AnJen

Agreed, but also I think that's the problem with reality tv; we know Whitney's dance class is fake because it's only done for the show, the radio station job is fake for the show, the baseball job was done just for the show...But that's because without all the fake storylines we'd be watching Whitney eat breakfast and sit around for several hours doing nothing. Most of us, even if we're unique in some aspect of our life, would be pretty boring to watch week after week on tv. If TLC decided to film my life it'd be like 40 hours a week of me sitting at my desk job, another 5 hours of me sitting in class, some more sitting while studying, going to bed by 10, walking up and doing it all over again. Which isn't to say my life is a bore, I certainly don't find it one, but it would be an absolute snooze-fest to watch unless it was fake in some way. The producers have run out of ways to keep Whitney interesting, because it's clear she's not willing to lose the weight. If she was, they'd pretty much have their story there: Whitney's workouts, her diet, her celebrating each milestone, her setbacks, her picking herself up and hopping back on the wagon, her slowly getting smaller and experiencing life at a lower weight, etc. Mundane things like shopping trips and restaurant visits would all be interesting through the lens of someone trying to lose almost 300lbs while still trying to live a normal life. Whitney isn't willing to lose weight, but they want to keep their jobs and keep making money, so they cobble together different stupid plots for her. Whitney gets a fake job! Whitney teaches a fake class! Whitney has a fake pregnancy! I wonder sometimes if the producers and editors are bitter about what the show has become. The first season seemed to me to be gearing towards becoming a weight loss show, but Whit wasn't willing to lose the weight, which became apparent early in season 2 when she "tried really hard" all summer and barely lost 3 measly pounds. At her weight, she could have lost 10 times that amount while still eating almost double what I eat in a day. I wonder sometimes if that's why there not bothering to show her in a positive light anymore; no one's making her be rude and crass and bitchy, so that must be Whit's genuine personality - either she hid it well in season 1 or they chose not to show it back then. I wonder if they're bitter about the show that could've been.

I'll step right up as a person whose disdain for Whitney comes partially because of weight. If Whitney admitted her weight was a problem, acknowledged that she clearly binge eats high-calorie food, or did anything other than cry about how her problems aren't her fault and get angry at people who try to help her out, I wouldn't care what she weighed. But as an obese person with PCOS myself, I care a hell of a lot about the lies Whitney tells about her body to the people watching. 10% of all women have PCOS and 65% of women with PCOS are obese. And the message that Whitney sends over and over and over is that nothing is her fault, PCOS controls her life, and that everyone who thinks she's capable of having any level of control over her body is "bullying" her. It's bullshit and it's dangerous bullshit at that. If I'd found Whitney 5 years earlier I would've bought what she was selling hook, line, and sinker cause it's so easy. It takes all responsibility off me. I can just keep overeating myself into an early grave because hey, PCOS right? Nothing I can do, right? Fat and fabulous, right? Except, no. I do have control over my body. I've lost over 100lbs without killing myself at the gym or removing any of the foods I love from my life. And no, nothing about being super morbidly obese was fun or fabulous. My back used to ache constantly. I would get winded just walking across campus. I couldn't run and play with my nieces. I was embarrassed to eat in front of anyone in case they judged me so I'd secretly binge eat. I was depressed. I hated myself. I'm glad I realized I was lying to myself before a charismatic personality like Whitney became semi-famous and told me that my problems were all out of my control. Because I know women who found Whitney first, and I've watched their lives deteriorate as they internalized her message: not their fault, out of their control, just be happy with mediocrity, celebrate your fatness. I've posted about one girl here before; she's clearly depressed. She's eating herself into early grave. She's covering up her emotions with food and fake positivity. She's using the internet to find validation and confidence that she doesn't have in herself, which in her case means since she discovered Whitney and her no body shame movement, she posts a bunch of "sexy" videos of herself jiggling her fat rolls or eating food. The people who like and comment are either other morbidly obese women seeking similar validation or men with a fat fetish. It's not "empowering" to be viewed as an object. Whitney isn't awful because she's fat, she's awful because of the message she's sending to other women about their ability to control their weight and their lives. Women with PCOS already have a much higher risk of depression, and 65% of women with PCOS are morbidly obese, which is also associated with depression. Whitney's message preys on those women. It finds them in their low point and confirms everything they think about themselves. "You can never change, you'll always be fat." She's earning her living off of shoving people down before they even realize they're capable of pulling themselves up. She's also crass, obnoxious, self-centered, treats her friends and family terribly, refuses to apologize to anyone, makes everything about herself, creates contention between people she claims to love for her own amusement, yells at anyone who disagrees with her (over anything) but starts crying and playing a victim when they defend themselves, and uses her internet fame to try to get people to bully anyone she feels has "wronged" her. You're free to feel however you want about her; so are the rest of us.

