purpleflowers

I just have to say there is something so annoying about Jill and Derick as a couple. I can't quite put my finger on it. They are obviously not bad people or anything, they are just plain annoying to hear and watch! Jill always gazing at Derick while he talks, the obsession with being a couple, the whole "we're" pregnant thing. I loved Jessa's dress. Did not like the music that was played as Jessa entered the aisle. Pretty touching episode, and great to see emotion from Jessa too. I admit I kind of teared up when Jinger was giving a speech and crying.

I sure did feel for Chay when he was talking about baking his own whole wheat bread and in the way he thought that was going to help his weight loss. It's true that whole wheat and whole grains can help with insulin and hunger but there's just so much confusing and conflicting information out there on "healthy" eating and it must have been frustrating for him to hear that his efforts were useless from Dr. Now when he was under the impression that he was making steps in the right direction. Of course there are obvious food choices that people from all approaches would probably agree are horrible for you such as deep fried bacon and cake, but then when you get into different kinds of diets and food restrictions, it gets confusing. And also, I believe that there's the element of particular people being able to get away with certain food groups that other people should totally avoid based on their genes and constitution.

I liked Chay a lot! It was encouraging and relatable to see his progression emotionally. I'm so glad his mother acknowledged her failings as a parent to him because not everyone gets that step in the healing process of feeling like they are being heard. I wish him the best. Maybe this is just from seeing so many episodes already and so many morbidly obese individuals on it, but Chay seemed a lot smaller than 600 pounds. It's amazing how different people look at that weight.

Wow, after watching some of Laura's Supersized episode yesterday, I learned that she has suffered from many miscarriages, and a few of them were full-term pregnancies! It must have been devastating, and it puts in perspective the fact that she is so attached to her nieces.

From what I noticed, the Supersized episode for each person airs about two weeks after their regular episode airs, but on a Monday. So tomorrow TLC will probably show Laura's supersized episode.

This seems to be a pattern with the people on this show. We often see that they and/or their caregivers and family members are not working. They seem to be isolated from society and maybe when they don't have outside groups of people to compare themselves to, they can convince themselves that the way they are living is normal and healthy. ETA: At least they don't SEEM to be working. The post below brought up good points on that!

It is sad. I found the whole bunch of them quite depressing. I wonder if some of it just comes down to simply giving up, even if the weight is causing pain. I don't know if many of this show's patients are depressed or not, but if so, that may contribute. I know when I was depressed, lying or sitting by myself was what I wanted to do most of the time because even though I knew I was missing out on things, those other things weren't even appealing or didn't seem worthwhile.

I thought maybe Dr. Now didn't want do skin removal or removal of those masses before she lost some weight because of the risk of putting such a heavy patient under anesthesia, or perhaps because of possible blood loss issues? NOT a doctor here, just guessing.

OMG! So the fiancé is Charly's uncle!? Mind blown.

Wow...just wow. This episode was just so grotesque and depressing. I totally agree with the others that feel some of the scenes filmed are exploitative and just too much. I understand that some of the raw, harsh reality might need to be shown for people to realize the seriousness of morbid obesity, but there is no need to see people getting on and off toilets. Charity must have been suffering enough dealing with those awful masses of flesh and skin; exploiting that on tv is the last thing she needs. I don't know if she has a specific condition, but the description for this episode from Dish mentions that she has flesh-eating bacteria. I thought overall Charity seemed to have a good mindset on dealing with her issues and seemed self-aware of her situation and how it's affected her daughter too. I couldn't make any sense out of the fiancé situation. Yes, I noticed this about the daughter. I was surprised she was given a meal too. And if I'm not mistaken, there was a big slice of cake on her tray! So much for Dr. Now's warning to her and the fiancé about eating those kinds of foods away from Charity.

I just watched the Supersized episode for Joe, and I have even more respect for him (though I thought he was really pleasant before too, and seemed to be a good person with a good attitude). He went to a career counselor to discuss getting back into the workforce and apparently he used to do IT support with many people working under him. One of the little blurbs that pop up during the episode mentioned that he was working, and then working from home, and then was finally let go. The show also showed his mother fixing him a salad with lots of vegetables...I was glad to see she is at least supporting him in that way if not with her own eating habits. The only thing that kind of confused me is that when the scale showed 777 lbs on Joe's first visit with Dr. Now, Joe said he was so surprised he had gotten that heavy, but right after that a little blurb explained that he said his highest weight ever was 830 lbs. I guess I'm confused why then, the weight he saw on the scale would surprise him. I hope we will see more people with Joe's attitude on this show. I'm rooting for him!

But I am referring to the 600 lb people who DON'T push through the pain to eat and only eat the proper amounts for a gastric bypass patient post-surgery (think Amber). I know none of the people on the show have been shown to be specifically diagnosed as an addict, but if some of them are, what puzzles me is that they are able to take control of the addiction on their own without the kind of help that other sorts of addicts utilize.

I don't mean this as a remark about Laura's looks, just about the reality of her situation; but I really do hope she can get some dental work as she seemed to have very few teeth and I'm not sure how she was able to even chew with what she had. Wow, her situation was really depressing. I do feel bad about the emotional burden of her past that she has had to carry around, what happened to her was awful; but I can understand those posters here who are skeptical about the reasons people give for why they got so obese. At some point, they need to take personal responsibility. I was floored when Laura said that tray full of desserts at the grocery store was just enough for only her. It was frightening to see the sores and purple skin under her stomach. This show continues to show some degrading scenes of these people and it does feel exploitative. I wish they would stop. Laura's mother seemed kind of checked out to me. I was getting an odd vibe from her. What's been baffling me about these patients week after week is the aspect of having a food addiction. I see the motivation to eat healthy right before the surgery because of the extra incentive of the gastric bypass (though it is still hard to understand given the power of an addiction) but how do they control it afterwards? It's amazing how they can just turn it around without something like Overeaters Anonymous or perhaps some other intervention. I guess the psychology of it puzzles me. I was glad to see how things turned out towards the end of the episode. That was sweet of her to spend time with her nieces out of the home.

