(slow piano music)
- When you're overweight, when you're the fat guy,
you know you are but you live in
this sort of self-imposed denial.
You look at yourself in the mirror and you think,
"How did I let myself get to this point?
"I don't live who I've become, this isn't who I am,
"I'm living an unfulfilled life
"and I'm watching my life's dreams just fade away."
Then, you finally reach that moment
when you're ready to take control,
and that's when you know it's time to make a change.
My name is Kenny Saylors.
I'm 32 years old and I'm obese,
but all of that is about to change.
I'm about to do something that many would consider extreme.
For the next 40 days,
I'm going to fast on absolutely nothing but water.
(slow piano music)
- Very concerned about your health.
Your body really isn't meant to do that.
(slow piano music)
- I think that's absurd.
- I don't think it's possible.
(slow piano music)
- I'm sure it's not healthy, but you know what?
Probably living in Los Angeles
where we are right now's not too healthy. (laughing)
(slow piano music)
- I think that's ridiculous.
He's gotta have vitamins, he's gotta have nutrition.
It's something that's not healthy for him.
In the long run could come back to haunt him, I don't know.
(slow piano music)
- I think he'll--
- Pass out. - Become sick, anorexic.
You get your energy from food.
- I think he would die.
(slow piano music)
(ducks quacking)
- [Man] So, you're chugging carrot juice?
- Yeah. - That's disgusting.
- [Kenny] Carrot juice is good, man, holy crap.
- [Woman] It's not disgusting.
Let him get a taste of that juice.
- [Kenny] You gotta taste it.
I'm gonna make him taste carrot juice.
- [Man] I've had the SoBe carrot orange stuff.
- Yeah, but it's not the same, it's not real, man.
This stuff is, really fresh carrot juice is like,
it's like drinking--
- [Man] I've never had it, so--
- Drinking life.
(blender whirring)
Nice and quiet.
I wouldn't suggest juicing in the middle of the night,
(laughs)
unless you hate your neighbors.
I'll drink this first before I clean up this crap.
You have to drink, you have to drink carrot juice,
or any juice for that matter, fast
because juices are living, they're living things.
So, whenever you juice,
you have to drink within two minutes
in order to get the full maximum effect
of the vitamins and nutrients that go into the body.
Mmm, this coming from an overweight fat guy (laughs)
who knows so much about nutrition.
(plane engine roaring)
Okay, first things first.
Before I decided to do the fast, I wanted to go back home,
see my family, visit some old friends
in my hometown of Greenville, Texas.
(light country music)
Greenville's your typical Small Town USA.
It's definitely a far cry from Los Angeles.
Growing up, I went to Greenville High School,
attended Greenville First Assembly,
worked at Greenville Hardware
and ate lots of Greenville food.
Is this me right here?
- Oh, yeah, that's you.
I think that's you, I'm pretty sure though.
Yeah, it is.
And this is Kenny when he was in the band
and he was real thin then and he played the trumpet.
(pulsing industrial music)
(upbeat pop music)
When he was growing up, he was active
from the time he started walking.
He liked sports and he liked to play football.
And he never met a stranger;
he was always quite friendly with everybody.
When he was in high school, he was very thin,
almost frail looking.
I never thought that he would ever gain this much weight.
So, when he started gaining weight,
then he started this coughing.
(coughing)
- Okay.
(upbeat pop music)
- When Kenny said that he was gonna go on a long fast,
I wasn't sure if he could do it,
but I know that because he has determination
that he probably could.
(light orchestral music)
- [Kenny] So, what is fasting and why did I choose this?
Simple. (tape reel spinning)
Fasting has been the most proven way
to detox the body and give it time to heal.
Throughout history, people of many faiths,
including Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
and most Eastern religions, have used fasting
as a healing process for spiritual purification
and communion with God.
Why 40 days?
Well, 40 seems to be a number that is repeated
in most of the holy books, and specifically in the Bible,
over and over and over,
so it sounded like the right number for me.
I knew the smart thing to do before I started
was to get a medical team on board.
So, I did my research and called lots of doctors,
but none of them wanted to take me on.
Finally, I found a place in Marina del Rey
that agreed to meet with me.
- Come on in, Kenny.
Well, it sounds like you've got
some interesting life-changing plans.
I wanna hear more about it.
- Yeah, I'm obviously overweight,
so I've been doing research over the past year
about ways to really reform my health
and to try to get me back on track and everything.
And then, that's when I came across fasting,
just a water fast.
- And so-- - A water fast?
- Yes, a water fast for 40 days. (laughs)
- Wait, you're talking about doing a water fast for 40 days?
- [Kenny] Mm-hmm, yeah.
- That's very extreme, Kenny.
A water fast for 40 days
is probably the most extreme type of fasting you can do
and for the longest amount of time
that anyone should possibly attempt it.
And you shouldn't attempt it without medical supervision,
I can tell you that straight off.
- The big thing for me, the passion for me,
is about the obesity epidemic in the world.
In my research, that's what really stood out to me.
The numbers are astronomical, I mean,
about how many people are overweight.
(car brakes skidding)
According to the CDC, the number of morbidly obese
across the United States has skyrocketed
to over 30% in the last 20 years.
Not only that, but what is obesity
costing you and me, the taxpayer?
Well, if you break down the costs
and compare them to other taxpayer expenditures,
you can see it adds up really quickly.
To fly our president for one year
in Air Force One costs us $500 million.
All costs associated with illegal aliens
in California alone costs taxpayers $9 billion a year.
If you add up the money spent
on the No Child Left Behind policy,
it's a staggering $23 billion a year.
And all costs associated with drunk driving,
a whopping $24 billion a year.
So, how does obesity stand up to these numbers?
Well, you add up increased insurance costs,
loss of work due to obesity conditions,
increased Medicare and Medicaid costs,
it comes to $80 billion a year.
That's more than all of those other programs combined.
Let's do some math here.
Divide $80 billion by the total US population in 2008
and what do you get?
Obesity is costing $263 for every American citizen;
that's man, woman, and child.
So, no matter what size you happen to be,
it's still coming outta your pocket.
So, that made me start thinking,
"Wow, I'm one of those statistics."
- Well, let me say this at least, Kenny,
because I applaud you for at least taking some steps
to improve your health.
The number one thing, though,
should be you improving your health.
We can help you get well,
but let us do it in the right way.
- [Kenny] Okay.
- Number one is you need to get medical supervision.
- Yeah.
- The great thing about Lumeria: The Healing Spa
is we can offer full-service.
So, we're gonna introduce you to the medical doctor
that we have on staff here,
You're gonna need to get a full physical, some blood work,
make sure you're healthy enough
to do something like an extreme fast.
On a personal note,
you should be really proud of what you're doing.
I mean, it's so difficult.
I don't know anyone other than some very serious
medical practitioners who've attempted what you're doing.
What you're doing is difficult and you should be very proud
that you're taking such a step to get healthy.
- I know it is extreme,
but sometimes you have to go to extremes
to be extremely healthy, you know?
("There's More Than That to Being Poor" by Hussalonia)
I think they're on board.
That's gonna be great.
In order to get through this, I'm going to need some help.
I'll need my friends around me to keep me motivated
and to get me through my moments of weakness.
I'll be staying part of the time
with my good friends, Paul and Sonia.
Sonia's been wanting to fast for a while
and thought now would be the perfect time to do it,
and I couldn't agree more.
Paul, he'll continue to eat a lot of tempting food
and stay magically skinny, which,
honestly, really isn't fair.
I'll also be staying with some of my other friends,
Jeremy and Alaina.
I've known them for a long time
and I know they can put up with my ridiculous shenanigans.
This is John and Matt.
They're helping me document this entire adventure.
Now, you're not seeing double.
They're actually identical twins
and I really have trouble telling them apart,
which is always fun.
The rules are like this.
Obviously, no food for next 40 days,
no gum, no candy of any kind, no mints, nothing,
just water for that whole time.
