The All You Can Eat Buffet: My 600 Pound Life All Episode Discussion

[Guest]

One of the "secret" things in that linked article was this bold headline:

Quote

PENNY SAEGER DIDN'T LOSE ANY WEIGHT AFTER HER SURGERY

For whom is this a secret? Anyone without a pair of eyes?

[Wings]

I watched the preview for Doug.  I don’t remember him.  I havent watched in a long time though.   It brought up somethings that bugs me.  Dr Nows diet is archaic.  Sure you can lose on it but hard if not impossible to maintain.  The carb count he requires is just not sustainable.  Calorie reduction is the long term solution.  And that means, no foods are restricted, you just have to weigh, measure and count them.  At the end of the day 1000 calories is the same  no matter how they are comprised. 

Yeah, yeah there are healthy choices that are better than some these people may choose but when you weigh as much as a VW Bug Eat what will keep you on a diet and take vitamins.  A BLT (about 277 cals.) is more satisfying than a broiled chicken breast with steamed broccoli.  Ugh!

When I saw Doug’s wife shaming him for making a sandwich I wanted to slap both her and Dr Now. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Wings

[crazycatlady58]

Wings, I believe that when Doug was making the sandwich it was after his surgery. They are supposed to restrict the amount of carbs because of the size of their stomach. They need to eat the protein first then finish the meal. They have such a small stomach they have to be very careful about what they eat.

[Wings]

5 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Wings, I believe that when Doug was making the sandwich it was after his surgery. They are supposed to restrict the amount of carbs because of the size of their stomach. They need to eat the protein first then finish the meal. They have such a small stomach they have to be very careful about what they eat.

Thanks, I thought he was on maintenance since this is a where are they now episode. 

[JunebugTx]

10 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

One of the "secret" things in that linked article was this bold headline:

For whom is this a secret? Anyone without a pair of eyes?

I didn't really think anything in that article was actually a secret.  

[dahling]

2 hours ago, Wings said:

Thanks, I thought he was on maintenance since this is a where are they now episode. 

Most of the WATN shows start right where we last saw our subject.  Usually this is with some post-surgery success, but a long way from maintenance. A common theme is the subject wanting to lose enough to qualify for skin surgery - this was what Doug was trying to do, he was still over 400 lbs.  Very few subjects have reached "maintenance".  In fact in recent memory, I think Diana is the only one in the past couple of seasons.  Dr. Now even said to her, "I'm going to tell you something I don't get to say very often.  It's time to stop losing weight." (This was one of those rare times I got a happy lump in my throat.  YOU GO DIANA.)  

[Guest]

I have no idea what shenanigans TLC pulled with their My 600-lb Life schedule, but there is no new episode listed on my cable guide for the foreseeable future—even though I saw a new episode listed a few weeks ago that was to air tomorrow night. And a poster on reddit put up this screen grab from Titan TV showing there had been new episodes scheduled and now there are none. 

Two things: where the hell is the end of the Sean and Dottie episode?! and apparently Pauline is back to her old tricks after making it appear on her last follow up show that she turned a corner towards becoming a normal human being. 

[Colleenna]

4 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

I have no idea what shenanigans TLC pulled with their My 600-lb Life schedule, but there is no new episode listed on my cable guide for the foreseeable future—even though I saw a new episode listed a few weeks ago that was to air tomorrow night. And a poster on reddit put up this screen grab from Titan TV showing there had been new episodes scheduled and now there are none. 

Two things: where the hell is the end of the Sean and Dottie episode?! and apparently Pauline is back to her old tricks after making it appear on her last follow up show that she turned a corner towards becoming a normal human being. 

My DirecTV guide shows "Rena and Lee's Story" Thursday  at 8 PM. It's NOT a WATN episode. There's no episode scheduled for Wednesday, which is weird. 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Colleenna said:

There's no episode scheduled for Wednesday, which is weird. 

Right? It's totally weird. Clearly, there is another part to Sean and Dottie's episode and there are obviously at least two new episodes (per the descriptions above) that haven't aired. What is with the unexplained absence of the show from their schedule?

[55Unicorns]

Well, I guess I'll start here...I used to be a regular, but have kinda slacked off...mea culpa, mea culpa.  Hope I'm still welcome.  AS to the post, I can't say...just wondering if I'm still welcome?

Well, I should back up...the last episode I saw was a "Where are They Now?" with Sean and the gal with such a bad hip...memory fails me...

[QuinnInND]

My guide is listing "Katrina's Story" for tonight. And it comes on an hour earlier. After that Dr Pimple Popper is on for 3 hours. 

