KateHearts

Not to be overly technical, but only about 25% of people are truly salt-sensitive (i.e., their blood pressure is affected by eating salt.) I do think that most of these people are so used to eating over-seasoned fast food (highly salted) that they really don't know what the actual food tastes like. But sure, bring on the herbs, pepper, flavorings like curry powder, celery powder, garlic, etc. I'm a little tired of seeing them eat awful looking boiled chicken, plain vegetables and salads that are comprised of only lettuce and some sort of sad "diet dressing." As for the counseling, my sister had a gastric sleeve procedure and it took her the better part of a year to get approved: group and individual counseling, and a liquid diet for a couple of months before they would proceed. And the counseling was to continue after surgery, including support groups; she was also followed closely by diet counselors and given a specific diet to follow. Although these people are in dire straits and need to lose yesterday, they are also less self-aware and less aware of the nutritional value (and sometimes detriment) of the foods they eat and the impact on their health and bodies. So to me, the counseling should start at the first Dr. Now visit, as well as an appointment with a dietitian and lots and lots of handouts (we see him hand them a single sheet of paper: "follow the 1200 calorie, low carbohydrate high protein diet.")- which to many of them is probably as meaningful as someone giving them instructions in Chinese. I hope that perhaps the initial visits are more comprehensive and that, for the sake of television, we are seeing a bare bones edit. But I would be very interested to watch a more in-depth initial visit. It's all become way too formulaic and repetitive.

actually (and I was surprised) they showed a brief scene after Jeanne got home from the hospital the first time of her working on some sort of craft where she was dropping beads into some sort of frame. Like a little Lite-Brite type thing.

Again, I think it's akin to the people on Hoarders. There is not a lot of logical thinking going on. You and I would say, "My house is dirty; I need to clean." We would say, "I'm gaining weight; let me look at what I'm eating and see if I can get this under control." We would think, "I had a rough childhood which is compelling me to eat; I am going to find a counselor to help me put that in my past." These people don't think logically. They are emotionally stunted, immature, mentally ill- they have many organic reasons for which they don't take control over their lives or even have the wherewithal to examine what is happening to them and improve. That's why it's no big deal to them to walk naked in front of a camera crew to be shown on national TV, or allow closeups of horrific skin manifestations or of them shoveling buckets of food into their mouths. It is weird that, presumably, these people know that there is a TV show dedicated to people in their situation and they don't watch and perhaps see that the successful ones work hard, exercise, measure their food, and take an active interest in their recovery. Jeanne especially. She seems to think that breathing Dr. Now's air will get her "the help I need." Oh, and weighing 100lbs at the age of 6? That's not "when you started to get chubby." You started long before that.

She is 39 years old. She did mention that her disability was followed by Mom quitting her job since there "was income coming in." As if this is her job. She said the parents were never married, then Mom referred to dead father as her husband. I was under the impression that Dad died a day or two after the Mother's surgery, and they went back home the next day after that. I think that Dad wanted to be sure Mom was ok, and then was able to let go and die. He didn't look the least bit healthy, and I'm sure the stress of worrying about the two of them from far away, with no means of going to see them, was the last stressor his body could take. The complete lack of ownership of any responsibility for their physical selves in these participants is staggering. "Why are you fat?" "My grandmother abused me." I'm sorry, but even if it was as horrific as you describe, does that give you license to further abuse yourself? And continue to blame Granny as she rots in her grave? The other comments we hear over and over are about how "I hope Dr. Now gives me the help I need," which somehow means, "If I heave my giant self into his office doors, he will take over from here." Never, "I plan to work with Dr. Now to get healthy." Jeanne was especially guilty of this. She never seemed to look inward and had developed a very intricate system of allowing herself to eat ten times what a normal human does due to life stress. "I NEED A BIG SODA WITH LOTS OF SUGAR BECAUSE I'M SO STRESSED," says no reasonably normal person ever. I was fuming at the visit after which she was so MAD at how MEAN Dr. Now was and she would show him and THROW IT IN HIS FACE. And DEMAN AN APOLOGY ." Way to take charge, Jeanne. Their house was straight out of an episode of Hoarders, right down to the cobwebby walls, the grimy carpet (what you could see of it) and mounds of laundry. It definitely seemed to deteriorate over the course of the show. Like others, I see no potential for change. Someone who thinks putting out dog food (ok, there are nine dogs) as exercise or a giant bowl of taco meat slathered with cheese and sour cream as "maybe going a little over the 1200 calories one day" is not going to miraculously see the light anytime soon.

