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Fat Man Walking

16:00 / 28.07.05

So this man weighs 400 pounds and diets don´t help. So he decides to seek help, goes to a doctor or to weight watchers? No, instead he starts crossing the continent to lose some pounds.

For a moment, I thought, typical USAmerican, trying to get attention and money (when his story gets turned into a Hollywood movie) by going public with his banal problems.

But then, the idea is not so bad, is it? If you´re so heavy, life can´t be much fun. And perhaps it could even kill you or at least shorten your life span for a couple of years.

So far he almost walked 600 miles (I´m surprised it´s possible to walk along those highways. around here the police would pick you up asap), and lost 50 pounds.

So, what´s your opinion? Is this just grabbing for public attention like that Dragostea din tei video kid? Is this an irresponsible way of self-help? Is it just weird or funny? Will thousands of overweight people imitate him?

link

17:36 / 28.07.05

I think you're right, he probably was inspired by Forrest Gump.

17:43 / 28.07.05

"I did not make this website to complain about it however, instead I am doing something about it"

At the end of the day he's putting in some hard effort to lose all that flab, and that should be respected. Whether it gets made into a movie or not is besides the point and, honestly, that's more the fault of Hollywood and the movie going public if it does, innit?

17:50 / 28.07.05

This effort is not going to be without sacrifice... I will probably see my wife and kids only once or twice during this time. I am not in the best condition financially to go six months without income and have resigned myself to the fact that I will lose my car and property... I can get another car or another property but not another life.

Um, does he mean his family is going to lose their house because he thinks it's more exciting to lose weight by walking across America than by walking round and round the block where he lives?

In short, I don't really get it. As a story about "the great feats" achieved by individuals (The human race has achieved great feats solely on the efforts of the individual. Building pyramids, settling frontiers and walking on the moon are a few examples) it doesn't convince me.

19:48 / 28.07.05

I'd say this is less about losing weight and more about the Great American Mid-Life Crisis.

If he put the same energy into going to the gym 3-5 times a week he could achieve the same results, but he certainly wouldn't get the same attention.

And, you know, he could see his wife and kids.

Tryphena Absent

20:02 / 28.07.05

If he didn't have any dependants I might think this was a great idea. I mean, lose weight and see the country at the same time, it sounds interesting. The fact that his children may not have anywhere to live puts it in a very negative light.

20:32 / 28.07.05

Yes, I too thought it´s irresponsible, with him having two children. If he planned all this, mabe he could have saved up the money first, he needed to get over six months without pay.

But then, I thought he´s reckless anyway, even if he would be alone. Being so much overweight and walking around like that. I thought, he could easily just have a heart attack, fall down and get run over.

It sounds a bit melodramatic, making losing weight an event.

20:47 / 28.07.05

no sympathy. those kids shouldn't have let him get so huge...

interesting conundrum, though, isn't it. where do you draw the line between responsibility to other people and the expression of self that might be antithetical to those relationships? and why do we want to judge him?

20:55 / 28.07.05

He should get an endorsement deal that pays his rent. Something like Subway or Adidas or something. The guy's in desperate need of an agent.

21:09 / 28.07.05

He should get an endorsement deal that pays his rent. Something like Subway or Adidas or something.

How about Duracell?

21:13 / 28.07.05

Agent, schmagent, he's got a *web page*.

Money will come *pouring in*.

Those poor kids! That noble man! Losing weight -- it's good for you! He's just TRYING TO SAVE HIS LIFE!

21:44 / 28.07.05

G-d damn, he didn't say he's going to throw his kids into the street to starve to death so he can be on Oprah! Why do you assume that losing his property means his family will be homeless? Why can't they rent an apartment? It's six months on a single income, they'll live.

Not everybody can go to the gym. It would be nice if this guy were perfect and lost weight in a way that didn't cause any strain on his family, but if we're going to ask him to be different than he is, why don't we just ask him to not have gained weight in the first place. Being fat's not a moral failing, and neither is not having the willpower and discipline to sustain a gym regimen.

