things that rate high on the WTF scale:

[mickeym]

600-pound New Jersey mom wants to be world's heaviest woman.

She is ON PURPOSE trying to gain weight to get to 1000lbs. ON PURPOSE!

She spends $750/week on food, not including fast food jaunts to McDonalds, etc. She funds her grocery bill by running a website where men "pay money to watch her consume large quantities of food."

It's just...really depressing, and kind of sickening, actually. I know there are people out there who need to gain weight, but wanting to do it just so you can get the world record? I really do not understand that. At all.

Comments

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

How ironic that I refreshed to see if anyone had thoughts on the health care reform passing and find this instead.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

Dripping in irony, isn't it?

[surevesta.livejournal.com]

Ugh... My icon doesn't quite fit but I think it's the best I can do.

Seriously? This is just... disturbing. BEYOND disturbing.... so she wants to be able to NOT do anything for herself? To not be able to get out of bed and do wear a diaper? Or at least that's how the "ton" documentaries about people weighing close to a ton or more tended to describe them.

Not to mention the health complications... if she doesn't already have a shit ton of 'em.

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

You know, in a strange way... if she needs money, maybe she thinks she'll get it this way. Maybe she's trying to get a reality show. I dunno.

NOT excusing it, just trying to figure out why she'd be so crazy about it.

She funds her grocery bill by running a website where men "pay money to watch her consume large quantities of food."

...I don't even want to touch that. :^(

[cassiakohn.livejournal.com]

omg it's like the movie Feed! that grossed me out so very much and scarred me for life! I will NEVER understand this

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I can't even fathom it, myself. I don't weigh as much as she does, though I definitely fall into the 'morbidly obese' category. But! I'm trying to LOSE weight...and can't even imagine wanting to weigh MORE. Jesus.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't watch the videos on that page, but it doesn't sound like she wants anything more than to be recognized as the heaviest woman.

But yeah, that thing with the website? BEYOND disturbing. *shudder*

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I didn't see that movie, but if it's anything like this? Yeah, sign me up for scarred for life, too. Ugh.

[surevesta.livejournal.com]

I really don't even see how her "fat fetish" 150 lb bf is going to want to take care of her when she weighs that much...

I really, really don't get some people :(

[cassiakohn.livejournal.com]

i was lulled into it cus of alex o'laghlan but wow would NOT recommend it to anyone ANYONE with a weak stomach or like anyone that is easily grossed out cus wow TWISTED

[kitanabychoice.livejournal.com]

Oh God.

I don't even.

I'm 260lbs and not looking to actively lose weight (if it comes in the course of normal exercise and eating, so be it), but the thought of eating that much food in a day makes me want to vomit this instant.

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Yuck.

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

"My favorite food is sushi," Donna said. "I can sit and eat 70 big pieces of sushi in one go..."

SEVENTY pieces of sushi in one sitting? I...my mind boggles. I truly cannot imagine that. SEVENTY. I'm just...yeah.

That article looks like it was lifted straight out of MAD Magazine. I can't believe there's someone out there who's actively trying to gain 400 more pounds. 400 pounds! That's the equivalent of two grown men! Two *big* grown men!!! The mind boggles.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

Honey, I weigh somewhere around 450, and the thought of eating that much food in a day makes ME want to vomit. I could eat, like, a bag of hershey's kisses over the course of an entire day -- but not at one sitting. And McDonalds? I could eat two double cheeseburgers (NOT the double quarter pounders) OR one dbl cheeseburger AND a large fry. But not multiples of both. O_O

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I know, right? It's horrifying anyone would do that on purpose.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine any of the amounts of food she lists. I'm morbidly obese (unfortunately), and I don't eat anywhere near that. I can't even fathom it. o_O

[superstitiousme.livejournal.com]

ugh.

[pyroblaze18.livejournal.com]

That… I… I am sickened by that. And much of that is because I can't help but think of her daughter, and how I am so scared for that little girl.

Also, spending $3000 on food a month? It boggles my mind.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

That sums it up pretty well, yes.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the chances of that little girl having her mother with her through childhood is slim, at best. It's not possible to be that heavy and NOT have health problems -- I know this first hand. I don't weigh even as much as she weighs NOW, and I have trouble with high blood pressure, with breathing after ANY kind of exertion, borderline diabetes, edema (particularly in my lower legs and feet), joint and back pain.... The high bp I've had for 10 years or more -- that's a family thing, though my weight doesn't help. But the rest of the things? Developed as I got heavier (and not by doing anything intentionally!).

