650 Pound Man?

Saw a teaser for a show that is scheduled to air on Sunday called the 650 pound virgin.  Its about a guy who dropped at total of 410 pounds.  Amazing.  Heard anything about his story?  I'm definitely going to tivo it.

Does it end with him getting some or something? o.O Because thats just strangeeeee

I just saw an article about this guy after digging around being bored on Yahoo's main page... it's buried somewhere in there I think, he was on the Today Show apparently.  He didn't have any surgeries or anything and lost all the weight in like 2 years or something.. crazy.

Its amazing that he could allow himself to get to 650 pounds.... but him deciding to stop stuffing his face with HUGE amounts of food every day is about as amazing as when i decide not to eat an entire bucket of icecream before going out to dinner.

Its not hard to lose weight (even easier at that level!)...just gotta stop stuffing your face and maybe watch TV or something else instead....

thats pretty amazing. i just watched the interview he had on Today. i wonder if he is still a virgin?

Article about him.  What a story.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31845266/ns/today _relationships/

Original Post by loriklorik:

Its amazing that he could allow himself to get to 650 pounds.... but him deciding to stop stuffing his face with HUGE amounts of food every day is about as amazing as when i decide not to eat an entire bucket of icecream before going out to dinner.

Its not hard to lose weight (even easier at that level!)...just gotta stop stuffing your face and maybe watch TV or something else instead....

That's what makes losing weight hard. Changing a very hard habit and it's even harder if you love food ALOT. I don't see how you can downgrade it by saying "it's not that amazing, I did it!". Unless you're in his shoes, you can't really say whether it is easy or not. I mean, have you tried moving around with weights on you to make 650 pounds? Yeah that alone is hard.

It IS amazing. It takes self control, will power, and the strength to lose (or gain for those who need to) weight. It might be a snap of a finger for you, but for some, it's a struggle every single day, like an addiction.

Original Post by loriklorik:

Its amazing that he could allow himself to get to 650 pounds.... but him deciding to stop stuffing his face with HUGE amounts of food every day is about as amazing as when i decide not to eat an entire bucket of icecream before going out to dinner.

Its not hard to lose weight (even easier at that level!)...just gotta stop stuffing your face and maybe watch TV or something else instead....

If it were that easy there would be a lot fewer obese people in the world. 

People who allow themselves to get THAT big have very obvious psychological issues that have caused them to overeat to that extent.  It's more than just loving food...it's an addiction just like drugs or alcohol.  People who are that big need a lot of psychological and emotional support as well as diet and exercise in order to succeed.  The fact that he did it all without weight loss surgery makes it even more amazing.    

The article I read said that it was so bad that he considered buying himself a kiddy pool, filling it with gasoline, lying down and starting the thing on fire. 

It also said that he couldn't bear doing the bypass surgery because if he died on the table, the doctors would end of mocking him because they couldn't move the body.  Wow, I'll say psychological issues.

I must commend him because it must have been difficult.  He didn't confirm or deny that he is still a virgin, but boy, I hope he had a little fun after losing all that weight!  After all, vigorous sex IS considered exercise!

Original Post by cptbunny:

Unless you're in his shoes, you can't really say whether it is easy or not. I mean, have you tried moving around with weights on you to make 650 pounds? Yeah that alone is hard.

Who said anything about moving? He would lose weight simply by sitting there watching TV and not eating the 2nd bucket of chicken....thats it...that one change...one less bucket of chicken a day...and he would lose at least a few pounds a week (he still gets the other 4 buckets of chicken BTW!! or whatever he eats to keep up that HUGE amount of calories needed).

Then...after a month...he cuts out another bucket of chicken (oh noooo! not my chicken!!) or maybe icecream (how about instead of a full bucket, he eats a half bucket?) ...thats it....thats all he needs to do....and again, he will continue losing a few pounds a week.

Continue on that way and he doesnt feel hungry, he doesnt suddenly change...its slow and his weight will plummet as he doesnt have the same number of calories. So really, he needs to spend maybe an HOUR just WATCHING TV instead of stuffing his face (and go back to normal after his hour of "dieting" is up). Thats it...thats all...thats all he would have to do to lose weight.....not hard.

And I'm not even saying he needs to get thin or anything! Just not a GROSSLY OBESE weight like 650 pounds. He needs to work hard in order to KEEP THAT...not lose it. All it takes is waking up one day and going "wow, im fat, maybe i should eat 4 meals today instead of 6".....

Its like saying how amazing someone is for finally taking a shower or getting up to go to the bathroom instead of all over the floor....its just stuff we need to do because if we dont...we end up in really ugly sittuations. Its great that he finally realized he wanted to live (hurray?) .....