22:04 / 28.07.05

Hey, I support they guy. Sounds like an adventure, a way healthier midlife crisis, and I'm sure if his kids love him, they'd rather live without the big house and car for awhile if it means their dad will be around a lot longer.

23:06 / 28.07.05

Nina, please don't get me wrong. I sympathise with his plight, hell I'm going throught the same thing (though to a lesser extent) myself right now. But if he put the same effort into going to the gym that he has put/will be putting into a walk across the country I'd be perfectly willing to eat my "midlife-crisis" snark.

What he's planned will require a lot more determination, tenacity and will power than going to the gym, not to mention requiring more of his time and resources. Yes, walking is good excercise, but a treadmill, stationary bike, rower, or super circuit is better and will give results more quickly.

But this is a publicity stunt.

Tryphena Absent

23:18 / 28.07.05

and why do we want to judge him?

I can honestly say I don't want to judge him. He's far more likely to lose weight in this way because he'll actually want to and if he just had a wife there wouldn't be any reason to think there was anything a bit dodgy about this. It does seem a bit odd to just leave your children and lose their home to go trekking off though. It makes you wonder what the other motive is (I don't believe in mid-life crisis).

09:05 / 29.07.05

I say good on him. 400 pounds is life threatening!
He's got to a point where coping with being big has really hammered his self esteem and he's got just enough in reserve to call a halt. Maybe other areas of his life such as his job where crap and he needed a break. He's doing something positive and that's got to be applauded. He's got the blessing of his family, they've weighed up the odds....maybe they'd lose the house and car anyway if he died from something related to obesity. And I bet he gets donations along the way. Plus there were a number of companies sponsoring him on the website. My gut feel is that blurb on the front page was written before he took a single step and its working out a lot better than he imagined.

Well done that man....

09:13 / 29.07.05

It would be nice if this guy were perfect and lost weight in a way that didn't cause any strain on his family, but if we're going to ask him to be different than he is, why don't we just ask him to not have gained weight in the first place. Being fat's not a moral failing, and neither is not having the willpower and discipline to sustain a gym regimen.

Yeah, but what is a failing - maybe not a moral one, but one of intellect and imagination - is saying publicly "The only way I can lose weight is to by making a huge fucking deal of it, putting my family's financial well-being at risk, getting myself on TV and radio, and this makes my achievement comparable with the builders of the pyramids and the first astronauts to walk on the moon." Um, no. It makes your achievement comparable with the "Weight Loser of the Week" in my women's weekly magazines, but with a lot more pointless waste of time, effort and money, all while trumpeting what a splendid anti-consumerist rebel you are (I feel as though I am being taken advantage of by companies and people that want fat people to buy their latest "miracle pill" or prepackaged food that will help me lose the weight... We, as a society, are growing larger and have become a big market for high dollar fast fixes.)

Incidentally, within the first two weeks he went from not being able to walk "from one side of the store to another" to being able to walk ten miles. Maybe it was only the prospect of walking all the way across America that motivated him to be able to do it, but that's a fair bit of discipline and motivation right there.

(If I sound snippy, btw, it's because I kind of resent the implication that I came within a million miles of saying that being fat was a moral failing.)

17:30 / 29.07.05

It's ok. I was snippy myself.

20:49 / 29.07.05

A friend of ours, Jason Jamar, did this a few years ago and didn't get rich.

Of course, he was single,young, just out of the military, and had no other obligations or responsibilities... It does seem a bit of a self-aggrandizing way to lose weight...

17:18 / 30.07.05

God, you all can be such motherfuckers. Fuck you, okay, motherfuckers?

Being fat is a lifestyle here. To put and keep the weight off, you have to change everything, including what you like, and you have to be able to sustain it. He's saying, "I don't have the willpower to do this the normal way, so I'm going to do it this crazy way, because maybe that'll work for me." Just wish him well, for Christ's sake.

18:10 / 30.07.05

You insult us for voicing our opinions. That will surely make us sympathize with that man.

