S09.E13: Tammy's Journey

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Through tough times, food has always been Tammy's friend. But now she has gotten so big that her daughters and mother have moved home to care for her, and unless Dr. Now can get her to confront her grief, food might be her killer.

This is the regular episode thread.  It will open after the initial Us showing.

Original air date 2021.03.17

[LuvMyShows]

Well, at least someone finally qualified for WLS!  And she didn't make excuses.  But damn, I could not tell that she had lost any weight.  It was odd that at the gravesite, the two daughters didn't show any emotion about their father being dead.  Maybe they've learned from their mom to stifle their negative emotions.  It was nice not to see people being mean or nasty to each other, and I did see signs of joy, but overall maybe there is too much emotion stifling in general, either up or down.  I kept being worried at the very end that the darling little boy was going to slip right through that floatie ring at the pool!  But it was good to see them exercising.  We have long said that Dr. Now's patients should be doing more at the pool.  What's interesting is that if you have been sedentary for so long, and if you are so big, then it doesn't take much to qualify as exercise.  Though I have to admit I was impressed when she said that sometimes she just runs in place at the pool for 2 hours!

ETA: One thing didn't make sense...they said that both daughters and then the mother had to move in to take care of her, but we saw no evidence whatsoever that so many people were needed to care for her.  

Edited March 18, 2021 by LuvMyShows

[swankie]

5 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

It was odd that at the gravesite, the two daughters didn't show any emotion about their father being dead.  Maybe they've learned from their mom to stifle their negative emotions.  It was nice not to see people being mean or nasty to each other, and I did see signs of joy, but overall maybe there is too much emotion stifling in general, either up or down. 

I think they were very young when their father was murdered. I know she said the youngest was only one when it happened.   Plus, he wasn't with their mother when it happened so maybe they didn't spend a lot of time with him. 

[TheWalkinDude]

Someone in the live chat asked about the name on the gravestone-it was Victor Lamont Greer...

https://cases.justia.com/texas/second-court-of-appeals/02-06-00340-cr.pdf?ts=1396149294

[readheaded]

2 hours ago, swankie said:

I think they were very young when their father was murdered. I know she said the youngest was only one when it happened.   Plus, he wasn't with their mother when it happened so maybe they didn't spend a lot of time with him. 

In the first counseling session, Tammy told Dr. Paradise that her son was 3 and her daughters were 2 and 1 when their father was murdered. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I shouldn't have posted that link on the live chat, I apologize.    (However, the story the murderer told is probably a total lie, and since she was trying to get off on self-defense, it was probably something she thought would sound better.    It could be exactly like Tammy said, but we'll never know).

At least we had someone who actually lost a bunch of weight, and hopefully will continue with the program, and get surgery, and change her life.  

[Granny58]

I liked this woman!  She was mature, intelligent, pleasant, took ownership and (though not important, just a nice plus) pretty!  As was her daughter.  A very nice family!   

[steff13]

I liked her too.  And her mother and daughter.  They seemed to have a fun relationship. 

[Burning Rubber]

This was amazing. Four, FOUR fucking biscuits.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Burning Rubber

[Lillith]

2 hours ago, Granny58 said:

I liked this woman!  She was mature, intelligent, pleasant, took ownership and (though not important, just a nice plus) pretty!  As was her daughter.  A very nice family!   

I liked her too, she seems like a decent person who genuinely wanted to change and build a better life.  And even with the family issues there didn't seem to be the petty drama or sabatoging you see so often.  The only one I thought was "off" was her mother. There's a story there. 

[Pondlass1]

I still cannot believe she ate that whole platter of stodgy food.   My stomach would burst.  I often think it’s encouraged and filmed by TLC for added drama. Same with the humiliating shower scene.  We don’t need to see that. They must be paid well to agree to it (hope the camera crew is well paid too)

But after these years of watching this 600 Pound series, every damn episode....it’s still the enablers that I don’t get. 
 