I believe he said the "vulgarity" of it "sickens" him...if there ever was a worst asshat moment on his part, that was it.

Interesting comparison/contrast between the Dargers and Browns or other polygamist families for that matter. Another difference which I noticed on the SW episode when the Dargers visited the Browns is that the Darger wives seem to be able to handle the reality of their situation in a more straightforward way. They talked about taking turns around each other holding hands or embracing Joe when they are all together, and they discussed working together in their home and kitchen, and though they all had different roles and interests in the family, they worked together on daily tasks it seems. With the Browns, well I'm sure their kitchen issues need no mention, and they say they function best when Kody shows affection to nobody when it's all of them together. They really can't handle the reality of their lifestyle/family setup being put in their face. I would say that the Darger way does seem to have its own questionable nuances, such as the controlling dynamic and the robotic nature of the situation but I get the sense they don't have as much of the suppressed emotions and passive aggressive behavior going on.

Would you care to elaborate on this in the small talk thread? I'm genuinely interested. Thanks :-)

I thought it was Christine who yelled that out. Although Janelle did express she loved those kids like her own.

I am so so sorry to hear about Meri's loss. As others have said, she has already dealt with so much grief in her life not too long ago; this has to be devastating. I'm also so sorry to the posters here for their losses.

I actually think Dr. Now made the right call with Joe. Putting Pauline on a monitored diet at the hospital did her no good in the long run as her episode showed; she didn't learn how to cook healthy for herself afterward (or at least wasn't willing to learn) and the weight loss only continued at a crawling pace after her surgery. Although I did want to see more of Joe's progress after his surgery and it's too bad the episode ran out of time for that, I think his time was well spent learning how to relate to food in a more normal and healthy way. I do see the point others have made about how people on this show seem to be unemployed but able to afford good housing, amenities, and healthcare. It is unfortunate if they have decided to take advantage of government resources, especially if they didn't attempt to work to support themselves at least when they were still small enough to be mobile. In regards to Joe's choice of diet, I agree that some of it is about being in denial about how much he is eating and having no concept of portions or how large he was getting. Although, obviously he got to a point where he did become aware of his dire situation but just kept eating. I think this is a sign with him and others that there's truly a food addiction going on. His helplessness in the things he was saying indicated an inability to resist the food. Although, he did have the will power later after Dr. Now set a goal for him and sent a nutritionist to him, so I am still a little baffled. And I just had to add--although I know there's been plenty of other comments about Pauline--I thought of her when Joe was saying how he was in excruciating pain after walking around his apartment complex. I hope she is paying attention to that. If Joe can fight through the pain to walk a little, I think you can too Pauline!

I felt so sad for Joe about the things he was mentioning in his past. I hope he can find a way to continue believing in himself and that he finds true happiness. It was great to FINALLY see a nutritionist working with the patient and interesting to see how he cooked for himself afterwards. I would have liked to see more of what he was cooking for himself after getting a better idea of nutrition. It's an interesting dynamic when it comes to the enablers or family members involved in the person's life. This isn't the first time the patient or the enabler has said that they get really upset or mad when they're not given the food they want.

Joe, an 800-lb man who is mostly housebound tries to face his past and save his own life.

I am no fan of Robyn, and maybe I interpreted her tweet wrongly, but when I read that one about gay couples on her twitter, I thought she was meaning to speak in favor of same sex parents. As in, it's not about having a father there all the time, it's about having more than one parent being involved. So she was implying the lack of Kody could be made up for by surplus of wives parenting together (although that isn't actually happening as they've being showing us--so much for the cul-de-sac homes working wonders for them).

You all are so right! The whole thing just rubs me the wrong way as well. With Robyn saying on twitter that her kids all remember what it was like living with their biological father, that just felt strange because her youngest was only 3 or 4 or so when she divorced. I'm not saying kids can't remember traumatic events in their childhood, but that statement of hers makes it seem more like she has been reminding them of what he's like all this time. I read a quote of Robyn's from a while back in which she said she left her marriage because of abuse and she does not tolerate bullying at all towards her kids (I think it was in reference to the other Brown kids not being nice to her kids). I don't know if she said this on the show or in an article but I feel like that's a pretty bold statement to make given she's still comfortable with Jessop having visitation. Perhaps it was verbal abuse? With the limited information, I don't feel right taking a side in this situation because it could go either way as far as who is the worse character in this situation. I will say though, that it doesn't feel right.

What I find hard to digest is their logic that Kobyn marrying automatically makes the polygamy irrelevant or nonexistent or however it was they phrased it. This seems ridiculous. They have a show, for pete's sake. I think someone said this already, but is what they are concerned with actually that it would be difficult for Kody to be married to Meri but adopting another woman's (Robyn's) children? ETA: Didn't Meri say something about how R and K marrying would make Kody a legal step-parent or something along those lines? Would that help in a custody effort (assuming Jessop gives up rights) or make no difference? Just thinking out loud, but please chime in if you know!

We didn't really see what Angel's diet was, so it's hard to say exactly how she lost those 100+ pounds at first. All they ever showed her eating was Jell-O. I really wish this show put some more focus on the type of food the patients are eating and provided some kind of nutritional counseling or education. Half the time it seems that the people don't realize what they're eating is not healthy. I also thought Angel's body looked frail. The way she was walking seemed painful, and she couldn't bend or straighten her knees properly. I wonder what that's about. She did seem very depressed throughout the show and I hope her counseling helps her. I really liked her boyfriend/partner.