Also, I'm going to be keeping record
of how many times I go to the bathroom,
how many bottles of water I drink.
This little baby here, the wallet,
any time I am left alone, without supervision around,
they are to take my wallet, whoever's near me,
well, who is near me that I know,
(laughs) not just somebody.
I can never be alone with my wallet with access to money.
I'm very optimistic about it.
I'm actually really excited about it.
As emotionally attached as I've become to this,
I'm ready to let it go. (laughs)
Okay.
Since all I'm gonna be drinking
for the next 40 days is water,
I thought I'd take my doctor's advice
and go pick up some Smartwater.
And then, I need to grab about five of these.
I'll just get five of these; they're sport bottle ones.
I think Smartwater's gonna be my new best friend
for the next month-and-a-half.
- [Cashier] Paper or plastic?
- Plastic will be fine.
(slow piano music)
Tomorrow's my first day and there's so much on my mind.
Did I make the right choice?
Is fasting too extreme?
What if I can't do it?
I mean, I've fasted before, but never for this long.
I have no idea what I'll be going through.
This is my maid staff.
(laughs)
- Give me a break, make your own bed.
So, this is when it all begins.
It's the start of the journey for Kenny Saylors.
So, I'm gonna go in the next room, wake him up.
Kenny.
Time to get up.
First day of your fast.
- Day one begins.
(slow acoustic guitar music)
- So, this is from Paul and I,
a little gift to start off your journey.
- Oh, very nice, wow!
- [Sonia] Yeah.
- Oh, great!
- [Sonia] See if it fits around your big head.
- Yeah, oh boy, this is one
that's gotta actually go over the head.
(Sonia laughs)
- Uh-oh. (laughs)
- Okay.
Well, I know one thing:
Once it goes on, it ain't coming off.
Oh, my eye.
- [Sonia] Don't take your eye out.
- Oh, well, hopefully my head will lose weight.
(laughing)
Golly!
- [Sonia] So, I got my juice.
You got your water?
- [Kenny] Oh yeah, here we go.
- [Sonia] I'm starting my sympathy 40-day juice fast.
- Sonia is doing 40 days juice fast (inaudible).
I just spilled all over the table.
- Oh thanks, Kenny.
- You're welcome. (Sonia laughs)
Anything I can do.
So, here we go.
- Cheers.
- To day one.
(both cheer)
- Mmm, just like candy. (laughs)
- Mmm, just like water.
I'm going for my first physical now, my first weigh-in.
Honestly, I've been terrified of the scale for years.
I'm afraid of knowing what my weight is.
I always thought I was like 5'9" and three-quarters,
but apparently I'm not that tall, which is sad,
'cause that's not tall.
I'm so ashamed of my height and my weight
and pretty much everything. (laughs)
And I got my own little pretty robe
that they actually have to find one that's a bigger size
because this one will not fit me,
will not fit around my big fat belly.
(laughs)
- Hi Kenny, how are you?
- Doing good. (laughs)
- Good to see you.
So, we're gonna measure everything and everything
because when you stress your body
the way you are gonna stress it, fasting completely,
there will be a lot of physiological
and biochemical changes in your body.
So, but we will be watching you and we'll be measuring.
We'll make sure that your electrolytes
are correct and all that.
But I want you to be aware there is always risk
for what you're trying to achieve, okay?
- Okay.
- So, it's not an easy deal that you're,
this is a major issue, okay?
- Right, right.
- All right, yeah.
So, we're gonna do your body measurements.
(bright acoustic guitar music)
So, your weight is 315.2 pounds.
53% of that weight is made out of fat.
- 53% fat, ooh.
- So, basically, a little over half of your weight
is made out of fat.
- [Kenny] Wow.
- And your body mass index is 47.8, when, in fact,
we shouldn't see you greater than 28, you know?
A BMI of 28, maybe 30 maximum.
- 30 maximum. - Yeah.
And your lean body mass is 147 pounds.
147, okay?
The ideal thing, Kenny, right now
is that we should be very close watching your progress
and assessing where you are.
- Okay? - Okay.
All right.
- Oh, well, thank you. (laughs)
- My pleasure, thank you, Kenny.
- Well, we'll see what happens.
- All the best.
- Yes, thanks.
Okay.
- [L.] So, how were the measurements?
- Big. (laughs)
- [Dr. Ghaly] Do you see that?
- [Woman] Did you see his--
- (gasps) Oh, my friend!
- (laughs) I know, isn't that crazy?
- We're gonna fix that, aren't we?
- I know, isn't that amazing?
53.1%.
- Cool.
- I know, man. - That's awesome.
It's a good thing you're doing this.
- Boy, I'll tell you, that 53%--
- But the good news is you're in good health.
So, doing a fast is okay,
'cause not everybody should be doing it, but you're okay.
You got the doctor's approval.
- Which is weird with 53% of me being blub. (laughs)
Okay, so I had my first physical today.
Basically, 53% of me is fat.
And 167 pounds of fat on me, that's what it is.
So, I knew I was big, but, man,
that's really bigger than I thought.
So, anyhow, so this is day one,
and it'll be interesting to see what happens day two.
And I've got a headache already starting,
becoming pretty bad, actually.
So, anyhow, so day one, physical over.
Good news, I'm pretty healthy.
Bad news, I'm really fat. (laughs)
(light piano music)
I look at myself in the mirror.
And so, I see what I am now
and I know where I was and I know what I can be.
The problem is I seem to have this block of getting over it,
and I'm trying.
And that's the thing is when people see me,
they just see a fat guy.
But what they don't see is they don't see
that I'm a person who struggles with this every day.
It's something that I am trying to overcome,
and I know there are much bigger people than me around.
And so, I can't even imagine what they go through.
I went through a very, very difficult breakup
and I was under the impression everything was fine.
And then, all of a sudden,
she calls me up one night
and just says, "Look, it's over."
I was devastated.
I mean, I wasn't just broken-hearted,
I was broken.
And she never gave me a reason, just ended it.
I didn't know how to handle that.
I didn't know, emotionally, what to do with that.
There was no closure for me.
And from that point, over the next year,
I gained over 80 pounds.
I ate and I ate because food doesn't reject you.
Most of the weight that I have now is from that breakup.
But, thank the Lord, I'm through it.
Now, I'm here, my mind is more clear,
and I'm ready to move forward.
Talking about my breakup was really tough.
I've been pushing it to the back of my mind for so long
that finally facing it was actually a release.
Losing her had such an impact on me.
It completely changed the way I dealt with my emotions.
That's something I need to work on
if I'm gonna change the way I deal with pain in the future.
I just can't keep running to food any longer.
(light piano music)
And so, mark down,
this is the fourth time I've gone to the bathroom today
because I'm going to the bathroom right now.
And I'm gonna be talking about something
that Dr. Ghaly told me to go pick up are these things,
they're keto sticks.
And you pee on the little end thing
and then you've gotta correlate it with this side here.
This tells you if your body has gone into ketosis or not,
which this means nothing
and this means you're heavily into ketosis.
(upbeat salsa music)
It's ketosis time!
And as we see here, let's see,
the keto strip didn't change really any color.
Well, it changed that color, which means it's negative,
which means my body has not even started the ketosis yet.
Pretty natural, I guess.
I wouldn't expect me to be instantly into ketosis
from not eating for one day, so there we go.
Should I collect these, you think?
(light dreamlike music)
I used to love to go for a run,
especially on a day like this.
But I gradually became embarrassed
and self-conscious about my body, so I eventually stopped.
You know, it takes a lot of courage and self-confidence
for a person to just not care
about what other people may think or what they might say
and just go out there and do the things normal people do.
Now, I'm more embarrassed by the fact
that I cared that much to let it stop me for that long.
- Over the years, things that you've seen that we're eating,
how we're eating, things such as this,
I'm a firm believer that you can damn near eat anything
that you want, it's what you do after.