I can't believe anyone with half a heart would allow Whitney on a horse. That's animal cruelty, pure and simple, and for entertainment. I really don't care if TLC shows us horrific videos of Whitney unable to pull her legs out of the splits and screaming in pain - she's a grown-ass woman who went into that experience knowing she was super morbidly obese, and consented to be filmed. Animals can't consent. Filming a 400+lb woman (Whit was 380 when she was "trying really hard" to diet, and that was 2 seasons ago. If she's under 400lbs now I'll eat my hat) sitting on top of an animal is just cruel. The horse would have to be, at minimum, 2,000lbs to carry just Whitney without injuring itself - not to mention the weight of the saddle & other things that have to be there. Shame on TLC for participating in animal cruelty for the sake of entertainment.

I guess I'm the only one who isn't horrified that her children helped clean her? It's obviously depressing that the reason she needed help was her weight and that she's disabled at so young with teenage children, but there's genuinely nothing creepy or disgusting about a child caring for the physical needs of a disabled parent. If Milla wasn't super obese and had had a stroke, or was paralyzed, or had MS, or some other medical condition that required her children to bathe her, would anyone even bat an eye? I can't imagine anyone would be calling it creepy or borderline abuse. She didn't get fat and become bedridden so that her children would have to bathe her out of some weird fetish, so I don't understand the pearl-clutching. I also think, while it's sad that Milla's weight is affecting them, it's pretty insensitive to ask why she should have been allowed to adopt them - it was stated during the show that they were children taken out of the homes of drug addicts. Regardless of her weight, Milla and her husband adopting them saved their lives. People who are looking to adopt want babies, not children, and certainly don't want children who were born addicted to drugs or who have been abused/neglected by their drug abusing parents and their friends. Milla adopting them most likely means that Milla was the only person willing to adopt them. Without her there's a decent chance they would have been in a group home or foster care permanently. Their situation with Milla is far from ideal, but again I don't see how it's much different than if Milla had adopted them and then had a severe stroke, been injured in an accident, or diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition. If she'd adopted 4 children and then been diagnosed with MS, people would be praising her. I think it's important to remember on these boards that mental illness is very real and requires real treatment, and shouldn't be treated as less deserving of sympathy than other illnesses. People don't get up to 500, 600, 700 pounds without having something very wrong mentally. It's not a matter of telling them to just stop eating any more than depression is a matter of just cheering up. I realize it's incredibly frustrating to watch a 700lb person demand a bunch of junk food groceries, but it is an addiction, not a personality flaw. I thought Milla was refreshing. She knew she had a problem, she sought help, and she followed the guidance of her doctors to change. She actually wanted to improve, not just remain the victim of her addictions and problems. I hope they do an update on her.

Honestly, the difference between an A1C of 6.4 and 6.5 is essentially nothing. It's 0.1% Medically, I realize they have to define the boundaries between normal, danger zone, and actual diabetes, but Whitney's last shown test put her at a 6.4...Being one tenth of a percent away from diabetic is...basically diabetic. It's just not official.

