Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Rick Cleveland: The Biggest Loser Wins

Patrick House, who has run 10 marathons and more road races of various lengths than he can count, remembers trying to complete one mile back in the spring of 2010.

“I was huffing and puffing and sweating like crazy,” House says, chuckling. “I didn't know if I would finish it but I finally did. It took me right at 17 minutes. I was whipped.”

House, then 28, weighed over 400 pounds and figures he was on the way to a massive heart attack and early death. That was before he won NBC's Biggest Loser contest, dropping 181 pounds, 45 percent of his body weight.

Now, seven years later and at a comfortable 260 pounds, House will serve as the honorary starter for the July 4 Watermelon Run, a 5K fundraiser for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

House says he takes great pride in helping to promote running, walking and cardiovascular exercise of any kind.

“It quite literally saved my life,” he says. “I know what a difference exercise can make for people. Just about anybody can lace on a pair of sneakers and get out and walk. That's the message I try to get across wherever I go.”

House, director of sales for Pearl River Resort, has run five Boston Marathons.

“The main part of my routine when I lost all the weight was just getting outside, walking, jogging, getting my steps in,” he says. “Towards the end, I was getting in 10 to 12 miles a day, just moving, burning calories.”

Exercise was by no means a new experience for House in 2010. He was an athlete growing up, played football at Brandon High and then at Delta State. In fact, he was a redshirt freshman on the DSU team that won the Division II national championship in 2000.

An offensive lineman at Delta State, he stood 6 feet, 2 inches and weighed just over 300 pounds.

“I lifted weights, ran sprints, all the things you do training for football,” he said.

That ended his junior year at DSU when a back injury required surgery and forced him to quit football.

“So I quit working out,” he says. “Unfortunately. I didn't quit eating. The pounds started to add up.”

Funny story: South Panola assistant coach Jamie Everett, an offensive guard on DSU's national championship team, was teammates with House one year and then coached him in 2001 as a graduate assistant. Everett was flipping channels in 2010 and came across the NBC weight loss show.

“Hmmmm,” Everett remembers thinking to himself, “that guy looks a lot like the Patrick House I played football with at Delta State. Nah...”

“Patrick was a big guy at Delta State but not that big,” Everett says.

A couple days later Everett mentioned seeing a near-double of Patrick House on Biggest Loser.

“You idiot,” the teammate said, “that was our Patrick House.”

House would not be surprised. He had to reintroduce himself to his two-year-old son after being away from more than three months in filming the show back in 2010.

That's what happens when you lose nearly 200 pounds.

House says keeping the weight off is a constant battle, especially now that he doesn't have six hours a day to devote to exercise.

“Part of my job is entertaining clients, taking them out to dinner and such, so, yeah, I have to work at it,” he says. “I'll have to work at it the rest of my life.”

But he knows how. And just lacing up his sneakers and getting in his “steps” is the biggest part.

•••

The Farm Bureau Watermelon Run, established in 1983, is one of Mississippi's oldest and largest road races. The July 4 race begins and ends at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and often has as many as 1,500 entrants. It will begin at 7:30 a.m. Those interested can register on-line at msfame.com or by calling 601 982-8264

Rick Cleveland is a Jackson-based syndicated columnist. His email address is rcleveland@mississippitoday.org.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for Patrick House. For horrifically obese people, permanent weight loss to healthy levels requires a massive commitment. Radical reduction of food intake coupled with consistent, limit-pushing exercise is not for the faint of heart. And as Mr. House said, he'll have to work at it the rest of his life.

Bravo, sir.

Anonymous said...

This guy should be an inspiration, not because he won a TV show, but because he took control and got himself back on track.

One look at his current girlfriend should be enough to motivate our legion of 350 pounders with their untucked PFG Boneheads and their Costas on the backs of their bulging necks to quit taking three trips to the buffet at Mama Hamil's.

Anonymous said...

Alexa Traffic Ranking
Rank in the United States as of June 28, 2017

Ranking calculated using a combination of average daily visitors to the site and pageviews on the site from users in the United States over the past month. Updated daily.

Jackson Jambalaya = 66,084
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Thus Blogged Anderson = Lowry on Hiatus

Jackson Free Press Expansion Projects
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Anonymous said...

@10:50am - Jackpedia is not dead. I just went to their site and it says (and I quote):

We're working on an all-new Jackpedia to launch in 2014. Keep an eye out!

So there!

Anonymous said...

What does 10:50 have to do about Patrick House and staying fit in the state that is ranked the most obese in the nation?



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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