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Fla. Doc Helps Dieters Shed Pounds With Drastic Method

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Some dieters who want to lose weight are taking their slim downs to a whole new level.

Chris Grinda is aware of what years of overeating and not exercising has done to his body.

"What I'm going to end up doing, is I'm going to be in a wheelchair if I stay this way," Grinda said. He has been overweight for 15 years and topping the scales at over 300 pounds.

He said he's tried it all to lose the pounds.

"I've tried dieting on my own, I've tried exercising, but it is a very, very long process."

Chris is now making, what some say, is a drastic choice to finally get rid of the weight.

He's joining the feeding tube diet craze, also known as the K-E diet.

A feeding tube is inserted into the patient's nose and down to their stomach.

It is the same procedure to keep someone in a coma alive.

A patient gets 800 calories a day and they can't ingest anything else except water, coffee, or tea. The K-E diet puts the body into a state of ketosis, where it is burning fat instead of carbohydrate.

The diet gained popularity when Florida physician Oliver Di Pietro started offering to hook-up women to feeding tubes in his clinic.

He's the only doctor in the United States that offers the procedure.

"It helps you get over the initial hump. Once you start losing weight it motivates you to continue that lifestyle," Dr. Di Pietro explained.

He's helped hundreds of patients shrink their waistlines.

But there's a catch, for 24 hours a day, ten days straight, you have to stay connected to the feeding tube and carry around your feeding bag where ever you go.

Despite the inconvenience, the diet worked for Chris.

He has lost 23 pounds. He said he will be undergoing the procedure a few more times until he's comfortable with his weight.

The Feeding Tube diet sets you back $1,500 dollars and though Chris agreed it is costly, he said adding more years to his life is priceless.

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