- William Howard Taft, (1857-1930) was the 27th President of the United States.
- The only massively obese man ever to be the president of the United States
- He struggled mightily to control his weight
- Endured humiliation from cartoonists who delighted in his corpulent figure
- His weight-loss program was startlingly contemporary
- His difficulties keeping the pounds off would be familiar to many Americans today
- On advice of his doctor, he went on a low-fat, low-calorie diet. He avoided snacks.
- Meals were to be eaten at certain times and meats were to be weighed. Taft was to eat a small portion of lean meat or fish at every meal, cooked vegetables at lunch and dinner (no butter), a plain salad, and stewed or baked fruit (unsweetened). He got a single glass of “unsweetened” wine at lunch.
- He kept a careful diary of what he ate and weight himself daily.
- The tale is strikingly modern…The self-monitoring — weighing himself daily, keeping a food diary — are “the fundamental tenets of changing behavior,” said Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, an obesity researcher at Johns Hopkins. “Keep yourself accountable.”
- He hired a personal trainer and rode a horse to exercise
- Like many dieters today, Taft lost weight and regained it, fluctuating from more than 350 to 255 lbs.
- After he had lost 60 pounds…people told him he looked good, yet he was “continuously hungry.”
- Researchers were struck by Taft’s persistent hunger pangs. Losing a substantial amount of weight and keeping it off amounts to telling the body it is starving…“One of the most important drives we have is to prevent starvation,” Dr. Hirsch said.
- By the time Taft was inaugurated as president in 1909, he had regained all he had lost, and more, weighing 354 pounds. He became the butt of jokes, with many relishing a story that he had gotten stuck in a White House bathtub.
- But Taft never gave up. When he died in 1930, he weighed 280 pounds.
Read full article in the New York Times: In a Struggle With Weight, Taft Used a Modern Diet
- SMWI* = Saturday Morning Workout Inspiration
- Image Source: Natemaas
- Thank you Susan
Live & Learn 
Would be interesting to know if he had something physically wrong that was undermining his efforts to lose weight. The more things change, the more they stay the same….
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Yes, and that is the punch line of the story…
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Haven’t read it yet–next up…, 🙂
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Somehow instead of feeling like working out I want to pull the covers up over my head and go back to sleep. I know he was mercilessly teased in the media for his size, I just can’t seem to get past the possibility that he wasn’t all too happy being overweight and that all the unkindness didn’t help. I know I know – I’m getting more coffee.
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You know in hindsight, this was not so inspirational. His struggles right to the end. The humiliation he endured. Fair point Mimi. Fair point.
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But he kept trying…….
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He did.
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ok, ok – ht and dk, i can take a hint, i am getting on my workout clothes right now! perseverance, vigilance, accountability – the holy trinity of just do it.
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OK, mission accomplished.
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It just makes me think we’re missing something fundamental.
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Yes, and for some genetics.
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how cruel we are–who are we to judge someone else and their travails?
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Yes, unfortunately.
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It’s very tricky to lose huge amounts of weight and not cause yourself serious illness problems. It would have been even harder in Taft’s day, before all the advances in research for safe weightloss.
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Yes, and losing it all so quickly usually is formula for regaining it all back quickly.
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I reckon he ways a lot less now (bad joke.)
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I reckon he weighs a lot less now (bad joke.)
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Poor guy! Keeping my weight down has been a life long struggle so I sympathize.
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Yes, but you have to admire his perseverance.
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Poor guy…it seems sometimes that the more weight a person gains, the harder it is to lose weight. Everything about a person becomes affected. It’s sad to think that he struggled with that, including the humiliation, all throughout his life.
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Yes…Carol. Sad yet he seems to plow right through it.
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I’ve never have had weight problems but my sister did. Now, she works out like a fiend and she has an amazing body though I believe she still sees herself as that fat kid I used to taunt. I really regret that.
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You’re so mean Carolann! 🙂 (Just kidding)
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🙂
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Reblogged this on Movers, Shakers, Leadership Makers.
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