[88Keys]

6 hours ago, QuinnInND said:

My guide is listing "Katrina's Story" for tonight. And it comes on an hour earlier. After that Dr Pimple Popper is on for 3 hours. 

Mine says Karina's story from 6-8 (Central time) and Dr. PP for two hours (one re-run, one new).  And, if you ask me, that's two hours too many.

[Pepper Mostly]

Guys. No live chat tonight? I cannot believe how upset this makes me! How am I going to find out about everyone's eating habit?

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Guys. No live chat tonight? I cannot believe how upset this makes me! How am I going to find out about everyone's eating habit?

I'm eating a salad of lettuce and croutons with honey French dressing, if that helps. I will also have some radishes with a sprinkle of sea salt when I'm done with that.

[QuinnInND]

We're having pork chops, green beans, rice and salad. With chocolate ice cream for dessert. 

[Pepper Mostly]

I scored a chicken caesar wrap and some pasta salad left over from a catered event at work, so I wasn't really hungry when I came home. So I just had a brownie with some ice cream. healthy!

[Minivanessa]

9 hours ago, QuinnInND said:

My guide is listing "Katrina's Story" for tonight. And it comes on an hour earlier. After that Dr Pimple Popper is on for 3 hours. 

I love Dr. PP!! 

1 hour ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Guys. No live chat tonight? I cannot believe how upset this makes me! How am I going to find out about everyone's eating habit?

I know. A few have reported in, which is good. My eating habit tonight was chips and hummus. 

[AZChristian]

We're on vacation in Salt Lake City. I saw something on the menu that I'd heard of, but never tried . . . Funeral Potatoes. Loved them!

[QuinnInND]

58 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

We're on vacation in Salt Lake City. I saw something on the menu that I'd heard of, but never tried . . . Funeral Potatoes. Loved them!

I've never heard of them either. How are they made? 

[Miss Chevious]

4 hours ago, 88Keys said:

Mine says Karina's story from 6-8 (Central time) and Dr. PP for two hours (one re-run, one new).  And, if you ask me, that's two hours too many.

Mine too. Is this season over?

[NeitherSparky]

4 hours ago, AZChristian said:

We're on vacation in Salt Lake City. I saw something on the menu that I'd heard of, but never tried . . . Funeral Potatoes. Loved them!

I have a friend who likes to make and bring that dish to potlucks...

[3girlsforus]

Funeral potatoes:

https://therecipecritic.com/funeral-potatoes/

Delcious but Dr Now would not approve. ??

Edited August 2, 2018 by 3girlsforus

[zillabreeze]

My on-screen guide (Dish) is now showing tonight to be a two hour Rena & Lee repeat. 7:00 cst

[ams1001]

Here's something interesting...I came across this video a couple weeks ago (I was going to post it in a regular episode thread but the subject of diabetes never came up so I felt it was a little off topic; I ventured in here last night and it just occurred to me that maybe this would be a good place for it) and it mentions that the super-morbidly obese almost never have diabetes. (Start around 16:00). The analogy is to a bathtub - the bathtub is your fat cells and the diabetes is the wet floor around it when it overflows; the super-morbidly obese have a bigger tub to hold fat whereas most people's tubs spill over and the fat starts to go into other areas outside the actual fat cells (heart, liver, etc. - called "ectopic deposition") and that's when the resistance to insulin kicks in and you develop diabetes. So that might explain why we don't hear so much about these folks being diabetic as we might expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vinqph-g5QI
 

[Wanda]

40 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Here's something interesting...I came across this video a couple weeks ago (I was going to post it in a regular episode thread but the subject of diabetes never came up so I felt it was a little off topic; I ventured in here last night and it just occurred to me that maybe this would be a good place for it) and it mentions that the super-morbidly obese almost never have diabetes. (Start around 16:00). The analogy is to a bathtub - the bathtub is your fat cells and the diabetes is the wet floor around it when it overflows; the super-morbidly obese have a bigger tub to hold fat whereas most people's tubs spill over and the fat starts to go into other areas outside the actual fat cells (heart, liver, etc. - called "ectopic deposition") and that's when the resistance to insulin kicks in and you develop diabetes. So that might explain why we don't hear so much about these folks being diabetic as we might expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vinqph-g5QI
 

Off the top of my head (not a trustworthy source), Penny lost her roll that she punched her insulin into, Teretha had her grandson bring her insulin pen to her, Milla possibly? And a few of the men, I think Henry from the first season and some others mentioned diabetes more in passing. Penny made it a big deal as she needed her meatloaf and mashed potatoes quickly since she “felt she sugars dropping”, which is more of a type 1 issue.

