dahling

It's possibly a tie with the old TWoP Little House on the Prairie thread: "Pa, Ma, and That Mime Who Raped Sylvia"

.... .... That's me watching this episode with my mouth hanging open like Charlie's. Before I really say the obvious mean stuff, I would like to say something nice: Nicole is a real beauty with her blue eyes, blonde hair, and sweet face. Sure it's hard to tell underneath all the fat, but if she keeps it up and gets down to 200 or so, she's going to be drop dead gorgeous (but please lose the face jewelry, dear). Dear sweet Jesus this was the most marginal group of people I have ever seen. What hope is there for those kids? Their models are uneducated, unmotivated drug addicts. I can't believe I'm watching people who live in the same country as me. I can't believe she got pregnant twice (especially the second one). Those babies were not that far apart in age. The life of constantly living in rentals peppered with a bit of on-again off-again homelessness. Why couldn't she and the mom work when dad went to jail? My husband noted that the mom looked like a Troll. Maybe it was meth mouth. Of course it was hard to rent with no money for a deposit, probably bad credit or no credit, a menagerie of people, babies, and animals, and no jobs. As has been noted, why didn't someone think of this beforehand? Of course, I screamed "why" in my head a lot during this two hours. They wound up renting a shithole but at least Nicole didn't almost fall through the floor like Michael(?) last week in their first rental. No way did their landlord approve that sublease. I tend to get annoyed people on these forums announce their saintly ability to create a healthy meal under any circumstances and judge these 600 people for not being able to do the same - but - even McDonald's has a grilled chicken salad with low fat ranch dressing. That would have worked with Dr. Now's diet. This is the second time (I think Diana was the first) that we've seen people in the first weight loss phase eating corn on the cob. Nooooooo. Noooooooo. Every day across Texas, children are legit being abused and neglected by their parents. Getting the shit beat out of them. You would not believe the stuff that CPS workers see, it would turn your hair white. That's part of the reason the turnover for CPS workers is so high. This wasn't abuse and neglect, guys. This is just a lost family that created two more doomed people who we're going to end up supporting, either with some kind of social programs, or by paying for them to be in prison. And those babies will have babies that my grandkids will end up supporting in the same way, if something doesn't change. If you are interested in class issues in America I highly recommend the book White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

My neighbor had the surgery and tells me the same thing: she can eat whatever she wants, just a couple bites at a time. She did lose ~130 pounds. But, she also almost died from surgery complications in the first 6-8 weeks. So that does put a slight damper on the "magic" claim.

What an intelligent and well-spoken woman. Some of her voiceovers sounded weirdly looped to me, though, almost like another woman's voice breaking in at odd moments. In my opinion the show pushes the angle of "something about your childhood turned you into this monster" because it's a predictable segment on every episode, right after the shower scene. Diana did start out by saying "my childhood was pretty normal" before she described the issues with her sister's medical problems. It didn't sound to me like she personally blamed her childhood as much as the sexual assault at the skating rink. I became 380 pounds and often tried to ask myself how? why? I wasn't abused as a child, I had a happy childhood. I mean nothing is perfect - divorce, daddy issues, whatever, but if I had to rate my childhood traumas on a scale of 1 to 100, I'd rate them about a 2. Sometimes it's possible to become an addict just because you found your "bliss" (as Diana's niece said) and you can't stop blissing in it. I found her story of a lifelong struggle with weight very compelling. Not obesity, just weight. It sounds like her body is wired to carry more. Not admitted to the military for being 5'6 and 178. Yes that's an overweight BMI but in today's world we would not blink twice at the physical appearance of a woman that size. That's normal now. And how she dieted like crazy to get in, but couldn't keep the weight off. That's just heartbreaking. And then getting fired from her job at 400 lbs, but still unable to turn it around. These addictions, man, they'll ruin your life. Food can be just as bad as alcohol or cocaine. Very happy for her at the end, and I second the thought of whoever said what a nice change it was to see this family living in a nice suburban house rather than Dr. Now's Bungalows for the Bedbound. Yikes.

I think that's way too high for them to hoist their bulk up onto. You're thinking like a normal-sized person (not that that's a bad thing!). Have you seen these women losing their shit over raising their leg over the edge of the bathtub to get in the shower? Every tiny little action that normal people take for granted is agony or impossible for these people. How are they going to "slide" onto a platform that's 3+ feet in the air? They would need a forklift to make that plan happen. Then the abject safety hazard of that mass rolling around unrestrained in the back (not to mention it's illegal many places). I think the bariatric ambulance ride with a slew of strong men in attendance is the best they can hope for.

