Manuel Uribe, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest living man in the world, has lost more than one-third of his body weight and now weighs just over 800 pounds thanks to an international team of doctors led by Dr. Barry Sears, creator of the Zone Diet. As he approaches his 43rd birthday on June 11, Manuel credits Dr. Sears and his team for saving his life despite monumental odds.

After decades of failed weight loss methods, including a botched liposuction that nearly killed him, devotion to the Zone Diet has been the only weight loss program to have such a positive impact on the Mexican man, whose weight once topped 1,200 lbs. Dr. Sears, along with two of Mexico's most prestigious physicians, Dr. Silvia Orozco Aviña and Dr. Gustavo Orozco Aviña, are at the helm of the interdisciplinary team of doctors, nutritionists and exercise physiologists who continue to work diligently to help Manuel reach his goal . . . and his birthday.