The Chicago Tribune has a little nugget on Hurley (in Sunday's paper).
They emailed co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof, inquiring WHY IS HURLEY'S GUT STILL THE SIZE OF A FLOATATION DEVICE, and got this answer from executive producer Carlton Cuse:
"Hurley's inability to lose any significant weight, like many of the other things on the island, is shrouded in mystery. That mystery, however, will be definitely solved during February sweeps ... well, as definitely as anything ever gets solved on "Lost" anyway."