The Diary of a 676 Pound Man - December 31, 2003

Vito Whitlach, a long time reader of The Geekery, and an avid poster on The Geek Forums, has sent in one of many diary entries that I found to be very touching. In his entries, he shares with us how he went from being a morbidly obese man to being a healthy 200 pound man over the course of several decades.

December 31, 2003 -- Late night

Reminiscing upon 2003, I've really began to notice the wear and tear that all this extra weight has put on my body. I have gone through several knee surgeries since both of my knees have collapsed inward from the tremendous pressure applied to them when going to the bathroom once a day, and I have also began to notice that even the simplest of things - like breathing - have become more and more difficult since the start of 2003. I'll admit it - I'm 676 pounds, and I'm a very, very fat man, and I need some help!

With that being the case, I'm going to make a resolution to become a healthier person by losing a steady amount of weight each month until I reach a reasonable weight. I'm not going to waste my time setting specific goals I want to achieve per month or when everything is said and done. So as long as the pounds are coming off, be it one pound or ten, I will be proud of myself and will reward myself accordingly.

After watching the ball drop tonight I am going to become a new person - a person who is aware of what they are eating, a person that is going to have a renewed sense of the will to live, a person who is once again alive.

January 1, 2004 -- Morning

This morning I woke up and made my usual breakfast along with some left overs that I had made last night for ringing in the new year which included 23 hot dogs and about three pounds of steak. Along
with that I made a 12-egg omelet with about 6 slices of Land-o-Lakes American cheese, 12 pieces of bacon, 8 sausage links and a freshly squeezed 64 ounce glass of orange juice to balance everything and make me feel as though I had a healthy meal. Afterwards, I put on my favorite table cloth and went for a slow walk around the the nearby park.
The weather was so nice this morning - It didn't even really feel like winter. The sun was warm, the temperature was about 40, and there was dew on the grass and other nearby surfaces that mimicked the dew that proceeds a nice spring day. I knew that if I kept this up and finally got in touch with my true inner self, I was going to be able to get down to a reasonable weight, or my external self would turn into a sausage.

January 1, 2004 --Mid-Morning

After returning from my half mile long walk around the lake, I built up a ginormous appetite so I made myself a healthy snack in-between breakfast and lunch. I ate one full
bag of pop corn, one tube of tooth paste that was in my way, one sleeve of saltines in a minute (I won a prize since everyone said it can't be done) along with 6 brownies and a bottle of whipped cream. After my mid morning snack I felt a little tired so I went down to take a nap, only to wake up
several hours later, resting atop of the remains of my coffee table. I somehow managed
to fall on top of my coffee table while I was sleeping.

January 1, 2004 -- Lunch Time!

Lunch time has always been my favorite time of day, even when I used to work at McDonald's before I was too heavy to work. I used to take advantage of the lunch
rush by cooking myself an extra basket or two (or a case [848]) of nuggets to snack on during the rest of the afternoon since I knew the managers were too busy to catch me in the act. Today for lunch I was feeling a little naughty (As usual!) and made myself
something that I really shouldn't have had - beans. I made myself a nice big bean
salad with 6 different types of beans in it. Along with the bean salad I made a smoked ham on the George Foreman grill (secret recipe) and about 23 slices of cheese, each about an inch thick. After this, I figured that i would be a good idea to take an entire bottle of Gas-X to save my neighbors the agony of cheese and beans.

January 1, 2004 -- Mid-Afternoon

So far today I've managed to consume about 5500 calories less than I normally would have by this time on a typical day. Needless to say, I'm getting really hungry. I was reading something the other day on the internet that said that sometimes thirst is disguised by hunger. So I decided to drink a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew, and it worked! I don't feel hungry anymore! Though, I must admit, I drank that 2 liter bottle after having a mid afternoon snack of a bag of Doritos, 12 hard boiled eggs, 4 chocolate bars, and 4 biscuits left over from a few days ago.

This is starting to get tough! I'm so hungry I could almost eat my own arm!!!

January 1, 2004 -- Dinner

I so badly want to pull out all the stops and eat like I normally do, but I know that if I want to be able to walk on the beach in the summer of 2024, I have to cut back now! I only have about another 20 years left. Instead of my usual trifecta (McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC) I only went to Subway.
Three times. That spokesman for Subway lost hundreds of pounds by eating just their food. So I figured if he could do it, why can't I?! When I talked to the manager of the Subway, she said that the key to his success depended upon eating properly, and enough physical activities throughout the day to help him burn calories all day long -- not just during the morning or once a week.

I figured that I was headed in the right direction. Up until this day, I never walked anywhere and I used to eat 5500 calories more per day. I'm taking baby steps until I'm all grown up!

January 1, 2004 -- Late Night snack time

On my way back from Subway I stopped at the local supermarket and did a little shopping. I was feeling like something sweet - so I bought three bags of Twizzlers along with some (About 6 cans) Jolt cola. I felt like eating that at about 11:20, right before bed. I don't know why I ate all of that. I feel like total crap now, and I can't sleep. I feel wide awake. Maybe it's the Subway that I ate. It sure feels and sounds like I ate the entire subway!

I'm going to try and get some rest now this way I can go for a nice long walk around the lake again in the morning.

-Pasta La Vista, Baby!

I look forward to reading more about how Vito Whitlach over came his tremendous lust for food and anything you could possibly eat.