I just dont have much sympathy for people who want to play the victim and ignore their own responsibility for their own lives (but its good that he finally woke up and took some responsibility for his life....its just he should have been doing that from the start, like the rest of the world).

It's not hard to eat 6-7000 calories a day. I could do that in three SMALL meals. Alot of food out there appear healthy or doesn't even fill you up and it has more than 1000 calories in it. Hell, one meal from McD's is over 1000 calories.

Not everyone who is obese or grossly obese sits at the TV and eats food non-stop. Most of it is portion control and knowing just how bad some food really is, which a lot of people do not. Most people who are obese don't stuff their face all day. I don't know why people think this.

Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world where people know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Never having weighed 650 lbs lorik, yet youve got this all figured out.

I see you started journaling Sept 2007. 
Dont know your weight then but I was 465 lbs when I joined CC a few months prior.
These last 2 years since then Ive lost 300 lbs.  

I cringe when someone as uninformed as yourself who hasnt a clue of how insurmountable and hopeless facing such an incredible amount of weight loss feels and lacks the empathy to imagine it feels qualified to promote the solution so flippantly, simplistically and practically accusingly.   

Just eat one less bucket of chicken?
Thanks but being morbidly obese didnt mean I was bad at math. 
I coud  be sitting here today at easily 650 lbs or be dead had it not been for basically a weightloss intervention two years back.

The length of commitment and requirement of persistance to lose weight from almost 500 lbs was far overwhelming then at 400 lbs which was still quite mind blowing when compared to from 300 lbs.   Not sure how many lbs youve had to lose but your lack of insight makes me think it was never in the 100s. 

^5's sun123

Sun123 you have hit it on the mark.

Lorik how are the winnings from the lottery?  I mean you must have won that since you seem to think you have all angles figured out.   

Your bio says "groups:none.. interests: not much". sums it all up I think.

Tolerance is a word that must not be in your dictionary, nor compassion.  NO ONE expects you to think being that weight is normal or common, but people who judge and make hurtful comments like you have... well... I feel sorrier for you than for the man who weighs 650 lbs.. he problem is physical .. your appears to be mental.

I am sorry life has been that hard /warped for you that you feel it is ok to make these hurtful comments in a forum that many people come to.. to help them lose weight.  I hope life is kinder to you than you are to others.. And I wish you well on your journey here.  Tolerenace, compassion.. two key words to life.

Well said Sun and Nanny.  A little kindness, empathy and less judgement in this world sure would go a long way.  Eating disorders and the pain (emotional, psychological and physical) that people experiencing them go through apply equally to morbidly obese and the seriously underweight.  Being cruelly judged by others is frequently what got them to the point they are at.

Original Post by loriklorik:

 but him deciding to stop stuffing his face with HUGE amounts of food every day is about as amazing as when i decide not to eat an entire bucket of icecream before going out to dinner.

There's a reason why some people can't just stop at one french fry.

With the number of threads on these forums about how it feels to be stared at and written of as "fat and lazy", it's interesting that you're expressing such indifference to how obese people stigmatized and making assumptions as to their motivations and life circumstances.   You might want to summon up whatever amount of empathy you have and try reading one of them.

You may have found it easy and unremarkable to lose weight - but I think it's safe to say that not everyone is as awesome as you.

What always amazes me in these 'half ton woman' or '650lb man' freak-show TV shows masquerading as human interest stories is this....   The more 'normal' morbidly obese 300lb person is still relatively independent but the people in these documentaries are so massively obese that they are completely disabled/immobile.   Which means they can't make it to the refrigerator single-handed or even answer the door to the pizza delivery!  A 650lb man is going to need thousands & thousands of calories a day to maintain that weight, even if they never get out of bed.  So they're being given all this food by someone else. 

Those people - the 'feeders' -  are the ones I'd like to see interviewed in these documentaries.

I watched a show once that  had a 600lb woman, and they did interview her son (who I happen to think it's a sin how good looking he is), and he said he just couldn't bare to see her unhappy, he just didn't know what to do. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you love that person.. I don't know.  Here's a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkvdEoM4Uqs

Original Post by cucumberlube:

 I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you love that person..

I'm sure the son did love his mother. And I'm equally sure the mother was pressurising him to keep feeding her lots and lots of food and 'making her happy'...  Emotional blackmail must come into it at some point.

I saw a show where the roles were reversed... the teenage son was flat on his back immobilised by several hundred lbs of fat and the mother was keeping him stoked up with oversized snacks.  He was pretty nasty if she wasn't quick enough.... but she seemed to be irrationally happy keeping him as an overgrown, dependent baby, nappies and all.   Now that was a very dicey relationship.    And 'nasty' was a feature of the 500lb+ man in another of these shows who's terrified wife was responsible for feeding him.  Less 'emotional blackmail' or 'love' going on there and more 'verbal abuse'.....  I felt sorry for her when he lost enough weight to get his mobility back.  He was a complete ogre.

