Supersize Him – The Sequel
Back in March, I wrote a brief post on Australian trainer/model Paul James, who decided to gain 40kg of fat in an effort to understand what his clients go through when attempting to lose weight.
He ’s now on his way back down… naturally, he’s finding it difficult.
After months of eating nothing but fatty, fried foods and sugary drinks, James began liking his new diet — perhaps too much.
“I really enjoyed the food,” he said. “But it soon became an addiction and I am currently fighting that addiction as well to sugar and fat.”
James’ first step to getting fit was to break his addiction, but he couldn’t do it cold turkey. He gradually weaned himself off of sugar and fat. Today he believes he has kicked his habit.
…When James finally did make it back to the gym to begin an exercise regimen, he couldn’t do what he used to do.
He had so much extra weight on his ankles and knees that he couldn’t run because he was afraid of injuring his joints and he was unable to do a set of sit-ups.
Here it is, in his own words:
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Makster on 13 Aug 2009 at 9:33 am #
It amazes me how quickly he put on that much weight. That just shows what a bad diet and no exercise will do to you. It easy to see why people yo-yo up and down in their weight.
As he said eating the bad foods became addictive. Unless you can fully commit to a good eating and exercise plan the weight can go on quit easily.
I wish him good luck at getting back to the shape he was in. I do think that it might take a little longer than his 6 month estimate.
Elissa on 13 Aug 2009 at 4:37 pm #
The whole thing made me think of Morgan Spurlock in “Supersize Me.” He also had ominous health signs, as he was literally forcing his body to gain by a sudden, constant infusion of high-fat/sugar/cals.
Watching the vid, it’s obvious that James put on a lot of VAT (visceral adipose tissue) – which I don’t doubt was the result of his prolonged bingeing. It’s not unlike the process used to fatten geese for fois gras…the force feeding (they literally gavage the birds) has a profound effect on the liver, which becomes enlarged and fatty. It’s not a normal fattening process.
Needless to state, this was the reason for my original assessment that it was a stupid stunt. In reality, it’s the rare overweight person who got that way by the path James took. And for all the connections between weight and health, most overfat people don’t develop pathological signs/symptoms quite so quickly (in fact, some never do…there is actually a “healthy obese” phenotype exhibited by about 20% – 30%).
In other words, he took unnecessary risks with his own health and well-being to do this. IMHO, he’s a f**ing idiot.
Beyond that, his quest for “empathy” – ironically – is an insult to a lot of overweight people. As I’ve noted previously, I grew up in a fat family, and while there was a lot of junk around, there was also plenty of healthy, nutritious food too. My Mom got fat by consuming an excess of calories, to be sure, but it wasn’t from gorging on fast food and pizza (in fact, she was an excellent cook who disdained the stuff). Nor was she a glutton – if you do the math, it’s obvious that people can gain a significant amount of weight over the years simply by consuming relatively small indulgences above and beyond their energy requirements: a few cookies here, a piece of pie a la mode there…it all adds up. Toss in the occasional, “normal” overfeeds that occur during parties, holidays, vacations, etc. and you’re there.
This is why I can sympathize with the fat acceptance folks, when they protest comedic portrayals of fat people as pigs who are constantly chowing down on enormous quantities of junk/fatty food without restraint…while there are certainly some who conform to that stereotype (a phenomenon I’ve witnessed at buffet restaurants), it’s horribly unfair to tar every significantly overweight/obese person with that particular brush. But, unfortunately, that’s exactly what James has (inadvertently) done.
Makster on 13 Aug 2009 at 7:39 pm #
Well said. I totally agree.