Bodfather: A Summons to Appear

Subject #2 in the "Bodfather"
Witness Reduction Program: Laurie

Height: 5'6"
Current weight:  240 lbs.


Opening statement: I hate lawyers.

I guess it comes from my personal lawyer, who sent me a bill the other day for crossing the street and talking to somebody that he thought was me.

So when I agreed to take on Laurie as part of my “Bodfather” program, my plan was to tell her to eat cupcakes six times a day and watch nine hours of television daily.

But then I started learning more about Laurie’s story.

“You know I was thin at one time,” she confided in me.  “My grandmother was obese. My aunt was grossly obese (I think that's the term). I saw my aunt about three years ago and her first words were 'I knew you’d eventually get fat.’”

Then she went into hiding. For the next couple of years, Laurie avoided seeing anyone that knew her from back when was thin, including her own family.

From there, she tells me, she spent a year in defiance.  “Yeah I am fat,” she proclaims boldly. “What of it?”

What of it indeed? Not caring what others think is one thing, but when it’s so obvious that obesity is taking its toll on your quality of life, well… that’s a different story.

“It’s about the aches and pains,” says Laurie. “It’s about the fact that my knees hurt or my back aches.  Or I can't go up one flight of stairs without huffing.”

So Laurie decided to represent herself, decided that now’s the time to take control of her own future. 

However, and… well, you probably already know this:  it’s difficult.

“I can feel the excuses start around 2 p.m.” she told me. “ Candy = energy.  Hamburger = being good to myself.  Ice cream = yeah, you leave the ice cream out of this.  Ice cream never hurt anyone, ice cream loves me...okay, scratch that.”

 So, it’s not easy. I’ll tell you like I told Laurie: it’s not easy for any of us. Some may make it look easy, but I promise you that it’s not.

Easy? No.

Worth it? Absolutely.

“I don't want to be 20 again,” says Laurie. “But I don't want to feel so old either. I want energy. I want to get out of bed without groaning for at least thrity more years.  I want to run again.  I want to feel muscles again. I want to see a collarbone again.”

“Am I certain I will follow-through?” she continues. “No, I am not. But do I want to stop with the excuses?  Yep. Would I like someone there cheering for me? Yes, that would be pretty awesome.  Do I want someone there to ask the hard questions? Yep. It’s not about shame or guilt;  it’s about taking responsibility.”

Laurie’s story reminds me of the man who had been caught embezzling millions from his employer. He goes to a lawyer, telling him that he really, really doesn’t want to go to jail. But his lawyer tells him, "Don’t worry. You’ll never have to go to jail with all that money.” And the lawyer was right. When the man is eventually sent to prison, he doesn’t have a dime.

Okay, that doesn’t really remind me of Laurie’s story, but if I’m going to be working with a lawyer here, you’re gonna have to expect a few lawyer jokes along the way.

Measurements (in inches):

Neck - 15.75
Upper arm - 15.5
Chest - 46
Waist - 43.5
Hips - 49
Upper thigh - 28
Calf - 18


-> 


Here Comes the Bride... Big, Fat And… Well, You Know

Subject #1 in the "Bodfather"
Witness Reduction Program: Kerensa

Height: 5'7"
Current weight:  254.8

As the Bodfather, it’s impossible for me to refuse a request on a person’s wedding day.

Okay… so technically Kerensa isn’t getting married until June, but the idea of helping her not be so big on her big day was too tempting to pass up.

A 23-year-old college student living in Oklahoma, Kerensa’s spent all her life struggling with her weight. Even though she’s lived a pretty active existence, she started seeing signs that her size – up to a high in the 280’s - was adversely affecting her way of life. She was tired all the time and if she sat down for long periods, her ankles swelled up like a puffer fish.

Then there was the thought of posing for wedding pictures. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment and thinking about flipping through the pages of a wedding album and cringing… well, that’s the kind of idea that’ll get you off your butt.

And beyond her wedding day, Kerensa saw a future impacted adversely by her own body.

“I know we want to have kids, and I want to be healthy for them,” she told me recently. “I want to be able to run and play with them... not be the fat mom who sits on the sidelines.”

Fueled by fear and driven by her wish to make a positive change in her life, she began a weight-loss program and started seeing some positive results almost immediately. But she’s been there before, and tends to run into a brick wall early in the game.

Why is that? Is it because her fiancé Justin accepts her just the way she is? Because she works at a Subway sub shop and has easy access to fattening foods? Because she’s a self-described “cheese whore”? Because her hectic school/work schedule keeps her from eating healthy and exercising like she knows she should?

Probably some of all that, to be perfectly honest, but she’s committed to making a change for the better. As a sign of her engagement in this venture, she’s vowed to send me her weigh-in numbers each week, and I’ll continue chronicling her tale as she takes the steps necessary to walk down the aisle as the fittest person she can possibly be.

Because more than anything, Kerensa wants a white wedding, not a wide wedding.


Measurements (in inches):

Neck -15 1/2
Chest- 43
Bust- 46
Waist-40
Midway-49
Hips-52
Thigh-31 1/2 (family nickname:  “Thunder-Thighs”)
Knee-21 1/2
Calf-19
Upper arm-17
Forearm-12 1/2



->