On this week’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition we met James, a 26-year-old weighing in at 651 lbs. James was so big that he couldn’t fit through doorways without going sideways and sucking in, cracked floor tiles by sitting in a chair, and had a hernia that could not be operated on due to his size. James couldn’t even walk down to the lamp post on the corner from his house without wondering how he was going to get back. He also knew that he allowed food to be his crutch when he wasn’t able to play football in high school and he had already taken it upon himself to join a gym and work out on his own.
Right from the start, my heart went out to James because he knew what got him to this place in his life and he really was trying to do something about it. I see people in this same condition all the time and sometimes I just want to shake them and ask them why they’ve let themselves get to such a point and why they don’t do anything about it. Looking at James’ diet — eating about 6000 calories a day — it’s easy to see how anyone can get into that shape.
Getting on my soapbox here for a moment … I can’t totally fault James or anyone else in his condition for their weight and their terrible eating habits. Why? Because it’s not cheap to eat properly. It makes no sense that you can buy a box of 12 snack cakes for $1.00 when it also costs almost $2.00 for a single apple! In this economy, it’s cheaper to buy chemically-enhanced junk that’s also full of sugar and sodium over a healthy serving of fruits and vegetables. It makes no sense. At all! It’s cheaper to buy a bargain meal at a fast food place than it is a pound of ground beef or a couple of chicken breasts, but you can’t make a meal just out of that so the fast food meal is the better bargain. Unfortunately, it will get you in the end. Something needs to be done about the high cost of eating healthy. Stepping down now.
I don’t know if the producers of the show have been listening to the viewers since the show premiered and have tinkered with the editing or if they’ve just figured out as they’ve gone along what works and what doesn’t, but I think they made another improvement this week by telling us exactly how many calories a day Chris set for James because that is such an important piece of the weight loss puzzle. We saw a lot more exercise, and I applaud James for really giving it his all, but it’s important for people to know the calorie intake as well. I also loved Chris Powell explaining his method of making his clients understand how powerful and extraordinary they truly are. That compassion and commitment from Chris gives the client that extra push they can’t get on their own. If only we could all have a personal trainer like Chris following us around all day.
It was amazing to see James lose 154 lbs. in the first three months, and getting that specially built bike was just the incentive he needed to continue. It was heartbreaking to see him end up in the hospital with pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism because I knew that was going to sap all of his momentum, and that resulted in just an 11 lb. loss in the second phase. A loss is a loss and I don’t think Chris should have used the word “disappointed” because health is health, and if you’re not at 100% your body is not going to let you put it though that kind of activity. It would have been nice for Chris to check in on James after he got out of the hospital for a little pep talk to maybe give him that boost he needed to get back on track, but the reward of working out with the Michael Irvin, Nate Newton and the other football players certainly did the trick as James lost 92 lbs. in the third phase.
Unfortunately, James’ hernia prevented him from receiving the skin removal surgery, but by the end he had lost 313 lbs. total with an ending weight of 338 lbs. As the show concluded, we learned that James had moved out of his grandparents’ house and is hoping to get to under 300 lbs. so that he can have the hernia surgery. Here’s wishing James the best of luck in his continuing weight loss program. And hopefully, after the final episode of the season airs we’ll get a special follow-up episode to see where James and all of the others are today.
If you’re interested in trying the recipes seen on this and past episodes, visit ABC.com.
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Jun 21, 2011 @ 01:40 EST5EDT
How many calories did he eat?
I remember watching that episode but don’t remember what Chris said he limited his calorie intake to. You said in your article you were happy to hear him mention his calorie intake so what was it?? Please share. Thanks :)