[Granny58]

30 minutes ago, Lillith said:

I liked her too, she seems like a decent person who genuinely wanted to change and build a better life.  And even with the family issues there didn't seem to be the petty drama or sabatoging you see so often.  The only one I thought was "off" was her mother. There's a story there. 

Mama is a former addict.  

[Mothra]

3 hours ago, steff13 said:

I liked her too.  And her mother and daughter.  They seemed to have a fun relationship. 

And they all had really cute shoes!  Pauline wore cute outfits, too, but a little clingy.  There was something going on with her butt that I couldn't figure out.  It was kind of square, and then in her overalls--which I loved on her--you could see *something* on one of her thighs.  She needs to be more aware of what's going to show when she wears those knit outfits; they can be unforgiving.

We didn't see Tammy cheat--but then we don't usually see any of the poundticipants cheat--except maybe for the corn on her plate during one of her meals.  Her meals pre-Dr. Now were astoundingly huge, and Pauline was eating a lot, too.  I think maybe the explanation for Tammy's inability to lose weight more quickly must be portion size.

I'm glad she got a scale that could handle her weight; now I want poundticipants to go directly from their initial appointment with Dr. Now to a dietition who will explain to them what portion sizes are, and to make sure they understand things like fruit are not on the diet for a reason.  Poundticipants seem often to view the diet as a suggestion, not as a rule for losing weight.

I liked this family, too, although a little part of me worries about Tammy's long-term success because both her parents are/were addicts.  She's been eating obsessively; I hope an addiction is not part of the picture.  But an addictive personality is an addictive personality.

[Kellyee]

If Tammy's mom had just insisted on giving her a normal sized plate to eat off of instead the massive plate of obesity, Tammy would have lost a 100 pounds in a week. 

[Schnickelfritz]

I think I know why the son was not on the show.  Is this him???

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/2019/07/23/deonte-greer-and-jehcobi-barnes-sentenced-western-finance-robbery/1807217001/

[Lillith]

1 hour ago, Granny58 said:

Mama is a former addict.  

Not sure that it's former. Either that or some other issues there. She just seemed "off" in some of her reactions. 

[ams1001]

36 minutes ago, Lillith said:

Not sure that it's former. Either that or some other issues there. She just seemed "off" in some of her reactions. 

Did they say what she was addicted to? Maybe she has some cognitive impairment from too many drugs. She also has the "therapist dog" so I would guess there's some kind of anxiety or other issues there.

 

 

[rlc]

It was so refreshing to see someone on this show finally get a scale! It is absolutely ridiculous how many people do not check their weight between visits. Not a massive success, but at least it was finally a likable family. 

[LuvMyShows]

3 hours ago, Mothra said:

We didn't see Tammy cheat--but then we don't usually see any of the poundticipants cheat--except maybe for the corn on her plate during one of her meals.  Her meals pre-Dr. Now were astoundingly huge, and Pauline was eating a lot, too.  I think maybe the explanation for Tammy's inability to lose weight more quickly must be portion size.

I suspect there's still somewhat of a lack of understanding.  At the very end, we saw her weigh some store-bought meatballs from a package, to be sure she wasn't getting more than she should (4 oz?), which is great.  However, 4 oz of store-bought meatballs is not the same as 4 oz of raw meat.  I suspect from looking that the meatballs were breaded (hence carbs, a no-no), fried (lots of calories), and filled with sodium (high-blood pressure).  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that she is taking a simplistic approach that ends up having a lot of unwitting mistakes.

[rlc]

58 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

I suspect there's still somewhat of a lack of understanding.  At the very end, we saw her weigh some store-bought meatballs from a package, to be sure she wasn't getting more than she should (4 oz?), which is great.  However, 4 oz of store-bought meatballs is not the same as 4 oz of raw meat.  I suspect from looking that the meatballs were breaded (hence carbs, a no-no), fried (lots of calories), and filled with sodium (high-blood pressure).  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that she is taking a simplistic approach that ends up having a lot of unwitting mistakes.