I still feel it's input, I think it's exercise.
And also, I think a lot of it comes back to psychological.
There is a criteria that states
when gastric bypass should be done clinically.
We are doing them now in 13- and 14-year-old kids.
When you have a kid, 13, 14, that's weighing 325 pounds,
you've got a problem.
Gastric bypass should only be for those
that psychologically cannot handle their weight.
In other words, obesity is not a reason
to have a gastric bypass.
It's very simple: What goes in, comes out,
unless you have glandular trouble,
and that's one-tenth of a percent
of people that have weight problems.
(light dreamlike music)
People come in all sorts of shapes and sizes,
but only a small percentage actually have
some sort of medical reason they're overweight.
As for everyone else,
it's mainly due to their emotional eating,
lifestyle habits, or both.
Ask any of them why they think they're overweight,
they're gonna tell you they're big-boned,
it's genetics, or something like that.
Now, ask those same people
what size their great-grandparents were,
their great-great-grandparents,
and I bet they'll tell you they were all average-sized.
Ask anyone over 65 how many obese people
they remember seeing as a child
and they'll tell you there were very, very few.
(upbeat pop music)
One of the things I loved to do was play tennis.
I'd always hit the courts
when I felt like I needed to clear my mind.
Now, I think it's time to go back
to the things that worked for me in the past,
when I was a lot healthier.
These are the things I just don't ever wanna give up again.
(upbeat pop music)
You know, that extra 50 pounds or something, (laughs)
it really does come into effect
whenever you're running around, that's for sure.
- [Man] How's day three?
- Day three, so far, hasn't been bad.
Now, in about six hours, the story might be changed a bit.
(laughs)
(upbeat pop music)
Playing tennis for the first time in years
really wore me out.
It reminded me of what I'm doing to my body,
so I decided to just take it easy for the rest of the day
and go to the movies with Paul and Sonia,
although I think this will be the first time ever
that I won't be digging into a big tub of popcorn
while I'm watching a movie.
I am so miserably tired today.
(groans)
- [Sonia] What do you normally eat when you go see a movie?
- [Kenny] Typically, I get just a bunch of crap, you know?
- [Sonia] Well, but they don't really sell anything healthy.
- I usually get the Reese's Pieces.
(Sonia laughs)
Maybe we shouldn't talk about it. (laughs)
- [Sonia] No, I wanna hear!
- Yeah, but the Reese's Pieces are good.
And then, well, you know, you typically get the big drink,
the $15 16-ounce drink.
'Cause we associated watching movies with so much eating
that every time you watch a movie,
you feel like you gotta eat, you know?
- Did you see that dude? - Okay, yeah.
- [Sonia] He's like, "I pledge allegiance to you
"because you stopped." (both laughing)
(Kenny coughing)
- Oh man, you're killing me there, that was funny.
- [Sonia] There's the Kenny cough.
That cough has gotta go.
- I know. - It has to go.
I think the doctor's supposed to tell you something.
- Yeah, my lungs were clean,
were clear, so I don't know what--
- [Sonia] Well, something's making you cough like that.
I don't understand.
- I know, it sounds like I've friggin' been smoking
for 50 years and I don't even smoke.
But, previously when I had lost weight, it went away.
The cough just disappeared.
- [Sonia] So, it must be flab-related.
- I guess so. (both laugh)
(upbeat acoustic guitar music)
(groans)
Oh, I'm tired.
Day three has been a pain in the...
So, yesterday, I was negative on ketones.
We're gonna see how I am today.
I'm putting this in my mouth, this is before I pee on it.
(laughs)
Here we go.
I just peed on this thing, let's check it out.
The other day, I was here, I was negative.
Let's see where I am today.
It's not quite to moderate yet,
so I'm still under the small category.
So, there we go.
Ketone sticks, don't leave home without 'em.
Day three has come to an end.
Well, it's about...
It's about 3:30, 4:00 in the morning and I just woke up.
I'm just like, oh man,
not feeling so well right now.
Got a headache and my stomach is growling like crazy.
And so, I'm just really hungry,
and right about now, I'm thinking,
"Man, is this a good idea?"
And, man, I'm only a few days in.
It's tough.
I mean, it's tough; I'm already feeling it.
But, hey...
Man.
All right, I gotta try to go back to sleep.
Day five is the most difficult so far.
The thought of giving up has actually crossed my mind.
What stops me is realizing what my life's become
and what it's going to continue to be if I let it.
When you're ready to make a profound change in your life,
you have to face your fears.
You have to keep pushing yourself
and imagine how different your life could be
if you only try.
My first colonic, yeah, I know.
I know, I'm kind of, I don't know,
I don't wanna think.
(whines) A colonic. (laughs)
Yeah, it shouldn't be too bad, I guess.
They said that it'll relax me a little bit,
so I'm like, "All right."
My doctor's advised me that since my digestive system
was going to be inactive for so long,
it was necessary for me to clean out my colon.
(upbeat acoustic guitar music)
Now, most people know as much about colonics as I do,
which is practically nothing.
The human colon is over five feet long,
and the only way for it to fit into our body
is by being bent and folded.
After years and years of eating,
pieces of food and waste become lodged in these folds,
causing poor circulation, constipation,
allergies, mood swings, just to name a few.
Colonic hydrotherapy is an alternative medical process
in which warm, filtered water gently fills the colon
through the insertion of a small plastic tube.
The water enters the crevices of the colon walls
and removes pieces of waste.
As the pressure inside the colon builds,
the water is released
and everything is evacuated through the hose.
This process is repeated several times
until the entire colon has been cleaned.
Generally, patients need several colonics
before all the waste is removed and they can start feeling
the real benefits of a healthy colon.
Colonic number one.
- [Man] Get ready for it.
(heavy breathing)
I gotta motivate myself. (laughing)
I'm about to get plugged in.
- So, you're gonna be just with the nurse.
She'll take care of you for the entire time.
Part of what we wanna do, since it's the first time
that you've ever, ever, ever gotten a colonic
is we want you to be really comfortable and really relaxed.
- I'll need to be really relaxed. (laughs)
- [L.] You're gonna be fine!
- I'm your nurse, I'm gonna help you through this session.
- This is Kenny's information, by the way.
- All right, I'll need some help. (laughs)
- [Jan] Okay, 305.2, that's down!
- Lost 10 pounds exactly.
I was 315.2.
- Okay, please step off.
Open in the back, not the front,
'cause we're gonna work back here.
- Oh okay, yeah. (laughs)
- So, that's how I want you to put them on.
Please empty your bladder.
- Okay.
- Check your messages on your cell phone if you need.
I'm gonna just change our program here.
♫ Something unspeakable is scheduled to occur
♫ And when it does, it will be a sort of relief
♫ But just for one of us
♫ All right there
♫ I'll give a greater resistance to movement
♫ And I feel the weight
♫ Yeah, I can feel the weight
The tubing we use is thrown away; it's never used again.
So, don't go anywhere where they don't throw it away.
- Right.
- And this is the smaller tubing that we're gonna be using.
- Yes. (laughs)
It's a small tiny one.
- A small tiny one. - It's very good.
And this machine that you're using will turn off.
If you get too much interabdominal pressure, it'll turn off.
So, it's safe; it's a safety feature.
If it gets too hot, it'll turn off.
But everything in a colonic is breathing
because sometimes we might wanna
get the water around some gas.
If you do an enema at home,
you're probably only gonna get up on the sigmoid side.
And when I do a colonic, the reason they call it high
is I can go all the way up, across the transverse,
and all the way over here to the cecum.
So, I'm getting the total colon.
- Ohh.
- It's hard to do that unless you stand on your head.
Now, when you're ready, Kenny, turn on your side for me
and look at the bathroom door, please.
This is gonna be a little unusual.
Nobody likes this part.
The best thing to do is just open your mouth
and breath through your mouth.
