My 600lb Life tv show

I used to watch the show when we still had TV and it was heartbreaking. Most of the people on it seemed unable to source, prepare or consume healthy food. The diets featured a preponderance of beige staples. I always wondered if behind the scenes the doctors/nutritionists were encouraging fresh vegetable and fruit.

On the 900lb boy show, the mom was making him French fries because he liked them so much. She had a pot of oil on the stove to fry stuff. It made me so sad.

I have watched this show in the past and I always have very mixed emotions while watching. They go to this Dr. because (my understanding) is he in one of the very few that will do this procedure on such morbidly obese people. They are a lot of risks to just having surgery when you are that large.

I always wish they had counseling for the entire family. It is very rare to see a family fully support the person having surgery, because they are usually the one supporting them in their bad eating habits to begin with. (I have told DH if I would ever get so big that I can no longer get out of bed to even get food, just leave me there.) A spouse is usually the one to be the most supportive (except for one case where the spouse made fun if his wife the entire time). Parents are often in denial about how bad it is for their child.

I do struggle with so many seeming to blame someone else or some life circumstance for their eating habits. I am obese because I eat too much of the wrong foods, I know it I own it. I did not have some glorious childhood, I did not have everything handed to me. My parents did not teach me good eating habits, lots of pop and many fried foods. Our family struggled, my parents fought in front of me, I lost my mom when she was 51 and my sister when she was 49, but I did not let that define who I was. I know not everyone has good coping mechanisms, but I wish some would take responsibility for themselves.

The Dr. asks them to lose weight prior to the surgery to see how committed they really are to it. If they are unable/unwilling to follow the diet before surgery, they won't after. I do like how he really tells them how it is and does not sugar coat it.

It does motivate me to be healthier, just like hoarders motivates me to throw things out.

I watch this show all the time. The saddest episode to me was the one from two weeks ago, I think. The woman was from California and she begged someone from her family to help her, no one would. The thing that got me was that she was clearly dealing with some deep issues (she rarely made eye contact with anyone and looked so forlorn) but it wasn't until later that any kind of help was given to her. They need to start with therapy (because they didn't just arbitrarily become obese). Then the weightloss. Otherwise they are being set up for failure.

I watch this show whenever I get the chance. My DH and boys make fun of me watching it, but they don't understand that it motivates me. I had gastric bypass surgery and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was also the best thing I've ever done. Because of motivation and therapy, I have maintained all my weight loss. 6 years out and I still follow the strict portion size diet. It became a new way of life for me and I'm lucky that I was able to completely change my life style.

I do yell at the TV when they become so whiny and want to blame everyone and everything under the sun for not following the diet. The parent or caregiver is the one giving them the food (and amount of food) that they want and most of them are very over weight themselves. In those cases, I think it should be a family deal and they all undergo counseling and nutrition services. The 600lb person needs a huge support group to get through this, so make that part of Dr. Now's program.

Dr. Now does set up counseling for all his patients and a lot of the therapist have to come to their homes for sessions until they are able to move around. Not many will allow that to be shown on TV, but I've read that all his patients have this option. Some will keep it up and some will not get their whine validated and quit therapy.

I watch this show. I know they have done one or two follow-up shows to check-in on Dr. Now's former patients. I wish they would do more follow-up shows because I often wonder how the people are doing. Some of their stories are really sad and I hope they have found some peace.

The patients must meet with a dietitian?? I wish they would show a session or two with a dietitian.

i wonder what happens after they lose all the weight and they need skin removal surgery. who pays for that? many of them haven't worked for years because of their weight. does medicare pay for that?

I think for some caregivers they wonder what their role would be in the persons life.  Would they still be needed?  This is a very valid point as to why some of caregivers/family members are not supportive.  If your role in life is to care for your morbidly obese family member and they lose weight and can care for themselves, where does that leave you?  It has to scare them, and they don't even realize it. 

There is just so much denial about so many things.  I remember a show years ago (not 600lb Life) this guy was in total denial about his diet.  He kept saying he eats healthy, he eats fruits and vegetables.  He would have a 5 lb bag of oranges for a snack, not one or two, but the entire bag.  He also had a lot of fruit drinks, and he kept saying it was fruit juice and fruit is healthy.  He would drink gallons of it a day.   

