I'm trying to get on the Dr. Oz show

I've just submitted a request to be on the Dr. Oz show. I don't know if they'll even read the submission, but I hope they do. I'd love to share my story with people so they can see that real people can change their destiny without weight-loss surgery or crazy diet schemes.

Here's what I submitted:

When I hit 420 pounds I couldn't believe it. How had this happened to me? Well, that's a long story, but not so different from so many others who learn to cope with life's challenges by eating. I had an addiction - eating out, appetizers and full meals all day long, and then candy, sodas, pizza and Chinese-food delivery late at night. I wasn't exercising. And I was in a relationship with someone who liked me with my full figure. He would do anything for me. Pick things up off the floor because I couldn't reach. Outfit the bathroom with special tools so I could fit more comfortably. Help me out financially so I could afford the cost of gaining weight. In general, I was living my life without any self respect. And my weight was getting out of control. I felt my next step would've been becoming bed-ridden, or death.

I decided about a year ago to do something about it. Dr. Oz inspired me in many ways. In January, I decided to start one of those prepackaged diet programs to jump start my weight loss - I didn't know anything about portion control and had no idea how many calories I was eating or how many I should be eating. I was scared I wouldn't be able to manage my hunger. And I was too fat to exercise.

I watched Dr. Oz around the same week that I started the new diet regimen and I saw a show that had to do with truckers and their diet and how long it took food to process through their bodies. This helped me visualize food as a fuel and not as something to do just to pass the time. I began to see rapid results. I did the diet program for two months but soon transitioned to doing my own routine based on a variety of factors. I read lots of books. Started going to the gym. Found friends who supported my weight loss. This has been a struggle believe it or not because I had found myself rooted in the enabling chubby-chaser community over the past decade of my weight gain and I think many of these friends see my weight-loss as a slap in the face.

I have since lost 125 pounds and am still on track to lose 70 more. Currently I weigh in at 293 and people say I look 10 years younger. I certainly feel it! I'm proud of my success and would like to share my story with others. SURGERY IS NOT NECESSARY!!!!! I want to thank Dr. Oz, too, because he inspires me so much with his straightforward advice. I am an community education teacher and program coordinator in Miami and am creating a new class for intermediate English learners who work in health-related fields called Intermediate English for Health, Fitness and Nutrition. As part of the class I will have my students read Dr. Oz’s book You: An Owner's Manual. I want to inspire people who work in the field of nutrition and health.

Well, that's about it. If you want to see more of my story, check out my blog at www.fitness400.blogspot.com. Pictures are available there, too, but as a disclaimer I am not giving you rights to publish any content or photos on the blog, but I don’t mind my blog address being shared. I'm also working on writing a book, although I don't know what form it will take. I just want to help others know that they can do this and that it's all up to them. We all have the power to change our own destinies.

No longer being chased for a fat physique

Believe it or not, I never got more attention from guys than when I was super fat, topping 400 pounds. I got a lot of attention from guys who are part of the so-called "chub-chaser" community. Once I reached 300 pounds, I was considered a "chub", and I began to be chased after by lots of good looking fit guys - fittingly called chasers - who happen to have a fetish for the obese. Well, that's no longer the case.

I never understood this chubby chaser fetish, but I certainly benefited from it in some ways. I used to be able to go to the local chub-chaser night here in Fort Lauderdale and command stares from all corners of the bar. I had my pick of hot guys. On the other hand, the attention proved detrimental, too. I think because I felt so embraced and attractive as I put on weight I subconsciously gained. And as I gained, so did the quantity of attention and admiration I received from these guys.

I always felt strange about accepting the attention and often couldn't even be with a guy if I got the feeling he was only into me because of my belly. It's weird to be adored as a fetish. I think now I can understand how a huge-breasted woman must feel when everyone wants her for her figure rather than her brain.

These "chasers" never really wanted to get to know me, but they sure were interested in getting with me. Those who achieved their goal were happy with their conquest and moved on soon after they'd caught me, on to the next victim of their vacuous never-ending chase. So while their attention made me feel good in a way - who doesn't like to feel attractive to someone they find equally attractive - it often left me feeling empty inside because I knew it was just an illusion.

The problem is, now that I've lost so much weight, I'm still sort of part of this community by default and still circulate within it to some degree. Most of my friends are either chubs or chasers. But I'm really neither, I suppose, and I'm no longer getting the same attention from chasers that I used to. In fact, I've recently been told by more than one person who I once considered a friend or potential suitor that my weight loss has made me look "disgusting". And at least one friend who is considered a "super chub" because he's over 400 pounds like I was has told me he can no longer be around me because I'm so obsessed about my transformation.

It hurts when these things happen. And going from appealing to appalling in a few short months is truly upsetting, regardless of the circumstances. I suppose I just need to find myself a new crowd.

Right now I'm trying to just lay low until I get a little more in shape. I'm thinking that as I drop weight I might start to become attractive to people based on a blend of my looks (as they are) and my personality (such as it is).

In that case I better start to work on the personality part. I think I've sort of let that go since I was able to fall back on the allure of my fat physique for so long. Oh well! What's a boy to do?

The fattest boy in the world and I (weigh 293 lbs.)

I just Googled my current weight to find out what 293 pounds equates to in kilos and I found this disturbing fact: the fattest boy in the world shares my weight, but he's just eight years old. So sad.

You can check out a video of him at www.youtube.com/watch?=pRGVVZ5tUio.