By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
Gary Marino was in Jacksonville, Fla., on April 6 and started walking north.
By July 17, he’ll be in his hometown of Boston.
“I’m basically walking home,” he joked.
His walk is anything but a joke. He’s dubbed his 1,200-mile trek the “Million Calorie March.”
Marino, who was raised in an Italian family that frequently served lasagna and pasta, developed a weight problem in his early teens.
He grew up in the 1970s, when fast food was a lifestyle, not an occasional treat. He’s always loved burgers, ribs, french fries and his favorite — all-you-can-eat buffets.
Various quick-fix diets proved unsuccessful.
“I tried ’em all,” he said.
By January 2000, the 5-foot-9 Marino tipped the scales at a whopping 397 pounds. It was the turn of the millennium that convinced him to change his ways.
Marino isn’t impressed with Super Size Me, the movie about a man who ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days.
“Big deal, I did it for thirty years,” he kidded.
At the turn of the century, the Massachusetts man began walking five miles a day, hired a fitness trainer, took up tennis and adhered to a strict diet.
For breakfast, he has coffee, soy milk, raw almonds and fruit. A typical lunch is a grilled chicken salad with low-calorie dressing. For dinner, he eats cottage cheese, salad and yogurt.
His taste buds needed some major adjustments, but he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out on any of the good stuff.
“You get used to it,” he said of his new diet. “To me, it’s delicious.”
By the start of the march three months ago, Marino’s weight dropped to 288 pounds. Today, he’s about 246.
The additional weight loss is a side benefit, but Marino is marching for three main reasons — to be an inspiration to heavy people, to bring awareness to the problems of obesity and to raise money for his Generation Excel foundation.
Generation Excel sends kids to weight-loss camps, provides a DVD to parents to teach them how to manage their children’s weight problem, funds physical education programs in schools and provides grants for obesity research.
Marino said obesity can lead to diabetes and other health problems and contribute to a wasted youth for children. Heavy youths frequently become social outcasts.
“You don’t grow up right,” he said.
Those youngsters, in Marino’s view, have no self-love and compensate by eating more.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” he said.
Marino is trying to reach heavy youths and adults. The standup comic tries to inject humor in an otherwise serious subject matter.
In his book, Big & Tall Chronicles, he has a chapter titled, “Paradise by the Buffet Lights.”
The author also discusses what he calls “post-traumatic stretch disorder.” He says eating and weight gain often follow a stressful incident.
“You head right to the Ben & Jerry’s,” he said.
Marino, 38, recommends that overweight people who are constantly hungry do something else that gives them pleasure, whether it’s shopping, writing or performing household chores.
The recovered food addict believes his message is getting across to the American public. He’s appeared three times on Live with Regis and Kelly, has been interviewed on CBS and FOX networks and been featured in People magazine.
He’s met with U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, widow of Sonny Bono, who has introduced a bill that would provide funding to fight obesity.
At present, the government spends a mere $3.68 per patient on obesity research. By comparison, about $2,000 per patient is spent on AIDS research.
Marino is thankful that, over the last few months, his wife Julie has been able to run the talent agency/production company that he owns.
As for the march, Marino jokes that he’s turned the eastern seaboard into his personal treadmill. He walks about 20 miles a day and stays in Sheraton hotels, which are sponsoring him. Marino was in Philadelphia and Chester County for five days in June. He attended a Van Halen concert and even sampled a cheesesteak.
He also met with youths ages 10 to 13 who attend a Drexel University-sponsored health center in North Philadelphia.
He and the adolescents walked from the Sheraton Society Hill to the Liberty Bell, with the kids chanting, “What do we want? Good food. When do we want it? Now.”
Marino preaches that good health comes from eating right and exercising. Kids and adults need to be vigilant about their health.
“Learn about nutrition and work out like crazy,” he recommends. ••
Fore more information on Gary Marino’s journey, along with nutrition tips, visit www.millioncaloriemarch.com
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com