Good gravy, this was the most uncomfortable I have ever been watching this show - two HOURS of this was too much. Erica was/is mentally ill - obviously. But listening to her brother and sister talk to her/about her made me wanted to hide under the bed. What terrible humans. Couldn't they have at least put on a brave front for the TV cameras? I would not want to have a permanent film record for all time of me comparing my boat to my sister's life. I would not want to be on record calling my mentally ill sister an embarrassment. I say this with the full acknowledgement that Erica bears at least 50% of the responsibility - you don't get to be in the situation where you are 40+ and your family won't help you and you have no friends, without some pretty serious mistakes on your part. Guys, there is no way she stood up on that airplane trip - to use the restroom or for any other reason. Maybe she held it, maybe she was wearing some kind of adult incontinence product, maybe she went in her pants - but she did not stand up, she did not walk down the aisle, she did not enter the plane restroom. I couldn't do that at 380 lbs, she absofrigginlutely couldn't do it at 680. These things are as likely as her flapping her arms and flying to Houston. Her pre-surgery weight loss was slow but I think it was a victory for her to even reverse the trend and lose a little instead of continuing to gain. She has mental issues, and needs serious help. Not to mention, being bed bound, alone, in her tiny apartment, her only friend WAS food. I believed her when she was eating her muffin and said that when she ate something sweet in the morning she knew that it would be a good day. Been there, done that. It was the only thing she had to look forward to. And I worry for her that she's still fairly immobile with that terrible lymphedema and still very isolated. What does she have to be happy about? What's her reason to get up every day? I get needing the muffin. Poor thing. She was less terrible than Kirstin, but also not nearly as funny. No laughing for hubby and me this time. :(

A close friend of the family is an RN and, at least where she works, they have a saying... "GBGB" - Gastric Bypass Gone Bad. Yes, there are many complications and it is not a guarantee or a permanent fix. This is one reason I decided I had to fix the problem in my head rather than the one in my stomach. I would never condemn or judge anyone for the path they choose to health, but surgery wasn't for me, and I'm happy with my choice.

Doug may have had one of the worst cases of food addiction that we've seen. Sexual abuse in his past also, but his main trauma seems to have been the abandonment by his mother. Speaking of whom, I was shocked that she agreed to appear on camera and discuss their past. He seemed like mostly a good guy and I hope he gets it together. I think his post-surgery progress was some of the slowest among those who have been on this show. I think they were renting both houses we saw them live in, just by the way they discussed "moving to a new house" rather than "we sold this house and bought a new one." Ashley - good God, what were you thinking, marrying this man and immediately becoming pregnant? He had to have been disabled at the time of their marriage/the babies' conception. Granted she didn't know it would be twins, I assume, but even one baby would have been too much. She had a hard life, but some of it was self-created. She did seem to be gaining as the year progressed. I also winced when Doug (I almost just typed Dough..I'm a baker..haha) fed the little boy a big bowl of what looked like Froot Loops. Zero nutrition, sugar high. And also, just keeping that stuff in the house when both adults are food addicts is bad news. The kid will like what you teach him to like, and he doesn't do the grocery shopping. It reminds me of one time at a school open house, the teacher asked the parents to please feed their children (1st graders) breakfast (which I thought was so sad - who has to be told that?). One mother chirped up, "I try, but all he will eat is pop tarts!" Umm what is wrong with this picture? Stop buying the pop tarts and he won't be eating them any more. He's 6.

That is absolutely the reason I watch this show: aversion therapy.

Absolutely. It's all part of the addiction. You need more and more to get that same buzz, and that includes your mouth as well as your stomach. Anybody remember the GNR song "Mr. Brownstone"? "I used to do a little, but a little wouldn't do it, so a little got more and more."

This was the most unintentionally hilarious episode of this show that has ever been. My husband and I laughed and laughed until we could laugh no more. "If I could just have a turkey sandwich." Dr. Now: "You still weigh over 500 pounds, you are not going to starve to death." "My mom gets mad at me for eating in front of her, but she still watches all those food shows." Ok, humor aside, this is a broken, dysfunctional family. It doesn't add up. Mom and dad created the Kirsten Monster, but take her children when she abandons them, take her in when she's homeless, and drive her sorry ass diagonally across the country to help save her life. Yet, their words and attitudes toward her seem to imply that they hate her guts (which I GOT - Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I GOT it). The teenage daughter was living at home with her boyfriend? Well, that should end well. And poor Neiko, how dare they abandon him in Houston in an unfurnished apartment with Jabba the Hut? He seemed like a very young 14, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some developmental delays there, simply based on what we know of his background, living conditions, and behavior. I agree with the earlier poster who said that while his anger is understandable, his behavior is unacceptable. He needs help. Free Neiko. As a former super obese person who has spent almost 3 years losing 200 pounds through diet and exercise, I can't express how angry I get when people think that the world around them needs to change their eating habits. That's life, baby. You can't get away from stuff that's bad for you, it's everywhere. My husband says his office has doughnuts every Friday and he simply "can't resist" them. Bullshit. If you have any hope of long term success you have to put yourself in the frame of mind that that stuff is simply not for you, never again. I'm not trying to make light of their food addiction, which is severe - and I know because I am a food addict, too. But I can't live in a bubble, I have to live in the world, and I have to make peace with the fact that the world is full of food that I have to be able to say no to.