19:14 / 30.07.05

I'm not really that bothered by the idea if he's not harming anybody else - he could lose weight in lots of ways but I don't see that this particular one is terrible. It may be self-aggrandising but if his progress is actually interesting to people, I don't see that it's a big problem. If people want to watch him walking across the States, they can do so. It does do something to indicate that the best way to lose weight is to engage in personal action rather than rely on medical treatment

If he's leaving his family in financial problems though, he's a git.

That question doesn't seem to be conclusively answered, though the page itself is not that comforting.

19:39 / 30.07.05

"Of course, he was single,young, just out of the military, and had no other obligations or responsibilities... It does seem a bit of a self-aggrandizing way to lose weight... "

Yes, god for-fucking-bid normal folks ever try to big themselves up. Hell, he's just a fucking fatty, right? How dare he try to claim fame for anything.

Yeah, if it leaves his wife and kids (how old are the kids?) in financial trouble then yes, I'd say it's an uneccessary way to do it. But it's not like the wife is powerless in all this - she can't blame a complete money breakdown on the husband, not in this day and age.

Valid criticisms have been raised here but I'm a little bemused by the 'how dare he be famous, how DARE he' subtext running along some of them.

21:00 / 30.07.05

Mistoffelees, I can't help it if you're a motherfucker.

02:39 / 31.07.05

If any of you motherfuckers had a wife and kids you would understand why he wants to walk all the way across the country.

15:53 / 31.07.05

He's a fucking genius, is what he is.

His wife's also running the blog and apparently traveling some places with him or meeting him along the way.

So it's an imperfect escape.

Tryphena Absent

16:56 / 31.07.05

But this is a publicity stunt.

I'm sorry I don't get you? How is walking across America and keeping a website about the journey a publicity stunt? He wanted a record of his experience, so would you if you did this.

17:08 / 31.07.05

How is walking across America and keeping a website about the journey a publicity stunt?

4/6/05 - Channel 10 came out today to interview my family and me.

4/8/05 - 91X did an interview with me this morning... BrandX morning show member Ruggy was interested in the story... Also, News 10 is going to be there to see me off from Oceanside.

Tangent pointed out today that there's kind of a trend for men to make a huge fuss over doing things that women do all the time for little recognition and reward - cf the women who get their photo in Chat for, you know, losing weight without having the luxury of leaving their family and their job and reorganizing their entire lives around it for six months. Cf also the movies Madam Doubtfire and Mister Mom.

17:49 / 31.07.05

Cf also the movies Madam Doubtfire and Mister Mom.

Or how about this movie?

Tryphena Absent

17:54 / 31.07.05

Did he phone the news broadcasters or did they think it would make a good article?

Publicity stunt suggests to me an active attempt to get into the public eye. I still don't see evidence that he did this for those specific reasons.

19:33 / 31.07.05

Nina, as you well know, Americans, especially fat ones, are contemptible, stupid glory hounds, and any public notice of them should provoke disdain amongst right-thinking people everywhere. Any suggestion that they are just regular folks doing something regular is politically dubious at best. So shame on you, collaborator.

22:10 / 31.07.05

A friend of ours, Jason Jamar, did this a few years ago and didn't get rich.

But from the pics, Jason Jamar doesn't really look like a fatty. Maybe that's why he didn't get rich?

I don't know, it's weird. I guess it would be kind of an interesting thing to do for six months, but Deva is right it is made out as some sort of publicity stunt. Their publicity could be simply in order to help finance the trip.

What I find weird is this guy is really just doing this to raise awareness of him - the whole thing is set up as you would find stunt designed to raise money for charity, but the only charity is Steve (and his family about to be thrown out on the street).

08:37 / 01.08.05

Any suggestion that they are just regular folks doing something regular is politically dubious at best.

Well, I don't agree with you, Q, but I'm sure the Fat Man would: after all, he spends the whole of his home page dissociating himself from the millions of regular folks who think losing weight through diet and exercise is a regular thing to do, and comparing himself with the builders of the fucking pyramids.

Tryphena Absent

10:11 / 01.08.05

Maybe he needs to do that in order to lose weight? Maybe he needs to believe that he's important, is it any surprise that a man that large has so little self-esteem?

10:14 / 01.08.05

I didn't realize that "I needed to do this to lose weight" put all actions beyond criticism.