Peaking at 600 pounds, Donna Simpson once aimed to weigh 900 pounds or more, pursuing her goal by eating 12,000 calories per day. She holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for being the heaviest woman to have given birth, and appeared to be seeking to break more records.
Simpson had made her morbid obesity into a source of income by selling subscriptions to her website, which featured images of herself and live streams of her eating, reportedly earning $90,000 per year. She was supported in her efforts by her boyfriend at the time, but following their breakup, she has decided to lose weight. “It’s fine to gain weight when you have a partner who will help feed you and take care of everything around you,” she told The Huffington Post. “But that’s between two adult people who make the choice. I realized that I couldn’t expect my kids to do that for me.”
Not only did Simpson’s extreme weight endanger her health, it also made it difficult to do ordinary tasks. She acknowledges that it will take more than just a diet for her to lose weight. “I know I need the help of a therapist to help me,” she writes on her website. It will not only take an overhaul to the way she eats, but also her thinking and her lifestyle. She says a positive attitude will be necessary, and that “it is also quite apparent that I will need to be under the care of a physician to treat the various conditions I suffer from.”
(more…)
