By Deb McKee
What started out as a wild gimmick to lose weight has turned into a journey of self-discovery for Stephen Vaught.
When he started his 2,815-mile walk from San Diego to New York City via the National Road in April, Vaught weighed about 410 pounds. He couldn’t even walk all the way through a grocery.
At that point, his planned across-the-continent walk was about losing weight.
By the time he strolled into Terre Haute on Tuesday, 90 pounds lighter, he realized the trip meant something far more important to him.
Vaught arrived in the city with only his backpack and a few necessities, including a tent, a camping stove and books.
Today, he will be profiled for the third time on NBC’s “Today” as he leaves Terre Haute on foot along U.S. 40. The national news magazine has been following Vaught since April.
“Who I was before didn’t work out so well,” Vaught said. “You know, being angry at the world, being unhappy. I have no idea who I am anymore, but that’s OK. There’s value in breaking down the self.
“It’s not a simple matter of losing weight. I had to cure the thing that caused me to become overweight,” he said. “You have to cure something internal. There’s no great cure outside of us.”
Vaught’s support system includes his wife and two kids, all in San Diego, following every step through daily telephone calls and Steve’s online diary at www.thefatmanwalking.com.
Not everyone has been supportive, Steve said.
“This guy sends me e-mail all the time saying, ‘you’re gonna lose your home, you’re gonna lose your car.’ I say, what do those things matter to me if I’m dead?”
No one gave Steve an ultimatum or forced the decision to walk. He said he has always wanted to do something like this just for the adventure.
“I had no intention of going to the doctor before I left, because he might say I shouldn’t do it, and that would just be one more excuse,” Vaught said.
The can-do attitude is part of Vaught’s experience in the Marines in his younger days, he said.
“In the Marine Corps, they change your mindset in a couple of days, so I knew that was possible,” he said. “I had to do something drastic. Diets didn’t work for me. I didn’t want to spend the next five years fooling around with that stuff.”
The “something drastic” turned out to be his cross-country trip.
“My wife and kids are big source of motivation,” he said. “I was 410 pounds and I realized I might only be around another 10 years. My kids would be 13 and 18, and I might be on oxygen, maybe lost a limb or two. Who wants to dump that on their kids?”
While walking and camping his way across the country, Steve has carried along books for company. He reads and listens to some books on tape.
“I love reading other people’s perspectives, how they look at the world,” he said. “When you read about another’s personal journey, it helps to keep you from slipping into your own little world and thinking you understand everything,” Vaught said.
Vaught isn’t measuring success or failure by the scale; at 6 foot, 1 inch, and 320 pounds, he said he has learned that success and failure are both delusions.
“You can’t be too excited by successes and you can’t be too upset about failures,” he said, admitting he has good days and bad days, and still struggles with healthy eating.
“Before I left I was afraid that people were going to be harsh, judgmental and downright mean. But what I’ve learned is that 90 percent of the people out there are really great people,” Vaught said.
Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or at deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
Tune in
-- Stephen Vaught, the self-proclaimed “Fat Man Walking,” will be profiled for the third time today on the national NBC morning show “Today,” as he walks the next stage of his 2,815-mile journey through Terre Haute on his way from San Diego to New York.
-- More information on the man and the walk can be found on Vaught’s personal Web site: www.
thefatmanwalking.com.