[Colleenna]

Well, my eating habit tonight was mushrooms stroganoff over orzo, with a green salad and some lowfat low carb peach yogurt. However, I got so frustrated with a music download (I'm trying to download music from Amazon for my waterproof MP3 player for swimming) that had anything unhealthy been available, I would have demolished it. Anger is a trigger for me.... I guess I want to "swallow" my anger, and it goes down easier with crunchy cookies. 

[MrHufflepuff]

Via reddit, it looks like LB Bonner has passed away.  Suicide is being speculated.

https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2018/08/lb-bonner-dead-my-600-pound-life/

[nr65000]

Saddened to learn about L.B. Bonner's passing today.  I always appreciated his sweet spirit and he was one of my favorites.  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6024715/My-600-lb-Life-star-L-B-Bonner-31-dead-ditch-gunshot-wound-suspected-suicide.html

Edited August 3, 2018 by nr65000
to include link to media

[SunnyBeBe]

Well. somewhere around here I asked if these people really are close to death, since that's what Dr. Now keeps warning, but, I guess it's true.  I'm referring to L.B. 

[nr65000]

15 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Well. somewhere around here I asked if these people really are close to death, since that's what Dr. Now keeps warning, but, I guess it's true.  I'm referring to L.B. 

He apparently committed suicide.

[Colleenna]

Very sad. I hope he is finally at peace.

[peaceknit]

Which season was LB on?

[Armchair Critic]

Poor LB, he was successful on the show but seems like he had some family issues, I remember his mom was a pain. If it was suicide I wonder what made him do it?

His girlfriend's Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/destiny.s.honeycutt

Edited August 4, 2018 by Armchair Critic

[Colleenna]

On 8/1/2018 at 10:35 PM, QuinnInND said:

I've never heard of them either. How are they made? 

Also called "Cheesy Potatoes." To die for. Not Dr. Now approved. 

[silverspoons]

1 hour ago, peaceknit said:

Which season was LB on?

LB was on in Feb of 2018. He was the man who had lost his leg. I remember being so happy seeing him ride a bike at the end of the show. He was on of the more successful partcipants with weight loss. So sad, it seemed like he had gotten his quality of life back and was working and independent. 

[Armchair Critic]

I don't know what led LB to do that, as I said above I remember he felt like he wasn't totally accepted by his family. When people get as big as they are on this show there are psychological problems involved. A lot of people think that once they lose the weight their life will be great but then they find out that they still have problems even after the weight loss. Also, I think that most of the people on this show used food as entertainment and comfort, when you take that away they don't know how to fill their lives with other things.

[DC Gal in VA]

16 hours ago, Armchair Critic said:

I don't know what led LB to do that, as I said above I remember he felt like he wasn't totally accepted by his family. When people get as big as they are on this show there are psychological problems involved. A lot of people think that once they lose the weight their life will be great but then they find out that they still have problems even after the weight loss. Also, I think that most of the people on this show used food as entertainment and comfort, when you take that away they don't know how to fill their lives with other things.

But damn it Armchair Critic he seemed to be on the upswing at the end of his episode. This news so completely breaks my heart. I guess we never really know what beats inside the human heart do we? 

[Colleenna]

2 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

But damn it Armchair Critic he seemed to be on the upswing at the end of his episode. This news so completely breaks my heart. I guess we never really know what beats inside the human heart do we? 

Lovely, kind Diana (the one Dr. Now told to stop losing weight) posted a sweet tribute to LB on her Facebook page. Apparently these folks become friends with each other. 

[nokat]

I'm not sure why I watch this show, but it's probably because I've had food issues that left me very skinny. It can make you either very fat or very skinny.  I'm living with the results of not eating well, it's not pretty. I'm recovering from years of food restrictions.

What I'm eating, cauliflower and a pork chop. A bowl of blueberries for dessert.

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by nokat

[Wanda]

On 8/4/2018 at 5:35 PM, Colleenna said:

Lovely, kind Diana (the one Dr. Now told to stop losing weight) posted a sweet tribute to LB on her Facebook page. Apparently these folks become friends with each other. 

Checked out her page. She has a lovely photo with L.B. and I think, maybe, marissa? She’s wearing just the shirt you’d expect of her. Her posts are positive and motivational and IMO, she’s the poster child of My 600 L.B. Life. Always hit her goals, didn’t make excuses, worked towards getting her knees fixed instead of whining about skin surgery at 425 lbs, and is the only patient we’ve ever seen that was told it’s time to stop losing weight. And she did it the correct way, unlike someone like Christina who basically starved herself and had to actually gain weight before skin surgery. AND, made new friends and got herself an actual life. I’m not surprised she’d be friends with other people in the program that showed they”got” it also.

