my 600lb life (tv show)

gabriellejayde
gabriellejayde Posts: 607 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
This is one of my favorite shows. For one thing, it often helps me understand how people let themselves get to that point, and also how *I* let myself get to *my* highest point (which was somewhere in the 250s). Not exactly the same, but some of the habits that obese people have are consistent.
It also helps me identify behaviors that I don't want to have. Things I know that are traps to fall into. I've seen people on the show get upset because they can't eat what everyone else eats, when the truth is of course that they were eating MUCH more than normal. I've also watched them drink soda with their meals (happily I don't drink soda), POUR on the salad dressing, and keep snack food next to their beds. I've seen them make excuses for eating because of stress, habit, and because they've replaced love with food.

It's also sometimes inspiring, when I see that someone who was formerly 600 or more pounds getting down to under 200. I know they have surgery to help, but that's not always the cure... it's just a tool and they still succeed.

Does anyone else watch it?
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Replies

  • sdolan91
    sdolan91 Posts: 250 Member
    I feel like some of the people I've seen on that show needs help mentally, too...
    Man, but don't diss soda. lol I'm having one today, totally fit in my calories (I was pretty excited.. I never have it)
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    kristen8000 wrote: »
    I can't watch shows like that. I also can't watch the Biggest Loser. It makes me feel sad for society. And I feel that shows like that "exploit" people. I'm not wild about "reality" TV in general.

    Same here. Extreme Makeover is another one that really bothered me and I only watched once. I just can't.
  • Horses4Two
    Horses4Two Posts: 45 Member
    I love that show. I watch it all the time.
  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
    Those shows are too hard/sad for me to watch
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    kristen8000 wrote: »
    I can't watch shows like that. I also can't watch the Biggest Loser. It makes me feel sad for society. And I feel that shows like that "exploit" people. I'm not wild about "reality" TV in general.

    Same here. I HATE (and refuse to watch) the beginning segment where they show the people at their absolute worst and almost always naked! It's terrible. However, I also agree with the OP that lessons can be learned and it is interesting to see what the root cause is. Even with therapy though, education as far as general nutrition, calorie content, and portion size is severely lacking.
  • chrislee1628
    chrislee1628 Posts: 305 Member
    edited September 2017
    It just shows that not everyone is greedy and that some people are genuinely ill and because of that get to the weight that they are in, not because they want to, but because they can not help it

    I feel that it is those that the government should be helping

    I've recorded episodes 600lbs, when I remember to, and rewatch them, if they can get health, then there is no reason why I/we can not, unless we are physically/mentally unable to
  • chrislee1628
    chrislee1628 Posts: 305 Member
    Time, patience and effort, if we could lose all that weight with a press of a button, we would all be pounding the living daylight out of it :)
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,890 Member
    I have mixed feelings about this show. I can kind of relate, I was pushing 400 lbs at one point. I knew it wasn't normal so the first thing I did was get myself into therapy. I think with this show, therapy should be a prerequisite for these patients because it isn't normal to be so self destructive. You can also see that some of the people on this show struggle with emotional eating and many have been through serious trauma. If you don't sort the mental/emotional issues, you can staple someone's mouth shut and they will still find a way to eat. I also agree that they should get nutritional education. I feel like the people on this show are exploited to a certain degree, however, when I see them turn around and get all the help they need and get with the program, it's good to see the process working for them. Makes me wonder if they would be as successful if they weren't under the microscope of TV cameras and crew.
  • TorStar80
    TorStar80 Posts: 252 Member
    Although I'm not 600 lbs, I see absolutely no difference between myself and the people on that show struggling to get healthy. I guess it's why I won't watch, it's like looking at myself... times I've justified my actions or maybe blamed someone else, at the end of the day I see they aren't victims and neither am I. I think some people watch because it makes them feel better about themselves, I feel like that about a lot of reality TV.
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    I watched the 600lb show once and I've never been back. I found it kind of shocking the relationship that the one person had with food and how the people around him contributed to it. It was sad, frustrating, and depressing and it just angered me for some reason (I think the episode I watched did not have a good outcome).