My personal thoughts on this are that the younger generations of our current society were raised to be coddled (I am a member of this generation, but thankfully grew up with parents who didn't coddle or praise me for every little thing I did) - participation trophies, gold stars for trying, helicopter parents who swooped in to tell off the teacher for giving their precious angel a less than glowing grade or citizenship score, etc. have taught a lot of young people that they should earn a reward without putting in much effort, and that anyone who withholds that reward/coddling is just mean. I work at a university, and recently we had an applicant interested in one of our programs come in...with her parents...who did all the talking for her. She just sat there while mom and dad talked about her interest in the program, and what a good student she is, and how she'd like to talk to an advisor to set up a plan for getting in (it's a competitive program and often students have to apply 2-3 times before they get accepted). I couldn't believe there was a grown adult standing in front of me not saying a word while her parents did everything for her! This isn't a career choice where she can be a timid little mouse, either. All I could think was unless her parents were going to go through the program with her and get the same degree and follow her around at her future job, she's on the wrong path! Combine that generation with being the first/second generation of kids to grow up online, and you end up with what we've got. Coddled teens who can't handle any sort of criticism or disagreement, who then turn to their own corner of the internet to whine and complain - which turns into an echo chamber. If you're on websites that are more populated by teens and young adults (tumblr is a good example) you'll find this type of thing everywhere you turn. There's an entire culture online that anyone who says or does something you don't like or don't feel like hearing is "shaming" you, and that everyone needs a "safe space". They all label themselves as anxious or depressed, but very few have actually been evaluated by someone qualified to diagnose those illnesses. And their tips for managing mental illnesses are cutesy and avoidant - like ignoring all responsibilities and watching Disney movies all day. I follow a girl on tumblr, who is 26 years old, doesn't have a job but doesn't seem to be in school, lives with her parents (which in this economy is fine, but she's not contributing financially at all), and just kind of...does whatever it is she does all day, apparently. Recently she posted a long rant about how she and her mother went shopping for a new video game console, and the mother was talking to a salesperson and asked the daughter which console so that the sales guy could help them locate it, which meant the daughter had to answer a question in front of the salesperson. That was it. That was the big, dramatic life event that required a several paragraph internet rant. That she had to talk to someone in order for her mom to buy her a video game console. Instead of just stating the name of the console, she was so distressed that she ran away to the car and refused to talk to her mother for the rest of the ride home. Dozens of people replied to her rant with comments like "I'm so sorry, you're safe here. People just don't understand. This never should have happened to you, please don't feel bad about ranting we are here for you" and "Its really horrible that your mom would make you do something you were so uncomfortable with - I am sorry that she is so unsupportive". At the end of her rant, she stated that she couldn't wait to get out of her parents house and not have to be in situations like that and I had to resist the urge to ask how she thinks she'll manage to accomplish anything if she can't even say a single word to a salesperson. As someone who struggles with anxiety: I get it. I totally, 100% get the feeling of not wanting to talk to someone, of being afraid you'll stumble over your words and look like an idiot, or that you'll say something wrong, or feeling physically ill at the thought of having to introduce yourself to someone or do something new. The thing about life, though, is that you can't just stop living it because you feel uncomfortable. It can take drugs or therapy and practice but you still have to actively work at improving. You can't just sit there and pretend that you're fine the way you are and that anyone who requires anything of you is "shaming" you. Similarly, the Fat Acceptance Movement (it's a real thing, if you're interested in diving into an internet rabbit hole) is absolutely convinced that anyone saying anything about obesity that they don't like or don't want to hear is being "fat phobic" or is body-shaming them. There actually was a photographer who did an entire series of taking photos of herself in public and using them to "prove" that the people around her in the photos were fat-phobic/size-ist/body shaming her with their glances and facial expressions - it's a whole lot of mental gymnastics to come to that conclusion, especially given that her format for taking these photos was going into crowded places, setting up a tripod, and snapping a picture of herself looking listlessly off into the middle-distance. No one can make you feel shame; if someone says something and you feel ashamed, it's directly related to how you view yourself. The Fat Acceptance movement, in particular, is big on the word shaming - I've read countless social media posts about how everyone from fashion designers to medical experts are "fat-shaming" people because of their weight. Someone not selling clothes in your size isn't shaming; if you feel ashamed that you're so large you can't fit into a certain brand or style of clothing, that's on you. A doctor telling you that your weight is negatively impacting your health isn't shaming you. An airline asking a morbidly obese person to purchase an extra seat isn't shaming them; they're practicing safety guidelines for the flight, and also expecting passengers to respect one another's space. A child pointing out that you are much, much larger than the regular people they see isn't shaming you; kids have no filter and are matter-of-fact. A business or office not offering wider doorways and chairs that can support 500+lb people is not shaming. I have seen all of these arguments made dozens of times by people who spend a huge amount of their time whining on the internet that the world is actively attacking them, even "oppressing" them. I apologize for the sheer length of this post, but it's a topic that annoys me.