Open your mouth.
Go, "Ahhh," and gentle push.
"Ahhh."
Take your time, there's two valves.
Valve of Houston, as a matter of fact, for Texas.
Breathe, go, "Ahhh."
- I'm sure glad you used the small one. (laughs)
- [Jan] Good.
And you get this little tiny pillow, put your head there.
All righty.
Already going in, it's been going in.
Take a deep breath, please.
Good.
Now, the colon is closer to the back than the front,
so the transverse runs along here.
So, sometimes, if you get backaches,
you know that it's your colon.
♫ I curl up in the land of old discarded plastic bags
♫ Dirty soft drink cups and candy wrappers
It won't hurt you
and it sometimes helps you have bowel movements.
♫ And I worry so that I'll be home soon
- So, it was, no, it was very good.
The only thing that was, the entry was a little rough.
But, (laughs) after that, it wasn't so bad, you know?
I was very relaxed, though,
through the whole process, actually, even 'til the end.
And now I'm just tired.
- You probably just wanna go home and chill out.
- Yeah.
Actually, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The takeoff and landing was pretty rough. (laughs)
But other than that, nah, it wasn't so bad.
I've lost 12 pounds, so not bad.
That's the story.
I'm going home to sleep in now.
♫ 'Cause I'm too stupid to do what I've gotta do
♫ Ohh
So, today is a road trip.
I'm traveling up north with my friend, Ata.
We're gonna go hang out with some of our friends
who are visiting from Iran.
Now, I haven't seen them in a while,
and so they have no clue what I'm doing.
- I believe in what you're doing
and I believe that you're gonna be successful.
I just decided to fast as long I'm with you,
and I'm just going to drink water.
I brought about 20-30 bottles of water.
And I'm going to join you on this fast to just support you.
- I had to go to the bathroom while we were driving.
That was a colonic residue is what I'll call it.
But here in between two evils.
There's a Denny's over here
and a Jack in the Crack over here.
Oh man.
I'm ready, let's rock and roll.
- Okay.
These are my friends and relatives from Iran.
(inaudible greetings)
- [Both] Aww.
(laughing)
- Blame it on Ata.
(laughing)
(Persian music)
Over the years that I've gotten to know
my Persian friends and their culture,
what I've really noticed
is how mealtime is their bonding time.
They cook together, they eat together,
their connection with food has a whole different meaning.
It seems like here in America,
we're so caught up in our fast-paced lives
that we've forgotten how important
these family traditions are.
Sure, it's easier to just hit the drive-through
and call that dinner,
but think about what we're sacrificing.
Thanks, yeah.
- [Woman] Very bad, huh?
- This is actually the first time I've been hungry in, no.
(laughing)
It smells really good in here.
(laughing)
(upbeat acoustic guitar music)
Here's one of the things I can't wait to be over
is putting on shoes.
Yeah, as a big person, I understand that most skinny folks
don't realize that (laughs) putting on shoes
and tying shoes is actually a very trying ordeal.
(driving rock music)
- [Sonia] Did you time it?
I thought you were supposed to time it.
(laughing)
What do you think?
How long do you think you can take it?
(driving rock music)
(heavy breathing)
(driving rock music)
- Doesn't seem like long, but I'm not doing it again.
A bed?
(laughing)
- Are you hungry?
- No.
- [Sonia] I'm not hungry either.
- I'm not hungry.
(laughing)
- You probably eat a lot and you're still skinny, huh?
- [Paul] Yeah.
- That's not fair.
(laughing)
(light ethereal music)
- My doctor advised me not to do
any exercise at all during my fast.
Of course, I didn't listen to him,
and now I'm paying the price.
Maybe I'm just trying to go too fast.
(coughing and heaving)
(slow alternative music)
I just feel like this has been like a 40-hour day.
But, actually, I started off the day fine.
I started off fine, and then the frickin' end of the day
just seemed like ongoing.
Well, that has crossed my mind a few times.
(laughing)
I'm like, "Being fat's not so bad."
(laughing)
- It's not that bad.
It'll go by really fast.
- [Kenny] Yeah, is that what you're telling yourself too?
- [Sonia] Oh yeah, that's what I'm telling myself too.
(laughing)
(light pop music)
- It's now been 15 days of not chewing
or eating junk food on a daily basis.
Now, I've managed to keep one of my bad habits though,
and that's chewing straws.
The good part is they have zero calories.
The bad part?
Well, they have zero flavor.
The amazing transformation from bed to couch.
Ta-da!
And to office now. (laughs)
- [L.] Just give it a couple seconds.
- [Kenny] There it is.
- Yay! - 301.
Oh man, 301.6.
I've only lost like two pounds.
- But let's check the percentage of body fat.
Well, your weight is coming down.
Losing weight is one thing.
Losing body percentage fat and getting your--
- [Kenny] It's more important.
- Yeah, getting your BMI to the right level
is where you wanna be, okay?
- BMI, not just the BM.
(laughing)
- And now, mister comedian, hop up on that table.
(laughing)
- Let's see.
So, all these years, I've been looking at myself,
seeing myself in the mirror.
And sometimes I stand there and I feel like crying
because it's like, who is this person in the mirror?
It's disgusting.
It really makes me disgusted to look at myself.
And when you look at yourself that way
and you feel disgusted by what you've become,
then you know what?
You gotta do something about it.
This is just not something that's like,
"Oh, hey, I'm big and fat."
No, it's, "I'm fat
"and now I've got to do something about it,"
because I'm gonna die young; I'm gonna die.
- This is the measurements that we took last week.
And your weight went down from 315 to 305,
and that's simply because you were burning muscle
instead of body fat.
So, that showed in your numbers.
That's why your percentage of body fat number went up,
even though your weight went down.
- Okay? - Okay.
- Now, where we're at is today, okay?
So, your weight is coming down still, off of 305, all right?
But what's even better
is your percentage of body fat's coming down, okay?
So, it's gone from 58 now down to 54.
- [Kenny] Very cool.
- All right?
So, you've sort of crossed this threshold.
- (sighs) Sonia, you got plugged in this time, huh?
(laughing)
- Yeah, it was easy!
It wasn't no big deal at all.
- Oh, that's good.
- It was very relaxing, except for the cramping. (laughs)
- Yeah, you've dropped some weight too, huh?
- Yeah. - Some weight.
She's lost some paint sizes.
- [Sonia] Yep.
- So, that's good.
Oh yeah, and my weight, speaking of weight,
I only lost like two pounds.
- [Sonia] Really?
- Yeah, that's it.
- [Sonia] But your stomach's gone done though.
Look at, no more table.
It's more like a slide, woo!
- Yeah, exactly. (Sonia laughs)
But my fat percentage has gone down,
like 4% or 5%.
So, now that means that I'm burning fat
more than I am burning muscle now, so that's good,
even though I'm still fat. (laughs)
("The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss II)
I'm almost three weeks into this
and I'm thinking of all the ups and downs I've had so far.
Wait, I still have how many days to go?
Is there another rock or something?
One, two, three.
(straining)
I'm getting it!
(straining)
(camera shutter clicks)
Is that the close one or far away?
- [Woman] Far away.
- Now, do it a little closer.
The things the Saylors family does to get a picture.
(laughs)
Uh-oh.
Ah, crap.
(straining)
Holy crap.
(laughing)
Ow, for the sake of a stinkin' picture. (laughs)
It's a cool picture though, (laughs) I hope.
How many overweight friends do you have
compared to those that are in good shape?
- Two overweight friends.
- [Kenny] Okay, out of your close friends.
What about family?
How many of your immediate family?
- Oh, my whole family is obese.
(laughing)
Aunties, uncles--
- Everybody. - And even parents.
- Now, what would you say is the most commonly eaten thing?
Do they eat McDonald's or--
- McDonald's. - Yeah, McDonald's.
- McDonald's?
(light jazz music)
I was gonna tell you about what happened last night.
