The weight loss secrets of Ricky Lumpkin

By Ben Jones

Plenty of college students struggle with their weight during the course of the school year. Ricky Lumpkin, a junior on the UK football team, is no different.

But Lumpkin’s problems are a little bit different than most. He plays defensive tackle, which requires most players to be about 300 pounds during the season. In August, he weighed about 295 pounds. During the course of just two or three months, Lumpkin dropped all the way to the low 260s, not much larger than a couple of UK’s defensive ends.

“I ate everything possible. I’m a defensive tackle, I eat what’s put in front of me,” Lumpkin said. “I have no clue how I lost 30 pounds. I had blood work done. I’m still eating and I can’t gain weight.”

No one seems to know how Lumpkin lost so much weight. The coaches have been on him about it, and while he’s managed to get back into the low 270s, he’s still weighs in at far less than most other players at his position. He does work out several times a week in practice, spends time on an elliptical and lifts weights with the team three times a week, but his problems seem to be unique. His teammates aren’t having the same trouble with their weight.

“Linebackers are bigger than me,” Lumpkin laments. “I’m not going to say any names, No. 4.”

Senior linebacker Micah Johnson, who wears No. 4, is listed at 258 pounds. Most college students would testify that even the most religious workout schedule isn’t enough to make up for a poor diet, but that hasn’t been the case for Lumpkin.

“I go to Wendy’s, I’m going to people’s houses trying to get fattened up,” Lumpkin said. “I go to O’Charley’s, I’m ordering ribs and what I don’t eat, I wake up at 2 o’clock in the morning, do something unhealthy and eat the rest of it. I can’t gain weight for nothing.”

He knows he can’t get back to 300 pounds during the season, but is at least trying to eat his way back into the high 270s. The trouble is that after the season is over, he’s not going to want to gain the rest of the weight – that’s when the coaching staff makes the players run.

Chinese food is a favorite of Lumpkin, no matter what it is.

“That and anything Megan Jones cooks,” Lumpkin said, referring to the girlfriend of senior cornerback Trevard Lindley. “She cooks for all of us. I eat everything. What ever Miss Jones cooks, I eat.”

Lumpkin will continue to eat, and he’ll keep struggling with his weight. Until he can figure out what the cause is for his inexplicable weight loss, he has only one piece of advice for anyone else trying to lose weight.

“Eat everything in front of you, and if it happens it happens,” Lumpkin said. “I don’t know how I did it. It’s a fluke.”

On second thought, there’s one more thing piece of advice Lumpkin has.

“Eat dinner with Trevard’s girlfriend,” Lumpkin said. “Let me clarify: go eat dinner with Trevard and Trevard’s girlfriend and friends.”