Re: the leggings - I suspect that Whitney wears them because they're elastic which means they don't cut into her painfully or restrict movement, and allow for range of movement. The thing about being super morbidly obese is that every body is going to hold fat in different areas; the sheer range of shapes and weight distribution on My 600lb Life is amazing. Some people hold it all in the stomach, others in the legs, other in the hips/thighs, some in the arms, some evenly distributed. Unless a 400lb person is buying custom-made clothes, they have to get the size that will fit their own biggest part, which is why so many morbidly obese people look like they're wearing giant clothes. A 4X might fit their stomach perfectly, but it's made to accommodate all people who would be 4X so depending on their body it might be insanely baggy in places and tight in others. It's why Whitney didn't want to wear khakis for the baseball job - getting them in a size that will fit her waist means the thighs of the shorts will be either tight and movement-restricting or loose and ride up when she walks, but sizing up or down to accommodate her thighs will mean it won't fit her waist/hips. Leggings are elastic, so they'll stretch as needed to accommodate her size and shape, and they also won't restrict movement. In other news, I vaguely know a girl who is an avid Whitney fan and went on a previous cruise to meet Whitney; from what she posted on social media about the cruise and the people there, it seems that the majority of the people who go on it are Whit's size or nearing it and looking for validation. Since the cruise, this girl has "gained a lot of self-confidence" which mostly translates into posting semi-clothed or suggestive pictures of herself or videos of her jiggling her fat rolls while making "sexy" faces. She's gained quite a lot of followers from it, but from the commenters she gets, most seem to be either similar-sized women or men with a fetish. I do wonder about the emotional toll that it would take on a person knowing that a large portion of their followers are fetishizing them as an object, but I figure she's an adult her life is her own choice. It makes me sad for her, though, and I think it's a reflection of Whitney and the attitude she promotes, which seems to be "If you're unhappy about your weight, just keep eating your feelings while crying out for attention."

I think without A the liars would be friendly but not really friends; that seems like where they were headed in the pilot episode - when Aria came home from Iceland, Emily wasn't still friends with either Hanna or Spencer, and while those two were friendly with one another, Emily stated they weren't close anymore. If A hadn't started harassing them it likely would've stayed that way. Similarly, when they brought the girls back for the 5 year forward thing, they all seemed vaguely aware of each other's lives, in the way people who used to be friends and still have a degree of affection for each other are, but they didn't seem like they were current friends.

I have only had a chance to read about 2 pages of this thread, so apologies if this has been covered before, but: While I love the show and love the characters, I notice more flaws with every re-watch. This doesn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the show, but as I have matured, my view of the characters and situations on the show has changed, and I find myself feeling more frustrated with Lorelai's character in particular. I absolutely adore her - but she is probably the most flawed character in the show. She's childish and selfish and always thinks she's justified in whatever she does; she rarely apologizes for her behavior and honestly causes the majority of her own problems. Lorelai's treatment of Jess is one of my biggest pet peeves in the show; she knows about his history from Luke, so she knows that his dad abandoned them, that his mom has had a revolving door of crap boyfriends for most of his life, and that she routinely ships Jess off to live with a relative when she doesn't feel like dealing with him. There's plenty of reason for Jess to act out and most adults would understand why, but Lorelai immediately writes him off. It's especially frustrating because she considers herself such an expert on being a misunderstood teenager with horrible parents, and yet when confronted with someone she should be able to empathize with and support, she immediately writes him off. What's worse is that she never allows him to redeem himself in her eyes; he treats her respectfully after that first meeting, and after being yelled at by Rory he softens towards Luke, but Lorelai is permanently set against him and often tries to turn others against him as well. I think it also further highlights that despite Lorelai not feeling like she fit with her parents and not being happy with them, they did very little to deserve the level of vitriol she has for them - they were overbearing, yes. But they loved her and wanted the best for her. Here, she's confronted with someone with actual crappy parents, and she not only has zero sympathy for him, but she actually compares her situation to his own while she criticizes him for his behavior.

