my 600lb life (tv show)

2

Replies

  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,894 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: 27,843 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: 10,182 Member
    edited September 2017
    OK, so I haven't.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited September 2017
    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
    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.
  • 13bbird13
    13bbird13 Posts: 425 Member
    I've seen a few of them. I've never been anywhere near that heavy, but I can understand some of their "triggers" and eating for comfort. Seeing those traits in other people helps me understand myself a little better.

    Some of them just aren't very nice people. I'm sure that makes for "good TV", but I find those difficult to watch.
  • marelthu
    marelthu Posts: 184 Member
    MrsDan1667 wrote: »
    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.

    Whenever I watch the show and they go to the drive thru I think "get a small hamburger without sauce or bacon and a side salad with dressing on the side." If you must eat at a drive thru it is possible to eat a reasonable meal, It just shouldn't be done every day, twice a day.
  • wdedoelder
    wdedoelder Posts: 59 Member
    Sadly I do love that show as well. It inspires me to keep going! Although I am doing it without surgery, it also inspires me not to ever get that big :(
  • nevadavis1
    nevadavis1 Posts: 331 Member
    I've watched some episodes mainly while recovering from a shattered wrist. Some of it was relateable to me, like using food as a "drug of choice" to numb the feelings and trauma from abuse. Other parts were very hard for me to watch, like people who were essentially bed-ridden and killing themselves but their families kept giving them the large amounts of high calorie foods they asked for, essentially "loving them to death." It also kind of gives you a perspective on US healthcare, like a woman who'd always been heavy but got morbidly obese after growths on her legs made it impossible for her to walk... Why couldn't she get help earlier? Why aren't people (myself included) getting good helpful information on nutrition and weight control from regular doctors?
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    I have mixed feelings about the show. Sometimes I watch and am just overwhelmed and happy and then other people I watch on there and end up screaming at the tv. There was one set of brothers on from RI and one got the surgery, the other did not. The one that did was such a belligerent twit to the hospital staff, the private nurse they provided him with, he called the cops on his private nurse because she wouldn't buy him junk food, so he called the cops saying she was trying to steal his tv. When it was a TV that the facility provided for him, no nurse and you aren't following protocol you don't get the perks. It was infuriating to watch him, it really was. WLS is a tool you still have to put in the work and there and its not easy like anything else in life, but its just excuse after excuse with some of them, and It makes me crazy. Others I am inspired by. But it's hit or miss.

    Biggest Loser I liked when it first came out, but then the fact that the people on there were more interested in winning money then actually getting healthy and manipulated the scale by "gaining" so they could boot off one of their own players who was doing better than them and such, It did not inspire, plus they didn't work out for just two hours a day, it was more like 6, it was bananas and unrealistic for anyone to maintain once back in their home life. I like Extreme Makeover because I find its a bit more realistic as the people have to go back home and figure out how to rework what they have learned into their regular life, they do majority of their weight loss at home alone.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    garber6th wrote: »
    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.
    Most people who have WLS do have to speak to a counselor but unfortunately there is no standard in the WLS world either, some people come out of WLS and aren't even given a meal plan, which is bizarre.

  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,894 Member
    garber6th wrote: »
    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.
    Most people who have WLS do have to speak to a counselor but unfortunately there is no standard in the WLS world either, some people come out of WLS and aren't even given a meal plan, which is bizarre.

    I had WLS, but before I ever even made the choice, I spent a year in therapy because I knew that if I didn't get things right in my head, I wouldn't get things right in my body. I went through the pre-surgery process, and honestly, the psych evaluation is almost a joke. I can see how someone could easily BS their way through it. The psychological aspect of the surgery process is lacking and in my opinion it's just as important, if not more, than any other part of the process. It comes down to being accountable and making sure you do what you have to do, and a lot of people on this show don't, which creates drama, which is good for TV, even though at times it's completely cringe-worthy.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    I hate reality shows