[nokat]

There was a woman on the first or second season who was successful despite her turd of a husband who was not supportive at all and actually sabotaged her. I hope she lost that weight too. I looked for a thread about her here when I watched the rerun but didn't find it.  I root for the people who at least try. I would like to see an addition to this show, such as how to make healthy meals.
 

[Elizzikra]

Quote

There was a woman on the first or second season who was successful despite her turd of a husband who was not supportive at all and actually sabotaged her. I hope she lost that weight too. I looked for a thread about her here when I watched the rerun but didn't find it.  I root for the people who at least try. I would like to see an addition to this show, such as how to make healthy meals.

Zsalynn? She was semi-successful - she lost a bunch of weight (including about 250 pounds of asshole husband) but at some point she stopped weighing herself saying "it's just a number." She seemed sort of stuck and was still quite heavy.

[nokat]

15 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

Zsalynn? She was semi-successful - she lost a bunch of weight (including about 250 pounds of asshole husband) but at some point she stopped weighing herself saying "it's just a number." She seemed sort of stuck and was still quite heavy.

It wasn't her I was thinking of, but thanks. Losing the asshole is probably the most important part of success.
 

[kokapetl]

Is Houston really as unphotogenic as it appears on this show?

[dahling]

5 hours ago, kokapetl said:

Is Houston really as unphotogenic as it appears on this show?

Yes.

[Minivanessa]

6 hours ago, kokapetl said:

Is Houston really as unphotogenic as it appears on this show?

I grew up there. There are a few areas with bayous and big trees and greenery that are okay, but the rich people have their houses there. For the most part, Houston is the smelly armpit of the universe.

7 hours ago, nokat said:

It wasn't her I was thinking of, but thanks. Losing the asshole is probably the most important part of success.
 

Do you mean Melissa? She was the very first patient featured on this show, back when IIRC it was more like a limited mini-series. She lost a lot of weight and went to work for Dr. Now as a peer counselor. Husband was an a-hole who cheated on her, but she wanted babies so bad she took him back. 

[crazycatlady58]

7 hours ago, kokapetl said:

Is Houston really as unphotogenic as it appears on this show?

I hate going into Houston but in defense Houston has 371 parks totaling 137,000 acres. It also has some wonderful old buildings and a great museums.

[Elizzikra]

Quote

It wasn't her I was thinking of, but thanks. Losing the asshole is probably the most important part of success.

It certainly was in her case - he was a dick.

Quote

Do you mean Melissa? She was the very first patient featured on this show, back when IIRC it was more like a limited mini-series. She lost a lot of weight and went to work for Dr. Now as a peer counselor. Husband was an a-hole who cheated on her, but she wanted babies so bad she took him back. 

She was better off without him too (at least emotionally - it seemed they struggled financially after they split). He was a dick too.

Now that I think about it, the wives seem to be, overall, more supportive than the husbands on this show. Go figure.

[aliya]

On 8/2/2018 at 5:32 PM, ams1001 said:

Here's something interesting...I came across this video a couple weeks ago (I was going to post it in a regular episode thread but the subject of diabetes never came up so I felt it was a little off topic; I ventured in here last night and it just occurred to me that maybe this would be a good place for it) and it mentions that the super-morbidly obese almost never have diabetes. (Start around 16:00). The analogy is to a bathtub - the bathtub is your fat cells and the diabetes is the wet floor around it when it overflows; the super-morbidly obese have a bigger tub to hold fat whereas most people's tubs spill over and the fat starts to go into other areas outside the actual fat cells (heart, liver, etc. - called "ectopic deposition") and that's when the resistance to insulin kicks in and you develop diabetes. So that might explain why we don't hear so much about these folks being diabetic as we might expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vinqph-g5QI
 

Interesting. I wish I could find the resource now, but I have posted before that I'd read one reason some of the super obese get that way is that they never get the 'wake up call' from diabetes that other people get. You have someone one who is a bit plump, maybe overdoes it on the carbs, maybe has a family history of diabetes, and they get diabetes. They change their diet, take their meds if necessary, and never get to super obesity. Without a wake up call like that, some people just keep eating.  And yes, I know there have been diabetics on the show, but not all of them are diabetic. 

[Scarlett45]

I came across this video which I think is relevant to the show. The title can be misleading but it’s quite respectful and educational. 

Thinking of poor LB and his parents having to bury him, but death plans for the super morbidly obese are more complicated and expensive than for average sized persons