Have you ever been to the gym in January? For the regular gym goers amongst you, the New Year gym hype fills these much-loved establishments with masses of flabby bodies trying to work off that Christmas cheese and chocolate.
For those of us usually averse to regular workouts, January marks the start of a new year, the landmark moment when we believe anything is possible - hence our forays into the gym to try and become a sculpted Adonis in time for summer.
Sadly, I fall into the latter category - I'm very much a January gym rat - but by February I've often lost interest, content to fall back into old ways and patterns which inevitably involve copious trips to McDonald's, lots of cheese-covered pasta, and a whole draw of the fridge filled with Coke cans. I'm ashamed to even write it.
With this in mind, it's clear that we need all the encouragement we can get when it comes to getting fit - and that's where Vance Hinds comes in.
Just over a year ago in 2017, Ellis County and District Assistant Attorney Vance Hinds, listened to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast to try and kickstart his own personal fitness revolution. On November 19 2017 he posted his first social media video documenting his transformation. In it he revealed that comedian Bert Kreischer inspired him after running a half marathon with very little time to prepare.
Speaking to the Waxahachie Daily Light, Hinds went into more detail:
"I woke up and started drinking my coffee, and I was looking at Instagram, and there’s a video of Bert finished the St. Pete half marathon in California. [sic]
"I was sitting in the chair thinking, ‘you know, if that silly son of a b*tch can run a half marathon on two and half weeks then I can get off this couch and walk.’ And so that was my inspiration. [sic]"
At the start of his journey Hinds weighed a whopping 475lbs - and started his weight loss challenge by simply walking with two friends. After a week, Hinds had actually gained three pounds, but he didn't allow this to put him off. He kept up the hard work and exercise, even enrolling in the Diamond Dallas Page yoga program. By April 2018 he had lost over 100lbs - great inspiration to take his journey to the next level.
Speaking more about previous weight loss misadventures, Hinds was honest about his struggles:
"Over my life, I’ve lost and gained hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. Normally, periodically, I start these paths, and I lose weight for a while, exercising on my own.
"But with my wife, it’s just us two, and it’s easy to talk yourself out of it. You do pretty good for a few weeks and a month, and then you start slacking off, and then you quit.
"I’ve done that over and over and over again.
"I don’t know if I have a choice anymore at the age of 52. I have to get this weight off of me.
"I just think if I have some extended sickness or injury that I’m going to get to the point that I’m not strong enough to move 462 pounds to be mobile.
"I don’t think I have a choice. When I started this, I was damn near 500 pounds, close to a quarter ton, so I gotta get it off."
Vance's amazing transformation took lots of hard work, but it finally paid off - you can watch the entire thing below:
365 days after starting his weight loss journey, Hinds weighed in at 277lbs, having lost a grand total of 198lbs – or just over 14 stone to you Brits!
I don't know about you guys, but watching Vance take the plunge makes me want to ditch some of my fast food habits and spend a little more time on the rowing machine. Sorry fellow gym-goers, but my flabby ass will be coming to an establishment near you very soon!