- [Paul] What happened?
- I get out and I go for a walk and I get on the phone
and I start talking to make my phone calls,
and I ended up down by Wilshire.
I saw McDonald's and, all of a sudden,
I wanted to go eat so badly.
I mean, it was overwhelming.
I mean, the power of it was just like,
I was literally standing there on the corner going,
"Kenny, Kenny, don't go down there."
I wasn't hungry, but my mind was just like craving the food.
It hit me--
- [Paul] It hit you hard.
- It hit me bad, I mean,
like the worst thing I've ever seen.
And my body's going, "Okay, haha, the joke's over,
"now go eat," (laughs) you know?
"Go eat junk food," not just eat but eat junk food.
And so, it's like the addiction is calling out to me now.
I mean, it was insane.
I don't even know how to explain it
'cause I was just like, it was crazy intense.
(slow pop music)
Day 21 is a milestone for me:
the longest I've ever gone without food.
I never imagined I could feel this good by not eating.
It's true what they say that you feel light
and connected with God.
It's almost euphoric.
I'm feeling inspired, so I'm spending the day
at my friend's place and getting into my music.
(light piano music)
Now that I'm not preoccupied with food all the time,
it's really given me the ability to reevaluate my life,
my priorities, my ambitions, I want to change my life.
I've had so many dreams that I set aside
and just didn't pursue because of my weight,
because of my insecurities.
Growing up, music was my life, my passion.
One of my deepest regrets is not pursuing that path.
I gave up on my dream when I gave up on myself.
I can't let this weight interfere with all that anymore.
I also hope that what I'm doing
will somehow inspire others
to know that they can face their fat
and look beyond that barrier.
If you believe in yourself, any dream is possible.
(upbeat piano music)
As we go, day 21,
which is supposed to be a turning point for everything.
So, we shall see.
There's nothing like going back to nature
to help you get your mind off the fact
that you haven't eaten for a month.
Unfortunately, that's not gonna happen today
because my friends have invited me to a campground
for a barbecue, which is my favorite kind of food.
Boy, this is gonna be tough.
I'm beginning to wonder what kinda friends I have
that would put me through this torture.
This is the first time in my whole entire life as a human
and life as something that's not a human, (laughs)
I don't know what that is,
that I've ever been in any camping situation
where I was not eating.
- [Man] How's it feel?
- It sucks.
(upbeat pop music)
Well, last time I checked,
Iran's not known for their barbecue, but Texas is!
That's right!
- 30 days of fasting, he's trying to prove you could do it.
He's barbecuing for everybody, but he's not gonna eat it.
- Ooh, it feels good to even touch food.
- [Man] Is that the first time you've touched food?
- It is.
It feels good.
These do look like the best hot dogs I've ever seen.
So, I was sitting there the other day and I thought,
I was just curious and I said,
'cause there's gotta be a world record for fasting, right?
And so, I just decided to go look online.
So, I went and typed in and looked online
and I saw that, apparently, David Blaine,
when he hung up in the Times Square thing,
he did it for 44 days.
So, some Russian dude did it last year for 50 days.
And so, that's when I was like, "Well, you know what?
"I'm doing it 40 days, I'm doing pretty good.
"Why the crap not go for 55,"
just try to get the world record, you know?
It'd be kinda cool to get in
the Guinness Book of World Records, that'd be neat.
I thought the fast was supposed to
turn me off to greasy stuff.
But, man, this food looks delish, man.
Oh, it smells so good.
Man, that's a lotta hot dogs.
Man.
And I can't have any of 'em.
(upbeat a capella music)
- [Man] Corn and potatoes together, that's good.
(laughing)
- [Kenny] Look, there's a bun on the ground.
(laughing)
- Yeah, the mashed potatoes good?
They look good too.
Everything looks good, what am I talking about?
Crazy people.
(upbeat pop music)
I'm feeling it's time to give Paul and Sonia a break,
so I'm gonna go spend a few days at Jeremy and Alaina's.
They've heard about what I'm doing
and they're making an effort
to change their old ways and eat healthier.
I haven't seen 'em in a while,
so it's gonna be good to catch up
and get their perspective on things.
- She inspired me to cleanse.
- So, we cut back on all our food.
- So, we have like one meal a day and two shakes a day,
and, man, I was irritable as hell. (Kenny laughs)
I was going off on her for no reason.
And I was like, "Damn, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
I can only imagine if I wasn't eating anything--
- Yeah, and that's the thing
is I'm getting where I'm less irritable about things,
but then I just go through moments of being real irritable.
- But they say there's so many women
who have a hard time losing weight
because there's so many foods that mimic estrogen.
So, the body assumes that it has
too high of a dose of estrogen,
which makes you store fat in your belly,
'cause the belly fat is where
it breaks down the estrogen or something.
So, they're storing a lot more fat
in their stomachs because of the food we eat.
- And now I'm convinced that's why there is so much sickness
in the United States and in the world
is because we are just eating so much stuff.
And since the majority of our immune system
is in our digestive system, basically, you are what you eat.
You eat junk food, you eat fat and greasy food,
you'll be a fat and greasy dude.
(laughing)
(slow alternative music)
- Mmm, Cajun rice.
Yeah, and then, on top of it, check it out, check it out,
jambalaya chicken, grilled.
Ooh!
- [Kenny] Food is everywhere: on TV, in movies,
in magazine ads, I see it everywhere I go.
I just can't escape it.
The temptations are overwhelming,
especially with the smell of food cooking all around me.
Now, with Jeremy taunting me,
it's enough to make me wanna run out the front door,
find the first fast food place I see
and order half the menu.
Food is like heroin to me.
My mouth waters as I envision eating all that greasy food.
I mean, it's an addiction that's so hard to overcome
because, no matter what, you have to eat to live.
- Dinner is served! (laughs)
Round two.
- [Kenny] I'm so close to finishing,
I just have to hang in there.
(light acoustic guitar music)
I've been doing some research
and have really started to understand
the severity of this obesity epidemic.
I wondered if any of our elected officials
would be willing to talk to me about what they're doing
to get this situation under control,
but I quickly found out how much they cared.
(phone ringing)
- [Voicemail] You have reached President Clinton's office--
- [Voicemail] Arnold Schwarzenegger--
- [Voicemail] The White House Office of Media Affairs--
- [Voicemail] You have reached the scheduling office
of Hillary Clinton--
- [Voicemail] In order to expedite your call,
please select from the following options.
- [Voicemail] Please press four.
- [Voicemail] Please press one now.
- [Voicemail] Your call will be transferred. (beep)
(phone ringing)
- [Man On Phone] Governor's office.
- Yes, could I speak to someone
in the scheduling department, please?
I had submitted a request for an interview
about a month-and-a-half ago to two months ago.
- [Man On Phone] Okay.
- I'm calling about a scheduling request
or interview request that I had submitted
about a month-and-a-half ago,
and I was just calling to follow up
and see the status of that request.
They keep telling me they're gonna call me back,
but no one ever does.
- [Operator] Please hold for the following options.
(dial tone)
- Hello?
- [Woman On Phone] President Clinton's office.
- Yes, I'm calling about a interview request
that I sent in about a month-and-a-half ago.
- [Woman On Phone] Well, all right.
Actually, you're connected
to the scheduling department right now,
so let me transfer you over to press.
(phone ringing)
- [Man On Phone] When did you submit it?
- About a month-and-a-half, two months ago.
I submitted about a month-and-a-half to two months ago
and I have not heard any response.
- [Man On Phone] I couldn't personally identify
what happened to it or at what stage it is
during the process, but if you'd like to fax it to us again
and mark it urgent, then that might be helpful.
- [Woman On Phone] Okay, well let me talk
to people in that department,
and hopefully we can get back to you
maybe by the end of the week.
- [Man On Phone] Yeah, I'm not sure.
I mean, I don't handle the scheduling stuff.
