MARTY POPOLOSKI, OF CHERRY HILL, NJ, FORMER HARVARD UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PLAYER AND CURRENT AMTRAK EXECUTIVE CHANGES HIS LIFE AND LIFESTYLE LOSES 211 POUNDS ON THE WEIGHT WATCHERS PROGRAM
When Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Marty Popoloski became 50-years of age and his weight reached 400 pounds, he thought to himself that he was never going to reach the age of 60 if he didn’t change his life and lifestyle. But now thanks to WW (Weight Watchers reimagined) the six-foot, four-inch former defensive tackle for Harvard University and current Amtrak executive is now 211 pounds lighter and is most grateful for the profound change that has overtaken his life.
He has trimmed down to a slender size 36-inch pants waist from his original size 54-inch waist and says that he now looks and feels better and has much more energy to play with his three step-children and three step-grandchildren. However, things weren’t so good for him a short while ago. Over the last ten years, the director of systems operations for Amtrak in their Wilmington, Delaware Command Center says that he continued to put on unwanted pounds and inches.
“I enjoy food, watching it being made on the Food Channel, visualizing it and of course enjoying the taste of it,” says Popoloski who has a bachelor’s of arts degree in economics from Harvard where he played varsity college football. During those years he says that his weight stayed under control because he practiced with the football team three to four hours every afternoon.
But after that, his life and lifestyle began to change. He married, divorced and ate lots of good homecooked and restaurant meals, and became much more sedentary. “I started to eat three or four portions at every meal in addition to eating plenty of snacks, fast food, and junk foods including pizza, pasta, and cheesesteaks and wasn’t getting much exercise because my joints ached so much,” he says. One of his motivations to join the Weight Watchers Program came after he returned from the NFL Super Bowl in 2019 where he had difficulty climbing the steps in the stadium.
On a more personal note, he talks candidly about his late father, who became morbidly obese and bedridden in the last few years of his life. “I didn’t want to end up like that. I wanted to enjoy my life with my family."
He has been with his current love, Maria, for the last 12 years. He says that she was a major support component in his successful weight-loss journey. He also credits his Coach Carol Wilder for her sincere support and motivation. “Carol was awesome,” he states. “She is one of the main reasons I was able to reach my weight-loss goal, complete the maintenance program and become a Lifetime Member,” Popoloski relates.
He additionally notes that the members in his Workshop provided plenty of helpful tips and information. “I needed to attend the in-person Workshops for accountability, motivation, and support,” he comments. A great many of those members have now become my good friends.”
He added an exercise component after he started to lose weight--nine pounds in the first week! He put an elliptical machine in his basement along with some free weights and began exercising about an hour and a half every day. It also has helped to keep his weight under control since he reached his goal and became a Lifetime Member.
“Now when I walk around in my work environment, I do not feel that I’m infringing on someone else’s space, just my own,” Marty says. It has taken him just shy of two years to complete his weight-loss journey.
On advice to others trying to lose weight, he offers, “Take notice of the benefits of WW and attend the
in-person Workshops. They really help.”
Marty was featured on ABC Action News! Click to watch this inspirational story