I haven't read all the comments and I just got 15 minutes into the episode but I have this to say: Luke is gay and struggling with his sexuality. Who "tries to make it work," gets depressed after sex and doesn't want anyone to know about it? He has issues. And Kate, as usual, is thinking it's something *she* has done. She's hopeless. Will's limp hand lying on the blanket during the kissing exercise, as well as his detached, engineer-like breakdown of the kissing experience tells me all I need to know. He is not into her. At all.

The angels must sing! It must sparkle! And be yummy!

I can't really stand all this anymore. So they all go to Flagstaff "3 days after Meri and Kody went," according to Meri. Later she says it was a few weeks past. Anyway, it's a giant family trip to look at lots and "get everyone's opinion," which, to Kody, means, "influence everyone to agree with me." Meri likes Cottonwood. It's the one she prefers. Then she's berated and nagged by everyone that they want her to agree with them; they want to be sure she is in agreement- and of course she says that she preferred Cottonwood so they are all knitting their brows and tutting that she isn't swooning over the property and apparently doesn't hear angels singing. Robyn's concerns about the "giant hill" and "dirt road" (umm, they are building a neighborhood there, dummy.) Kody's "womp, womp, womp" when Meri said Coyote Pass was okay was so condescending and dismissive. And he says later "I just don't understand why she is being this way" when all she did was say she didn't love the chosen property as much as everyone else did. Christine, with her simpering, wispy voice saying "handsome man, your breakfast is ready," and calling him "love" with her pseudo-soothing attitude is so fake. And recent. And another dismissive comment- when she tells her daughter, "I'm sorry you don't like it here but you don't have to stay any longer than 3 years." Way to empathize. I moved a 15 year old 500 miles from what he knew and he was terribly unhappy. They have a pile of teens whom they seem to care very little about. Kody is just steamrollering the whole thing. "WE'RE GOING. WE'RE GOING." Petty asides: Meri's house is a pigsty. And who was the guy standing near Tony at the lots with the odd undershaven haircut?

I agree with your thinking here. I am a Physician Assistant and it's a much longer (and massively more expensive) proposition to become a doctor, without adding on first becoming a nurse. Unless his undergrad grades are so abysmal that he feels becoming a nurse and getting some clinical experience under his belt may boost his chances of getting into med school Still, he isn't a ball of fire and Medical School/residency/fellowship is grueling. He hasn't really expressed an interest in a certain subspecialty, but surgical and many other subspecialties are long and very competitive. PA school is very, very competitive and it's a tough 2-3 years- but it's a much shorter way to become a medical practitioner. Cost wise, it's similar to 2-3 years of med school. He's already in the 30y/o range; at this point, if he started med school now, he wouldn't be able to practice any sort of medicine until he was close to 40. Add 2-5 more years for more specialized training.

Wow! What wonderful news... congratulations! And here's to a much less hellish next 15 months...

Exactly. And what the hell was Dr. Jessica doing just sitting there, allowing him to steamroll over the entire discussion. Any reasonable therapist (or person) would have interjected and said, "Let Stephanie speak for herself about this. I want to hear her view." Luke is so disgusting. "She is letting the upsetting first week color her attitude about the whole marriage" (I'm paraphrasing). You have given her NOTHING. You told her she disgusted you. You go out with your friends and leave her alone. Then somehow it's about HER attitude? You didn't have any idea she felt badly? Please. She needs to say, "YOU HAVE BEEN A JERK FROM THE BEGINNING." But instead she whimpers and trails off and won't just tell him that he's a hurtful, phony douchebag.