But I can transfer you over to that department--
- That'd be great. - If you'd like.
- Yeah, that'd be great.
- [Man On Phone] Hold on one sec.
(phone ringing)
(laughing)
(beep)
- Hello, Pam, this is Kenny Saylors.
We spoke about a month ago in regards
to an interview request for Vice President Al Gore
for a documentary about the obesity epidemic.
Thank you very much and I look forward to your call.
Oh yeah, good day, mate.
No, I'm just kidding. (laughs)
I didn't say that.
Since none of the politicians wanted to talk to me,
I figured I'd try to meet with the authors
of a book I'd read, Thin from Within,
to get some advice on how to change
the way I think about food.
Okay, so I see some of these people
who are weighing like 800 pounds and stuff.
How does somebody let themselves get that big?
What do you say in that situation?
- I would think there would be something
emotionally really, really traumatic that has occurred.
The thing is there's a lotta different,
there's alcohol, there's drugs, there's sex,
there's all these addictions,
and people can kind of do them behind the closet
and you stay thin.
But here, you have somebody who's addicted to food
and their body's getting bigger and everyone knows.
- Once you're at that weight,
it's gonna take so long to get back to where you are
that it's really hard to get motivated
to change your behaviors.
- And I can totally understand that.
- And, it's interesting, probably in your fast,
you sorta have to get a life in a way.
It's like all that mental space that's occupied by foods
and thinking about, "When am I gonna eat?
"Hmm, what would be good for lunch?
"What would be good for a snack?"
All of a sudden, it's like, "Well, let me get a life.
"Let me figure out what are my dreams?"
- In our culture, that food is such a coping mechanism,
especially for kinda the good guys, you know?
Because you could either do drugs, you could do alcohol,
but with food you can still function,
you can still work, you can still take care of your family.
- And it's not illegal anywhere. (laughs)
- [Marna] It's not illegal, that's right.
- So, and you're only harming yourself,
you're not hurting anyone else.
So, there are some people that can go on a diet,
lose weight, and stay with it, you know?
And be okay with weighing food and counting calories.
So many people that we talk to and work with
that have spent their life, really,
being so focused on their body and food
that they haven't lived.
- And I discovered today while putting on my pants,
these pants were tight on me, very tight on me,
whenever I first began, and now they're extremely baggy.
So, I've apparently lost a lotta weight in my legs.
I had pretty chunky legs, I guess.
And also, there's how much weight has gone down on my hips
from when I was heavy.
I mean, that's a lot.
I'm actually pretty shocked about that myself, dang!
And I have a long way to go still,
I got a lotta days left, so that's excellent.
But the greatest part is
I never have to wear these pants again.
- [Jeremy] That's right. (laughing)
You can get a whole new wardrobe!
- I know, gotta go buy new clothes now.
- [Jeremy] Baggy jeans.
- I know.
See, I got my necklace and I got the baggy pants.
This is my gangster starter kit, yo.
- [Jeremy] Homie K! (laughs)
- What's up? - K-Dog!
- Straight up, player, don't be hatin' on me.
I talked to some people on the streets
to get their views on the subject of weight.
- I've lost 30 pounds in the last two months.
- Really, man?
That's excellent, man.
- [Man] Doing what?
- [Kenny] Yeah, how did you do that?
- [Man] Eating or working out?
- Changed my eating style. - Eating?
- From eating the way you were to eating healthy,
what's the hardest thing you've found as being a change?
- Just not waking up at night and grabbing the wrong things.
You know, instead of grabbing a sandwich
or something like that, I'll take a piece of fruit or--
- Yeah, smart. - You know, grapes,
or whatever fruit.
I started buying more stuff like that, more fish.
- Oh, that's great.
- [Man] What do you think, in your honest opinion,
about a guy doing a 50-day, 55-day fast,
setting a world record?
- I think it's great, if you live through it.
- It was difficult to get people to talk
on camera about obesity unless they themselves were thin
or were in the process of losing weight.
It made me realize how afraid
and uncomfortable people are about this issue.
- I just feel so bad eating in front of Kenny, (laughs)
but it has to be done.
- It's obvious they feel very bad about it
as they're going (chewing).
- [Jeremy] Are you done with that crust?
- It's coming out of their mouths.
(laughing)
Never thought I'd get so tired of water.
But when it's all you have, you just really get sick of it.
It's weird, when you're just around people,
people talk about food all the time.
I would venture to say that, oh, 70% to 75%
of everyone's conversation revolves around food.
And I know that sounds like
a far-stretching statement to make,
but, man, when you're not eating,
everything related to food jumps out at you.
And then, when people talk about, everywhere we go,
people are like, "Oh, I like this, I like that," you know?
It's just, really, it's crazy.
(light dreamlike music)
I'm at my breaking point.
I'm physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.
How much longer can I keep doing this?
I'm almost at the end of it, or I would be,
but now I'm trying to break a world record.
I'm way, well, way into the whole fast now.
I mean, I'm like, I'm nearing on,
I don't know, 30-something days.
You lose count after a while,
even though I keep track of it all.
Today, I went up with Jeremy and Alaina
and we played tennis.
I was so exhausted when I got back, I just crashed out.
I just took a shower and laid down.
I've just been like blah.
I mean, I could barely even
walk up the stairs here, I was so tired.
I vomited and I'm like, what's there to vomit?
I've got nothing in my stomach.
And it was weird because it was pink.
I guess it was just stomach acid, that's all I did.
But, so it's a word of caution out there.
I gotta make sure not to go crazy like that no more.
I need to really be careful because, you know,
it hit me today and I was like,
man, I gotta be careful on the exercise.
What am I doing?
Have I lost sight of my goal?
Is going for the world record
really more important to me than my health,
than my well-being?
What am I trying to prove to myself?
(light dreamlike music)
These past few days, I've been reevaluating my life
and the direction I've been going.
I've realized that I've put off
pursuing a music career for way too long.
Songwriting is my outlet.
It's my way of expressing my emotions, good or bad.
I'm going back to doing the things
that make me feel good about myself
and I'm gonna pursue my dream.
(rock music)
- [L.] Okay, the nurse is on her way up.
- The weigh-in.
- [L.] Are you ready for your weigh-in?
- Yeah, I know, I'm excited.
- [L.] I'm so excited!
I told you, you might grow through.
We should measure you after.
That's one thing that might actually be nice
of those side effects.
Go ahead and step off.
And, ladies and gentlemen, 274.4!
- So, that would mean I've lost 41 pounds.
I got a lot of excess still to go.
- Wow, your body mass index is now 41.6.
Oh, my friend, you are going in the right direction.
- Yeah, 41 pounds.
- That's pretty good. - Pretty impressive, huh?
- Yeah.
I saw a magazine the other day, it was on there.
And the cover says she lost 30 pounds in three months
and I was like, "Ahh." (laughing)
- But your body mass index when you started was about 48,
which is pretty extreme, and now it's down to 41.6
So, you're doing tremendous.
The fat was nearly 58%,
that's where I was getting that number from,
and now that's down to about 50%.
- Oh, okay. - Okay?
So, you're doing amazing progress.
- That's still a lot, but it's better. (laughing)
- I'm really amazed at how well you're doing.
I really am.
I mean, I think it's great
that we're doing these treatments,
but it's a lot attributed to you.
- Yeah, well, I'll be honest, I'm quite shocked myself.
(laughing)
- And what is this about trying to break the record?
- Oh yeah. - Yeah.
- Yeah, I just wanna go in, and it's 50 days.
So I figured, well, I'm doing 40 and I'm doing good,
I'm not freaking out about it or anything.
- Right, and now you're gonna push it to?
- 15.
15 more days, yeah.
- So, a total of 55 days of water fasting?
- [Kenny] Yep.
Might as well go to the extreme with it.
- That's stunning. - Yeah.
- I know, of course, we're gonna have to
get some clearance with Dr. Ghaly.
