William H. Streetman is half the man he used to be, and he couldn’t be more cheerful about it.
The Westerville resident, who goes by “Bill,” loves to talk candidly about his arduous journey – the one that transformed him from a morbidly obese, 404-pound business consultant to a trim, active, weight-conscious 205-pound man with a healthy, well-developed physique on a 6’1” frame. It’s an engaging story.
Streetman is a fixture at the Westerville Community Center. He goes five days a week to exercise, both on his own and in classes that focus on different fitness regimens.
He also observes a stringent diet geared toward maintaining a trim, healthy body. He developed his new method after he underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2010, necessitating immediate changes.
When he was younger, Streetman was a prolific athlete. He particularly enjoyed indoor soccer.
“I played goalie, so I didn’t run up and down the floor,” he says.
He also rode his bicycle frequently until he hit 350 pounds, making cycling an unsafe venture.
“It wasn’t fun (at that weight),” Streetman says. “Gravity works against you.”
Sitting at a table in the lounge in the community center, he chats amicably but without bragging about his transformation, which came after a couple of “aha” moments.
“When I had to have an airplane seat-belt expander, that was a big punch in the face,” Streetman says.
That moment came around the time he hit 400 pounds, the capper on 20 years of gradual gain. He had tried several diets, including one through a hospital weight-management program. Streetman had success with none, and was reaching the point where any form of exercise was impossible.
A consultant to gas and electric companies, Streetman traveled extensively, and the job entailed lots of entertaining – heavy on big meals, light on exercise.
“I had the willpower to do the workout part, but not the diet part,” Streetman says. After 30 years in the time-consuming business, “I had to either do my job or take care of myself.”
When he reached that realization, Streetman was temporarily living near Detroit. He found area doctors and hospitals that could perform his bypass surgery and, in his words, “went all in,” selling his business to partners while dramatically changing his diet and developing his exercise routine.
His weight began to plummet at a weekly clip of six to eight pounds.
“It was as if it wasn’t real,” Streetman says. “I kept imagining it was a dream (and) I’m going to wake up.”
He was surprising himself almost every time he looked in the mirror, finding it harder and harder to recognize the person there. Some friends even wondered if he was having health problems, his weight loss was so rapid and noticeable.
It wasn’t all a bed of roses. He had a post-surgery infection. He had to learn to eat small portions and give up some foods and liquids. He was nauseated and sometimes vomited from the dietary adjustment. He had extensive surgery to remove a layer of extra skin around his stomach that had stretched but would not shrink.
After Streetman exhausted his wardrobe of progressively smaller clothes, which he had worn while gaining weight, he turned to thrift stores to periodically buy cheap shirts and pants. They usually were too big within a week or two, so he would donate them back and buy more.
As he started shopping for his new permanent size, he found himself unfamiliar with labeling and once bought child-size swim trunks. At home, he keeps the last outsized clothes he bought when he had nothing that fit properly. Occasionally, he hauls out the size 62 jacket and size 54 pants, which he had picked up in Washington, D.C. He wears a size 42 coat now.
After the surgery, Streetman began a daily diet that includes 50 to 60 grams of protein; one gram each of calcium and vitamins D3 and B-12; and 30 grams of dietary fiber, with limited saturated fats, sugars and sodium.
Typically, Streetman’s daily intake consists of protein shakes; sufficient servings of dairy, including cheese and low-carb yogurt; fish, usually canned tuna; soup, mostly French onion; and plenty of water. His wife of 32 years, Colleen, has adopted some of his diet and has lost weight herself in recent years.
He takes classes on kettlebells, aerobics, weight training and kickboxing at the community center. He also runs and uses fitness equipment on his own. He rides his bike on treks short and long, including a 500-mile trip around Ohio. Streetman keeps his workouts rigorous without going so far as to risk burnout.
Initially, he allowed his weight to fall to 180. Then, through rigorous exercise, he gained at least 20 pounds of muscle, which toned his body. Today, he’s in excellent health.
He has written extensively on his blog, www.whs-newlife.com, about his experiences, and periodically submits articles to health magazines. Some patients turn to clinics for post-op counseling and guidance, but Streetman didn’t. He committed to a new lifestyle and refers to his writings as his “sessions on a psychiatrist’s couch.”
The 26-year Westerville resident is active in the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce, particularly the Taste of Westerville event, and coaches in the Special Olympics every spring.
Streetman has some further, and extremely ambitious, fitness goals. One is a coast-to-coast bike ride. Another is hiking the Appalachian Trail, perhaps in sections rather than trying it all at once.
“Sometimes, you have big goals,” he says. “Even if you don’t make them, you still do some cool things along the way.”
He likes to travel. In August, he spent two weeks backpacking in Thailand with his youngest son, Tommy, a teacher in South Korea who flew in for the trek. Another son, Andrew, has a computer business in Westerville at which Streetman spends some time, and the third son, Terry, works for nonprofits in Lansing, Mich.
Another Streetman endeavor is speaking to groups.
“I like talking about what I have done, whether (listeners’) goal is weight loss or they just want to hear about it,” he says. “I have been lucky, blessed, successful in what I have done. I enjoy talking about it. It helps me a lot. I hope it helps others.”
When the 75-minute chat ends, he heads to kettlebell class, toting two small bottles of water, to help himself.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
