Manuel Uribe Lost 200 lb. on Protein Diet.

AP Photo / Juan Manual Villasenor

We've featured Manuel Uribe of Monterey, Mexico, on Neatorama before, with amazingly warm outpouring of support for Manuel, who made a desparate plea for medical help for his morbid obesity.

Doctors responded with generous offers to perform gastric bypass surgery free of charge, but first Manuel had to lose some weight the traditional way: by dieting. And diet he did:

"I feel better now. I can stretch and move a bit more," Uribe said Monday, flanked by Dr. Barry Sears, creator of the Zone diet, who came to check on his progress.

"Before I would eat 4 eggs, rice, beans and tortillas for breakfast," Uribe said. "Now, I'm learning to eat the right way."

In fact, Manuel's been doing so well by dieting that doctors are postponing plans of the surgery because there may be no need for it:

Dr. Carlos Ballesta of the Laparoscopic Center in Barcelona, Spain, also visited Uribe on Monday to discuss possibly performing the procedure.

"The goal is for him to keep losing weight, because if his morbid obesity responds to the diet then there is no need for the surgery," Ballesta said. "We'll intervene if his medical treatment fails."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/06/27/obese.man.ap/ | Previously on Neatorama: Heaviest Man in the World