Losing weight is a global problem.
In the system data Chen Yu had obtained, there was some information from traditional Chinese medicine that could potentially be related to weight loss.
But it was only a potential link.
For example, the dietary medicinal meals he had been providing to the Phoenix Suns had laxative effects and promoted digestion.
Theoretically, improved digestion is beneficial for weight loss.
Beyond that, even Acupuncture, when applied to the intestinal meridians, could also promote bowel movements and digestion.
But that was the extent of it.
Chen Yu didn’t believe these methods alone could make a person lose weight.
If it were that simple, Chen Yu could have become a billionaire on this method alone.
So, to lose weight, it still came down to the old-fashioned method: eat less and move more.
More importantly, he had to give O’Neal the motivation to lose weight.
With this in mind, Chen Yu continued, "Shaq, have you ever wondered why your feet have started having frequent problems this year?"
O’Neal hesitated for a moment. "Is it because of my weight?"
He wasn’t stupid at all.
Chen Yu nodded and showed O’Neal the X-rays of his feet. "Look, because of your excessive weight, there’s immense pressure on your toes and arches. Let me ask you, when you get out of bed in the morning and your feet touch the floor, do you sometimes feel pain in the soles of your feet?"
O’Neal froze, surprised. "Chen, how did you know that?"
Chen Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
’I was wrong about the snoring and tachycardia—common problems caused by obesity—but at least I guessed right about the plantar fasciitis.’
"It’s simple. Your excessive weight increases the pressure on your arches, leading to strain and inflammation. Right now, you might only feel occasional pain, but over time, if the problem isn’t addressed, it will develop into plantar fasciitis."
"And once it develops into plantar fasciitis, the problem becomes very serious. You’ll lose your athletic ability and explosiveness."
Chen Yu wasn’t just fearmongering. Plantar fasciitis, unlike a torn ligament, won’t immediately end your career. But once you have it, it’s difficult to heal, and its impact on athletic ability is no less severe than a torn ligament.
O’Neal’s expression changed slightly.
Chen Yu continued, "Then there’s your heart. Obesity increases the pressure on your circulatory system to supply blood to your body’s tissues, which puts a greater burden on your heart. When I asked you about snoring and a rapid heartbeat, those are early warning signs of potential heart problems."
"You’re lucky that you don’t have these issues yet. But if you don’t get your weight under control, they will appear. Heart failure caused by a rapid heartbeat, in particular, could be life-threatening."
"And about the snoring—don’t think it’s not a big deal. Many people have died quietly in their sleep while snoring."
O’Neal felt a chill run down his spine. "Chen, you’re not messing with me, are you?" he asked uncertainly.
"What do you think?" Chen Yu retorted.
He certainly wasn’t lying, but he was definitely exaggerating.
But if he didn’t put it that way, O’Neal wouldn’t take the problem of obesity seriously.
"Shaq, you’re not even 30 yet. If you could play until you’re 40 like Patrick, you’d still have another ten years in your career. You don’t want obesity to cause health problems that affect the next decade of your career, do you? Or even worse, become life-threatening," Chen Yu said with a solemn expression.
O’Neal naturally didn’t dare to ignore the words of a medical authority like Chen Yu.
But losing weight?
The mere thought of it made O’Neal shudder. That stuff was pure agony.
"Chen, how many pounds do I have to lose?" O’Neal asked tentatively.
If it was too much, he’d rather not do it at all.
Chen Yu thought about it seriously.
Getting O’Neal down to 300 pounds wasn’t realistic.
"Let’s start by getting down to 350 pounds." A weight of 400 pounds was simply ridiculous.
It was hard to even imagine how he managed to run and jump back and forth with that much weight.
O’Neal grimaced. Even 350 pounds felt like an unattainable number to him.
Jackson hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.
To be honest, Jackson had long been unhappy with O’Neal’s steadily increasing weight.
But his advice was useless; O’Neal wouldn’t listen.
But who would have thought that O’Neal would actually listen to Chen Yu?
So, seeing the hesitation still on O’Neal’s face, Jackson immediately said, "Shaq, Chen is a medical expert. You should trust his diagnosis. This is for your own safety."
After speaking, he even shot Kupchek a look.
Kupchek quickly chimed in, nodding and agreeing repeatedly.
O’Neal looked at Jackson, then at Chen Yu. He suspected the two were in cahoots.
But from what he knew of Chen Yu, he didn’t seem like the type of person to do something like that.
Gritting his teeth, O’Neal nodded with a pained expression and asked, "Chen, so how do I lose weight?"
’You’re asking me? I’d like to know myself,’ Chen Yu thought.
"Right, what’s your diet like now?" Chen Yu asked.
Training was important, but what he ate was even more so.
O’Neal said with a proud look, "I have a private chef who prepares five meals a day for me. Oh, and I can cook myself. My grilled ribeye steak is especially good—my grandma gave me a secret recipe. The flavor is amazing. Chen, you’re not leaving today, are you? Come over to my place tonight, and I’ll make it for you to try."
Chen Yu was speechless.
’Five meals a day, plus you cook extra for yourself. No wonder you gained so much weight over the summer.’
"By the way, are you guys using Physical Fitness No. 1?" Chen Yu turned and asked Jackson.
Chen Yu had already given the formula to every team, but whether they were using it or not, he didn’t know.
Jackson shook his head, looking a bit awkward. "We tried giving it to them at the beginning of the season, but they couldn’t stand it, so we had to give up. Only Kobe is still using it now."
"Kobe?"
Chen Yu was a little surprised. He knew many people couldn’t tolerate it, but he hadn’t expected Kobe to stick with it.
