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Fat Man Walking attracts audience

Bringing to mind the running exploits of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in the movie of the same name, one California man has earned a following after embarking on a cross-country walk to lose weight and inspire others to realize they are able to do so as well.

Steve Vaught-a 350-pound self-described "Forrest Lump" who`s walking across the country to shed weight--has the same such following, only his real-life fame has been fueled by the Internet. As of Friday, Vaught was only near Flagstaff, Ariz., where it`s monsoon season. He`s fallen way behind his goal of traveling about 20 miles a day, which would have put him in Missouri by now. But he`s already accomplishing his goals. He`s lost about 50 pounds (he was 400 pounds) and has been the source of great inspiration. That`s been made evident by the countless postings and e-mails to thefatmanwalking.com--so many that the site was overwhelmed and had to be taken down for a few days last week while it was put on its own server.

Tens of thousands of people are regularly checking in on 39-year-old Vaught`s progress through his busy Web site, The Fat Man Walking. Vaught`s wife, April, who has been penning his online journal, alluded to CNET of a Web audience of about 100,000, and that was before Vaught was featured on the "Today" show earlier this month. Vaught left his hometown outside San Diego on April 10 in an attempt to walk to New York City to "lose weight and regain my life." While he embarked on the journey for personal reasons, he hoped his story might "serve to encourage others to take their lives back--to get up and do something about it today," according to a Web site posting written before he left.