A personal trainer, getting fat on purpose.

Wow.

That takes some balls.

I don't even know how to respond to it besides "Good luck". xD

It's kinda absurd. I get his purpose, but due to muscle memory and the fact that muscle doesn't atrophy that quickly and his metabolism is already higher... he will lose the weight faster than someone who has been overweight all of their life and then say "see? you CAN lose 80 pounds in 6 months" thereby making overweight people feel even more inadequate.... maybe I'm projecting, but it just seems a little absurd all the way around.

I don't see this as being any different than the guy who made Super Size Me. Look at how effective that documenatry was at changing the fast food culture in our society. I know I stopped eating at McDonalds after I saw that.
I think it's fantastic that he's getting so much media coverage.

He may think he has "the best intentions" and I put that in quotes because purposely making yourself unhealthy is just plain stupid. I don't think it is a smart idea at all. Losing weight is hard enough and he is basically saying look...I can gain weight just as easily as you can and I can lose it as easily as you can. It's not that simple. People fight the overweight battle everyday and this "fitness professional" is basically making a mockery of it. Just my opinon

I thought it was neat to know that eating those foods makes him hungry and makes him crave those same foods. That's what they say, and now we know it's true. It's not just our fat bodies that crave crap. ANY body would crave that crap, even previously healthy people. So it makes me say to food "you can't beat me, I know what your trying at!" It gives me more power

I read this earlier tonight. I have mixed feelings. For most of us, overeating or eating bad stuff is emotional. For him, he's merely forcing himself to eat, therefore there's no emotional connection for him. Seems to me it should be really easy for him to lose the weight. I'm no expert, but that's my two cents.

yes, i saw this on the same sight earlier. been thinking about it on and off ever since. i think he likely ultimately wants what he is already starting to get -- notoriety (mixed with the actual experience of being obese and then seeing what it takes to get fit/trim). kind of along the lines of the guy from Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser?) -- only different :ohwell: .

I think it takes balls to do what he is doing, in essence its no different from an actor or actress losing/gaining weight for a particular role. I would love to be able to go to a personal trainer who has at least some understanding of what it is like to be overweight. He may not have the experience of emotional eating or some of the feelings that are related with food but neither have i and that doesn't devalue my experience of being overweight.
He may very well find it easier to loose weight than some of us but he will still have to work for it. As for the damage to his body..im not sure how being unhealthy for 6 months can be any worse for the body than being unhealthy for many years which i know for one im definitely guilty of.

I would choose him as a personal trainer for his experience as an overweight person much like i would only pick a midwife who has had children...I like to know the person who's making me hurt has been there to!