MEXICO: Former record holder for obesity looks toward a new record for weight loss

Record ID: 304180

  • Title: MEXICO: Former record holder for obesity looks toward a new record for weight loss
  • Date: 17th August 2008
  • Summary: MONTEREY, MEXICO (AUGUST 10, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) WORLD'S FORMER HEAVIEST MAN, MANUEL URIBE, SAYING: "I feel very well. We have shed many desires for this - my new lifestyle. It is called the Zone Diet. In two and a half years, we have lost some 240 kilos approximately. I feel very good, each day better. My body is healthier each day and my arteries are doing well, thanks to the knowledge of eating well." URIBE AT HOME TALKING ON THE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URIBE SAYING: "In 2008 I am going to continue getting ride of desires - all the effort in the world. I want to serve God - that is fundamental in my life - to marry my girlfriend, have a family and continue working. The most important is to continue the plan and in this lifestyle." PHOTO OF URIBE'S GIRLFRIEND, CLAUDIA VARIOUS OF PAINTING OF URIBE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URIBE SAYING: "One medical study that now I am like a 26-year-old. It is amazing. I am fascinated. The truth is that I feel very good and for this reason, the people, my friends say to me: Why do you have this smile and why are you so happy? Because I feel well." GUINNESS RECORD CERTIFICATE NAMING HIM "THE FATTEST LIVING MAN" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) URIBE'S DOCTOR, SILVIA OROZCO, SAYING: "The physical condition of Manuel is that he is free of diabetes, free of hypertension, free of depression, his flexibility is better, he does a lot of exercise. However, I think that a minimum of two years still has to pass so that Manuel can defeat his tumours. If he continues with that discipline, we hope that he can get up from his bed." VARIOUS OF URIBE URIBE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND DOCTOR OROZCO CHECKING BLOOD PRESSURE
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Health,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEVV21TRCIANVL0A8WKICN7QFV
  • Story Text: Once the World's Heaviest Man, Manuel Uribe is now hoping to set a new record for losing the most weight in the least amount of time.
    He was once in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the World's Heaviest Living Man, but today Manuel Uribe is looking to set a new record - having lost the most weight in the least amount of time.
    At his heaviest - in January, 2006 - Uribe weighed 560 kilos (1,235 pounds), but has since shed some 240 kilos (529 pounds) and hopes to set the new record next year.
    Uribe said he accomplished the weight loss through the Zone Diet, a regimen that advocates consuming calories from carbohydrates, protein and fat in a ratio of 40 percent, 30 percent and 30 percent.

    "I feel very well. We have shed many desires for this - my new lifestyle. It is called the Zone Diet. In two and a half years, we have lost some 240 kilos approximately. I feel very good, each day better. My body is healthier each day and my arteries are doing well, thanks to the knowledge of eating well," Uribe told Reuters.
    He added that the weight loss has allowed him to think about other goals in his life.

    "In 2008 I am going to continue getting ride of desires - all the effort in the world. I want to serve God - that is fundamental in my life - to marry my girlfriend, have a family and continue working. The most important is to continue the plan and in this lifestyle," he said.
    Although Uribe still cannot move his swollen legs and still must ride in a special trailer that can support his bed, he said he is much happier.

    "One medical study that now I am like a 26-year-old. It is amazing. I am fascinated. The truth is that I feel very good and for this reason, the people, my friends say to me: Why do you have this smile and why are you so happy? Because I feel well," he said.
    Uribe spent the 1990s eating pizzas and burgers in the United States where he worked as a computer repairman. Addicted to junk food, he eventually tipped the scales at 1,235 pounds back in Mexico, bingeing on greasy tacos.
    He said he wanted to kill himself two years ago when his wife left him, but recovered thanks to "excellent doctors."
    One of his doctors, Silvia Orozco, said Uribe has made great strides but still has a way to go.

    "The physical condition of Manuel is that he is free of diabetes, free of hypertension, free of depression, his flexibility is better, he does a lot of exercise. However, I think that a minimum of two years still has to pass so that Manuel can defeat his tumours. If he continues with that discipline, we hope that he can get up from his bed," she said.
    The record for the man who lost the most weight is held by Jon Brower Minnoch, who lost 924 pounds, according to the Guinness World Records. Uribe said his goal is to weigh 285 pounds by 2010, meaning he would have lost 950 pounds.
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