But even if she is eating 4 oz of meatballs with too much sodium/carbs, she’ll still lose a ton of weight simply by not consuming 5000+ calories a day. The people on the show are always shocked by how much weight they are expected to lose to qualify for surgery, but if most of these people even cut their daily calorie intake to 3000 calories, the weight would drop off very quickly initially.

[ShoePrincess]

3 hours ago, Kellyee said:

If Tammy's mom had just insisted on giving her a normal sized plate to eat off of instead the massive plate of obesity, Tammy would have lost a 100 pounds in a week. 

So true. When I knew I was going to need hip replacement surgery, I thought losing as much weight as possible pre-surgery would help my recovery. I lost 35 pounds just through portion control, eating nothing that could be acquired at a drive through window, and working out several times a week. One of my portion control tricks was using plates we use for holiday get-togethers. They're smaller than regular dinner plates, so smaller portions filled the plate. Those huge platters Tammy used as breakfast (and lunch and dinner) plates probably contained enough food for the whole family. And I still don't see how one person can consume that many biscuits in one sitting. 

[alabetser]

Watching her (and others) talk about how much they need to learn, I wonder if Dr. Now has looked into cooking classes for them and their caretakers. A lot of the cooking scenes seem to show mistakes like cooking egg whites in butter/oil, negating the low cal effect. I'm sure his plan says no butter, but I don't think they know how to cook otherwise and don't get how quickly sauces and cooking oils add up fast, especially at a 1200 calorie diet. Plus, showing them how to use spices or prep veggies might make the change a little less severe and have fewer complaints over the "blandness."

[JJ1]

5 hours ago, Schnickelfritz said:

I think I know why the son was not on the show.  Is this him???

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/2019/07/23/deonte-greer-and-jehcobi-barnes-sentenced-western-finance-robbery/1807217001/

Yep. I had seen something else online where the family mentioned that he was in prison, but it didn’t go into the details of the offense. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I had to laugh at the first trip to Houston, when they polished off all of the food for the trip in the first two hours, of a six hour trip.   

 Where I live we have hurricanes, and I know so many who polish off the hurricane snacks if a storm misses us.  

I loved the ending with Tammy and mom doing the water aerobics.   I really hope she's a success, and gets surgery, and keeps getting healthier.  

[Concerned]

3 hours ago, ShoePrincess said:

So true. When I knew I was going to need hip replacement surgery, I thought losing as much weight as possible pre-surgery would help my recovery. I lost 35 pounds just through portion control, eating nothing that could be acquired at a drive through window, and working out several times a week. One of my portion control tricks was using plates we use for holiday get-togethers. They're smaller than regular dinner plates, so smaller portions filled the plate. Those huge platters Tammy used as breakfast (and lunch and dinner) plates probably contained enough food for the whole family. And I still don't see how one person can consume that many biscuits in one sitting. 

Using salad plates was an idea from Mindless Eating: You Eat More than You Think, which is an excellent book by a Cornell University researcher. He’s the one who recommended facing away from the buffet at a buffet restaurant and many other ideas. By the way, Dr Now’s book, The Scale doesn’t lie but People Do was showcased in this episode and is available on Amazon for $34, $24 for the Kindle version.

i liked Tammy, but I had the feeling Dr Now spent more time explaining things to her was because they had to stretch limited material to cover two hours.

[pdlinda]

5 hours ago, alabetser said:

Watching her (and others) talk about how much they need to learn, I wonder if Dr. Now has looked into cooking classes for them and their caretakers. A lot of the cooking scenes seem to show mistakes like cooking egg whites in butter/oil, negating the low cal effect. I'm sure his plan says no butter, but I don't think they know how to cook otherwise and don't get how quickly sauces and cooking oils add up fast, especially at a 1200 calorie diet. Plus, showing them how to use spices or prep veggies might make the change a little less severe and have fewer complaints over the "blandness."

