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WT: For Skins' Williams, slimming down is a weighty matter


Leonard Washington

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http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009...eighty-matter/

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For Skins' Williams, slimming down is a weighty matter

Bob Cohn

Enisha Williams only noticed the change in her husband, Mike, around Christmas when she looked at some pictures and had a means of comparison. It was both a shock and a revelation.

"He's not a blubbery guy," she said, "but in his face, you could just see it."

Mike Williams, a retired NFL offensive lineman at the time, had become obese. Even when carried on a 6-foot-6 frame, 450 pounds is way too much - blubbery by any standard.

"He was not in a good place," Enisha said. "I almost cried [when I heard how much he weighed]. My heart just hurt. I felt I was slowly but surely killing my husband."

Williams, who is working with a personal trainer in Arizona as he prepares for training camp with the Washington Redskins, blames only himself. Enisha brought the fruit punch and juice home from the store, but nobody forced Mike to drink gallons of it. No one made him scoop the ice cream and crack open the cookies at 1 a.m. or sit on his butt for countless hours in lieu of exercising.

"You eat beyond what your body needs, and I got into a routine of eating beyond what my body needed," said Williams, who has missed the past three NFL seasons. "And I was doing it for two years. I didn't have any obligations. I didn't need to be on the field. I did my business behind a desk. I stayed behind the computer six, seven, eight hours a day."

Williams last played in 2005. A former All-American at Texas drafted fourth overall by Buffalo in 2002, he started at offensive tackle for three years, then got hurt during his fourth and was released. Jacksonville picked him up, but Williams hurt himself lifting weights and was later cut.

He played at 370 pounds in Buffalo, and even though his performance was less than what many expected, he said his weight was never an issue. Ever since his growth spurt began at 14 or 15, he was always big. He weighed more than 300 pounds throughout high school but wore it well, maintaining his quickness and agility from when he played tailback and some soccer in middle school.

"As a family, we never addressed [his weight]," said his brother, Kevin. "He was never quote-unquote fat."

But last Christmas he was. In February, Williams checked into Duke's Diet and Fitness Center, committed to losing more than a hundred pounds to get to 345 - which is what he weighed his junior year at Texas - by the start of training camp. By the time he checked out in April, he had lost 40.

That was only the start.

Since then, Williams had dropped another 40, down to about 365. Twenty to go - the hardest 20 - with a less than a month remaining. A Web site that tracks his weight loss has a poll on whether Williams will make his goal. At the start, a majority voted "no." But since the pounds started melting, Williams has resoundingly turned the numbers around.

Mike Williams calls his regimen "the grind." It boils down to exercise and common sense.

"Calories in and calories out," he said. "Old-fashioned down and dirty."

No pills or any other assistance. He never skips a meal, even if the meal is just a protein bar. Red meat is out, except for bison, which has almost no fat and he said is delicious. Chicken, fish and vegetables are in. Nothing fried. No carbs at night; no more of that juice. Water is the beverage of choice, more than eight glasses a day. Fruit? It has too much sugar to be a big part. And he never cheats - except for an occasional sandwich, on whole wheat, naturally.

Williams said he has lost 5 percent of his body fat and added muscle by 7 percent, which will not necessarily decrease his weight because muscle is heavier than fat. The operative term is "lean mass," which is the weight of muscle, plus bone density, water, even blood.

"It used to be just about players making weight," said Jane Jakubczak, the Redskins' team nutritionist. "But we've seen an evolution with players that they understand it needs to be the right kind of weight. ... We want to see the body fat come down, but we don't want to see the lean mass coming down. We want to be able to maintain muscle while reducing body fat. That's a hard thing to do."

Jakubczak, a dietitian at the University of Maryland, met with Williams a few times before he left for Arizona, mainly going over his eating habits and making sure he's on the right track.

"He just looks amazing," she said.

_____________________________________

I hope he produces. I'm very pleased with everything I've heard so far.

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I don't see what all the hubba bubba is about. He played in Buffalo at 370 pounds and he is 5 pounds BELOW that right now!

All he has to do is lose another 5 pounds over the next 5 weeks to get to 360.

345 is a nice goal but he has to remember that he is not a Junior in college anymore. If 345-350 was his playing weight by his senior year, then he will easily be closing in on that, somewhere in the 350's by the start of pre-season games.

at any rate, we will know for sure in 5 weeks when they weigh in.

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Man if this guy can contribute and hopefully not only contribue but at a high level finally something would pay off for us. We are due for something good like this to happen for us. All of a sudden our line would be in great shape with some depth. If it doesn't work out good for Mike Williams anyways. He probably saved his own life from continuing to spiral out of control. Man i hope it works out for everyone and he returns to playing at top form....

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I'm pretty impressed with his weight loss. I'm still pretty doubtful that he has his endurance up there with the rest of his teammates. This is what I'll be watching for in his status updates throughout training camp and the preseason.

I'm thinking that the release of Jansen kinda makes it almost impossible to cut him, but I see him more as an E. James type move where we're training a guy for next year (or in case of injury) more than hoping for him to start.

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I don't see what all the hubba bubba is about. He played in Buffalo at 370 pounds and he is 5 pounds BELOW that right now!

All he has to do is lose another 5 pounds over the next 5 weeks to get to 360.

345 is a nice goal but he has to remember that he is not a Junior in college anymore. If 345-350 was his playing weight by his senior year, then he will easily be closing in on that, somewhere in the 350's by the start of pre-season games.

at any rate, we will know for sure in 5 weeks when they weigh in.

He has certified doctors and nutritionists working with him between the Redskins staff ones and others probably. I'm sure if they said 345 may be dangerously low for him, he wouldn't want to go that low. He's already at his playing weight, but it seems more of a personal thing for him to drop down to 345. Plus, he's probably heard of the deaths of many a football player in their mid-late 40s who couldn't handle the high weight anymore.

Either way, I just hope he can pan out for us.

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He's married...I thought he lived with Dockery?

Man, sounds like he is determined. I hope he can make the playing field.

Williams' wife and Dockery's wife are friends too. Their families are close to one another.

...

Great news about Williams. How can you not root for a guy like this!?

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It looks like he is on his way weight-wise which is great. My question is: when he played and wasn't injured did he ever play at a high level? My memory is that he was considered a bust because his performance on the field sucked. We may end up with a well-conditioned, athletic giant who can't play a lick. The layoff is also much more of a hurdle than it seems. The odds are against him bigtime. I wish him well though. It would be great for the skins.

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It looks like he is on his way weight-wise which is great. My question is: when he played and wasn't injured did he ever play at a high level? My memory is that he was considered a bust because his performance on the field sucked. We may end up with a well-conditioned, athletic giant who can't play a lick. The layoff is also much more of a hurdle than it seems. The odds are against him bigtime. I wish him well though. It would be great for the skins.

I have a close friend who is a huge Buffalo Bills fan, and when I asked him about Mike Williams, he said that when he was healthy, he was a force. My friend said that his biggest problems was injuries, not technique necessarily. Obviously we've seen what playing hurt can do to even the best players (Santana comes to mind).

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