When I *knew* him he was at a healthy weight. He was on his own at the point I knew him. His growing up stories are his alone so take it for what its worth. I just never had any reason to not believe him. The real sad thing is he was only 15-16 when I knew him. He was on his own and scraping by any way he could as a teenager with no help from family. Basically, reread what I said and you'll realize both can apply. A major point I was making was that he didn't become a fat fuck even after being conditioned to eat as much as possible when food is available. He spent plenty of nights sleeping in my car or a few other friend's car. It was hard to watch but he was actually pretty humble and rarely discussed his shit situation. I remember he hated that I had figured out his birthday. He didn't want anyone to know and for some reason told me that he hated anyone celebrating his birthday. Always made me wonder if something significant happened on his birthdays.