a week), I will use my elliptical machine for at least 30 minutes. If I don't lose back down to 180 by the first of the year, it's time to go all out on the South Beach Diet again.

So, I exercised tonight while I watched my Red Wings win. Yay!
posted by Doohickie at 7:56 PM on November 1, 2006

See also: Gamerunner.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:54 PM on November 1, 2006

I once lost 35 pounds in 90 days on the Cocaine diet, but I don't think that was healthy. I got a lot of stuff done, though. Finally got around to clearing out the attic, the basement, and the bank account.

I remember using long ago a very primitive exercise bike that had a screen so you could "race" against a virtual opponent. The gimmick did keep me on the bike longer, but the novelty quickly wore off. I'd always envisioned something like a rowing machine that was a kayak simulator. I could totally get in shape with one of those.

And it would be fun to try a GTA-like bicycling game.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:56 PM on November 1, 2006