I'm also LDS and from Utah and I've followed them on Instagram for about a year; I'm of really mixed opinions. My main problems with them are: Putting their kids out there for all the world to see. With 89,000 followers on Youtube, over 100,000 on Instagram, 550,000+ on Facebook, and likely upwards of a million viewing them on Rattled...think of the sheer number of people who know their kids' names, their faces, the whereabouts of their house, what places they frequent in a normal week/month, and could easily find them if they had half an inclination to. Who've seen their kids in only diapers. Who might not have their childrens' best interests in mind when they're looking through over four hundred videos, a thousand plus instagram photos, and countless facebook posts. Think of how much easy access complete strangers have to those children. Consent. Not only are the girls growing up on social media for all the world to see, but they have zero choice in that. If one of them one day decides they don't like that strangers know who they are and recognize them and had access to all kinds of pictures and videos of them? Tough break, kid, mom and dad already made that decision for you. Tyson quitting his job - I'm sorry, what? You just had 4 babies, so you're going quit your job and rely on donations, Instagram giveaways/advertisements, and an etsy shop to support these 4 precious babies you tried for 8 years to have?! What about insurance? How much do all the girls' doctor check-ups cost? Not to mention the boutique-style clothes, the diapers, the formula, the elaborate birthday parties, the lifestyle photo shoots, the new house! Are they saving at all? Are they putting anything aside into college funds? Do they have a plan for what to do when inevitably the quads stop pulling in the cash for them? How is Tyson planning on getting another job with a huge chunk of unemployed time on his resume? Materialism. The stuff, stuff, stuff that they seem to have everywhere and constantly need more of. Do the girls NEED 4+ Minky blankets each? Do they NEED a $50 outfit for each of them that they'll wear once? They talk about how expensive 4 babies are, but the things they are buying aren't necessary, they're completely frivolous. As far as the assistance...I can guarantee that their church at the very least offered to help out; no telling whether they accepted it, although I can't imagine why they wouldn't. But for the amount of help these two receive, I am frustrated with what they do with it. When a woman in my church found herself pregnant with quads a few years back, the church members stepped up to help, and they received diapers and formula and money and we set up a rotation for 3 people to come help with each feeding...since, you know, the husband was working. And once the babies were old enough that the mom could handle things on her own, she did. They didn't go public, didn't ask for help, didn't try to drum up publicity about having 4 babies at once to keep money rolling in...they accepted what help was offered, and made do with everything else. I can't help but think her 4 boys are going to grow up so much more well-adjusted than the Gardner girls. On the makeup item: LDS girls seem to wear either little/no makeup (my daily makeup is a tinted moisturizer, mascara, and an eyebrow pencil; I don't even have a fancy look) or Ashley-level makeup. I don't know why this is, but it seems like everyone either looks so minimal you're not sure they're even wearing it or they're very made up and over the top. I've never thought of this as an issue or gotten the impression that anyone else thought they were "competing" with one another to look good as another poster suggested on the first page (also: many of us do indeed have educations and careers), it just seems like a personal preference. It doesn't really bother me one way or another; if she feels better about herself with fake eyelashes and countouring, more power to her.

Doctors start with the most obvious cause of a patient's complaint and search from there. If an obese 20-something year old comes to them with back pain for example, the first answer is obviously going to be "lose weight and see if it improves" because 1) carrying excess weight around constantly is painful and 2) this will help narrow things down. Assuming the 20-something year old patient followed doctors orders, either the pain would go away and they'd be fine, or the pain would continue and the doctor would be better able to narrow down the cause. Doctors don't do this because they're denying a fat person real treatment, losing weight is the first step in their treatment. If the back pain continues after the weight loss, the doctor is able to further narrow down the cause of the pain and provide an actual treatment rather than just prescribe something for pain management.