Everything you're describing would cost the show $$$$ so I'm not seeing anything like that materializing, unless someone can see the situation differently?

To me, Dr. Now's son owns the production company and the show is a cash cow (for sure!!) so, from their perspective, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That's how I see their attitude at this advanced stage of the show's success.

[newyawk]

This is a selfish rant about the show, so there is a lot of I, I, I. Sorry in advance.

I have to say I am really bored with this season. I guess they have to use what they have, but none of these people seem very motivated and nobody is losing much.  I primarily watch this show when I myself am actively trying to lose weight, as I have been since the start of the year (it is FINALLY going very well and I think I will lose all of the excess this year).  The show helps in a way, when I see people succeed, but even with the people that don't, this season they just have not been very lively, interesting, or even so obnoxious it compels angry discussion, lol, and on top of the worn out formulaic structure of the show, it makes it harder to keep watching or even finishing episodes. I get that their point is to show the obvious, "It's hard to lose weight!" But when it takes all the way up to the last five minutes of the show for the person to finally get on track, and over a course of years, I don't really care much as a viewer anymore. 

It was at least something new that Tammy got a home scale and was monitoring her progress at home, which is something I don't recall other participants doing.  

Maybe they just need to edit or cast it better, maybe it's just that they need a better variety of personalities each season. Who knows, but they all are melting into each other to me. 

 

[AZChristian]

It's for sure that each person's "journey" this year hasn't taken them very far.

I am bumfuzzled as to why Covid is impacting these folks' ability to stay on the diet, but every one of them has told Dr. Now, "It's hard to stay on the diet with so much going on."  They have lived for years as though a pandemic was stopping them from going out, buying groceries, going to the gym, etc.  They have been waited on hand and foot while ordering home delivery of fast food.  What's been different for them THIS year?  They have not personally dealt with the struggle of finding toilet paper, antiseptic wipes, masks, etc.  Someone else has to deal with all that stress for them.  They just have to (and do) keep shoveling in massive amounts of unhealthy food.  For goodness sakes, if they would just have shoveled in LESS food, they'd have lost weight.  But any excuse is a good excuse for them, so - this year - they couldn't lose weight because of Covid!?!?!

Many of us have gained a couple of pounds this year, but it's partly because our lives really HAVE been impacted.  We weren't able to get out and keep up our exercise routines, etc., and developed some new sedentary habits.  But as sensible adults, we recognized what happened - and why - and changed our behavior to stop the weight gain and start to lose weight.

And regarding Tammy . . . big deal, she bought a scale.  When she noticed over the first couple of weeks that she WASN'T losing enough to get to 60 pounds over two months, why didn't she cut back even more on the quantity of her food?  She knew before she got on Dr. Now's scale that she hadn't lost much, but whose fault is it that she kept shoving in food????  

And - to my eye - her "4 ounces" of frozen meatballs looked like two servings (at least).  I've always read that the best way to measure the size of a protein portion was to make it the size of a deck of cards.  No more than two of those meatballs would have been an appropriate serving.

[newyawk]

"You can either lose weight or you can make excuses, it's your choice" has been my motto this year.

[Twopper]

19 hours ago, Concerned said:

i liked Tammy, but I had the feeling Dr Now spent more time explaining things to her was because they had to stretch limited material to cover two hours.

I saw part of Lindsay last night.  Now I want Dr Now to add the line "eat death, Tammy or whoever" to his repertoire,   It might get their attention better that his warning that eventually their systems will fail and they will die.  Most of them can't or won't  see that far into the future despite what they say in their opening monologues.

