William J. Cobb thought that his 802 lb. was too much, so he brought it down to 232 lbs.- a loss of 570 lb. - Guinness Book 4 - World Records

HAPPY HUMPHREY weighed 802 pounds three years ago, and he was so fat he had to sit up to sleep.

Today, fresh from a dieting-research program, he is almost 600 pounds lighter (he weighs 232)  and says the difference has changed his life.

"FOR THE FIRST time in my life I can cross my legs,"  "Look at this.

"I can do things now that I could never do before.  I can hunt and fish and swim.  And for the first time in 15 years I can sleep lying down.  I was so big that I used to have to sleep sitting at a 45-degree angle.

"I can even wear store bought clothes now," said Happy.  His real name is William J. Cobb.

The Atlanta Constitution told in a copyrighted article today how Cobb, 39, suffered a heart attack in 1962 while wrestling.

A physician in his home town, Macon, Ga., told him to reduce.

Cobb managed to get his weight down to 644 pounds before becoming a volunteer patient in June, 1963,  at the Medical College of Georgia's Clinical Investigation Unit.

Cobb lived at the hospital under precisely controlled conditions until last April when his weight had dropped to 227 pounds.

DURING HIS stay, Cobb never ate less than 1,000 calories a day.  He dieted in 56-day cycles.

For 28 days he was given three meals a day and a bed time snack with the same food served every meal.  For the next 28 days he ate the same food but all at one meal.

Three diets were alternated in cycles - one mostly fats, one mostly carbohydrates and the third mostly proteins.

The protein diet seemed most effective.  While on that diet, Cobb ate ground beef twice a day.

HAPPY Can't recall not being fat.

"I weighted 18 pounds when I was born," he said.  "I wore a bed sheet for a diaper.  When I was 12 years ole, I weighed 300 pounds.

"Eating, to me, was like drinking is to some people.  I couldn't stop.  My grocery bill ran from $25 to $30 a day.

"I have eaten a 14-pound turkey with all the trimmings at one sitting," he said.  "I could put away 15 chickens at a time."

COBB STILL finds it difficult not to eat to much.

"It just take will power," he said.  "You can't tell yourself you're never going to eat like that again. You've just got to take it one day at a time, day by day."

Augusta, Ga., July 16 1965 AP

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