About

Why name this blog “Yo Big Mike”?  Well, that’s what I’ve been known as for most of my life.  I grew up in Hollis, Queens, N.Y., and anyone from New York knows that “Yo”  is almost like an unofficial first name. No matter the race or ethnicity, “Yo” is our universal term of endearment. I’ve always been big and there’s a hundred million “Mikes” running around, so that’s how I got my name. To be honest, early on some kids used to call me “Fat Mike” and it wasn’t meant in a malicious sense, but I wasn’t the dude that most picked on neither, so eventually, everyone fell in line and gave respect where it was due. You know what I mean??

I was always big or fat, but I wasn’t lazy. I played all of the games as the other kids and excelled in most. Growing up, I knew I was big, but didn’t know I was big. That means I was usually in the first “3″ picked when choosing up sides for basketball, football, ring-o-levio, stickball, etc., so the skill level and the ability to compete with the skinny kids was there. I remember I was 185 pounds in the 5th grade.  I was 235 pounds and 6 ft tall when I entered High School (Andrew Jackson H.S., stand up!), but I wasn’t sloppy fat. I wore my size well, so I was “Yo, Big Mike” to the fullest. I played High School football (I hated it), so I worked out regularly. In my mind, I should have been on the basketball team, but I wasn’t shaped like them and we always had one of the top teams in the city.  That didn’t mean the skill level wasn’t there, ’cause I held my own in the parks around my way, but I was probably too slow. Even now at 44 years old and 333 pounds, I amaze myself when I play these kids half my age and have them tripping over themselves, because somebody my age and size shouldn’t be able to beat them off the dribble, crossover and do a reverse layup at half speed.  I’ll pass out after that move and have to call a sub to come in, but while I’m sucking air, wheezing while holding my chest, I’ll crack a smile knowing that “yeah, I still got it”.

I’ll be 45yrs old in October and I don’t want to have to call in a sub, over give the young guy the best 10 minute butt kicking of his life.  I want to be able to play full court basketball and breathe easy. I want to be able to keep up with my 13 and 10 year old son and daughter. It starts with what I eat. I never knew my mother to fry foods, but it wasn’t until she sent me to stay with my grandmoms for the summer in Baltimore, when I was eleven, I discovered fried chicken, cakes, pies and snacks. Grandmoms hooked it up!!!  I got fat over that summer. I mean, I went from stout to extra large.

So this is my diet, healthier lifestyle, I wanna live blog. I now live in Atlanta, Ga., where Southern cuisine and overindulgence is fashionable.  I’ve been here almost 3 years now and indulged quite a bit, and to be honest, I feel horrible. Physically, I think I have never felt this out of shape and tired in my life.  The ball’s in my court, 4th quarter with a second left on the clock.  I can’t afford to lose………