It's an interesting one.

Original Post by sun123:

Never having weighed 650 lbs lorik, yet youve got this all figured out.

I see you started journaling Sept 2007. 

...

Not sure how many lbs youve had to lose but your lack of insight makes me think it was never in the 100s. 

Well his first post in Jan 07 was "Ideas to lose the last bit?" and says "Im a 23 male, 5'10'' and am about 150 pounds."

Maybe he lost a lot of weight before joining.  Who knows.

Some people need 'tough love' in order to snap out of it and see things how they really are without sugar coating it.   And to some degree 'LorikLorik' is right.  However as many people will attest, there is often more to the story then simply cutting back a little bit at a time.  I know it sounds easy, and when he got serious about losing the weight I am sure the beginning was relatively easy.

That said I don't think it's called for to go on about 'buckets of chicken' in regards to someone who is morbidly obese.   Such mean spirited comments on a post the guy will never see says more about you then it does about him.

We are all trying to make modifications to make ourselves more healthy.  Some people need to gain weight, some need to lose weight, some want to gain muscle.  'Why don't you just eat a salad' always sounds easy, but there is more involved than simple choices. 

Anyway, I am glad to hear that this particular person was successful.  I am sure it serves as inspiration to a lot of people.

Original Post by kvalhion:

Original Post by sun123:

Never having weighed 650 lbs lorik, yet youve got this all figured out.

I see you started journaling Sept 2007. 

...

Not sure how many lbs youve had to lose but your lack of insight makes me think it was never in the 100s. 

Well his first post in Jan 07 was "Ideas to lose the last bit?" and says "Im a 23 male, 5'10'' and am about 150 pounds."

Maybe he lost a lot of weight before joining.  Who knows.

Some people need 'tough love' in order to snap out of it and see things how they really are without sugar coating it.   And to some degree 'LorikLorik' is right.  However as many people will attest, there is often more to the story then simply cutting back a little bit at a time.  I know it sounds easy, and when he got serious about losing the weight I am sure the beginning was relatively easy.

That said I don't think it's called for to go on about 'buckets of chicken' in regards to someone who is morbidly obese.   Such mean spirited comments on a post the guy will never see says more about you then it does about him.

We are all trying to make modifications to make ourselves more healthy.  Some people need to gain weight, some need to lose weight, some want to gain muscle.  'Why don't you just eat a salad' always sounds easy, but there is more involved than simple choices. 

Anyway, I am glad to hear that this particular person was successful.  I am sure it serves as inspiration to a lot of people.

Unless the person is suffering from serious mental retardation, he knows he is eating too much. (I’m sorry, I don’t think its really fair to call all fat people mentally retarded)

My weight isn’t really the issue (but, yes, I have been there. I was a lot heavier *over 100 pounds* in the past…and I know how badly I ate). You don’t think he was eating a bucket of icecream? Or an entire pizza for a “first dinner”? Because I think he did, because I know I did (haha, I still do, but a lot more rarelyyy).

People with problems aren’t just helpless victims. They aren’t mindless balls of flesh that are clueless to their situation put here for us to pity. All they need is to actually start doing SOMETHING about it (even if that something is just putting down the bucket of chicken). They just need to get over themselves and their problems and start taking responsibility for their own life.

Though, maybe you’re right, maybe I’m giving him and all fat people (or other people with problems) too much credit. Maybe they are just mindless things that can’t look down at their folds of fat and think “this isn’t normal”. Maybe they are all too stupid to realize it’s the food that is making them fat. Maybe they really are so clueless and helpless that when they finally start taking responsibility for their actions, it’s like a retarded child solving a difficult math problem (amazingggg! How could someone so stupid do something so out of their grasp??). It’s awe inspiring that these mentally handicapped people can manage to function like normal people…truly, they are heroes of the highest caliber.

Granted, sometimes the task ahead can be a bit daunting. And sometimes these people need a little “nudge” or some help for them to start taking the first steps. But they need to want to change in order for anything to happen (and they need to decide that for themselves).

One thing I do know though. Articles and people saying how he just “cant control himself” and how its an “addiction” or anything else that shifts the responsibility from himself to an outside issue is just enabling these people to continue as they are. They read how being fat is an illness and when they consider their situation, they feel they just can’t do it because they are “sick” and “can’t on their own”. You’re giving these people all the material they need to convince themselves that fixing their bodies is out of their control and help turn them into the helpless victim that they so aptly play.

Perhaps that’s why I don’t like all the “sympathy” for the “poor man”… because that sympathy is allowing it to continue in so many others and keeping them from waking up to take responsibility for themselves sooner.