Football lovers know all about Mark Mangino, but for those who don’t, Mark Mangino is an American football coach. Mark started his coaching career with Kansas University back in 2002 and was sacked in 2009 for alleged misbehavior with players.
During the 7 year tenure, Mark managed an Orage Bowl Victory and led the Jayhawks to their first-ever 12-win season. After he was fired from the head football coach position at Kansas University in 2009, Mark took a long break from coaching. And it was during this break that the Mark Mangino weight loss journey started.
When Mark returned to join the football head coach position at Youngstown State, football fans were stunned to see the incredible transformation. What happened during Mark’s 4-year hiatus, and how did he lose so much weight? That’s what we are here to tell you.
Mark Mangino Weight Loss Journey
After Mark left Kansas University in 2009, he decided to spend more time with his family and take a complete break from football. During that break, Mark got to spend a lot of time with his wife and his grandkids. And while looking at his grandkids, Mark felt the urge to stick around and celebrate the important moments of his grandkids’ lives.
That’s when he took a long hard look at his physical health and asked whether he could live long enough to be there for his grandkids. In an interview, he said:
‘During my off-time, I got to spend time with my grandkids. I felt so much happiness, and it was so much fun being around them. And I thought to myself,
‘If I don’t do something, am I going to see them get their first Holy Communion, am I going to see them graduate high school, go to college? Am I going to be able to hang in there and see them get married?’ I thought about all this and said that the chances are that I might not.’
And that’s when he decided to do something about his obesity. So, the credit for the Mark Mangino weight loss journey goes to his grandkids- who became his motivation.
=> Read more about weight loss
How Did Mark Mangino Lose Weight?
During the break, Mark made a conscious effort to eat healthily and work out as much as possible. Eating healthy is one thing, but workouts at the age of 50 are tricky stuff. Moreover, Mark’s obesity also limited his workout options, because if he pursued hard workouts, the chances of serious injuries were high.
Mark did all he could, and now he is reaping the benefits. In another interview, Mark said the following:
‘It’s hard for a guy like me, but I decided I was going to change my lifestyle, get more exercise, just change everything, make a drastic, drastic change in the way
I looked at things. And so far it’s been good. I’m getting my exercise. During two-a-days, it’s tough to exercise, but I get a little walk and get my exercise done during practice.’
Mark Mangino Weight Loss Diet Plan
Although Mark didn’t lay out his whole diet plan in public, he did say that his wife, Mary Jane, helped him a lot in what he was eating and how much he was eating during his weight loss journey.
‘Mary Jane’s been very good about preparing what I should eat and how much to eat,’
Mark told the interviewer. But props to Mark as well for sticking to a diet plan for the sake of his grandkids and wife. He also said that his wife made sure he was eating only the healthy and good stuff.
‘My diet was low-carb, nutrient and fiber-based, and absolutely free from sugar.’
A diet like this reduces your appetite, which is essential for people fighting obesity- like Mark was.
Mark Mangino Weight Loss Workout Routine
As we told you earlier, it isn’t easy for a 50-year-old to just walk into a gym and spend hours lifting weights and doing body exercises. Mark had to resort to simpler workouts that were easier to fit into his busy schedule.
Mark would walk a lot, and participate in some football practice, and that’s pretty much it. These simple workouts that he could do even twice a day sometimes helped him lose all the weight, but the diet played a vital role in all this.
Video: YouTube/Scott Fisher
How Much Weight Did Mark Mangino Lose?
With the help of his wife’s diet plan, his daily walks, and breezy football practice, Mark managed to lose a lot of weight. When the interviewer asked him about the amount of weight he lost, here’s what Mark said:
‘I don’t know my peak weight because I didn’t want to face it at all. But after I started keeping track, I managed to lose almost 129 pounds within a year.’
Conclusion
Losing 129 pounds within a year is very impressive, especially for a 50-year-old football coach who is out of a job. We’d conclude this article by saying that Mark is a motivation for other obese people who are looking to take the step and change for the better.
We hope Mark maintains this healthy lifestyle and gets to enjoy a healthy life with his grandkids.
