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

[ams1001]

First episode (~2 years ago) vs Today (well, yesterday, I guess). Wow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZvT4uAM2BK/

[Maisiesmom]

They look great! See people, you can do it if you really want to!

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Maisiesmom said:

They look great! See people, you can do it if you really want to!

I like the mirror-image framing of the pictures, too. Don't know if that was intentional but it looks cool.

[Hellga]

Thanks for posting it for hte benefit of those of us who don't have instagram!

They look great!  Really happy for them.  

[ams1001]

Lonnie made a youtube channel. So far he has one video.

"I don't have no business making a youtube channel so why not? Here we go!" 😄

 

[7EasyPayments]

On 2/9/2022 at 1:17 PM, ams1001 said:

First episode (~2 years ago) vs Today (well, yesterday, I guess). Wow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZvT4uAM2BK/

Thanks for posting that ! Great progress!

[7EasyPayments]

https://pagesix.com/2022/02/10/my-600-lb-life-star-destinee-lashaee-dead-at-30/

Loved her in her badass Dodge Challenger.

RIP Destinee 🌈

[ams1001]

33 minutes ago, 7EasyPayments said:

Thanks for posting that ! Great progress!

Apparently John had skin surgery yesterday but he hasn't posted anything about how it went.

[SunnyBeBe]

I recently saw an older episode about wife/mother Zsailyn (sp?)  I couldn’t find a thread for her around here.  She did really well.  She actually got the full bypass and not sleeve. Her husband was obsessed with very fat women and was cruel to her as she lost the pounds.  I believe she was on a Where There Are Now episode.  She had divorced that mean husband and found love with someone new.  

Edited March 1, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[newyawk]

Question: Do you all watch this show all the time? I used to watch it religiously, until the repetitive formula started to bore me. Now I only watch it when I myself am working to lose weight. 

[fonfereksglen]

6 hours ago, newyawk said:

Question: Do you all watch this show all the time? I used to watch it religiously, until the repetitive formula started to bore me. Now I only watch it when I myself am working to lose weight. 

I watch each new episode.  The production formula is an afterthought part of the program.  I do not watch all the WATN episodes.

I am interested in the WHY?  The family dynamics. Are they addicts or not?  The resistance to or the acceptance of treatment.  

And the live chat!

 

[fonfereksglen]

The Henry episode was on today.  What a gem of a man.  Seven years of success and difficulty and success condensed into one hour.   Sad he died of unrelated issues.   Near the end, Dr. Now mentions 2005 as when Henry's journey began.  I had never done the math before as to when they started filming.  I believe I read the original patients we saw, and many others, were part of study of the effectiveness of weight loss surgery on the 600 pound plus.  The genesis of this program.

[cynicat]

7 hours ago, fonfereksglen said:

I believe I read the original patients we saw, and many others, were part of study of the effectiveness of weight loss surgery on the 600 pound plus.  The genesis of this program

I started watching from the beginning.  In the first season, they followed the people for 7 years.  The idea that it was a part of a study didn't occur to me, but makes perfect sense.

[Scarlett45]

On 3/6/2022 at 11:30 AM, newyawk said:

Question: Do you all watch this show all the time? I used to watch it religiously, until the repetitive formula started to bore me. Now I only watch it when I myself am working to lose weight. 

These days, I watch if one of the recappers I follow on YouTube says its good. I do like the stories, and seeing people succeed, but I have to be in the proper head space for it. Since I got discovery+ I don't live chat any more because I do not commit to watching it the first live airing.

[CapeCodLuv]

On 3/6/2022 at 12:30 PM, newyawk said:

Question: Do you all watch this show all the time? I used to watch it religiously, until the repetitive formula started to bore me. Now I only watch it when I myself am working to lose weight. 