[Mothra]

On 3/18/2021 at 3:45 PM, LuvMyShows said:

I suspect there's still somewhat of a lack of understanding.  At the very end, we saw her weigh some store-bought meatballs from a package, to be sure she wasn't getting more than she should (4 oz?), which is great.  However, 4 oz of store-bought meatballs is not the same as 4 oz of raw meat.  I suspect from looking that the meatballs were breaded (hence carbs, a no-no), fried (lots of calories), and filled with sodium (high-blood pressure).  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that she is taking a simplistic approach that ends up having a lot of unwitting mistakes.

I think you're exactly right, but if she is limiting herself to 4 oz of store-bought meatballs, with the carbs and all, she's still doing a hell of a lot better than she was with that garbage-can lid-size plate of food!  Seriously, I agree with you, and I think failure to make diet instructions clear is a big and a central problem.  But it's hard enough to get even people who aren't morbidly obese, though, to just read the damn label, so getting these guys who seem so ignorant about every aspect of food (except putting it in their mouths) to pay attention and use the tools they already have seems impossible.

[Mothra]

23 hours ago, ShoePrincess said:

And I still don't see how one person can consume that many biscuits in one sitting. 

Come sit here next to me, and behold.

[DNR]

Tammy was better than the patients in the last few episodes this season , at least she qualified by the end of the episode. I hope she’s successful and gets her life back 

With that said ..... I’m finding this season sooooo boring. The patients aren’t even qualifying for surgery by the end of the episode.  I used to love the episodes where the patient had surgery , you saw their life and body improve , you just couldn’t help but root for them .  This season is a snooze fest 😴 

**** the patients this season are dealing with COVID-19..I’m sure it’s stressful worrying about your family or you’ll get Covid and most likely die as a super morbidly obese person ( I’m surprised Tammy on 1000lb Sister survived Covid) But these 600pounders mostly lived a quarantine lifestyle before Covid .... nothing really changed for a majority of them 

Edited March 19, 2021 by DNR
More words

[Twopper]

On 3/18/2021 at 3:51 PM, ShoePrincess said:

And I still don't see how one person can consume that many biscuits in one sitting. 

 

3 hours ago, Mothra said:

Come sit here next to me, and behold.

Those look a little larger than I normally eat.   back in my 20's when I was very thin my Saturday morning brunch was scrambled eggs and 5 biscuits from one of the pilsbury flaky biscuit cans generously covered in butter (the biscuits, not the can)   Since it was brunch, I didn't have lunch so I only had 2 meals. Also I drank a lot of orange juice but not nearly as much as she did.

during COVID and going to online Mass we got really lazy on Sunday morning so I open a can of the same 5 flakey biscuits and heat up 2 jimmydean  sausages ---pork, not turkey-- and we each make ourselves one sausage biscuit and split the rest between us.  Usually we have cuties instead of orange juice.

I think if they can keep going to the pool and not eating meals on a platter she may do okay.   I recall reading that yellow plates make you eat more,  Her platter was pink so I don't know if it has the same effect. 

 

 

 

[Caoimhe]

Tammy was one of the more likeable people in this season of disappointments.  She wore decent clothes which is a big plus.  She wasn't nasty nor was she overly demanding.  She got a scale to weigh herself at home and by the end she understood that weighing and measuring portions were tools that she needed to start using.  I agree the meatballs weren't particularly good choices but at least she measured them.  I hope we do see her again and that she gets the surgery and uses it to reach her goals.

I could eat Tammy's entire breakfast platter in one sitting (albeit a longer one) and still not be through eating for the day.  

[IvySpice]

There are all kinds of things I can overeat, but biscuits are like lead in my stomach. Yummy lead, sure, but I would be in physical pain trying to swallow four. I don’t think even the guy from “Man vs. Food” could have beaten that platter of breakfast! A bucket of grits or a pile of pancakes would go down more easily than that.

[FormeryHeavyJ]

I just watched part of the show on the Optimum channel today.  My head is spinning from breakfast & lunch.  The NY Jets have a better chance of winning next year's Super Bowl than that poor dog did of getting a bite.  Same dog would have had a field day last episode with Ms. Piggy and her fried chicken demolition.  Pieces everywhere.