I truly don't understand why she would want a recognition like that. It's going to be cold comfort to her family when she suffocates under her own weight, while sleeping. Or strokes out, or has a heart attack, or a zillion other things that could happen.

My monthly budget for my household -- ALL bills, plus food, gas, etc. isn't $3K. I just can't wrap my mind around that figure, either. (Honestly, I thought $75-100/week was a lot on groceries for just me and Matthew, but it does cost more to eat healthier, so who knows. Apparently it also costs a lot to, well, eat a lot. o_O)

[britomart-is.livejournal.com]

Holy sweet baby Jesus! So many questions pop into my head, like - is she suicidal? Doesn't she get BORED and want to do things other than eat as a full-time occupation? How does a website like that make so much money? What is she planning to do when she hits 1000? What happens after that?
The boyfriend's obviously a fucking psychopath. Couldn't 750 a week be going into her daughter's college fund or something?

[call-me-loca.livejournal.com]

I don't understand people. I keep telling myself to give up, but yet shit like this...

and we wonder why I say life is one giant badfic.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

If not suicidal (and really, I can think of a LOT of ways that would be faster, more efficient and way less painful than THAT) then definitely psychotic. Or something. NOT USING EARTH LOGIC, in any case.

I think the $750 a week should be going into a fund to support her daughter, when the woman dies of a stroke, or heart attack, or suffocates herself if she rolls over and can't breathe. If it's a stroke or heart attack, you know she'd likely be dead before emergency personnel could *get her out of the house*, never mind get her to a facility that could care for her.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

There is no understanding this, because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. There's no logic to it. Even things like anorexia or bulimia, those you can see there's some logic (however skewed it might seem to us) to their thinking. There are body issues and self-esteem issues, and all that.

But this? Wanting to be the world's heaviest woman? Who the hell wakes up one day and thinks that?

[britomart-is.livejournal.com]

So depressing. Poor kid.

[jamesinboots.livejournal.com]

Oh, Christ. Because making the organs inside your body hold 1,000 pounds of weight 24/7 is so worth breaking a record.

[call-me-loca.livejournal.com]

I'm a recovering bulimic and I can somewhat get the reasoning behind other people's eating habits, but this, this is so ridiculous I want to cry, not only for her, but for the family she will tear apart when all of this attention-seeking backfires. Trust me, it will backfire.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

For some people, the helplessness aspect is actually part of the turn-on. It's like a psychological issue.

[surevesta.livejournal.com]

That is more than I ever wanted to think about >.

[munibunny.livejournal.com]

She's not going to make it to 1,000 pounds because she's not going to live that long. Damn, the woman probably has so many medical issues, she can't keep 'em straight. I was 165 lbs and nearly killed myself with hypertension. She needs to see a psychiatrist. Seriously.

[tabularassa.livejournal.com]

She makes me sick, for doing that for profit. Why?? OMG. WHY?? I can't even.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

There was some TV show in the UK that talked about it, and the whole 'chubby chasers' thing.

I mean, I will fully admit that I generally think we get WAY too fixated on "healthy weight" and all that stuff but the whole 'feeding up' as a sexual thing kind of freaks me out. I try not to judge other people's kinks but, well. Ew. (To be fair, I feel that way about any kind of encouragement of body modification as part of a relationship. Like, if someone likes tattoos, and wants to get one to commemorate someone, then fine, whatever. But you shouldn't push someone to GET a tattoo for you, you know? People shouldn't be guilted or emotionally manipulated into changing their bodies.)

[surevesta.livejournal.com]

It was mentioned on an episode of Bones, too, I think... Booth had his 'Pops' with him when they went in a club focused on it... and the person was killed with a 'nose'. The things you remember from TV shows >.<

I completely agree on the body modification--whatever that modification is from piercing, tattooing, scarring/branding, plastic surgery--anything should be because the individual receiving it wants it for themselves. They shouldn't want to change their body for someone else (say breast implants for their spouse even).