- [Kenny] Right. (laughs)
- No, really, we'll check you out,
make sure everything is good.
And I just wanna say I think you're doing amazing.
- Oh, well, thank you. - Absolutely amazing.
And if it was anyone else in any other condition,
there's no way they could push for that record.
But because of where you're at, I think you could do it.
- Well, it is now day 40 of my original fast.
However, since we discovered during the fasting process
that the world record was actually 50,
this means 40 is just another day,
which kinda sucks.
But day 40 has now come and gone,
(laughs) so what do I do?
So, Sonia went and made me a nice little
15 more days to the world record chart.
So, tomorrow, I get to begin my day 41
to my final 55 days to break the record.
So, this is the new addendum to the thing.
(upbeat pop music)
I'm getting near the end of my fast
and Sonia's already finished with hers,
so we decided to arrange for a group of friends
to come together and talk about
everything we've been dealing with
and learning about these past several weeks.
Whenever I told people I was gonna go fasting for 40 days,
they were like, "What are you, crazy?"
Even I had a doctor tell me, "So, do you have a death wish?"
(laughing)
- Don't you miss a good taco or guacamole?
(laughing)
- No, it's funny because I really don't think about it.
Like right now, it's actually gonna be as hard for me
to go back to eating as it was for me to stop.
- How did that affect you?
You look great, but I mean--
- I feel so good now.
And I lost 40 pounds and I still had to make Paul food.
And I was never starving, but on the fifth day,
I really wanted fried chicken.
(laughing)
And then, that kinda went away.
But I think it's 'cause I kept watching TV
and I was watching food network.
- [Woman] And commercials.
- Commercials!
(suspenseful eerie music)
- When you're overweight, you're vulnerable to people
in public that don't even know you.
And they'll judge you or say comments to you
that are so hurtful that they don't really know
you already know this about yourself;
you don't need to hear it.
- Does it make you more unsocial?
That's what I wanna know.
Do you feel like, "Maybe I shouldn't go out?"
Imagine what happens to the kids, let's talk about that.
Let's talk about, a person's overweight,
so they discipline they have
in the refrigerator reflects on their kids.
- It's that learned behavior that we were talking about.
- It's also kids, you've got companies like McDonald's
that equals toys and play land, you know?
And that's burger and fries, McDonald's.
So, even when you become an adult,
there's still that subconscious, "Play land," you know?
(suspenseful eerie music)
- It must've been really extremely hard for you
because you came from a fairly slim guy from high school,
looking good.
- [Kenny] Yeah, very thin.
Boy, she knew me in high school.
- My image of Kenny was dancing,
performing on stage, singing, this thin little guy.
- As you start letting yourself go mentally,
you start saying, "Well, it's okay."
Is that what you did?
In your mind, you convinced yourself?
- I started saying, "What's another hamburger?
"I already weigh this much.
"If I eat one more, it's easy.
"And I'm not worried about it,
"I'll just eat one more and then I'll start tomorrow."
I can't tell you how many Mondays I've had in my life.
"I'm gonna start on Monday."
- [Man] I think after today, I will change my way.
You guys have been an inspiration.
("Star Spangled Banner")
- Hollywood attracts tourists from all over the world.
I was curious what they thought
about the eating habits of Americans.
Ah, welcome to Hollywood, right?
We're on Hollywood Boulevard.
- And vegetables.
We eat a lot of vegetable.
- It's heavy.
- I met a girl the other day
whose father is both a cardiologist
and a professional bodybuilder.
I thought it would be really interesting
to get his viewpoint on fasting
and the best way for me to get healthy.
Now, these are your pictures here of your--
- [Howard] Yeah, those are some of my pictures.
Those two, I placed first,
and that was my first competition, about nine years ago.
My goal was to place in the top five for the Masters
nationwide in my age group.
- Were you a doctor first or a bodybuilder first?
- I was a doctor first, but I've always been interested
in nutrition and sports, athletics and so forth.
I still am a cardiologist, an internist,
but I kinda look outside the box.
Because, really, obesity is an epidemic
and it certainly, certainly affects heart health.
What really frightens me
is what's happened to the children today.
I mean, we have young school-age children
that are developing adult onset diabetes because of obesity
and the fact that these children are just not active.
So, we're seeing diabetics in 11-, 12-, 13-year-olds.
Anyone that has gone through losing weight in the past,
they have willpower.
Dieting isn't so much the issue,
it's learning how to really make changes
that will affect you for the long term.
- What are your thoughts on fasting
and what happens to the body?
- You have this goal that you were gonna lose weight.
And, yeah, it was an extreme,
but it's not much different than what bodybuilders do
when they bulk up and then cut down for a contest.
So, yes, it's extreme.
And no, I would not recommend it for the general population.
Yeah, you will lose weight,
but first you'll lose water weight, okay?
And then, as your metabolism comes to a screeching halt,
then you start losing muscle weight.
Now, the more muscle you lose, the slower your metabolism.
So, you eventually will get to a point
in which weight loss will end, okay?
Now, you are a very strong individual
and you were determined to go through this.
You beat the odds.
There is not many people I know
that could be on a fast as long as you were
and could be as successful as you were.
- What's the difference between fasting and anorexia?
- It's an extreme form of eating disorder
in which one is controlling what they put in their mouth,
with the aim of starving themselves.
See, yours was not so much
a need to control what you put in your mouth,
you had a goal of wanting to lose this amount of weight
and you had a predetermined time period in which to do it.
This is one of the problems I have found
in dealing with obese people in general
is that you feel so deprived that you must bust out.
So, what this people do, then they'll overeat.
And then, they will feel like they're total failures
because they screwed up again, and then they go off a diet
and they overeat and they get fatter.
If you look at people that have gone through yo-yo dieting
time after time after time,
the common thread that I have found
is that they always feel like failures.
They can't end up doing what they put their mind to do
and they feel like they're a failure,
so they might as well just be fat,
"'Cause I can't beat the odds."
(slow piano music)
- [Kenny] Sonia and I started this fast together,
supporting each other spiritually and emotionally.
This journey has really bonded
our friendship for a lifetime.
- I can't believe I finished my fast.
- [Kenny] You finished it, 40--
- 40 days, I lost 40 pounds.
I learned that I needed to take more time
and take care of myself
and to do what I need to do to stay healthy.
It's weird, though.
When you don't eat for so many days,
you don't even think about food anymore.
- When you deprive yourself of food, you start realizing
how much you have control over your food.
- Growing up, I just remember at school, I got picked on.
There was always the few kids
that would pick on me and tease me.
Getting into my adulthood, first of all, I didn't date.
I was always going out with my girlfriends and going dancing
and I was the one that was always holding everybody's purse.
The funny thing is I used to think
if I could just have a guy in my life
that would love me and that would take care of me,
then I could go on and go after my dream, you know?
'Cause I never really went after
my dream of being an artist
'cause I thought I have to take care of this first.
And so, I ended up going through relationships with guys
and I had this series of boyfriends
that were not the greatest guys, you know?
They were more like verbally abusive, not physically,
but I had one boyfriend that used to tell me
that I was borderline ugly.
And he told me once, I'll never forget,
we were on Magic Mountain and we were in line for this ride
and he told me he was embarrassed to be seen with me.
- [Kenny] Your boyfriend?
- Yeah. (laughs)
And I still stayed with him because I thought
I'm never gonna find anybody else.
And I think that a lot of women
that are overweight think that.
- [Kenny] 'Cause they put up with a lot more--
- They put up with a lot more because they don't feel
that anyone else is gonna want 'em.
So, I went through that period and I just...
And the funny thing is that
the one guy that said that to me,
I thought, "Well, I'll show him.
"I'll lose weight and then I'll dump him."
I lost 75 pounds in like five or six months,
I don't remember.
I ended up staying with him.
- [Kenny] Wow, why?
- Because by that time,
I mean, I still had my self-esteem, you know?