After watching for many years the stories do seem repetitive. I feel the same way about Hoarders which I have removed from my DVR. I still have 600 lb life but I am not invested. I often turn it on while cleaning or cooking and half pay attention. Only the bizarre episodes capture my attention. I still love a good success story and continue to be amazed by candidates who poop their pants at a gas station during the trip to our savior Dr. Now. I want them all to win as I always have. I'm still fascinated at the family who enable the ones who are bedridden and those who sign up and then refuse to cooperate. I will l always have a soft spot for anyone who says "But I followed the diet exactly, I don't know how I gained weight." I'm just not invested as it's no longer new and the stories are blending together unless it's a win which is rare nowadays, or an epic failure. The epic failures seem common now and while they should be good entertainment and make my blood boil like Penny, Pauline or Steven they kind of bore me. I want people to do well. It's mainly the chat I love and I never catch the live as I watch whenever I am bored or cleaning. 

Ow my leg!

The scale is broken!

Edited May 10, 2022 by CapeCodLuv

[4Sibes Redux]

I still watch the show because its “rhythm” lulls me to sleep at night. 

[ams1001]

Doctor Mike's latest video is about Marla's episode..

 

[ctlady]

On 5/10/2022 at 6:15 PM, CapeCodLuv said:

I will l always have a soft spot for anyone who says "But I followed the diet exactly, I don't know how I gained weight."

Unless.....we know they haven't followed it exactly which is usually followed by some excuse as stress, etc. which Dr. Now sees right through.  And because it hinders their progress which leads Dr. Now to send them back home and come back in another month and hopefully 50lbs lighter, they walk out all dejected and, "I'm determined to work hard....."  STOP!  I really loathe the 'work hard' crap.  Grocery shopping for healthier choices is not 'working hard'.  Prepping, planning and cooking meals is not 'working hard'.  Refraining from badgering your live-in family members to bring you take out or chewing them out for forgetting half the junk food on the shopping list is not 'working hard'. Making sure you get some form of physical exercise in each day is not 'working hard'. Especially since 99% of these individuals do not have a job outside of the house.  

[Scarlett45]

26 minutes ago, ctlady said:

Unless.....we know they haven't followed it exactly which is usually followed by some excuse as stress, etc. which Dr. Now sees right through.  And because it hinders their progress which leads Dr. Now to send them back home and come back in another month and hopefully 50lbs lighter, they walk out all dejected and, "I'm determined to work hard....."  STOP!  I really loathe the 'work hard' crap.  Grocery shopping for healthier choices is not 'working hard'.  Prepping, planning and cooking meals is not 'working hard'.  Refraining from badgering your live-in family members to bring you take out or chewing them out for forgetting half the junk food on the shopping list is not 'working hard'. Making sure you get some form of physical exercise in each day is not 'working hard'. Especially since 99% of these individuals do not have a job outside of the house.  

I don't disagree with you, but I think for those at are sucessful at following Dr Now's program, the mental and emotional work they have to do, to tackle their food addiction/compulsive over eating (and to get to be 600lbs you have to compulsively over eat) IS hard work. It's hard emotional and mental work, because they are fighting against their impulses and coping mechanism ALL DAY LONG for weeks/months at a time. The coping mechanism they have had for years- yeah I think if they are successful they worked hard at over coming those issues. 

I often think the mental energy it takes to stay in a calorie deficit in order to lose large amounts of weight is under estimated (even for "typical" obese people who may just need to lose 50-100lbs). 

[BAForever]

8 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I often think the mental energy it takes to stay in a calorie deficit in order to lose large amounts of weight is under estimated (even for "typical" obese people who may just need to lose 50-100lbs). 

Yes times 1000. First,  these people are bored silly. Very few work, clean, cook, have hobbies, read, exercise, visit friends/family etc. Things the rest of us do daily.  Their day consists of eating or thinking about eating. TV and the internet are about all many have to pass the time. To immediately stop those behaviors would be very difficult. Second, it's how they have coped with life for years and years. To change that, would be difficult too. Add that many were abused during childhood, it's a small miracle when someone is successful losing weight at the beginning of their journey with Dr. Now.

