How Walter Fischer Won a Bet on his Weight Loss Against All Odds

Many people take the traditional route when betting online – their activities involve either betting on sports or betting on some other less-known things such as movie awards. However, one man took a very different bet that changed his life. A 37-year-old professional poker player from New York, Walter Fischer, was all over the news outlets in 2017 when he accepted an initial $100,000 bet to lose weight within six months and went home with $500,000 in his pocket.

Fischer was going through a tough break at the end of 2016 – he had $97,000 in blackjack winnings, but his winning streak suddenly ended. He spent all his fortune, and additionally packed 18 to 22 kilos during this ordeal and weighed around 111 kg. With more than $100k in debt and turned to food for comfort. He said how he would eat 3 or 4,000 calories worth of cakes after losing a game of blackjack.

The bet that changed it all

But then things began to change for him. In December, he was offered a $100k bet that he couldn’t reduce his body fat percentage to less than 10% in six months. He accepted it, and asked his poker friends, Bill Perkins and Dan Bilzerian, to back him up. And before the end of the month, one million dollars in wagers had been collected, secured in an escrow account and one half would be Fischer’s if he managed to reduce his body fat.

He embarked on the mission to win the bet, because not only would winning clean his debt and earn him money, but his health was on the line as well. And not only did he win the bet, but he underwent a complete body transformation because he lost more than 30 kg and dropped to just under 9% body fat (he started with around 33%).

The plan

He managed to do it by starting a diet regimen and following a demanding workout plan. Chris DiVecchio, a personal trainer, was responsible for the latter. Fischer did 45 minutes of cardio and two hours of high-intensity training and weights seven days a week. He ate egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast and drank glutamine and amino acids to keep his muscles from breaking down.

To ensure success, he hired an expert in sports-medicine nutrition, Phil Goglia to mentor him. Goglia came to the conclusion that Fischer was not eating enough since he took in 1,100 calories and this wasn’t enough for burning caloric heat, so he ended up burning not fat but muscle instead. He decided to check his lipid profile from blood work every week and change his diet accordingly. Fischer began eating more white rice with his vegetables and protein meals, and tilapia, fish which is rich in protein and omega 3-acids and low in fat.

The win

Walter Fischer celebrated winning his bet by eating four slices of pizza, and he plans to stay fit with DiVecchio’s help.

You may also like...