How I do a healthier me: I have PCOS and my heaviest weight was 310lbs at 5'6. I tried "dieting" all my life - I can remember putting myself on SlimFast in 2nd or 3rd grade, but I had no knowledge of how to actually lose weight. When I was 25, my little sister got engaged and I desperately didn't want to be 310lbs in her wedding pictures, so I did anything I could think of to lose weight - I tried to cut out sugar and starch from my diet and only drank water. I was down to about 280 by her wedding 8 months later, and was happy to have lost but felt like I'd tried so hard for very little payoff. When I was 26 I read about the Whole30 diet and decided to try it; I stayed on it for 4 months and lost about 40lbs in that time. It's a very healthy diet, but sticking to it so strictly is almost impossible - you basically cannot eat anything you didn't prepare yourself. While on Whole30 we went to Red Robin for my brother's birthday and I ate a plain hamburger, no bun and no toppings except lettuce, tomato, and mustard - and a salad with no dressing. While my family sat across the table eating fries and cheeseburgers and drinking bottomless rootbeer floats. It wasn't very fun at all, and I became a bit bitter about eating around other people. It wasn't their fault that I was obese and they weren't, but it wasn't very fun to be around them during mealtimes either. Then on a vacation 4 months into the diet, I ran out of Whole30 approved food after I miscalculated how much I'd need for the week and how close I'd be to a grocery store - for the last 3 days of my vacation I ate what everyone else was eating, which was mainly the chips and cookies in the pantry of the lake house, or burgers and shakes at the nearest restaurant. I told myself that since it was a vacation it wouldn't matter too much, that I'd been good for so long that I deserved a break, and that I'd go back to the diet once I got home...but it was like once I'd reintroduced those foods to myself it was almost impossible to stop. I had been working at a university part-time during that time, and moved to a full-time position in the later end of my 26th year - the full-time job offered free tuition as a benefit, and an employee wellness program as well, so I started taking a gym class or two each semester. I wasn't really dieting so much as trying to find motivation to diet, but I was exercising at least, which kept me from gaining back all the weight, although by the end of that year I had gained back about 20lbs of the 40 I had lost on Whole30. I was just kind of floundering and bitter about my weight and my life and blaming everything on PCOS, and one day by chance I ran across an article on a local news site about a woman who had lost weight thanks to "internet bullies"; out of curiosity I read it, and was directed to the site she had found and curiously looked through it for a few days. I was honestly expecting it to be some kind of horrible place where fat people were attacked and bullied until they starved themselves thin out of desperation, but it was just a website pointing out the stupid and erroneous ways that people think about weight and dieting, and which pointed out the real science behind weight loss. After reading for a few days, I did more research into calorie counting. It sounds stupid to say that basically my whole life I've understood the concept of calorie counting but never actually bothered with it. I just assumed that it wouldn't work for some reason. After confirming the facts about how weight is gained/lost through calories with some medical sites (instead of reading blogs or something to get info), I figured why not try it. Through calorie counting and exercise I got down to 192 (I'm 28 now, for reference). But I've also encountered my other biggest problem, which is depression and apathy. I've struggled with slight depression most of my life. It's never been major, and I've not been suicidal or anything, but its always seemed like my normal state is just slightly depressed - I can pull myself out of it with a bit of effort, and force myself to do things, but it seems like my baseline level always goes back to that. While I was counting calories and losing weight, I was also giving myself physical challenges through work. Employee Wellness tests me once a year, and I get bonuses or rebates from my insurance if I'm improving my health, so that's a big motivator for me. There are also semester-long challenges for weight loss, fitness, etc. that helped me along. I joined a wellness program designed to help employees complete a half-marathon; it involved group exercise 6 days a week, and I just shone through that. Something about having an external goal and people to do it with (but also compete with slightly) really motivates me. The better I'm doing with exercise, the more motivated I am to eat right. The day before my half-marathon I weighed in at 192, my lowest ever adult weight. I finished the half about 20 minutes ahead of my goal time and felt on top of the world with all that I had accomplished...and then I told myself that as a treat, I'd give myself a week off, to eat whatever I wanted and be lazy, and then I'd go straight back to calorie counting and exercising...and here I am 4 months later at 215lbs and haven't logged more than a week in my calorie tracker since then. It's like I lost my momentum and am struggling to get it back. It's the calories that make the difference - when I'm exercising and eating whatever I want, I just slow down the gain. When I'm tracking my calories is when I lose or am able to maintain. But my motivation to actually take the time to make low-calorie meals for myself and track them day after day, week after week, is all but gone when I'm not exercising. And now that I'm exercising on my own instead of in an organized group, it just feels lacking. It's easy to pack my gym bag and promise I'll go on my lunch hour (I work next door to the campus gym, so I have no real excuse for not going), and then decide I've had a rough day and that I deserve to just read a book on my lunch hour instead. That external motivation and support is really something I rely on, but I need to work at being self-motivated and having more discipline. I won't always work at this university, I won't always have these benefits, and I am trying to find a way to make myself enjoy exercising alone without a group or a class or a wellness program behind me. It's a struggle - I'd love to hear how others here motivate themselves to exercise.