"Give it to him," Chen Yu said, pointing at O’Neal.
Physical Fitness No. 1 was beneficial for improving an athlete’s body fat percentage. At the same time, when starting a weight loss regimen and controlling one’s diet, it could also be used to boost the body’s energy.
Plus, promoting digestion was helpful in any case.
O’Neal’s face went pale. He let out an exaggerated wail, "Chen, that Physical Fitness No. 1 you’re talking about is poison! You’ll die if you drink it!"
Chen Yu ignored him and continued, "Next is training. You guys know what to do in that department."
If they trained him to death, he’d eventually slim down. There was no need for Chen Yu to say anything specific.
Jackson nodded, glancing at O’Neal with a grin.
A sudden chill ran down O’Neal’s back. ’That’s a killer’s intent!’
"Shaq, this is for your own safety," Chen Yu said at the perfect moment, cutting off any protest from O’Neal.
O’Neal nodded with a bitter smile.
Weight loss was one thing, but the immediate problem still needed to be addressed.
In Chen Yu’s opinion, the current condition of O’Neal’s big toe hadn’t reached the point of requiring surgery. The main focus was still on controlling the inflammation.
After applying a medicinal treatment and making sure he finished the medicine, Chen Yu had done all he could for now.
After leaving the hospital and seeing O’Neal off, once he was out of earshot, Jackson turned and grabbed Chen Yu’s hand, thanking him profusely.
"Chen, you’ve been a huge help."
These were Jackson’s sincere words. He even felt that whether or not O’Neal successfully lost weight could determine if the Lakers could win another championship this year.
Chen Yu waved his hand. ’Don’t be so quick to thank me. Whether he can actually lose the weight is another story,’ he thought.
O’Neal was clearly not that disciplined.
「After another day in Los Angeles, Chen Yu set off back to Phoenix.」
Haaland was leaving.
His wife and child had come to the United States specifically to pick him up.
Having not seen him for a few months, Little Haaland had grown quite a bit. When he saw Chen Yu, he clearly remembered him, spreading his arms and asking to be held.
Chen Yu smiled and picked him up.
"Chen, it looks like Erling really likes you," Marita said with a chuckle.
Chen Yu smiled.
He was quite fond of the little guy himself. After all, he had saved his life.
"Have a safe trip." Chen Yu handed Little Haaland back and turned to hug Old Haaland.
"Thank you." Old Haaland hugged Chen Yu, his voice thick with emotion.
It was no exaggeration to say that Chen Yu had saved his professional career.
He wasn’t a big-name star like Ronaldo or Redondo. He was just an ordinary professional player, the kind who had to think twice about a medical bill of a few hundred thousand US dollars.
If it weren’t for his family, he might have retired on the spot after suffering such a major injury.
But Chen Yu had given him the chance to play again and earn a few more years of income for his family.
Just two words.
But Chen Yu heard so much more in them.
In fact, compared to players like Ronaldo, Chen Yu preferred treating ordinary players like Old Haaland.
Like his own father, they weren’t superstars in the spotlight, and they might not have had dazzlingly brilliant careers, but to their families, their careers were incredibly important.
"Keep it up."
Chen Yu patted Old Haaland on the back.
As he watched the family get into the car and drive away, Lexi, who was beside him, suddenly said sentimentally, "What a happy family."
Chen Yu’s heart skipped a beat. ’Is she hinting at me?’
Just as he was about to speak, his phone rang.
"I have to take this," Chen Yu said, answering the call.
After listening for just a moment, Chen Yu’s brow furrowed.
"What’s wrong?" Lexi asked as soon as Chen Yu hung up.
Chen Yu shook his head. "It’s nothing. I’m heading to the team facility."
He drove to the arena.
The regular season had been underway for nearly two months now.
This year’s Phoenix Suns squad was older on average, with a bunch of veterans. It was fair to say that injuries were to be expected after more than a month of a grueling schedule.
Even with Chen Yu keeping an eye on them.
But Chen Yu hadn’t expected the first player to get injured not to be one of the veterans like Olajuwon, but J Kidd.
His back was hurting.
"Did anything happen to him during the game against the Nuggets the day before yesterday?" Chen Yu asked after finding Nelson.
The day before yesterday, the Suns had played an away game against the Nuggets.
Because it was an away game, Chen Yu hadn’t traveled with the team.
Nelson frowned, thought hard for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, and as you know, we conduct physical checks on all the players after every game to monitor their condition. If his back was hurting, we should have discovered it then."
This was a requirement Chen Yu had established.
Especially for away games, he required Nelson to check every player after each game to confirm they were physically fine.
If a problem had occurred during the game, he should have felt it immediately afterward, and it would have been detected.
"Then was there a problem during practice today?" Chen Yu asked.
The game was the day before yesterday, and practice was scheduled for this morning. It was after practice that J Kidd complained about his back hurting.
Nelson shook his head again. "On your way here, I already went through the practice footage twice and didn’t find anything wrong."
These days, every Suns practice was recorded by cameras to facilitate data analysis. If he had been bumped or twisted himself during training, there should have been a traceable sign that could be seen on the video.
If it wasn’t this and it wasn’t that, then this was truly strange.
Chen Yu looked over at J Kidd, who was lying face down on the massage table.
’Everything was fine. How did it suddenly herniate?’
He had a bulging disc last season, but it was just a bulge. In theory, a bulge can worsen over time and eventually herniate.
But there had to be a trigger, right?
This season, Chen Yu had been paying close attention to J Kidd’s bulging disc problem.

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