Sunday, October 25, 2009

#71 Eating Like a Bear, Literally

World's Fattest Man Eats 20,000 Calories a Day [printed in Martha Edwards posts Oct 21st 2009 9:00AM]

Worlds fastest swimmer eats 12,000 calories a day while training.

Average sized bear eats 20,000 calories
a day.

Sumo wrestlers eat between 18,000 and 20,000 calories/daily

When I saw that headline, Man Eats 20,000 calories, well, I just couldn't resist clicking on the link to see what 20,000 calories a day looks like, or perhaps what I really wanted to see was what a person who eats 20,000 calories a day looks like. Put it down to morbid curiosity.

Mr. Paul Mason has the dubious distinction of being the heaviest man on earth, weighing in at 976 pounds. It seems that Mr. M., aged 48, had to eat 2,000 (oops, I forgot a zero), I mean 20,000 calories daily to gain back the weight (250 lbs) he had lost while in the hospital recuperating from "a life-saving operation". For those of you who don't understand calories or count calories, that number, 20,000, is about 10 times more then the amount a 48-ish year old active man should be eating to maintain his weight. I need to share -- I'm actually a little jealous; not of stuffing my pie hole with 20,000 calories/daily, but a 2,000 calorie day does sound like a nice change from my 1,300 calorie day.

Of course, the honor of being Mr Biggest doesn't come without its problems. Mr. M rarely leaves his bed, and has 7 around the clock care-givers taking care of his daily needs. Let's stop here for a sec. Mr. Biggest and I are the same age [give or take a year], and having 7 people take care of my daily [and probably pretty intimate] needs because I was too fat to do it myself, would be humiliating and horrifying. (NOTE: I know there are people living this way due to debilitating diseases that necessitate the use of round the clock caregivers. I believe Mr. M is in a different category.) In the on-line article, the author, pretty much said that she really couldn't feel sorry for Mr. M since his goal was to become this way.

Mr. Mason can't travel in a car or on an airplane, and when he had to be rushed to the hospital for the above life-saving surgery, the British Air Force had to airlift him there. As to his clothing needs, I'm guessing that they're custom made. Truthfully, though, why bother getting dressed at all, as in underclothing, shirt and pants? If my "job" was eating 20,000 calories a day, and not moving from one spot, I think a mu mu would do just fine; it would definitely make it easier for my 7 caregivers. Actually, before husband and kids, there were probably a couple of days a year where I would plant my tush on the sofa, watch movies, catch up on missed TV shows, nap, read, eat all my meals in front of the TV, and never get out of my PJs. I looked at these days as a bonus day, not a lifestyle.

I'm not trying to sound nasty here, nor insensitive to the plight of the obese, and unlike Ms. Edwards the author of the article, I do feel a little sad and sorry for Mr. M. However, as we know, there are thousands of people living with body weights of 300 pounds and up. I TRULY BELIEVE that the last thing any of them would want is to add a few more pounds -- let alone another 200 or 300.

Oh, and just in case you're interested, it costs the British government $164,000 U.S. dollars a year to keep Mr. Mason alive. As of 2009, the cost of his care reached the $1 million mark

Quote of the Day: "I realized that I'm more important than food. I love a big slice of pizza, but I love myself more." Valerie Bertinelli

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Holy mackerel. You just made me drop my McMuffin.

Bobbie's Babbles said...

Comment sent to my email:

Who the fuck is feeding that asshole?!!

Chris H said...

I too feel dreadfully SORRY for obese people who DON'T WANT TO BE OBESE.
As for people like Mr M... he should be left to wallow in his own fat... why do tax payers have to pay for his carers and needs when he has deliberately got himself where he is today?
Why waste money on life saving operations (and getting him to hospital etc) when he is virtually deliberately killling himself?
I just don't get it. A huge waste of money.
And yes, who the hell is feeding him?
Starve the man... he will lose weight and have to look afer himself... as he should. pfffft.
RANT OVER. And I apologise if I offend anyone, but COME ON! He's a user.

Unknown said...

Yes why ARE people feeding him? That is the biggest case (no pun intended) of enabling I've ever heard. FEED HIM LESS! What's he going to do- hoist his bulk off the recliner and hit you and then make a run to the 7-11? Nope, he can't! Seriously, his caregivers need to end this insanity now.

There comes a point, people. There comes a point!

Darren said...

I don't really feel sorry for anyone who is overweight and I mean this in a nice way. I think people have emotional issues that can be hidden deep down that manifest themselves in many ways, food just being one of them. Its up to each individual to look inside and face their own demons... life will give you every chance to, you just have to be brave enough to get off your butt and meet it head on!

Bobbie's Babbles said...

Thanks for your comments. I'm so glad that I didn't get any nasty ones telling me that I was insensitive. I was a little worried to tell you the truth.

Anonymous said...

When I was at the parents a few months back, I watched Half-Ton Son, who wanted to do nothing but play video games all day. They couldn't even evacuate from NO during Katrina, because it was too difficult to move him. Finally, the mom started to make him go to the kitchen to get his own food, and she made him walk outside in the yard for a while. She had to threaten to take his video games away. But I wonder the same thing, the kid can't leave the house, can't fit into a car (forget bicycle), can barely get out of bed. If he was fed a glass of water, a sandwich and a salad, what is he going to do, call CPS? Someone's enabling him.