It took me a long time; I was with him for six years.
And six years of someone telling you you're borderline ugly
and that you'll never meet anybody better than them,
you start to believe it.
And when you get older
and you start to see what life's really about
and you see that what you're doing for everyone else,
you're trying to help everybody else,
you realize that you deserve that same love
that you're giving to everybody else;
you deserve it for yourself just as much as they deserve it.
So, why aren't you doing it for yourself?
And then, that's when you start to weed out the people
that are not good in your life.
And when I started doing that,
that's when I started attracting the right people to me,
and then I found Paul--
- [Kenny] Yeah. (laughs)
- Who's like mister wonderful. (laughs)
It was worth the journey,
going from that to finding someone wonderful.
(groovy rock music)
- This is it, my last weigh-in.
I'm so proud to be able to say
that I reached a personal milestone.
And now, it's just time to find out
how much my hard work's paid off.
- [L.] So, you went from 315 down to 271.
- So, how many would that be?
- That's 44 pounds. - 44 pounds.
- [L.] The interesting thing about it--
- What was his fat, yeah, percentage?
- Yeah, the percentage of body fat
has come down dramatically, 'cause it was at 53%,
actually, over 53%, and now it's down to 46%.
So, that's important.
And then, when you look--
- And how many pounds of fat would that be?
- Exactly, thank you doctor.
When you look at the fat mass,
he actually lost 40 pounds of fat
and only four pounds of lean body mass.
- Not bad.
- So, that's pretty spectacular.
- Preserving muscle mass is the name of the game.
- And really unusual. - Yeah.
- So, let's get you measured
to see how toned this buff body is.
- Yeah, I know, all these muscles I have.
- Yes!
- I'm looking forward to the measurements
because of my clothes have been,
like this shirt was like spandex (laughs)
on me when I started.
Oh, but the thing I was gonna ask you about
was the ketone strips, where I've been peeing on 'em.
But it went up really high
and for a long time it was really high,
and then it started going down, and then up, and then down.
And in the past four or five days, it's been trace amounts.
- [Dr. Ghaly] That's good.
- Oh, so that's normal?
- That's very normal.
(slow rock music)
- That's, what, five-and-a-half inches around the stomach.
I've gone down a couple pant size, (laughs)
which I've noticed 'cause my pants don't fit me anymore.
- And for you to lose 50-some pounds?
- 44. - 44 pounds?
That's not bad, like a pound a day.
My god, that's quite a bit.
So, for each pound of fat,
you need to spend 3,500 calories, okay?
So, a man usually requires, for daily maintenance,
anywhere between 2,800 to 3,200 calories a day.
So, basically, you were living on your own--
- Fat. (laughs)
- There you go.
- We have, dun-dun-dun! (laughing)
I never give anybody anything,
but he broke a world record, for goodness sake!
This is the Via that Georgette talked about, okay?
- [Kenny] Oh, right, yeah.
- So, this is what's gonna help you
break your fast in a very healthy way.
This is whole food, not a juice.
And, of course, dun-dun-dun!
- Good, I'm always in need of white t-shirts! (laughs)
- No, what I love is, remember the first time
that you fit into this?
- [Kenny] Yeah, (laughs) right.
- Because this is the biggest one we have
and you didn't fit the first time.
- [Kenny] No, I didn't fit in it the first time. (laughs)
- So, now you more than fit.
That's it. (laughing)
There you go.
- Well, thank you so much.
- Yeah, and my congratulations on doing so, so well.
We are all phenomenally proud of you.
- What'd you learn about yourself?
- What did I learn about myself?
That I actually, if I put my mind to it enough,
I can actually go and turn down food.
That's the big thing
because that's one of the biggest problems that I--
- Hurdles.
- And I think that's one of the things that most people
in the world who are overweight, their biggest problem
is they don't think they can say no to food.
And I always thought that, and I proved it because I did it.
But you learn through the whole thing,
you realize that if you put your mind to it enough
that you can change your mind, you can change your body.
(light acoustic guitar music)
I'm like, I finished, you know?
Yay, I get to eat something tomorrow,
drink something besides water.
128 ounces in a gallon.
The last day's here, 55.
So, here, and then there's me, which I should cross out too.
(laughing)
Yay!
55 days!
55 days and I've drunk so much water.
I will probably never be able to drink
anything but water again the rest of my life.
Although, I am looking forward to making iced tea.
Iced tea will taste good.
Yay, 55 days!
Woo!
(upbeat acoustic guitar music)
- Ken-Dog.
Congrats.
- My lovely hair and everything.
So, well, thank you. (laughing)
He gave me a coupon for juice.
Thank you guys so much, man.
- Congrats.
- Thanks, I couldn't have done it
without you guys, that's for sure.
I probably could've gone 60 days,
but that probably wouldn't have been a good idea.
But I started getting, actually, towards the past few days,
I started getting pains in my side.
- Gonna do carrot apple.
- [Kenny] Carrot apple sounds--
- Kenny's request. - Sounds very good.
It's gonna be weird actually, having something,
'cause I haven't had anything, not even mints, anything.
The closest thing I've even come to chewing anything
was I chewed a straw.
(laughing)
When I get stressed out, I chew straws and plastic things,
which is probably not a good habit.
They all need to, yeah, everybody should try.
Here it is.
Day, well, 56 now, I guess, huh? (laughs)
Cheers, I finished, yay!
- Yay, congratulations!
- Thank you.
- Cheers.
- Oh, thank you, thank you.
Well, I'm full.
(laughing)
Man.
- How is that?
- [Sonia] You're still alive. (laughs)
(grimaces and groans)
- Bright light getting bigger!
Yeah, it's weird.
I mean, it tastes good, but it's weird.
- [Sonia] Been a while.
What do you think, do you like it?
- I think it's actually really good.
- [Sonia] Is that the first time
you've had homemade carrot juice?
- Yes.
- Well, freshly squeezed carrot juice,
you can't get this stuff in bottles, man.
- It actually tastes really good.
- Well--
- [Sonia] That's that.
- It was good.
- There we go guys, we're all done.
I'm a little disappointed I didn't lose
as much weight as I thought I would,
but who can complain about losing like 50 pounds,
44 or whatever the crap it was?
Yeah, five-something inches from my waist.
No, I'm very happy; I certainly don't regret it.
Any time I lose any weight, I don't regret it. (laughing)
But the important thing is,
what I disregarded in this 'cause I went 55 days,
because, actually, about quite a few days before this,
my hunger actually came back and I let it cycle again,
and you're not supposed to do that.
You're not supposed to let your hunger cycle again
once you've been so long.
But, of course, I was going for a world record,
so I thought I'd do it, but that got into danger zone.
Yeah, well, pretty much anything
with the word fast and food (laughing) conjoined, yeah.
But then, it's just making a conscious choice.
Like, okay, I can have this fried chicken
that's not good for me or I can have
the same basic ingredient of chicken baked
and it's healthy for me, you know?
But the good thing, I feel like now
that I'm at the starting line, you know?
Yeah, exactly.
And now, I actually feel like,
'cause the fasting, I actually felt
like I was doing something really crazy.
Now, I actually feel like I'm starting life.
(light dreamlike music)
I can honestly say that this has been
one of the toughest things I've ever put myself through.
People are telling me, "You're so much thinner."
Yeah, I lost weight, not as much as I'd hoped to,
but this wasn't meant to be
some magic solution to all my problems.
What's most important is that I set a goal for myself,
I made the effort and, as hard as it was, I didn't give up.
I didn't give in.
When people taunted me with food
or told me it was impossible, I never gave up on myself,
and I never will again.
To believe in yourself and to have faith
is worth everything, especially when you face the thing
that has kept you down and kept you from truly living.
And then, you conquer it.
You know, I once heard it said that it's never too late
to be who you might've been.
And now, for the first time in years,
I know I can be that person.
(triumphant orchestral music)