[Bluesky]

My issues with this one was the mother eating bacon in front of her daughter when she can’t have it and when she got four small meatballs she asking “are you sure that’s enough”?  Why would four meatballs not be enough.  And why can’t the family eat the same food for support.  Most of these family members are obese.  The ones that aren’t can just have bigger portions.   

[LoreliLee]

I got my husband to watch this season with me. I’ve been watching this show from it’s debut. I used to find it inspiring & motivating. Not anymore.  I have to keep telling him the people being featured used to actually have surgery! Now I just snark on it and crack up my husband. At least it makes him realize how far I’ve come in my own weight loss journey. 
Too bad Obesity Med couldn’t make more episodes. It looked promising. 

[ShoePrincess]

On 3/19/2021 at 3:06 PM, Mothra said:

Come sit here next to me, and behold.

I love biscuits, especially with sausage gravy (an occasional Sunday morning breakfast treat at our house), but two is my limit. Any more and I feel like I'm going to explode.

[Mothra]

5 hours ago, ShoePrincess said:

I love biscuits, especially with sausage gravy (an occasional Sunday morning breakfast treat at our house), but two is my limit. Any more and I feel like I'm going to explode.

Amateur.

[PaTatertots]

Third floors, killer elevators, BEDS!? What sort of torture chamber is this here hotel? 

Poor kids. They can come live with me (just the kids) and be kids, not servants or tiny EMTS

[K9Chaser]

This particular episode was much more positive than so many others.  But one thing that had me thinking was the 'Service Dog' for Pauline.  Is this truly a certified trained dog for a 'real' purpose,  or a pet that one wants to take into stores,  businesses,  etc?  Pauline didn't appear to have the dog with her in Tammy's first trip to Dr. Now's.  I just see way too many people abusing this law,  making it more difficult for the people who truly need the benefit of a [in this case], a TRUE working dog.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Supersized version will be airing between 7 and 9 tonight, (Central).    I hope the ending with Tammy and her mom doing water aerobics means the entire family are embracing the program.    They aren't all as big as Tammy ,but the rest of the family need help. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Moved the biscuit discussion to Small Talk, where all your off topic dreams come true. 

[El maestro]

With so many contestants lately being lazy, whiny or just plain nasty, it is great to find somebody who is likable and articulate. I liked her and Imhope she can improve her health and go on with her life.

[newyawk]

I'm re-watching this one now, (I couldn't remember it, although apparently I did see it before) and one of the first things I noticed once she started the program, is that Tammy's mother was serving her sausage, which is NOT on the program. No wonder she wasn't losing the weight she needed to lose. Her mother was sabotaging her. And then, later on, after months and months, when they went home after the first Covid-era Now visit, for her mom to be making Tammy's meal, after cooking her diet meals for her for over a year, and say, "Is this all you can have? I'm not used to making this little," was a real facepalm moment. 

I also found it interesting that Now approved her for weight loss surgery after only 40 lbs of loss, with a requirement of only 40 more, Usually he has asked for a lot more. He also took it a lot easier on her, for some reason, than he has on others when she continually fell short of the weight loss goals or stopped losing altogether. He would normally rip into someone about lying or being delusional.

Also unique, that she got a scale and was using it at home. I have never seen that on this show, and I thought that was so odd that I thought maybe the show told them not to use a scale at home so the weigh in at the office would be more of a surprise.

It was good to see that she finally got on the right track and I hope Tammy reached her goal and is maintaining it.

Edited July 19, 2023 by newyawk

[Elizzikra]

This re-ran last night so I watched again. I hadn’t remembered it well from the first time around. I would love to see Tammy in a WATN episode. At the end of this one, she had lost 126 pounds and was approved for surgery but waiting for it to be scheduled as it was just at the end of COVID restrictions. I hope she got her surgery and continued to do well. Anyone have any updates on her?