600-Pound Man Convinced He Is Healthy

I'd like to publicly thank everyone who has sent me notes of encouragement and hope about my brother Kevin as he has been battling the seemingly endless saga of heart health problems in recent months. Your words and prayers have comforted and strengthened me and my family during this sometimes tense ordeal.

In fact, one of the people who read about Kevin's story here at my blog is a heart specialist who works with Olympic athletes to get them into tip-top shape. He personally offered to help Kevin free of charge if he would be willing to share his typical daily routine, including the medications he takes. When I presented this offer to Kevin, he seemed very excited about it and I was delighted that perhaps the dark cloud of despair that has hovered over him for the past few years may finally begin to clear up.

Unfortunately, though, I am afraid Kevin is squandering this golden opportunity by being less than forthright about his condition. When I requested some basic information from Kevin about his health, here are the mendacious answers he gave to me along with the cold hard facts:

Height - 6'0" (TRUE)
Weight - 373 pounds (FALSE, he's closer to 600 pounds!)
Waist - 62 inches (FALSE, it's MUCH BIGGER than that!)
Calories Consumed Daily - 1800 (HA! Maybe for breakfast! FALSE!)
Exercise - 2 miles daily (With 15% of his heart functioning? FALSE!)

He had a series of heart attacks back in 1999 and had 4 stints put in at the time. In 2005, an icdinplant was put in, and he was declared a Type 2 diabetic. Here is a list of the prescription medications he currently takes:

GLUCATROL 2.5 MG
PRINAVIL 10 MG
POTTASIUM CHLORIDE 10 MG
PLAVIX 75 MG
COUMADIN 10 MG
ASPRIN 81 MG
IMDUR 60 MG
COREG 37.5 MG
LASIX 80 MG
ALLOPURINOL 100 MG
TOPROL 50 MG

As you can see, Kevin's still in pretty bad shape and I fear he will stay that way as long as he keeps lying to himself about his weight and health. Some people criticized me for claiming people with obesity are in deep denial about their weight problem, but I've got a barely living and breathing example of this in my brother Kevin. This man who hasn't even turned 40 yet has so convinced himself that he's eating and exercising the healthy way that there's no way he could possibly do anything more for himself.

If that's NOT denial, then I don't know what is!

Furthermore, I don't believe for one second that Kevin eats just 1800 calories per day. Heck, even I eat around 2300-2500 calories daily and I'm actually LOSING weight! Then, to be off on how much he actually weighs by more than 200 pounds?! That's something everyone who gets really, really big goes through. When I started livin' la vida low-carb in January 2004, I thought I weighed about 320, but my ACTUAL weight was a whopping 410 pounds! NO SENSE OF REALITY EXISTS!!!

Then for him to say he walks 2 miles a day is completely absurd. He may "feel" like he's walked that far, but it's probably not much further than a few blocks and then he turns back around. Kevin is playing mind games with himself and not owning up to his end of taking responsibility for his weight problem. Until that happens, NOTHING changes.

And, yes, lest anyone accuses me of being inconsistent in my viewpoints, I believe Kevin does need to take personal responsiblity for his weight problem. Don't blame mom or dad for why you gained weight either because I overcame. And so can you!

While the circumstances of how he got to be 600 pounds is one thing, the truth for him and anyone else in the same circumstance is they need to make weight loss a priority and JUST DO IT! Stop your whining, stop your bellyaching about it being too hard, and for goodness sake stop pointing fingers. There's no arguing about genetics or a propensity to being fat in some people. But too many people are using those as lame excuses to wiggle out of making the right choices for themselves.

When I spoke with Kevin's roommate recently about what he had eaten that day, she told me Kevin had a bowl of oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, she didn't see him at lunch so she doesn't know, and for supper he had a big bowl of grits with eggs and sausage. Then he went out with friends and she was unaware of what he ate, but suspects he ate something. He's obviously eating way too many carbohydrates and calories still even though he is supposed to be trying to eat lower-carb and allegedly sticking to 1800 calories. PUH-LEEZE! This is frustrating me to no end!

I REALLY wish I could be in Florida with Kevin to personally watch him when he eats, walk with him for as long as he can take it, and show him practical ways to lose the weight and get healthy. That's just not a feasible option for me right now. What Kevin needs now more than ever is a major life intervention and quickly or he won't make it to the age of 40. He's been give that chances with this generous heart doctor, but I'm not so sure he's going to avail himself of this golden goose.

Continue to pray for Kevin Lee Moore that he would change his thinking about his weight. Until he comes to grips with the grave reality of his condition, he will remain morbidly obese and slowly keep chipping away at his life. The devastation of Kevin's condition that continues to happen right before my eyes keeps me focused on what I am doing to help educate, encourage and inspire others to get this part of their life headed in the right direction.

It's not my fault if people like Kevin don't listen, but it won't stop me from trying. I'll NEVER quit if for no other reason than to help spare others the pain of having to go through the drama of seeing a loved one eating his way to an early grave. If we can save just ONE person from doing that, then the tens of thousands of hours I have invested in my blog will have been all worth it!

I'll let you know if I hear anything new out of Kevin, especially if he decides to make a full commitment to improving his weight and health. I'm not confident he will, but I am hopeful for the best. THANKS again for all of your thoughts and prayers.