518 pounds down, 448 to go

This weekend, while barhopping on a trolley for my friend Amanda’s bachelorette party (please refrain from judging me – I understand this is slightly abnormal for a 32-year-old professional woman. But hey, in the words of a pre-SATC SJP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!) we stopped at an establishment with multiple large dead animals sticking out from the walls and a stale popcorn machine in the corner next to a poster proclaiming the glory of Wisconsin bratwurst.

Anyway.

My friend Julie – eight months pregnant, making for quite the interesting bachelorette arty scene-stealer – made a comment to me about the bouncer, who I honestly hadn’t even noticed. He was extremely obese, with a wide smile and kind eyes. “That must be so hard for him,” Julie said. “I bet he’s in a lot of emotional pain.” Julie used to be a social worker, and I thought it said a lot about her character that instead of making a catty remark or giving a look of disgust, as many people might do when they confront a morbidly obese person, her mind immediately went towards compassion.

And then I got to thinking about this man:

His name is Manuel Uribe and, at his heaviest, he weighed more than 1200 pounds. To put this in perspective, there are compact cars that weigh less. Manuel is bed-bound, living in Monterrey, Mexico and has been called “The heaviest man on earth.”

Manuel recently made headlines with a stunning 518-lb weight loss, achieved primarily through a low-carb diet of grapefruits, egg-white-only omelets, fish, chicken, vegetables and peanuts, plus some bed exercises. His current weight is around 725 lbs. and he has asserted his goal of losing much, much more, with a goal weight of 280 lbs. by 2010. If he does, he will break records for most weight lost. It would also allow him to truly live – he has only left his house three times in six years, due to his condition.

Here are some pictures, after the jump (Note: The pictures are graphic – not in a sexual way, but they may be disconcerting for some people to view). Plus, take the quiz...

As ABCnews.com asks, can you tell this man has lost 500 pounds?

Here he is again, in his bed…I’m not sure what exactly is wrong with his legs, but I believe it’s some sort of inflammation.

Here is Manuel, doing a modified pull-up in bed.

Notice the genuine smile on Manuel’s face – at the risk of sounding condescending, I think his positive attitude is amazing.

Totally bed-bound.

Is it weird that I’m amazed by his apparent flexibility?

OK enough voyeurism. I think what is striking about this story is, as my friend Julie alluded to, there must be such an incredible amount of pain that comes along with being in Manuel’s situation. Personal responsibility aside, he, at some point, lost enough control that he could no longer function on his own. TV shows have covered his saga, tabloids have made fun of him, countless strangers have pointed and stared. He has missed out on so much in life, confined to his bed and home. I feel for him and think it’s wonderful that’s he’s lost so much weight already (BBC News phrased it as “it is as if two fully grown men have climbed off his body”), but I can’t help but think of the enormous obstacles that lay before him. In addition to still needing to lose hundreds and hundreds of pounds, think of the physical therapy and amount of muscle he’ll need to build to simply be able to walk again, let alone jog, dance, be intimate, etc. Will he suffer from osteoporosis (from the lack of weight-bearing exercise) or struggle with massive amounts of sagging skin? And mentally, can you imagine the challenge of moving from a 1200-lb body to a 300-lb one? Women who lose 100 pounds deal with body image issues, struggle with changing their wardrobes and accepting that they are no longer “the fat girl.” But Manuel’s whole image is that of “The World’s Fattest Man”.

I also think his story opens up a broader discussion about how we view overweight and obese people. Who can forget the shitstorm kicked up by my March blog on the fed-up overweight woman who concocted a fake book titled “How Sitting Next To A Fat Person Can Make You Fat"? People have a significant amount of prejudice and hatred towards obese men and women. But WHY? Is it born out of fear that we could end up like that? A result of societal biases too hard to ignore?

Regardless, I wish Manuel nothing but the best and think it would be an extraordinary story…I just hope he gets the support he needs for the tough road ahead. I certainly don’t think headlines like “Can you tell he’s lost 500 pounds?” will help.

Comments

I've been following Manuel's story with some interest. I think that it's wonderful that he's been able to get the help he needs, and in that respect the media frenzy is a positive thing (because I am not sure he'd have been able to without it) but I do think it's terribly sad that, evidently, the people of the world still love a freakshow. Because that's exactly how he's being treated. And that is, as you said, probably not going to help him learn to live a normal life, in the end.

What is also sad, I think, is that I suspect a huge percentage of the people following the story are rooting for him to fail. Because that would confirm their estimation that fat people are losers, and are fat because they're incapable of sustaining effort or finishing what they start.

