From 354 pounds to the Peachtree

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When you consider that Tony Singleton's hobbies included trying to find a rack of ribs that he didn't like, it's not quite a shocker that one May afternoon last year he weighed in at 354 pounds.

He's not kidding about the ribs thing, either.

"I have seriously tried to find a rack of ribs I didn't like, and I couldn't find it," said Singleton, 47, from Norcross. "And I would eat a rack of ribs, no problem at all."

Some quests are best left uncompleted. In its place, Singleton has dedicated himself to a less cholesterol-choked pursuit. Diet and exercise have melted 123 pounds off his 6-foot-4 frame, and Singleton plans to spend the morning of July 4 motoring toward Piedmont Park in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.

"I want to run the whole way," said Singleton, who now weighs 231 pounds and wants to get to 220. "The whole thing will get done."

Singleton reached his breaking point last May. Poor eating habits -- he ate fast food two and three times a day -- and a lack of exercise had caused his weight to steadily rise over the years.

Once a high school football player and wrestler who weighed less than 200 pounds, Singleton's high blood pressure damaged his heart and required him to go on four different medications.

It nearly killed him. Last February, Singleton, saying he "felt funny," went to a neighborhood fire station to get his blood pressure checked. It was 260/150.

"He had the kind of blood pressure people have right before they're dying of a stroke," said Sean Herrin, Singleton's physician.

Singleton resisted taking action, but in May, fearful of dying soon, Singleton finally relented to the suggestion of his wife, Jeaninne, that they start going to Weight Watchers.

"You take that excuse: ‘I'm a big guy. I'm big-boned,'" Singleton said. "People have a tendency to say that. To say that, ‘Yes, you're overweight,' only a wife can do that."

"Both near term and long term, he had some serious heart issues," Herrin said. "I was afraid that he was not going to see age 55 or something."

Singleton's weight fluctuated, he said, until he "went back to basics" and committed to the Weight Watchers program. The biggest change was seeing food as fuel.

Since last May, he has not had ribs, burgers or fries. By September, he had lost 50 pounds without exercising. He began a regimen then -- two-hour workouts at a health club, walking about two miles daily and using his Wii Fit -- and has since dropped another 73 pounds.

"He's a machine," Jeaninne said. "Every night in winter, as cold as it was, he would bundle up and go on out [to walk]."

In January, on one of those chilly nights, Singleton decided he would run the Peachtree. Thus far, Singleton can run about 1 1/2 miles on a treadmill.

Herrin said Singleton's heart issues are resolved. He is down to one blood-pressure medication. He is wearing clothes that he hadn't fit into in 20 years. After being laid off in December from his job as a system administrator for a diagnostic imaging company, Singleton wants to become a motivational speaker. His long-term plan is to become a pastor.

Said Herrin, "It's absolutely uplifting to see this."

Singleton doesn't see himself in any sort of heroic light -- he acknowledges he never should have gained the weight in the first place. Nonetheless, on the morning of July 4, he will celebrate a different kind of independence.