She's technically already as big as the some of the people in My 600lb Life if you take her height into account. Whit is 5'1, which is a solid 5 inches shorter than the average lady. For a 5'6 woman to have the same BMI as Whitney (70, as of last we knew her real weight - a healthy BMI is 19-25) she'd have to weigh at least 430lbs. We've definitely seen heavier people on the show, but there have been a handful that were in the 400 range.

PCOS sufferer here! Actually the reason is well known, but not well-dealt with. PCOS slows your metabolism, which makes it easier to gain weight. The reason people say that it only accounts for 30-50lbs is because it doesn't slow the metabolism by a massive amount, more like a few hundred calories. All this means is that if you took two people of the same height and weight, but gave one PCOS, that person would have to either eat maybe 200-400 calories less per day or burn 200-400 calories more per day than the other person. This is certainly doable, but requires a change in diet. Fast foods and processedin foods are higher in calories than whole, natural foods. So while many people can lose weight on junk food diets by simply cutting back the amount of junk food, people with PCOS are more likely to require a diet overhaul, because the amount of junk food they'd be eating would leave them hungry. It's a matter of trading burgers, pizza, and lattes for fresh veggies, lean meats, and water. Fast food can be addicting, but it is possible to get over it! And as you lose weight, you learn to slowly incorporate a bit of junk food here and there by carefully watching your other intake. The reason there are obese women with PCOS and thin women with PCOS is related to their diet, but also to the type of PCOS. Women who have never gained weight on PCOS are women who typically eat healthier foods or less calories already; it's very hard to overeat on veggies and lean meats...you would feel full to bursting before the calories caught up with you. On the other hand, the majority of obese women with PCOS developed the PCOS *after* the obesity; in other words, for most obese women with PCOS, the PCOS is a symptom of the obesity, not the cause. Many see their PCOS symptoms completely disappear following sustained weight loss. Even Whitney has acknowledged that she gained weight prior to PCOS; its possible that the PCOS helped her along, but the more likely scenario is that she gained weight until it caused PCOS. In either scenario, the solution is the same: you lose weight by burning more calories than you eat. If Whitney wants to lose weight she either needs to be tracking every calorie of the junk food she eats, OR she needs to overhaul her diet, learn to cook, and start eating healthy foods.

I definitely don't picture him as any of those things...i more picture him as Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He pretends to be devout and pious while lusting after anything remotely female, and ultimately deciding that if all of these evil temptresses are making him aroused then he's just going to give in to his lust. This is why i can absolutely see the porn star's story as being true. Josh definitely holds himself up on a pedestal and thinks he's God's gift to the world. He also seems to genuinely believe a good deal of Gothardism, so long as it relates to women at least. I don't picture him as being sexy or enticing to *anyone* (grossss to even think that someone would see him that way)...but i think he's on a permanent power-trip, lusts after all women, and simultaneously thinks they're evil whores for tempting him (whether that temptation was because he saw a glimpse of a knee or collar bone, or whether it's because she's a porn star doesn't seem to make a difference). I can absolutely see Josh putting on a facade to a woman he's paying for sex and then becoming violent and abusive. I don't think he's physically very intimidating, but i think he could catch a woman off-guard and hurt her, especially while on top of her, or go to a scary evangelical Christian screaming in anger at her and calling her names. In the book, Frollo is so overcome with his lust/rage combination that he tries to rape Esmeralda; he curses her as a demoness sent by the devil himself, and tries to have her hanged. That just...screams Josh Duggar to me.