With Diet, Exercise and Friendship, Man Loses 400 Pounds

[Guest guest]

Below nipped from Doc Mercola. URL near bottom. Also an URL

to a news video about him.

Alobar

===========================================

By CHRIS CONNELLY, GWEN GOWEN and MYRNA TOLEDO

Dec. 21, 2007

Four and half years ago, weighed more than 630 pounds. He

had spent nearly a decade on the couch in his parents' house eating

pizza, raiding the fridge, and drinking soda. For much of his life he

said he " felt like the elephant man. "

" It got so bad to a point that I didn't leave the house and I didn't

even feel comfortable in my own backyard until it was dark out, "

said.

Ashamed of his looks, didn't want to go out so he wouldn't be

mocked in public.

Reaching Out for Help

In June 2003, he finally had enough. sent an e-mail to Chris

, fitness correspondent for Good Morning Arizona, a local news

broadcast on KTVK in Phoenix. paid a visit.

" We were both probably thinking: what are we getting ourselves into

right here? There would be no way I'd have anything in common with

this guy, " said.

, a former Cosmo magazine bachelor, was socially confident. But

now he was trying to get through to this painfully shy man.

" I didn't know what 600 pounds looked like, " said. " He couldn't

really look me in the eye. He was just so broken. He really didn't

know what to say or what to do. "

Life at 630 LbsDespite their initial awkward meeting, they made a

deal. committed to losing the pounds and agreed to stick

with him as long as didn't give up.

The first stop was a truck scale so they could get 's weight.

After that, created a food plan for : six smaller meals to

replace 's end-of-the-day megameal. The meals were carbo-balanced

to increase his metabolism, with cheat days thrown in. In the first

month dropped 40 pounds; then, after just four months of doing

simple exercises in the gym, lost 100 pounds. was

pleased. But wasn't too impressed with what he had accomplished.

" He kept telling me, when I look in the mirror, I still feel like the

same person. In fact, I still see 630 pounds, " said.

Then one day after a session, handed a letter he'd

written. As read, it began with a revelation that had

never shared with anyone else. He had been sexually abused by the

first friend he had ever made.

" It made me shy away from people, not trust people at all. And, of

course I turned to food because it made me happy. It didn't hurt me, "

said.

Gaining more weight all the time, and lacking social skills,

found school to be a nightmare.

" I've had like sticks and stones and dog feces and, you know, thrown

at me and spit on. I've had a broken arm and black, black eyes, "

recalled .

The emotional and physical abuse took a toll; he had dropped out of

high school at 17 and headed for his parents' house. Over the next

decade, he would emerge only rarely.

Trapped in a joyless, friendless existence, felt he had no

choice but to plan his suicide in a horrific manner.

" I felt like I deserved as much pain as possible if I was to kill

myself, to burn myself literally in the desert. I just decided maybe

dousing myself with gasoline and, you know, maybe people could hear my

screams and hear all the despair that consumed me for all these

years, " said.

was moved when he learned what had been through.

" He'd never had a chance in life. And I realized how valuable I was to

him not just as a trainer but as the first person in his life who

actually believed in him. "

'The Best Night of My Life'

As the exercises got more strenuous and the pounds kept coming off,

began to unlock 's personality. decided to

reintroduce to the social world that had treated so

cruelly. He made preparations at a nearby bar, and when they arrived,

was treated like a rock star.

" When we got in the car and I'm driving him home he goes, that was the

best night of my life, " said.

[Full story here:]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4029716 & page=1

[Video here:]

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4034537

[Guest guest]

Alobar, thanks for taking the time to share this. Tony

Alobar <Alobar@...> wrote: Below

nipped from Doc Mercola. URL near bottom. Also an URL

to a news video about him.

Alobar

===========================================

By CHRIS CONNELLY, GWEN GOWEN and MYRNA TOLEDO

Dec. 21, 2007

Four and half years ago, weighed more than 630 pounds. He

had spent nearly a decade on the couch in his parents' house eating

pizza, raiding the fridge, and drinking soda. For much of his life he

said he " felt like the elephant man. "

" It got so bad to a point that I didn't leave the house and I didn't

even feel comfortable in my own backyard until it was dark out, "

said.

Ashamed of his looks, didn't want to go out so he wouldn't be

mocked in public.

Reaching Out for Help

In June 2003, he finally had enough. sent an e-mail to Chris

, fitness correspondent for Good Morning Arizona, a local news

broadcast on KTVK in Phoenix. paid a visit.

" We were both probably thinking: what are we getting ourselves into

right here? There would be no way I'd have anything in common with

this guy, " said.

, a former Cosmo magazine bachelor, was socially confident. But

now he was trying to get through to this painfully shy man.

" I didn't know what 600 pounds looked like, " said. " He couldn't

really look me in the eye. He was just so broken. He really didn't

know what to say or what to do. "

Life at 630 LbsDespite their initial awkward meeting, they made a

deal. committed to losing the pounds and agreed to stick

with him as long as didn't give up.

The first stop was a truck scale so they could get 's weight.

After that, created a food plan for : six smaller meals to

replace 's end-of-the-day megameal. The meals were carbo-balanced

to increase his metabolism, with cheat days thrown in. In the first

month dropped 40 pounds; then, after just four months of doing

simple exercises in the gym, lost 100 pounds. was

pleased. But wasn't too impressed with what he had accomplished.

" He kept telling me, when I look in the mirror, I still feel like the

same person. In fact, I still see 630 pounds, " said.

Then one day after a session, handed a letter he'd

written. As read, it began with a revelation that had

never shared with anyone else. He had been sexually abused by the

first friend he had ever made.

" It made me shy away from people, not trust people at all. And, of

course I turned to food because it made me happy. It didn't hurt me, "

said.

Gaining more weight all the time, and lacking social skills,

found school to be a nightmare.

" I've had like sticks and stones and dog feces and, you know, thrown

at me and spit on. I've had a broken arm and black, black eyes, "

recalled .

The emotional and physical abuse took a toll; he had dropped out of

high school at 17 and headed for his parents' house. Over the next

decade, he would emerge only rarely.

Trapped in a joyless, friendless existence, felt he had no

choice but to plan his suicide in a horrific manner.

" I felt like I deserved as much pain as possible if I was to kill

myself, to burn myself literally in the desert. I just decided maybe

dousing myself with gasoline and, you know, maybe people could hear my

screams and hear all the despair that consumed me for all these

years, " said.

was moved when he learned what had been through.

" He'd never had a chance in life. And I realized how valuable I was to

him not just as a trainer but as the first person in his life who

actually believed in him. "

'The Best Night of My Life'

As the exercises got more strenuous and the pounds kept coming off,

began to unlock 's personality. decided to

reintroduce to the social world that had treated so

cruelly. He made preparations at a nearby bar, and when they arrived,

was treated like a rock star.

" When we got in the car and I'm driving him home he goes, that was the

best night of my life, " said.

[Full story here:]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4029716 & page=1

[Video here:]

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4034537

---------------------------------

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