[fonfereksglen]

10 hours ago, ctlady said:

Unless.....we know they haven't followed it exactly which is usually followed by some excuse as stress, etc. which Dr. Now sees right through.  And because it hinders their progress which leads Dr. Now to send them back home and come back in another month and hopefully 50lbs lighter, they walk out all dejected and, "I'm determined to work hard....."  STOP!  I really loathe the 'work hard' crap.  Grocery shopping for healthier choices is not 'working hard'.  Prepping, planning and cooking meals is not 'working hard'.  Refraining from badgering your live-in family members to bring you take out or chewing them out for forgetting half the junk food on the shopping list is not 'working hard'. Making sure you get some form of physical exercise in each day is not 'working hard'. Especially since 99% of these individuals do not have a job outside of the house.  

Addiction is a bitch.  Addicts will say and do and hurt anybody to feed their addiction.  Just because .......  Even people they deeply love.

Not making excuses for the extremely abusive addictive behaviors  we have seen.  But there are so many variants (often because of sexual or physical abuse) and other triggers, etc..that often remain unknown.

However,  once they reach this level of a messed up life on this show or Intervention,  we might be best to step back and hope they eventually accept the help they need.  I am often surprised at the true success stories.

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, BAForever said:

Yes times 1000. First,  these people are bored silly. Very few work, clean, cook, have hobbies, read, exercise, visit friends/family etc. Things the rest of us do daily.  Their day consists of eating or thinking about eating. TV and the internet are about all many have to pass the time. To immediately stop those behaviors would be very difficult. Second, it's how they have coped with life for years and years. To change that, would be difficult too. Add that many were abused during childhood, it's a small miracle when someone is successful losing weight at the beginning of their journey with Dr. Now.

Yeah, these participants are not otherwise well adjusted people who use food as a coping mechanism/an emotional crutch. Those people don't end up 600lbs. For most adults, once you get out of the 300s, just living in society is difficult. If a person has issues with food, but has other things that fulfill them jobs/family/interests etc, their issues with food don't stop them from participating in society, they don't get THAT large. Or we have a few participants that were very large, went thought a deep depression and ballooned up- I can see how that happens. When treating people with this level of obesity, its not the same tactics as someone who has a BMI if 30-35, we are treating a different problem, yes caused by a calorie surplus, but there's another layer of mental health that has to be treated too.

10 hours ago, fonfereksglen said:

Addiction is a bitch.  Addicts will say and do and hurt anybody to feed their addiction.  Just because .......  Even people they deeply love.

Not making excuses for the extremely abusive addictive behaviors  we have seen.  But there are so many variants (often because of sexual or physical abuse) and other triggers, etc..that often remain unknown.

However,  once they reach this level of a messed up life on this show or Intervention,  we might be best to step back and hope they eventually accept the help they need.  I am often surprised at the true success stories.

I agree. I am surprised too. Because it takes a long time to get that large, yet most of the participants that are successful are relatively young. When I look at their childhood photos, I see photos of myself, but most fat kids do STOP gaining when we reach our adult height (outside of a pregnancy, injury or depression). But for this group of participants, the gain is linear. Its not even 10-20lbs a year for 20yrs, its 50-100lbs a year for a couple of years. 

[Bugfrey Von]

Hi all!  So I'm having major withdrawals.... any news on if/when WATN and the OG show are starting up again?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I can't find anything saying that filming for episodes or WATN is happening.   I'm suspicious that this show is gone, except in reruns on TLC, and Discovery Life.  

[mmecorday]

Sure. TLC puts "My 600-Pound Life" out to pasture, but will continue to film the fucking Roloffs fighting over that stupid farm until the end of time.

[Hellga]

I mean, the show did become formulaic and struggled to recruit interesting participants in the last couple seasons but I will still miss it - more for the weekly chats than for the show itself.  Oh well... I started taking jewelry-making lessons so that will be my weekly routine starting in September.  But I will keep an eye on this forum anyway to see if maybe something materializes!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the last two years of shows reflected the reality of Dr. Now's practice, with very few successes, and lots of patients and enablers that swear they're 'working hard' 'don't know how they gained, because they're following the diet' etc.   

