He plans to wed Claudia Solis in northern Mexico and says his only birthday wish is to be able to stand for his wedding and walk his bride down the aisle. He has not been able to leave bed for the last six years.

Solis said life with a heavyweight is not always easy. "I bathe him every day, and we get along very well," she said. "At times, yes, people say things ... that it's a fake relationship, but what we have is real."

Uribe spent the 1990s eating a non-stop diet of junk food in the United States where he worked as a computer repairman. Addicted to junk food, he eventually tipped the scales at 1,235 pounds after returning to Mexico. His bulk made him the world's heaviest man and won him a place in the 2008 edition of the Guinness World Records.

He has lost 518 pounds since March 2006 on a diet of grapefruits, egg-white omelettes, fish, chicken and vegetables.

Hoping his struggle will inspire others, he plans to launch the Manuel Uribe Foundation this year to educate people about nutrition and to combat obesity.