I am convinced that the scripts these people read are all written by the same person. The grammar errors repeat, repeat, repeat. "Me and my mom are headed back to Houston..." "Aaron and me are driving to Houston..." and then- this one puzzles me- the phrase "I need," used improperly. As in, "I hope I lose the weight so I can get where I need," or, "I am working hard and exercising to be where I need." That doesn't even make sense to me but I heard it at least 5 times last night.

I was confused also about how Destinee determines her identity. At first, she states that she realized she was gay as a teenager (I am assuming a gay male?) but then she identified as a woman at some point (would that be a straight woman?). She did not mention taking hormones or working towards a physical transition, but did place a lot of importance on her "curves" and her breasts. Did anyone notice the green Kia Soul in the parking lot in the scene where she got into her car at Dr. Now's? That is likely the one owned by the previous participant- I forget her name.

We have a son in Utah, and recently bought a second home there. I have noticed a lot of "dill" and "fill" in "native" Utahns I've encountered. Our realtor was talking to us about a restaurant near our home (at a ski resort) and was saying how they charge "so much for a mill." Took me a minute to understand what she was saying.

I'm five minutes in and I'm already seething. Kody talks about involving the wives as if he's trying to attract a stray dog. "If I talk about how pretty it is my wives go-" (snaps head side to side)- "ooh, pretty!" And really, Christine? "I heard angels sing." She acts as if she has been completely brainwashed. Janelle: "just decide. I don't give a shit. Let me know."

Then Kody should have planned a financial strategy for supporting his brood, which includes EMPLOYMENT, not "schemes" with friends (that apparently don't pan out quite that well) and little cottage businesses for the wives selling ugly jewelry and spandex. He is trying to ride the coattails of this TV show as long as he can. So somehow he wants to build another Brown Family Complex in a more expensive area and it has to happen NOW. Because, as his thinly covered non-response explains, he "doesn't want to grow old in Vegas." Funny how suddenly, after umpty-ump kids, houses, moves and wives, he realizes he is *fifty* and when you add that to his youngest child's number of years until she's out of college- he will be over *seventy* then! Genius hasn't done much math until now, when he's decided that he will save 20%- wait a minute- no, spend 50% MORE- to move away. As if he's being chased out, almost...? Flagstaff is it because it makes Robin feel "sparkly." Aww. I saw gale-force winds and a lot of dust in their future. Oh, and a mountain, and a "pond," which is a drainage culvert. But spin it how you want. Christine must be medicated. She has gone from a rather feisty, interesting woman (comparatively speaking) to a Stepford-esque wife who bats her eyes on the couch with Cootie while he spouts his illogical logic. And notice how the spin over this season has gone from "I have all these wives who multiply the love and provide a large, loving family" to "I need to convince these hags that it's their idea to move to Flagstaff because it's what I want," and "yay, they all went to Seattle so I don't have to listen to those harpies for the next two days," and "I'm the leader, I'm gonna lead, DAMMIT." I think all the estrogen has finally worn him out. The only reasonable, rational Brown on this episode was Gabe. He uses proper grammar, he has reasonable thought patterns, and he seems to have a logical plan for his life over the next two years. Let's hope he gets away as soon as he can.

Honestly, what would the answer be if an airline employee fielded a question via phone call asking, "How far is it from God Knows Which Gate I May arrive at" in Houston Airport to the baggage claim? Does anyone tabulate that? Is the information available on Google Maps, perhaps? I'd love to know who she decided to call and what their answer was.

It all sounds wonderful- but I'd argue with the "no calories" part. What you describe is healthy, but it contains calories!