We do put a lot of emphasis on weight... but, at least in the US, I do think that (especially for the younger generations in like elementary-HS ages) weight should be looked at for health reasons as new studies are showing growing rates of weight related health issues (diabetes for ex.) that could lead to this next generation having a shorter life span than those that are even in our 20s right now. I'm not saying that everyone should be like 110 lbs or anything (that's kinda disturbing for many heights, actually)... but it should be something that isn't ignored.

'healthy weight' depends on the individual, some people can be perfectly healthy weighing more while others get health problems. My Dad developed diabetes while my Mother, who is still overweight, hasn't developed it. Hell... those stick thin models are often worse off than people termed 'overweight'.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Except that a lot of the research linking various diseases to weight really isn't that conclusive - there are many other factors to consider that come into play that may be psychologically healthier to address. For example, there was a study a few years ago that showed that women in a program which addressed just making healthier lifestyle choices (eating a higher quality of food, focusing primarily on increasing activity level in life in general rather than on 'getting exercise') without any concern for weight loss showed significant long term improvement in the various markers we use to identify potential problems (blood pressure, blood sugar levels, etc.) than women in a more traditional diet program - there was also a much higher rate of staying with the study, both during the actual active portion (when the women were meeting once a week or whatever) and for some time after the study was concluded, when they did follow ups. By comparison, the women in the traditional diet-based study had a higher rate of drop out to begin with, and the vast majority didn't maintain either weight loss or any improvement in those marker numbers. So that suggests we definitely need to look at how we consider the whole business and approach the issue - but of course there's so much money in the diet industry that getting research money for 'non-weight-loss' focused methods is pretty difficult, apparently.

(Non-weight-loss just meaning stuff where weight loss is not the primary goal, like it is in diets or weight loss surgery.)

Plus, I don't think we adequately understand what role repeated dieting plays in the development of what we consider to be 'weight related' issues - the vast majority of people who are overweight[1], obese, or morbidly obese in the US have PROBABLY been on at least some form of diet plan previously, and many of them have been struggling with dieting for years and gaining and losing weight. We KNOW that's hard on the body and messes with all kinds of things, so I'm not entirely convinced that we may not be making things worse when we encourage people who aren't 'normal' weight to go on diets even if their other health markers are perfectly fine and their activity levels are good.

There's some other stuff, too, to do with 'genetics' - it's not strictly genetics in the sense of a 'fat gene' but apparently there's something to do with the living conditions of your grandparents and that has an effect on you through some non-DNA thing. I forget what it's called. (Sorry, I'm sick, my brain is a bit splat and my dad told me about this particular study a while back.) So that's another complicating factor that may be influencing things more than any of the things we consider more obvious 'causes' of weight problems, like soda or fast food. (Although I am totally in favor of less high fructose corn syrup. If only because that stuff makes my arthritis flare like MAD and I'm tired of having to examine ingredient labels. :) )

[1]- I have a whole separate rant about BMI and how it's totally useless for medical purposes and how they redefined the categories a while back, thus suddenly making a whole raft of people who were 'normal' weight 'overweight' and 'overweight' 'obese', and how it is ridiculous when you try to apply it to anyone with a fair amount of muscle mass. (Not just body builders, mind you, but even just some 'normal' people who are relatively active and tend towards having more muscle. Like my dad's family all tend towards just being well-built - muscle, not fat - whereas my mom's side has to work at it forever to really have decent muscle mass.) (I take after my dad - when I was ~8 I had defined muscles in my arms and legs just from general levels of kid running around; I wasn't a competitive sport player or anything like that.)

[brighton-girl.livejournal.com]

We don't even spend $750 a month for the two of us. It makes me sad that she would want this, this as a way of fame almost? And she has kids! That's abuse to not want to be around for them.

[jeeronie.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of something I saw on TV about people with diabetes who kept their blood sugar high on purpose so they would not get fat.
When asked about how they'd go blind, get kidney failure, heart attacks, nerve damage to their limbs, etc because of this they did not care so long as they were not fat.
Aside from these long-term effects, high blood sugar feels awful as I know from personal experience.

Like when I read your post, at first I tried to rationalize and figure out why people would want to do that but you know? People are just crazy, they can have a million reasons and it still isn't justifiable.