Because they don't want it. They are addicted to unhealthy food and carbs, carbs, carbs. Would you ever ask an alcoholic why they didn't drink diet coke instead of liquor?

Here's an article regarding a lawsuit Dr. Now was involved in over the death of a 500+ lb patient. The article also references the death of a different patient who was 800+ lbs. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Gastric-bypass-patient-s-mother-sues-over-2005-1842140.php

I'm no expert, but I could have sworn in one of the 600-lb Life episodes, Dr. Now told someone that the effects of the surgery would be totally gone in 5 years.

I assumed last week's episode with the twins was 2 hours because it was the season premiere, there were 2 stories, a medical emergency, etc. There was no reason for this episode to be 2 hours. I FF'd half of it. Ashley and her husband and family were likeable, but unfortunately that just made for a zzZZzzz of an episode. Good for her, I hope she succeeds, and I hope her husband really is the anti-Gilbert that he appears to be. But I'm ready for something more entertaining.

Poured fondant and royal icing are not at all the same things. Royal icing is made of powdered sugar and either meringue powder or egg whites. Royal icing dries just about as hard as concrete and is great for intricate or dried decorations like flowers. It is not used to cover pastries or cakes (except sometimes fruit cakes in the UK). It has virtually no flavor besides "sweet" and most Americans would consider it unpleasant to eat due to its hardness. Poured fondant is made essentially of sugar, water, and corn syrup, and dries firm to the touch but not like concrete. It can also be flavored, which royal icing cannot. The above hyperlinks are only the first examples I found, but there are many more available in Google land.

I really enjoyed the Christmas Day special. I have a special hatred of reality shows featuring children, and I refuse to watch any of them. Not only do I feel it exploits them, as a personal matter, when I put the kids to sleep and get to watch TV, I don't want to watch MORE kids. That's my time. HOWEVER -- I have to eat a little crow because I found these kids delightful. The little boy chuckling "that wasn't nougat, Lorraine...it was butter" and the little girl "I love rainbow sprinkles (pause) - I don't really get the challenge here." I love that Jason once again embraced the spirit of the competition and put out the most beautiful and tasty selection. It was also nice that no one got eliminated along the way (I don't want to see kids eliminated) and that in the end they won or lost as a team paired with an adult, which leveled the playing field. I hope they each got 10k.

"Without motherhood, I'm just a woman who gained 40 pounds for no reason." Or something to that affect. This show has my heart. I loved the running bit about emojis being so small. Damn, they are.

I watched. I thought it was a testament to how strong food addiction can be, and also how strong his control over his wife was. It's hard to imagine that she just kept on feeding him whatever he demanded, even though it was ruining their lives. I'm assuming they received nutritional counseling, sample meal plans, etc. At least I hope they received something besides a directive to "lose 100 pounds, good luck, bye". Very sad story.

As a first-time binge watcher on Netflix this past spring and summer, I would also like to add that this actor is terrible. He delivers all his lines like he's the understudy in a community theater presentation of Angry Diner Owners and the People Who Annoy Them. He got a little better with adding some nuance in the later seasons, but the first few, oy. Nobody in real life would like this guy or eat at his restaurant more than once.

As a former super obese person, I had so much sympathy for Dottie. Maybe you do have to walk a mile in those shoes to understand what these people are going through. I think it is only "modern" highly processed, highly addictive, easily available, cheap, high carb food, combined with today's modern sedentary lifestyle that has created this new kind of super obesity. It's hard to become obese when you literally have to wrestle each meal you eat from the earth such as my pioneer ancestors did as recently as 100 years ago.

Going to respond in the small talk thread. :)

I have both a giant island and a farm sink and love them both every day. The sink is wide and deep and I can wash even the largest pots and pans. It's pretty, and when I spill water down the front, which, let's face it, I'm going to do, because I'm a mess in the kitchen, the water cleans up easy and doesn't destroy the bottom cabinets below. Don't ask me how I know. And the island adds flexible workspace to my kitchen. Couldn't imagine being without it. Not to get too off topic, but I designed my kitchen myself during a total renovation of a 1972 "fixer upper" home. This was in 2011, before Fixer Upper, "farmhouse", and shiplap. Pics can be found here.

Well, guys, it's been fun. After the pilots, I FF'd to the end, and then removed this series from my DVR scheduled recordings. What an embarrassment. Remember when they used to take the contestants places and do things? Like Knott's Berry Farm, or Miami Beach (I think I remember a beach?), or hell, even the friggin grocery store? And they would interact with the public? Were there ever any dials of doom this season? Was there anything except increasingly handsy and high Bobby and Giada in their ugly little studio, getting it wrong week after week? This show has given me a lot of entertainment, and it really helped me through the summer of 2008 when I was pregnant on bedrest. But what we just saw isn't that show any more. But also, Food Network today barely resembles Food Network in 2008. Hope I'll see some of y'all around elsewhere.

I'm vaguely reminded of Magnitude from Community who only ever said "pop pop". And that was so 2011.