The Superfat
 

I'm not trying to cut anyone down with the title of this thread just being honest. There's obese, and there's Superfat.

I had a friend and colleague that was not even 40, and he died suddenly on Saturday of a massive heart attack. He left behind two young daughters that he raised as a single father, the mother was not in the picture at all. My friend was at least 600 lbs.

My sister is also superfat. At 5'6" she weighs at least 425, and she's 43. I am scared to death that she will meet the same fate as my friend and yet all i can do is stand by and watch. And it's not as if I am not speaking from my own experience, because up until about 7 years ago i carried 350 lbs on my 6'2" body. I managed to lose 150 lbs with diet and exercise and conveniently, dialysis now keeps me at 90 K (198 lbs) reliably.

It's dangerous to do weight loss surgery on people this big. I wish there was some way to motivate people like this to lose at least a little bit of weight without seeming like you are insulting them. I know my sister gets VERY defensive when i approach the subject of weight loss.

Do any people here have a person that they love that's one of the superfat and what do you do to try and help your loved one?

I don't know how to have that conversation, other that to tell them that they are not going to see 50 unless they make some changes.

I know that they know that in their heart and head already Craig. It's almost as if they have chosen a slow way to suicide, much like an alcoholic that can't change their direction and know that liver failure will eventually get them. I had another friend, a former alcoholic, that died of liver failure in November. He stopped drinking years ago but the alcohol had done it's damage. I was overweight for years with diabetes and hypertension that i paid not one iota of attention to and now i am paying the price even though i cleaned up my act after the fact so-to speak. Heck now I am hoping to make it to 50 myself lol.

I don't know what to tell you, it's like drinking or smoking, each individual has to make these decisions for themselves. All you can really do is express your concern and offer to help.

At my heaviest I was almost 280 lbs. I did the diet where you don't eat many carbs and 75 lbs later I feel pretty good at 205lbs. I picked up a 70lb case of paper the other day and couldn't believe that I have lost that much weight. If I can do it, anyone can. I grill most of the food I eat, I don't eat anything deep fried. :D

Shoot I am right there with you if I could do it anyone can but I can also see how daunting a task that could be for someone 200 lbs or more overweight...

My diet was 600 calories a day of grilled chicken, 3 miles walking in the hot Houston summer sun (sweating is losing weight) followed by three more miles walking on a treadmill in the gym, each and every day.

I think i am going to try to reach Richard Simmons and see if there is anything he can do to help my sister. He seems to be good for the superfat.

You guys should give yourself more credit, not everyone is able or willing to change their lifestyle. I suspect there is a point where many people just lose hope and give up.

I suspect my sister may be at that point and it makes me want to cry.

The terminology is morbidly obese.

Funny you should mention Richard Simmons. He has (or had?) a chain of exercise clubs aimed at helping people lose weight. My mom was a member in the early 80's and lost some weight.

Unfortunately, we moved and Mom pretty much quit exercising after that. She was always big and always had hypertension. Later, she also got Type II diabetes and high chloresterol. Around that time, I started trying to persuade her to start exercising, but she always had excuses. Once in a while she would diet, lose some weight-sometimes up to 60 pounds, but then gain it back. A little later, she also got congestive heart failure, depressed respiration, and most likely sleap apnea*, the combination of which finally did her in. She did live to be 65, which is quite old for someone as obese as she was. My sister and I tried off and on for years to get her to change a few habits, which would have helped her health a lot, but by the time Mom started getting receptive to the idea, she was already too sick to really do anything about it. Stubborn old broad; I miss her.

*Her snoring was sometimes almost as loud as the neighbor's Harley, and she always slept poorly. The doctors tried forever to get her to go for a sleep study. She finally accepted and was scheduled to go, but died shortly before her appointment.

No I was morbidly obese at 350 i am talking about a whole other league of obesity, people that weigh so much that they are at too high risk to even qualify for weight loss surgery. Again not trying to offend i know i was fat i made no bones about it.

This is what i am talking about, people 400 lbs up to and over 1000 lbs.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/390465/brookhaven_obesity_clinic_helping_the.html?cat=51

Actually we seem to be talking super mobidly obese, BMI>50. Not a good problem to have.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46582

That's really heart-breaking to read. I know i still have sleep apnea at my weight so i need to get myself on a CPAP/BiPAP machine soon.

Exactly. I knew I was not using a PC term, but also knew i meant something more than your typical obese person. Thanks.

I lost 70 lbs to around 150 lbs(I'm 5'11). Mine was depression and food was the medium for my emotional sustenance.

This happened 8 years ago. A relative of mine called me fat!! That freakin' insult was my motivation! I've kept the weight off and have been fairly scrawny since!

Sometimes you just have to tell them as it is. It hurt for me (greatly) to hear the words come from my cousin. They were cruel. But they were necessary.