Tyumen Manager Sheds 60 kg After 130-kg Youth

Arkady Mamdzhyan from Tyumen is now 25 years old. At 17, he weighed 134 kilograms (approx. 295 lbs) and looked older than his years. Excess weight had accompanied him since childhood and for a long time seemed inevitable—as constant as difficulties in choosing clothes or mockery from classmates. The turning point happened suddenly: on the first day of summer after tenth grade, Arkady decided he no longer wanted to live like that. Arkady insists that over one summer he lost 60 kilograms (132 lbs). And afterwards, he completely changed his life. How—in the material from 72.RU.

“Mom, I want to lose weight”

According to Arkady, his weight problems started literally from birth. He grew up as a large child, and over the years the situation only worsened. He now describes his lifestyle without excuses: fast food, soda, chips, and almost complete lack of sports. All this, he says, “very strongly influenced” his weight.

By the end of tenth grade, the scale needle reached its maximum—134 kilograms (295 lbs). Yet Arkady himself did not feel physical discomfort for a long time and had grown accustomed to his condition. The real difficulties began in everyday life. He recalls that he could not buy normal clothes for his age, constantly caught the glances of others, and faced mockery and insults. This gradually formed the feeling that he was different from the rest. And not in a good way.

“I lived with a lot of weight for a long time and psychologically and physically got used to this state—I didn’t feel particular discomfort. But at some moments, I still realized that I was different from others: I couldn’t buy clothes of normal size—neither pants nor a T-shirt. People looked at me, there were constant insults and name-calling. Of course, it took a toll,” says the Tyumen resident.

His parents had been worried about their son’s health since childhood. Arkady remembers frequent trips to doctors, tests, and talks about the consequences of excess weight. Mom and dad tried to control his diet and support him, but he made the truly conscious decision himself—and unexpectedly even for himself. This happened immediately after finishing tenth grade.

“I remember this moment well: it was after finishing tenth grade, on the first day of summer—June 1. I approached my mom and said: ‘Mom, I want to lose weight.’ You know, as if something clicked in my head. I understood that I needed to change myself, and I went to exercise,” recalls Arkady.

Training and Nutrition

The young man immediately built his path step by step. First, maximum emphasis on weight loss and reducing volume. He joined a gym and completely revised his nutrition. The second stage was working on his body: building muscle mass and forming definition, so that weight loss would not result in flabbiness and sagging skin.

Nutrition became the key element of his transformation. Arkady removed all flour-based and sweet foods from his diet, gave up habitual snacks on the go, and switched to eating by the clock. He had four main meals a day and several small snacks: fruits, nuts, or cottage cheese. He adhered to this regime strictly and without exceptions.

At the gym, Arkady worked out independently: the schoolboy had no money for a trainer. Therefore, he studied exercises and training programs on the internet, adapting them to himself. Over time, he came to understand that effectiveness is not in heavy weight.

“When I just started exercising, I didn’t yet understand that not always does heavy weight give greater results. One person in the gym who had been training for a long time told me: ‘Better take a smaller weight, but do the exercise with proper technique and more repetitions—it will be much more useful.’ That’s what I started with: I trained with light weight, and then gradually increased the working weight on all exercises,” says the young man.

Arkady built his workouts according to a simple and clear scheme. He exercised three times a week. At the beginning of each session, he spent about ten minutes on cardio on the treadmill. Then followed the main part of the workout with strength exercises. He ended the session with cardio again—another approximately ten minutes.

Additionally, in the first stage, functional nutrition helped him. Arkady replaced one or two meals with it, getting all the necessary nutrients but avoiding overeating. According to him, this allowed him to lose weight smoothly and without serious skin problems. From supplements, he used only protein—without fanaticism.

Minus 60 kilos over the summer

The result was rapid. Over three summer months—June, July, and August—Arkady lost about 60 kilograms (132 lbs). By the beginning of eleventh grade, he looked completely different, and the reaction of his classmates, as he admits, was corresponding.

“Everyone was shocked, of course. No one could have thought that I would lose weight. And everyone asked how. And friends, they didn’t even recognize me at first,” recalls the young man.

After the sharp weight loss, the Tyumen resident focused on body quality. Arkady began working on muscle mass and definition, while maintaining the previous daily routine. He woke up early, went to bed at ten in the evening, and continued to eat fractionally and on schedule. Only the training program changed; the diet and routine remained unchanged.

Today, Arkady no longer goes to the gym, but tries to maintain his shape through nutrition. He is sure that diet became the main tool in his weight loss story. Training is important, but without nutrition, he says, they do not give the desired result. To those who are just thinking about weight loss, Arkady advises not to listen to skeptics and not to expect a quick miracle.

“Guys, don’t give up, and you will definitely succeed,” the Tyumen resident is convinced. “Don’t listen to people who try to stop you and say that you won’t succeed. You decided to change your life, so continue to act. If you don’t give up and tell yourself: ‘I will succeed,’ then you will be very happy with the result.”