So, my takeaways: Although the commitment to move to Houston and support someone in this endeavor, Christian (or "Krisshin", as Maja says) is a class-A jackwad. I get that it's weird to live out your struggles on TV but hey, you signed up for it. And the whole "I'm not gonna answer" stuff and staring at the phone is so childish. Just say, "I'm sick of you nagging and berating me; I don't like Houston and I need to break it off." But even better, how about really considering it all and making the decision BEFORE you spend three days traveling somewhere you know you won't like with someone you're fighting with all the time. Maja, like many of these people, has learned to blame EVERYONE for her issues, and blaming her "stress" on her gorging on seven fast-food meals at a time. For example, her mother's goodbye when they were headed to Houston. Maja made it into a giant conflict ("I didn't want to do it THIS WAY! I can't concentrate on more than one thing at a time and I'm PUTTING THE ROOF RACK ON NOW, MOMMMM!"). And the doctor's office scene with Christian: "It's ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU CAUSED THIS!!!" I think I would ditch her at some point too. And the airport/car rental! "I'm SO MAD that THEY screwed up so many things! I asked how far the walk was in the airport! I asked for an SUV!!!" Obviously she hasn't traveled much. I have very few trips without snafus. And ya know what? I don't have tantrums and sob at the counter. Again with the "I am so stressed I can't eat the right way." I realize to get to 600 lbs one must use food as a totally inappropriate substitute for a lot of things in life, but c'mon. That's your JOB right now. Maja said, "I gave up everything to come here and have a chance to save my life!" - everything includes your mother with whom you have major issues, an apartment, and grandma. No job. No children. No hobbies- except driving around to drive-thrus. Kudos to her for volunteering. I'm not sure that her weight will ever get under control. But she did get rid of a couple of hundred pounds of non-supportive boyfriend.

Hardly. Her trainer is overlooking Whitney’s drama (“I’m going to dislocate my shoulder!!”) and to step up a couple of feet. Yeah, it’s something a Whitney shouldn’t have gotten all cocky about thinking she could knock out, but she’s being spotted and she’s in a harness. It’s obvious the trainer is used to the histrionics and doesn’t fall for it.

And for the benefit of the rolling cameras.

OH, have we already forgotten about Steven Assanti?

Exactly. We, as outsiders, need to realize that, as someone else pointed out, this is pathological behavior. Just like the hoarders who can't toss out their dirty toilet paper, or the addicts who pump Mom for "grocery money" that will be injected into their veins an hour later. We hear a myriad of excuses from all of these people, the most frequent that baffles me which is: "I have been really stressed (because my relationship is on the rocks, because I'm moving, because my son is acting up, etc) so I CAN'T FOLLOW THE DIET." If there is any way to get out of it, they will make an excuse. And we are all here with big question marks over our heads thinking, "what about bringing a pan? What about buying a rotisserie chicken? What the hell is so stressful that you have to go to the drive-thru instead of tossing a bag of lettuce into a bowl? " It doesn't make sense. It will never make sense. These people are, more often than not, irrational and irresponsible when it comes to their food decisions. So then we hear them telling Dr. Now how they eat toast and sugar free jelly, or they say (after having a weight gain)- "I've done really good! I might have slipped up once or twice..."

I would love to know who picked out the awful paint colors in AJ's apartment.

In my state, "techs" in various medical capacities often have specialized, short-term training (2 years) and don't make a whole lot of money.

I know that Stephanie and AJ are the "it" couple this season, but darn- I couldn't hang out with him as a friend more than one evening (he's the "joke for every situation" kind of guy) and definitely not consider him romantically. All of the exaggerated expressions after he makes one of his corny jokes are exhausting. She seems to be trying to let those go in the spirit of the "experiment," (you know, because she was "willing to take a risk for love," marrying a "complete shtranger,") and I give her credit for that. Luke's smirky responses to Dr. Cal were infuriating. And when Cal told him to "be the man I expect you to be," he recoiled, as if he was thinking "Don't go there, sir." It is the first time Cal really called anyone out that I recall. He normally would be coaxing Kate to give it a chance. The other couples are rather boring. But Keith seems to be another iteration of Jephte- messy room, immature... although he's enjoying the makeout sessions. Will seems a little leery of Jas. He is as bland as AJ is over the top with his reactions.