Here's what Pascal means when he talks about "morbidly obese".
What I find odd about that article is that it says that it's puzzling that he gained so much weight, but there's not a word about what the man eats. You'd think that would be an essential part of the picture, yes?
Here's a video about somebody else, also huge.
This should bring some comfort -and hope- to all those who think they're too fat. :-)
ReplyDeleteThere ARE solutions, albeit sometimes a bit radical. I support the surgical option when all else fails... or would clearly be too slow!
"there's not a word about what the man eats. You'd think that would be an essential part of the picture, yes?"
You nailed it. With a very big nail (pun intended). What he eats, and how much, and how little he moves.
I'm ready to bet his mother's not entirely alien to it. In communities with mediterranean-like mentality, love is expressed through food. And there clearly can be such a thing as too much love!
As they said -half jokingly- in a Yiddish lexicon I once read, "all skin and bones" is any young man/boy who weighs less than 100 kilos.
Most Lebanese men soon put up a gut belly after they're married. Because the wife hopelessly tries to compete with the love of the mother-in-law. A hopeless endeavour, needless to say. Mom's always the first life-long love, and she's always right too!
This guy IS damn lucky to still be around (well, SORT of "around"! ;-). WWE super-heavyweight Yokozuna recently died of an unsurprising heart attack at age 34. Very few sumo wrestlers live to reach the age of 45.
He's still skinny compared to Eolake.
ReplyDeleteAnd I say it with a straight face.
You're right, Eolake makes that guy look small!
ReplyDeleteBut my ego makes you all look microscopic! You Be's have but the simulacrum of a vanity next to my radiant splendor.
ReplyDeleteYou have been graced by the distant cosmic echo of my voice's thunder. Now roll the katamari.
A friend of a family member had the stomach-stapling thing done to her. She found that she was able to reduce her weight a bit, but what she's dealing with now -- two, three, six years later? -- is, that because she can't stoke up on carbohydrates in any manner (her new stomach is too small!), she can't participate in any long-term aerobic exercise unless she brings sugar or similar simple carbs to snack on. She is losing weight, but the operation had as many detriments as benefits aside from that.
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ReplyDeleteWhen you're that fat, everybody gonna be crackin' wise about yo mama.
ReplyDeleteThen again, they probably would just make the fat jokes about you rather than yo mama. "You so fat, when you haul ass you have to make two trips!"
From what I heard, the odd side-effect of somach stapling is mainly an intolerance to digesting meat.
ReplyDeleteMy gastro-enterology professor told me the reason for this is not yet known. Perhaps because the newly shaped stomach becomes unable to properly mix the more consistent foods.
I definitely agree there's no simple, efficient and pleasant way of losing lots of excess weight. But considering the alternative is an early, albeit often painless death by massive heart attack (it's not ALWAYS painless)... well, one should wonder whether it is better to enjoy life a bit less, or not to enjoy any life at all.
Losing weight is not meant to be pleasant, it's meant to preserve your health and life expectancy. That's worth practically any side-effect. And it sure beats having to undergo chemo, I can guarantee you that!
I remember a true joke. An old and very experienced coroner was asked which instrument people most often used to commit suicide. He said: "A fork."
He meant, of course, eating yourself to an early grave.
Life's all about choices.
Yup. Example: I would never undergo chemo therapy. I'd rather check out.
ReplyDeleteThat's stupid even for you.
ReplyDeleteI very bravely concur. (Runs off.)
ReplyDeleteSeriously now. Chemo is far less unpleasant that the gnawing pains of a growing malignant cancer. Which is really saying something.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, even morphin can barely keep up with the pain. A cancer's some really nasty stuff. Like its crab-like name indicates, it snaps its claws on you, hard, and won't let go. In every meaning of the term.
And children often face it with far more courage than adults, which is ALSO saying something.
I once comforted a little cancer patient by sharing the secret with him: that I KNEW he was being braver than most grown-ups.
It helped. :-)
And that kid was facing the SECOND cancer of his life.
Which makes me all the more angry when some people who have the great fortune of being in good health stupidly sabotage it. And then they come whining to the doctor, demanding that we perform miracles that shouldn't have been necessary.
Don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't drive drunk, and don't risk catching Aids. Please, people. It's for you that I say this.
And don't pig out, especially when there are people starving on the same planet.
But not all cancer is painful, right?
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to be that's not true. We'll have to wait for the Doc to make his ruling on that one, but I'm going to with "they're all painful, some just more than others."
ReplyDeleteAdvanced invasive cancer is always painful. It's its nature.
ReplyDelete("It's its", note the perfect grammar.)
If only it could always be painful in the early stages, lots of lives would be saved, but the damn thing often begins sneaky. We've even had a Cancerology chapter named "metastasis of unknown origin". Sometimes, you just never FIND the primitive source. A small tumor may spawn a much bigger metastatic colony on occasions.
The real pain is when it starts really invading the normal tissue. At that point it's frequently beyond treatment, because of regional (lymph node) or remote (metastases) dissemination.
On the plus side, even a very large tumor may be benign, non-invasive, and easily removed by surgery. It's the malignant ones (about 1%) that nibble their way into your tissues when they grow.
There ARE some forms where you don't hurt. It depends on the site, type and evolution, every case is unique. Some super-acute leukemias will even kill you so fast you'll barely have the time to realize you're sick.
If you love life and one day you need chemo... take it. I would.
On another note, I've read a recent good article about longevity, and apart from the obvious (don't abuse your body, smoke, zonk out, abuse on booze, risk Aids...), there are three simple recommendations to those who plan on following Joe Dick's example:
- Don't eat too much. Better eat a little less than your appetite, like a permanent but slight slimming diet. It'll avoid getting that nasty cholesterol-harbinging fatty tissue.
- Remain active. No need for daily marathons, just keep your muscles used to being used. In decent shape. Move around, take walks, do some housework. Neglect is what makes muscles get weak, affecting the whole body.
- Do the same for your brain. Stay curious, stimulate it, read, play, communicate, solve puzzles, think... and it'll stay in shape.
Pretty basic advice, yes. But the most recent scientific research confirms that it works best.
It's probably what made David be David. I'm sure he didn't take all his meals at McKosher's.
Death by poisoning is another common problem. Alcohol or drug consumption in the mid-range of life, with its many attendant later-in-life benefits.
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