Oh, I sound bitter today. Sorry about that. I am just so hopeful for this man, and so afraid for him as well, because he's got a long hard road ahead. And I applaud his courage in trying, as well as the success he has achieved.

V.

I think it's amazing that he's been able to lose so much. Honestly though, it boggles my mind how someone can get that big. I understand that there is obviously a ton of things going on psychologically, but I just don't understand how anyone can physically eat that many calories to gain and maintain such a weight. I think it's amazing that he is turning his life around. I just hope his heart and stuff hasn't been too damaged by everything.

With that said, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" is the best movie. "And I LOVE to dance." I have "Dancing in Heaven" on my Ipod!

when I was a trainer I worked with a woman who lost over 100 pounds and still needed to lose about 50 (for health not aesthetics) I think the most heartbreaking thing for me was how down SHE would get when people would call her/refer to her as chubby at 100 pounds down...people who didnt know her 'story' and how far she had come.

she remarked to me once that it felt like the more she lost the DIFFERENT the barometer she was help up to (if that makes sense/if Im conveying it right) and that it SUCKED that she was so FITFITFIT for her (at -100) and for the world at large (with her 50 to go) just plain ole chubby.

for some reason I always think of her as I cheer Manuel onward.

M.

I'm kind of on the fence. His weight loss endeavor is definitely a good thing- remarkable, and he should indeed be proud of himself, but at the same time, I DO wonder how anyone could ever let themselves get that way. Regardless though, I think it's good that he's making the effort to lose weight.

He is so cute - I love his twinkly eyes and broad smile. I wish him all the best and I think it's great to see someone set a really ambitious goal and then take the steps to get there, especially when it comes to personal health. A big 'way to go!' from me!

Off topic comment: With regards to your friend Julie and the bouncer... OK, not being outright hostile is good. Definte plus and we want to reinforce that. But the pity is not much worse, OK? I say that lovingly as a person of great size, at well over 400lbs, and someone who admires and respects you very much. It MUST be so hard for him to be himself? Why? He MUST be in so much emotional pain? Why? Believe it or not, fat people really are just people too. Sometimes being fat is a hassle, but we have full happy healthy lives too, with families and friends and workouts and sunshine and whatever. Fielding comments from idiots is no picnic but it doesn't make my life a tragedy by any means!!

Cheers for your awesome blog!

I am totally cheering Manuel on! In regards to how he got that way, I am thinking that there has to be some genetic/physiologic problem. Nobody gets THAT big just from "emotional eating" or some such. I think this just shows how little we really know about the causes of obesity.

Great comment, Sonn! I too thought Julie's words sounded patronizing (but I wasn't there so what would I know?)

Sonn, I think it's interesting that you and I construed Julie's words so differently. I know she meant it from a place of goodness and love, but thank you for showing the other side of the fence. Very valuable for the discussions here. x,Leslie

I'm happy that Manuel has made the decision to take care of his health and take action. He's got a long road, but he's showing that you just gotta start no matter your circumstance.

What bothers me a bit about this story is the media spectacle it has become (present company not included because you are trying to bring insight to the human part of the story). In the slideshow you can even see a pic with all the video cameras on Manuel. On one level it feels like they are making a circus act out of him like, "Come see the fattest man on earth.". That really bothers me. This guy is a human being who's just trying to make a better life for himself, not just some story for people to gawk at. And definitely, he certainly has a big twinkle in his eyes.

That really is a totally genuine smile. What an accomplishment!

Like MizFit, I think its unfortunate how often people won't realize what others have gone through and their achievements. Seeing a random stranger on the street, there's no way of knowing the kind of life they've lived, and yet so many are so very quick to judge total strangers based on their looks. Manuel still has a lot of work ahead of him to become healthier but he has already made amazing progress. It's great that he's getting so much support!

While I don't know if we (we being the collective media reader) actually know why Manuel became so incredibly heavy, what we do know is his success in turning his life around. Can you imagine it - he's lost over 500 pounds already - that's NUTS!!! Not only that, but to do it all from his bed where exercise is basically out of the question and at a size where any movement must be incredibly difficult.
He should be so frickin proud of himself, and I would LOVE to see him achieve his goal.

Speaking of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - I never even knew about the existence of that film until recently, but how fantabulous and 80s is it!!

I too am amazed at the strength it takes to make this journey. Uribe has a beautiful smile and this is obviously the right time for him for this incredible undertaking. I, also, have to wonder about the co-dependent person that continued to bring him large amounts of unhealthy foods that put him in this position. I hope they are getting as much, if not more, help than Manuel. God speed him on his journey.