Jersey sumo wrestler is on a diet

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) - Even sumo wrestlers can weigh too much, as Emanuel "Tiny" Yarbrough can testify. Yarbrough, a former sumo wrestling champion and nationally ranked judo competitor, is trying to lose more than 200 pounds in an effort to improve his health and possibly take to the ring again in competitive sports.
"I was sick and tired of being sick and tired," said Yarbrough, 42, describing why he decided to lose the weight. "I want to just get back to my life."
Under a doctor's supervision, he's trying to drop from a starting weight of 752 pounds to about 550 pounds, and hopefully take part next year in the U.S. Olympic judo qualifying match as well as the Sumo World Championships.
The deep-voiced Yarbrough is in some ways an oddity - a 6-foot-7 black man in a predominantly Japanese sport where he outweighs even the other heavyweights.
But his battle with the bulge reflects that of many other Americans.
Yarbrough said he didn't intentionally gain the weight for sumo. He put on the pounds the same way most people do: not enough exercise and too much eating.
His already poor eating habits didn't help. Raised in New Jersey by two parents from the South, he grew up eating a lot of fried foods. By the time he was 14, he already weighed 320 pounds.
As an adult, meals often meant fast food in bulk: a trip to McDonald's meant two Big Macs, a Filet-O-Fish, large fries and a drink; going to Wendy's usually meant ordering two burgers, a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a shake.
"It's always got to be two of something," Yarbrough said.