New at Reason: Nick Gillespie on why former reason staffer Sam MacDonald is the biggest loser in American letters.

December 9, 2008

University of Pittsburgh creative writer Sam MacDonald used to work for reason. And he used to weigh over 300 pounds. In his entertaining new memoir, The Urban Hermit, MacDonald has penned a tale that punches directly at the soft underbelly of an overspent and overweight America about to go on its own extended austerity program.

In a piece originally written for The New York Post, Nick Gillespie takes the measure of this slacker update to Ben Franklin's Autobiography.

Read all about it here (and click through to see the "after photo").

Comments

Warty|12.9.08 @ 12:08PM|#

Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake, BEEFCAKE!

|12.9.08 @ 12:15PM|#

I just don't get how you get up to 300 in the first place.

"I don't know why you're exercising. It's just sweat that you're gonna have to wash off. Exercising's for dummies and women."

|12.9.08 @ 12:20PM|#

I just don't get how you get up to 300 in the first place.

Open mouth, shovel in food, pour in booze, do nothing - repeat.

Warty|12.9.08 @ 12:28PM|#

I did the same thing years ago, except I only went from 240 to 190. I'm pretty sure that the key to weight loss is self-loathing.

The Wine Commonsewer|12.9.08 @ 12:29PM|#

I met Sam many years ago. He wasn't 300 lbs yet but definitely hefty. He was an eminently likable, jovial, funny guy.

Sam told a story about getting hammered at a local bar one night and finding it impossible to drive pulled into what he thought was a parking lot. It turned out to be the fenced in yard at the precinct house where the cop cars are parked. He nonchalantly slept it off, awoke in the morning and looked around in horror at the dozens of police cruisers surrounding his car. He then fled without getting noticed.

The man has a gift for story telling, I'm not surprised he's teaching creative writing.

Kudos on the weight loss.

mr simple|12.9.08 @ 12:30PM|#

You know, fat people who die younger cost a lot less than healthy people who live forever on 20 different prescriptions and get every test each month, medically speaking.

|12.9.08 @ 12:33PM|#

MacDonald drifted to Baltimore with his equally aimless cousin Skippy

Couple of things wrong with this picture. Could hanging out with Cousin Skippy be as fattening as HFCS?!?

The Wine Commonsewer|12.9.08 @ 12:35PM|#

Open mouth, shovel in food, pour in booze, do nothing - repeat.

Some people can get away with that and not gain weight. Not many, but there are a few of them. Not fair.

|12.9.08 @ 12:37PM|#

I'm pretty sure that the key to weight loss is self-loathing.

I thought self-loathing was the key to bondage games. The safe word is "bingo wings".

Warty|12.9.08 @ 12:54PM|#

No, the key to bondage games is Dungeons and Dragons.

D.A. Ridgely|12.9.08 @ 12:59PM|#

Any word on what role HFCS played in his diet?

|12.9.08 @ 1:06PM|#

No, the key to bondage games is Dungeons and Dragons.

20-sided dice hurt.

Couple of things wrong with this picture. Could hanging out with Cousin Skippy be as fattening as HFCS?!?

No, but eating lots of Skippy could, especially since it might have HFCS in it.

Zeb|12.9.08 @ 1:07PM|#

"Some people can get away with that and not gain weight. Not many, but there are a few of them. Not fair."

That's me. I used to read labels to make sure that food had enough calories to maintain myself at 130 lbs. I would love to gain 10-15 lbs.

|12.9.08 @ 1:09PM|#

Interestingly, Google decided that an ad for www.dangerousNEGRO.com would be appropriate given the content of this post.

|12.9.08 @ 1:19PM|#

No, the key to bondage games is Dungeons and Dragons.

20-sided dice hurt.

Weight loss + self-loathing + bondage + D&D = more than you needed to know about Epi.

Zubon|12.9.08 @ 1:24PM|#

Commonsewer, I know someone with a similar story, except that it was an Air Force base. Where he was held at gunpoint by MPs until the police came to pick him up. Okay, maybe not so similar.

Jordan|12.9.08 @ 1:31PM|#

That's me. I used to read labels to make sure that food had enough calories to maintain myself at 130 lbs. I would love to gain 10-15 lbs.

High five, my adipose challenged brother!

trend spotter|12.9.08 @ 1:31PM|#

He eats and drinks more normally, is happily married and a parent

Has the word "father" become taboo?

|12.9.08 @ 1:39PM|#

Weight loss + self-loathing + bondage + D&D = more than you needed to know about Epi.

It's like I'm an image-obsessed pain-fetishing nerd or something.

short, fat bastard|12.9.08 @ 2:02PM|#

I only need to exercise a little bit to maintain my svelt, 290 lb, 5'6" profile.

Naga Sadow|12.9.08 @ 2:03PM|#

Epi,

Damn you and your Dennis image.

|12.9.08 @ 2:16PM|#

You just gotta want it enough to starve yourself and work out more. New Year Eve a year ago: approaching 250 on a 6'2" frame. Now: Closing in on 200.

|12.9.08 @ 2:19PM|#

My nose was chiseled by the gods themselves, Naga. My body was sculpted to the proportions of Michelangelo's David. You, on the other hand, well ... you're a pit of despair. Naga, you disgust me. You disgust everyone. And you will never, ever be on that billboard.

|12.9.08 @ 3:06PM|#

-- MacDonald drifted to Baltimore with his equally aimless cousin Skippy

Couple of things wrong with this picture. Could hanging out with Cousin Skippy be as fattening as HFCS?!?
--
I had the misfortune of growing up with Sam and Skippy. Skippy is much less fattening than hfcs, however, he is considerably more dangerous to your health.

|12.9.08 @ 3:27PM|#

Starving yourself is stupid. Any fat bastard can lose weight by eating normally. Or less.

As far as the whole weight-gaining thing goes, I gain weight easily but there seems to be a cap. Once I get to 230 I can eat 24/7 and never go over that. But I guess my set point and cap can drift over time.

|12.9.08 @ 4:41PM|#

Most people gain their weight back if they have an eating disorder or a physical problem that makes them weight prone. The stats on weight loss are not encouraging.

Best of luck to Sam on beating the odds.

|12.9.08 @ 5:43PM|#

I've been fat since I was 10 years old, and I'm now approaching 50. In the past eighteen months i've gone from 5'10" & 280 to 240, and held at 240 for 8 months. Still fat, just not so much. Done mainly by eating less crap and taking a lot of stairs. It isn't easy, particularly for those of us whose response to stress is to eat (rather than drink). Remember John Candy in "Stripes"? "I swallowed a lot of aggression. Along with a lot of pizza."

|12.9.08 @ 10:21PM|#

not sure about the whole 800 calories a day thing. He could have lost the weight much faster (and admittedly in a much riskier way) by going on a true ketogenic diet.