Man loses 70 pounds by playing video games: 'It's an easy way to exercise'

A Utah man has revealed how he managed to lose almost 70 pounds while playing his favorite video games.

The benefits of playing video games are still debated: A 2020 study of more than 2,000 children published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open found that kids who reported playing video games for three or more hours a day performed cognitive tasks faster and more accurately, including impulse control and working memory.

However, this group also showed significantly higher rates of attention problems, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

But while there seem to be pros and cons to playing video games regularly, Saratoga Springs-based reporting analyst George Waterhouse has demonstrated that there are potential benefits if used correctly.

Waterhouse said. Newsweek He's “passionate about data and telling stories with numbers,” and the numbers now tell a big story: Eighteen months ago, he weighed 250 pounds.

“I had reached my peak weight and knew I needed to improve my health,” Waterhouse said. “My wife and I bought a treadmill, but it sat in the garage for a few months. Finally, one day I decided to start walking for an hour every morning at three miles per hour. I quickly got bored.”

Waterhouse isn't the only one who finds traditional exercise boring: In a 2021 OnePoll poll of 2,000 U.S. adults commissioned by Zumba, 45% of respondents said they found exercise boring and only did it to socialize with friends.

In the same survey, 84% of people said they'd exercise more if it wasn't so boring, but Waterhouse was quick to come up with a way to spice up her fitness journey.

An avid gamer, he came up with the idea to play his favorite first-person shooter game, Overwatch, on the Nintendo Switch console while running using wireless Joy-Con controllers.

“At first I put the switch on the treadmill's control panel, but it hurt my neck if I looked down too far,” Waterhouse says, “so I came up with a platform out of a storage box in the garage that was at eye level, and since then I've found it to be easy and enjoyable to exercise.”

Waterhouse said this approach is not without its challenges, especially when it comes to the games themselves.

“The hardest part for me was relearning how to aim using the Joy-Con analog stick,” he said. “It took me about a month of playing quick-play games before I felt confident enough to jump in competitively and not be a drag on my team.”

But it's worth it: Waterhouse estimates that he burns between 500 and 800 calories each session, depending on the length and intensity.

A year and a half into the new treatment, Waterhouse is already seeing results.

“When I started, my goal was to get down to 180 pounds,” he said. “So far this year, I've been pretty consistent between 182 and 185 pounds, so I've finally achieved my weight loss goal. The next step is to start lifting weights between fights, and then I'll be unstoppable.”

At the same time, the Overwatch sessions helped Waterhouse understand the value of getting away from a computer screen and exercising.

“I'm an avid runner and recently placed in the top 20 in a 5K race, an achievement I'm particularly proud of as I've only been running for a year and a half,” he said.

Waterhouse understands that everyone is different, but his advice to those looking to follow in his footsteps is the same.

“Make a plan,” he says. “No strings attached, no excuses, and start small. For me, it was running one hour per day at three miles per hour, with one day of rest. You have to develop a habit first, and then you can focus on training harder.”

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