    As another poster upthread stated, I am shocked how in-the-dark some people are out nutrition and proper eating. It stuns me that people are really that clueless. There are some days when I read the boards here on MFP that I see it too and I can't believe it. I always simply thought that people just overate but probably knew better. Nope, it's much much worse than that.
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,890 Member
    CMNVA wrote: »
    I watched the 600lb show once and I've never been back. I found it kind of shocking the relationship that the one person had with food and how the people around him contributed to it. It was sad, frustrating, and depressing and it just angered me for some reason (I think the episode I watched did not have a good outcome).

    And this is one reason why I think therapy should be mandatory. Not only for the relationships people have with food, but to recognize codependency and how to deal with outside influences and relationships so that they are not detrimental to success in getting healthy. Both mental health and physical health need to be addressed with the people on these shows.

  • MrsDan1667
    MrsDan1667 Posts: 76 Member
    One thing I have recently realized after watching it is that many patients move to Houston and during their move they frequently stop for drive thru meals because they can't cook on the road. I admit, I too am quick to pop in to the drive thru on road trips. But then I got to thinking; my family for example spends about $25 on a drive thru meal. We could easily take that same $25 and go buy

    (1) case of water
    (1) 2# bag of carrots
    (1) bunch of bananas
    (1) pint of grape tomatoes
    (4) protein bars for adults
    (2) yogurts for kids
    Disposable spoons for yogurts

    Still spend about the same amount, still have "grab and go food" and it would be "healthier" (yes I know "healthy" is a relative term ).

    So, that's one thing I've learned from the show. We don't always do that but it's now an option for our family.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Why is "Thin" included with my Prime membership and "My 600 Pound Life" not? >.<

    I must have watched a season on Hulu back when I had that.

    Yes, "My 600 Pound Life" and "Biggest Loser" are both reality shows about weight loss, but "My 600 Pound Life" is much saner.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited September 2017
    OK, so I haven't.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited September 2017
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I've seen one episode of "My 600 Pound Life". It was the one with Ricky in Guam. I was greatly impressed with the Houston woman who advocates for getting medical help and transportation for people needing the weight loss surgery. Ricky in Guam presented a seemingly intractable set of problems. Local medical capability was inadequate. His caregiver was co-dependent. No commercial air carrier would sell him a seat. Supposedly a second episode, which I haven't seen, would show how those problems got solved. I was figuring he would get a ride on a military airlift craft.
    Although it was based upon the same idea of a super-obese person seeking help, that wasn't an episode of the TLC My 600-lb Life show.

    Ricky Naputi did not survive.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited September 2017
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    OK, so I haven't.
    It might as well have been, but this was before TLC had settled on a format.

    In fact, if they'd had the current setup, Ricky might have survived. My understanding is that TLC pays for something (maybe the actual surgery?) in exchange for these people opening up their lives for a year.
  • kaye4health
    kaye4health Posts: 115 Member
    I watch it. Like exteme makeover better than biggest loser, but get more inspired to stay on track watching "My 600lb life". The Dr that treats these patients in Houston TX tells them like it is. When they lie about why the scale isn't moving. Honest Doc, I stuck to what you told me to do. He right out tells them "No your not or you would of lost more or you would of not gained etc. But he sticks by his patients too. One show, he told her he could not help her and not to come back. A few months later, he actually showed up at her house in a different state to see how she was doing. That visit made all the difference to her and she ended up doing what he said and lost the weight. She apologized to the DR for lieing and being so rude to him at first. It is sad that some get to such high weights. Most are emotional eating that gets way out of hand. So they not only need to learn how to eat better, but they need to see why there got like they did and how to fix the mental aspect too. This dr. actually has psychiatrists visit these pt's to help them in the mental aspects.
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