At her heaviest, Maria weighed 700 pounds. She didn’t leave her house for six years, and her 5-year-old daughter had to help her bathe, change clothes and get in and out of the bed. “She was a baby. I didn’t let her be who she needed to be,” Maria recalls. Maria had gastric bypass surgery in March 2010. Afterward, she began eating healthier and exercising daily, and has lost 500 pounds. But the extreme weight loss has left Maria with excess skin that prevents her from being as mobile as she would like and affects her self-confidence. “All the excessive skin reminds me on a daily basis of who I was. I hate my body,” Maria says. But, she adds, “I’ve gotten this far, and I’m not going to give up.” Many people who have lost significant weight develop excess skin around the abdomen, under the arms, under the chest and around the inner thighs. When cells lose fat, the deep layer of skin called the dermis can be damaged, causing it to lose its elasticity and strength.

The excess skin can cause friction and irritation, making it more difficult to exercise. “It’s a shame that you could do such a wonderful thing for your life and for your health and yet still feel ashamed of your body," ER physician Dr. Travis Stork says. "That’s tough to hear, because I think we were all inspired just watching your story." Plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Daniel Barrett examines Maria and reveals she is an ideal candidate for an arm lift and lower body lift to remove the excess skin. Dr. Barrett offers to perform the surgery, along with fellow plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Zarrabi. “My adventure has not finished,” Maria says. See Maria's new body after having nine feet of excess skin removed! Plus, Dr. Barrett and Dr. Zarrabi discuss the challenges of performing the extensive procedure. Woman's 180-Pound Weight Loss Transformation Woman Disfigured by Botched Plastic Surgery Please help keep the community civil. New Terms of Use

reserves the right to use the comments you submit in whole or in part, and to use the commenter’s name and location, in any medium. Note that DISQUS operates this forum and you must log-in or register with DISQUS to participate.Ronnie Brower is a huge Taylor Swift fan, but nearly three years ago that meant something quite different than it does today. Ronnie weighed nearly 700 pounds when doctors told him that his obese body would be the cause his death by the age of 35. It was this stark news, and the motivation of Taylor Swift's music, that put his mind into gear to get better. He was hoping that he could inspire people and perhaps meet Ms. Swift at an upcoming concert in Cleveland. § Joe Bufano via YouTube This is a list of the heaviest people recorded. The table includes each person's name, peak weight, their birth date, and years of life. This list is limited to those individuals who weighed over 440 kg (970 lb; 69 st 4 lb). As a comparison, one of the lightest automobiles on the road, the Suzuki Alto or Maruti Alto weighs a full 100 kg (220 lb) less than the heaviest human ever.

^ Jet 30 Sep 1996, p. 61, at Google Books ^ Weekly World News 6 Jun 1989, p. 5, at Google Books ^ Video on YouTubeRonnie Brower says his amazing diet is all thanks to Taylor Swift. The man’s 400 pounds of weight loss is being attributed to listening to the singer and now Brower’s inspirational video has gone viral. In a related report by the Inquisitr, a 770-pound man was astounded that he could not lose weight on his 10,000 calorie diet, which included his favorite snacks like ranch dressing and ice cream. Cheap Tires Queens NyThe grossly overweight man eventually had to get gastric bypass surgery, but unfortunately, the success rate for the super-obese is like a coin toss.Curtains And Drapes Velvet Nearly two years ago, Ronnie Brower weighed almost 700 pounds himself and doctors were warning him that he would certainly die young if he did not immediately go on a diet. Indoor Motion Sensor Wall Lights

An old friend named Gina D’Addario helped Brower connect with Nick Murphy and Jill Rupert, trainers with Mission Fitness. Brower also quit drinking alcohol, gave up a drug addiction, and completely changed his life as he embraced his new diet, an exercise regime, and a routine based upon healthy weight loss. “I just stayed focused. I never want to be at that point again and that’s what keeps me going today,” Brower explains. The secret ingredient apparently was Taylor Swift, since the man’s 400 pounds of weight loss required some sort of concentration. Brower routinely worked out to such songs as “Shake it Off” and “Style.” After the formerly 700-pound man met his weight loss goal, a friend named Joe Bufano decided to make a video explaining how much Swift’s music meant to Brower. He posted it on YouTube and the response “went crazy.” “Surreal and amazing,” Brower said of the response. “I just hope it might inspire more people.” “If this gives us a bigger platform for helping others in Ronnie’s situation,” Murphy said, “all the better.”

The man’s journey has been shown on his Facebook page called 600 lbs to Success, where he explained the motivation behind sharing the weight loss video. “I Just want to say thank you again for all the amazing support all you guys are showing me by posting my story or video!! I’m so blessed that my story is getting out! I can now inspire even more people to make healthier changes in their own lives!” One new goal they now have is to shake the hand of Taylor Swift, since the man’s 400 pounds makes quite the story. “This is not your everyday weight loss story,” Bufano said. “To accomplish what he did…. it was amazing. And he’s never stopped.” Ronnie Brower will be at Swift’s Cleveland show on June 3 and hopes to get the opportunity to meet his idol in person. “So I lost all the weight and here we are, going to see Taylor Swift in two weeks,” says Brower. The former 700-pound man is now 250 pounds and he is hoping to lose another 20 pounds.