I also feel that the show has changed over the years, just like all shows do, it went from documenting a person journey to filming all the drama.  

^^^  they show the doctor approving them to have the skin surgery... in a lot of cases, I think people pay for it themselves, or it's deemed medically necessary and covered by insurance because of the risk of infection, etc. from the extra skin folds.  


I've often wondered if Dr. Now does their surgeries at a reduced rate or something like that... I can't imagine that many of those people even have health insurance, or if they do, it's got to be prohibitively expensive.  


ETA:  there are a lot of factors to obesity-- access to healthy food (or not); enabling by the family members, thinking they don't want to 'deprive' the person; ability or lack of ability to cook healthy food; etc. etc.  And there are truly physiological reasons, as well-  if your hormones are off, you may not know that you're full, and still feel hungry.  Grehlin and leptin, cortisol, and others... (if I recall correctly from the classes I took at the weight-loss clinic)  And of course, there are emotional reasons for eating food, addictive qualities to certain foods and what they do to your brain chemistry, etc.

I really wish more shows about obesity / weight loss would talk about some of those things as factors instead of just portraying the person's drama-- explain more of the 'why' behind it-  the MANY reasons why people can end up like that-- instead of just showing them eating fast food endlessly, talk at least a BIT about the factors that might contribute to it.

I can see how my circumstances have affected me, but as an adult I now make my own decisions.  I don't know if I have ever seen where someone has said taken responsibility for how they are, they may get to that point, but at the beginning it is always someone else's fault.   I know everyone handles stress and life events different ways.  When I am stressed I go to food, I know that.  I don't blame anyone else, I am an adult and know other ways to handle stress and life circumstances.  

I feel many, if not all, suffer from depression and even if they know they need to change they are unable to and most likely don't know how.  It is a viscous cycle that once it is very hard to get out without a lot of help and support.  I also believe that by this time, some (maybe most) don't feel they are worth the help and support. 

In general, they are following a plan to lose weight, knowing they must before the surgery...it gives them a goal that they know has an end date.  In addition, losing some weight prior to their surgery shows their commitment to follow a healthier plan, reduces their fatty liver, brings down their BMI and makes it a little safer for surgery.

While they may lose weight beforehand, without the surgery, statistics show they will not have long term success and will most likely gain back all the lost weight and then some.  The surgery forces them to follow portion control, and in the case of gastric bypass, it also hinders absorption of foods they do eat.  Therefore, they lose weight and keep most of it off.  Without surgery, it is unlikely they would lose as much weight and keep it off.

I watch regularly and I find it motivating. These people just want to be able to move again, participate in their family, not be confined to their home. I have lost 50 pounds on my own and still need to lose about 40 more.  I have inactive to very low functioning thyroid making weight loss difficult.  I also have three joint replacements (both knees and a hip).

There was a time when my joints were too painful to do a lot.  Now I can get out of the house.  Now I can exercise and I'm thankful for that. I recently had both knees redone in November. My normal exercise routine was one hour on the elliptical and one hour of deep water fitness. Now that I'm recovered from surgery I've tried some other classes. I've done the spinning class and high fitness aerobics class for the past two weeks. I have to modify a little due to my fake joints (no jumping, pivoting, low squatting, etc.), but yesterday the instructor told the class I was their inspiration - ME.  And it was embarrassing, but I also felt a little proud that I was there.  My inspiration are the people on My 600 Life.  To change their addiction to food, to go through such a surgery....not easy. I no longer have an excuse to sit at home and not get out and exercise.  I'm still overweight, but I'm strong (fit and fat) In the beginning I could only do 5 minutes on the elliptical.  Now I go an hour easily, chatting with a friend the whole time.  Then go on to do another hour of spinning or high fitness.  I won't take it for granted ever again.

See, now I thought she was looking for someone else to be responsible for her. She definitely has issues but she was using the "no ne will help me" as a pity party excuse to not be responsible for herself.  

i did find it interesting to see that in one of the follow up episodes, that one girl ended up going the other direction with her eating disorder. Dr Now called her out for being underweight and told her to gain 15 lbs.  

Some of the folks are really inspiring. Others are full of excuses and drive me nuts. Like claiming they were never given diet instructions.