Half the Man, Twice the Energy: Benny Sims’ weight loss journey | Rockingham Now

Dr. Cody Drake then said that losing weight to the 336-pound sim at the time would help relieve pain in his legs and back.

Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope’s wife, friend Elysia Corp, introduced him to the dietary plans she was using when she learned that The Sims needed to drop those extra pounds. did.

Elyshia lost 35 pounds using the program.

So last June, Sims registered for the plan and lost £ 24 in the first month. At the end of the four months, the Sims were exactly 100 pounds lighter and he said he didn’t exercise.

After dropping 80 pounds, his legs didn’t hurt and he saw 10 inches of waistline disappear.

“My back didn’t hurt too much,” said Sims, who is known to many for the area’s famous barbecue Baba Bear sauce.

By his next visit with Drake, The Sims had dropped £ 102, and the doctor told him: “Keep doing what you’re doing,” Sims said.

“I feel much better,” Sims said in a recent interview. “I’m 136 pounds lighter. It doesn’t hurt. I have energy, and I’m saving money by spending $ 200 on a trip instead of going to a grocery store,” he says. I did.

“I’m going through now, and the girl checking me out looks at me, shakes her head and asks how I spend a little (about $ 40 on a trip).”

A native and lifelong resident of Mayodan, he is the son of the late Benjamin Earl and The Veda Marie Atwood Sims.

The Sims weighed 223 pounds when he graduated from Madison-Mayodan High School in 1978.

“I was very exercising in high school,” Sims said, saying he was good at soccer, baseball, and weightroom. He said he was a “fair” basketball player.

However, his football expertise earned him a football scholarship as an offensive center while he majored in physical education and political science.

However, a horse accident injured his knee and made him unable to play the ball, so Sims transferred to Randolph Community College to major in photography.

After returning to Japan, The Sims major landed in law enforcement in 1981 as a photographer and patrolman at the crime scene at the Mayodan Police Station. He engaged in this work for five years before becoming Reader’s Digest’s Territorial Sales Manager, traveling to North Carolina and South Carolina. ..

However, Mayodan and the photographer brought The Sims home and bought an old social welfare facility in downtown 2nd Avenue.

“The building is here and I bought it for my business,” he said, running his photo studio there for about 20 years before he took over his father’s income tax business.

When he first bought the building, “I called my dad and said I’m going to give you your tax office because I think the people who come to see you will be the customers of the photo.” Said Sims.

Having a father in the same building gave him the opportunity to meet his customers, and the walls were adorned with pictures of The Sims.

From 1988 to 2010, when Elder Sims died, they worked together, so it was a perfect fit for the duo. His son ran a photo studio until 2017.

“I started working with my dad for 22 years, and I didn’t take anything for that,” Sims said.

In 1999, Sims was hired as a root postman, and he is still working for a far-reaching job.

With his entrepreneurial spirit, The Sims began selling lace souvenirs from his building and eventually launched the Race Fan Membership Group, Race Fans, Inc.

In 1993, the year after Richard Petty retired, The Sims began racing with NASCAR driver Jimmy Means.

Soon the owner / driver Means was driving around the truck at “Race Fans Inc.”. For the hood. The means created some special benefits for some club members to get a pit pass for the “front row” seats in the garage and pits on race day.

“Jimmy was good at interacting with the members and made them feel welcome,” Sims said. “It was pretty pretty.”

Two years later, when the Racing World Super Track series began, The Sims and Means were “engaged” with Atlanta Falcons head coach Jerry Granville, who had just lost his job at the Falcons.

To break his contract, the team owner paid Granville “heavy” and he invested in the truck team. Not only did Granville own the truck, but at the age of 56, a former coach was competing for the Rookie of the Year title. For several seasons, he promoted Race Fan, Inc.’s membership club on his track.

For many years, The Sims has collaborated with Trey Hutchens Racing in Winston Salem and Real Fast Racing in 23XI Racing, owned by NBA Hall of Fame Michael Jordan and NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin.

Tray Hutchins’ father, Bobby, “cut his teeth” at Bowman Gray, racing with the great Dale Earnhardt crew chief when he died.

Next, Bobby became the crew chief of Kevin Harvic, who became the new driver for Car 3. Currently, Bobby is trying to get his son to drive in a truck series with Bobby as the crew chief.

The Sims is participating in this effort by recruiting sponsors to advertise on trucks.

Looking back on his past, Sims’ dramatic weight loss gives him more time to think about his future.

Sims, a former overseer of soil and water conservation in Rockingham County from 2014 to 2018 and two-time president of Madison-Mayor Dan Jacey, has two daughters and one from 2 to 12 years old. I have a son and five grandchildren.

“It gave me the opportunity to enjoy my grandchildren,” Sims said. “I’m not on the sidelines. I’m with them.”

Anyone interested in improving happiness or sponsoring a truck can contact The Sims at bennysimsnc@gmail.com.