While many of us have been ruefully gaining weight this holiday season, Leonard Shadd has been losing more than a pound a day.

When Shadd entered the weight loss program at Research Medical Center in Kansas City a month ago, he weighed 700 pounds.

Since then, he has eaten only 800 calories a day – a diet of bland drinks and thin soups.

He has spent at least a couple of hours a day lifting 6-pound dumbbells and doing calisthenics in his hospital bed.

And he has gotten expert advice on how to control his food consumption.

So far, he has shed about 40 pounds.

“This the most difficult challenge I’ve had in my life. It’s bigger than I ever dreamed it would be,” said Shadd, 53.

“But I’m seeing progress. And the basic improvement I’ve seen is the possibilities I have.”

Shadd’s obesity had made him a virtual prisoner in his apartment. Getting out of bed took great effort. Walking any distance left him exhausted.

Because Shadd depends on the state Medicaid program for the poor to pay for his medical care, he had despaired of ever finding a hospital with weight loss specialists that would accept Medicaid’s low payments.

But a story about Shadd in The Kansas City Star in October brought him to the attention of the weight loss program staff at Research. Hospital personnel arranged to have him admitted there as an inpatient.

Since then, Shadd has appeared numerous times on local television and radio shows. And he has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of cards, phone calls and visits from people wishing him well or asking his help.

“People have called me with one question: ‘I have a similar problem. Where can I get help?'” he said. “I never knew there were so many other people.”

Shadd said that on Christmas Eve, a man dressed in a Santa suit visited his hospital room. He, too, was in a weight reduction program.

“He said, ‘You have been an inspiration.’ He came out of his way to shake my hand.”

Shadd’s time in the hospital has turned him into an enthusiastic disciple of weight control.

He has banned food from his room, giving away to nurses the apples and pears sent to him as holiday gifts. Whenever a food commercial appears on television, he shuts off the sound and looks the other way.

“You have to get food off your mind,” he said. “They’re pushing it all the time. And the result is we’re an overweight and out-of-shape society.”

Five times a day, Shadd dines on powdered nutritional supplements that are mixed with water.