The 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) champion Laurence “Big Loz” Shahlaei took to his YouTube channel the day after Christmas 2022 to reveal the results of his weight loss journey thus far. The former strongman lost 102 pounds, dropping from 170 kilograms (374.5 pounds) to 123.6 kilograms (272.5 pounds).
Feeling happier, healthier and younger than I have in a long time.
Check out the Q&A from Shahlaei’s YouTube channel below, where his 127,000 subscribers asked him what inspired his weight loss journey, the struggles he faced along the way, and what he plans to do next:
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Shahlaei’s results don’t lie. From his nearly 400-pound strongman frame to what looks like an athlete amidst a bodybuilding prep, Shahlaei’s new sustainable changes have paid off in spades. Although his before and after photos have favorable lighting in the latter, the differences in body fat are apparent.
In his formative years, Shahlaei used eating to cope with difficult family life and financial hardships. He recognized that he could leverage his excess weight to his advantage in strongman, where being heavier is often an advantage as mass moves mass.
“The goal was to make sustainable changes to help me lose the weight slowly and keep it off. I set myself the 100-pound target as there’s absolutely no reason for me to be that heavy anymore, and I wanted to look and feel significantly better in time for my 40th birthday on 25th December. As someone who’s had an unhealthy relationship with food my whole life, just cutting out the bad stuff was really challenging some days. It’s not easy to break a lifetime of unhealthy habits…but it’s worth it.”
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Shahlaei documented his weight loss journey throughout 2022. Back in June, he documented what a full day of eating on his weight loss diet looked like as he maintained a caloric deficit. He ate six meals per day, including pre- and post-workout meals, for a daily total of 3,615 calories — well beneath the diets of his strongman peers, who pack 5,000 calories or more per day.
Although Big Loz no longer competes in elite strongman contests, he still dabbles in sanctioned powerlifting meets. He is routinely on the commentary teams covering the strongman events he once battled in.
Featured image: @biglozwsm on Instagram
