Vivien Slim3 15 days later...

Day 0

Day 15

 

Back in the early 2000s, as a teenager, when getting drunk at Zöld Pardon on smuggled vodka from the convenience store wasn't beneath us, when we could still bond with the engineering jerks from Kandó and Schönherz dorms, when we still believed life was ahead of us, we did things that we wouldn't even imagine doing today, due to ingrained prejudices and societal conventions forced upon us. At that time, we were still open to the world, our thirst for exploring and discovering new things seemed unquenchable, and we tried to satisfy it with the experiences the night offered. During the first fights, we learned the meaning of hierarchy, we first confronted the differences between castes and human types, we learned to cross to the other side of the street, and the women, who were constant variables in our lives, whom we couldn't handle, appreciate, or primarily understand back then. Women we couldn't love, opportunities we couldn't seize. In the nights, we sold our souls, played smart, and had our hearts broken. We searched for our sexuality, sometimes found our dominance, while elsewhere it was deeply humiliated. It was beautiful because we were young, almost children, the same age as Adri and Vivien now. We were still impressionable and malleable because we were getting to know the world and its rules. These are the last years of upbringing, when we can still be influenced, and then that's it, the gates close, our ego develops, our personality forms, and we become independent individuals whose lives no one can interfere with anymore. What we receive up to this point or during this period, we carry with us through life, be it ideology, orientation, or lifestyle...

 

During this period, in the middle of another aimless night, thoroughly soaked in a bottle of vodka, I don't exactly remember how, but fate led us to a homeless man. At 19, "get out, you filthy worm" wasn't our first visceral reaction, as it would be now, but rather a desire for understanding within us, to comprehend how a human life could degenerate so much that someone would end up like this. During the conversation, we learned that the man was a high school teacher, literature if I remember correctly, but who the hell knows for sure anymore; his wife cheated on him, whom he still loved despite everything, then came the divorce, escaping into alcohol, which obviously ruined him and led to him being fired, he couldn't pay the rent, and found himself on the street. He also had two children he hadn't spoken to in 3 years, but supposedly he secretly watches them sometimes when they go to school. He doesn't greet them, doesn't wave at them, he just wants to see them, but he doesn't want them to see him like this, because he doesn't want to appear before them in such a state.

 

It was a sad story that affected us then, because a seemingly valuable, well-communicating, educated man had fallen to rock bottom, whether due to luck or fate, we'll never know. This happened 7 years ago. If the guy hasn't pulled himself together since then, he's probably no longer alive. This incident always reminds me that if the ground slips from under your feet, and you do nothing about it, just let yourself drift, then degradation can reach such levels that it becomes very difficult, or impossible, to come back from. For this person to climb back into a livable life and become a member of society again, they would have to perform superhuman work, and they would need to be mentally present just as much, because if you're truly deep down and one of these is missing, then you're certainly done for, and only the rate of descent is the question. After a certain point, it's very hard to come back, because the path is too long, and even reaching an average level requires a lot of work. Getting back from 30-40-50 kg of excess weight is no easy feat. Above a certain amount of overweight, you have to hit the brakes. If you don't, you just drift, and if you think "I don't care anymore, it doesn't matter," then you too will find yourself on the street of your life in moments, and from there, there's almost no way back.

When Vivien applied for Slim3, all she knew was that she wanted to change her current lifestyle and lose weight, which she couldn't do alone. I don't think she was fully aware of what she was getting herself into, but at least she hit that certain brake. After 19 years of doing absolutely nothing, with above-average overweight, losing weight is a brutal process, but not an impossible task. The problem is that those in this state think a little differently. That's why Vivien needed the most attention among the three girls during the critical first 15 days. This meant that she was with me for almost every training session without exception, where I could personally experience the suffering that someone goes through when they have neglected themselves for years but want to change and embark on a radical lifestyle change program.

 

Vivien's first workouts were absolutely terrible. We started with 1-minute runs followed by half-minute rests, and even then, she had to stop. Her side ached, her head hurt, she suspiciously looked at the bushes a lot from the 3 liters of water daily, and breathing was also a serious problem. The first week of running workouts was a path of tears for Vivi, but she did it admirably, and I did everything to keep her spirits up, because it really was as awful as I described. We're talking about a 19-year-old girl here, I'm just quietly noting... At this point, Vivi hit a huge low. I also spoke to her boyfriend to pay close attention to her, and I outlined a few things about all this to Vivi myself, meaning she received a post from me in person.

 

From the second week, a change occurred. Vivi gradually began to improve, and most importantly, she started to love exercise, which is the primary goal for someone who is just getting acquainted with an elevated heart rate. The improvement was noticeable not only in Vivi's attitude but also in her time, as she literally improved by 7 minutes and 21 seconds in 8 days. After the initial 1-minute runs, we first ran for 2 minutes, then gradually increased the time, until now Vivien is running for 3 minutes with half-minute rests, and tomorrow we'll scratch into 4-minute runs. In the day before yesterday's training, her head no longer hurt, her side no longer stung, and I saw that she was enjoying the run, and this is the point from which we can take off. I feel that the initial push was definitively given by the pictures and the decrease in the numbers from two weeks ago, meaning we've laid the foundations and construction can begin. I'm damn happy about Vivi's progress, because a new person is being born before my eyes, and I say this without any exaggeration.

Monday run with Vivien in Városliget at 5:30 PM. We start from the entrance of the ice rink, whoever wants to join...

 

Vivien 

15 days have passed... How strange. It feels like I only started the program three days ago. Diet? Pretty good. I enjoy that I can eat not only chicken and rice, but also spinach, cabbage stew, and even bananas.

What causes difficulty is sticking to five meals a day, and unfortunately, I don't always succeed, but I'm really working on it. I have to drink at least 3 liters of water daily. I never drank little, but this is quite a lot. In my whole diet, this is perhaps the hardest to stick to.

Last week was my 19th birthday and also my first big challenge...

My boyfriend organized a surprise party, and it was at our favorite wine bar. Everyone was drinking, enjoying the ever-better cheese platters, and I was toasting with my plain water... But despite all this, we had a fantastic party in the end.

The next day came the second trial immediately: family lunch with the grandparents. Before any "accident" happened, I impressed upon my mom that no matter how much I loved marzipan chocolate cake, it would be a deadly sin now. Luckily, she understood and instead of cake, I got salad and steamed chicken breast 

Surprisingly, running is going best. Two weeks ago, I almost died after 400m, now I can do 3-3.5km. I know many people will say "oh, that's nothing," but I'm very proud of myself. Considering I've never run more than 100m in my life and I have 20kg of excess weight, I feel like I'm improving quite well.

I never thought I could run 3km. Maybe slowly, and by the end, I'm really suffering, but I do it, and that's the point.

Bence is my personal doping agent  Workouts go much better with him than when I go running alone or with my girlfriend. Perhaps because I know he would run faster, and maybe subconsciously that motivates me.

22.2km in two weeks is a very good performance from me, as you know I never moved for a minute.

Minus 2.6kg in fifteen days. I know this isn't much and could be more. But I'm positive about it. I'm doing everything I can to achieve what I set out to do. I go for a run every day and stick to my diet perfectly. I'm still very much at the beginning, but I have 75 more days ahead of me, and I will see it through with all my might.