[Twopper]

Larry’s episode is playing. I was channel surfing for something to watch before football.  Our daughter is now a professor at Alabama, and they don’t play until later. I occasionally stop at the cable news channels to see if they are showing stuff from London. Anyway, I didn’t see a regular thread for him—I did not look hard—but it sounds like he didn’t do so good based on the final page of the live chat.  I am sure I must have seen this when it aired, but so far my memory is blank. His narration and music is making me sleepy. 

[cynicat]

Larry's boring journey thread

[CrazyInAlabama]

I hope this is the link to David's Journey, if not, it's on page one of the My 600 topics, and the last entry has an update from the local papers by one of our fellow members who lives there. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I watched an old episode today about Dottie and Shaun.  I saw that Shaun died.  He was very troubled on the show.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

10 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I watched an old episode today about Dottie and Shaun.  I saw that Shaun died.  He was very troubled on the show.  

Yes, poor Sean was ruined by his mother.    If you saw the original episode she went with him to Dr. Now, and the next visit when Sean was supposed to lose the weight, he went back a lot heavier.    Sean never had a chance.   

[SunnyBeBe]

13 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Yes, poor Sean was ruined by his mother.    If you saw the original episode she went with him to Dr. Now, and the next visit when Sean was supposed to lose the weight, he went back a lot heavier.    Sean never had a chance.   

I must have seen it, though I can’t recall it now.  Maybe, I’ll catch it again sometime.  The welfare of children is a biggie for me.  I’m not amused by parents who fail to prepare their child for life.  Robbing them of self accomplishment and independence is so cruel.  This seems especially an issue with children with special needs.  The parent’s desire to be needed, worshipped, and in control is more important to them than their child’s welfare and happiness.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Just now, SunnyBeBe said:

I must have seen it, though I can’t recall it now.  Maybe, I’ll catch it again sometime.  The welfare of children is a biggie for me.  I’m not amused by parents who fail to prepare their child for life.  Robbing them of self accomplishment and independence is so cruel.  This seems especially an issue with children with special needs.  The parent’s desire to be needed, worshipped, and in control is more important to them than their child’s welfare and happiness.  

I think there were two follow ups to Sean's original episode.     At the end, after his mother died, the father tried to help Sean, but Sean's only goal was to lose enough to get in a care home, and have 24/7 caretakers.   He died of infection I think. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Yes, the update episode yesterday covered Sean returning to the hospital, I think with infection.  Then it went off with a statement of in tribute to Sean and date of death.  

[non sequitur]

I re-watched Sean's episodes last year. I can't believe his mother made sure he was completely dependent and unable to function as an adult. So selfish and cruel.

[aliya]

I looked on the TLC page but didn't see when the show starts again. I've missed y'all.

[OoogleEyes]

Wait! It's Wednesday night and My 600 lb Life is on TLC??

Christina's Story.  S2E5. A classic episode!

[Kid]

On 10/4/2022 at 7:32 PM, aliya said:

I looked on the TLC page but didn't see when the show starts again. I've missed y'all.

Same here!!  I looked forward to the live chats each week.

[ProTourist]

Here's a post on Dr. Now's Instagram, from September 24, that a new season will air soon:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci4EzZwtBBY/

[mmecorday]

@ProTourist, thank you for sharing this! I have missed this show. More than that, I have missed the live chat sessions.

[Hellga]

Thanks, @ProTourist !  I was just thinking - will the new season start in November?  I miss the live chats, looking forward to being back here for them.  

[sagittarius sue]

There's a new Where Are They Now episode on tonight.  It's Diana-the full story.  I scanned through her previous WATN episode, and it was one of the most successful stories they've had.  She lost from 601-160, and was still facing a couple skin surgeries.  I think I'll watch it.

[7EasyPayments]

Surprised there isn't a dedicated thread. Good to know I'm not alone in watching.

[Suzywriter]

What! I just happened to see this when I was putting on The Golden Girls to write a paper for grad school! Wow!!!

This person seems eerily sane. 

This doesn't look like the original Diana...

Edited October 27, 2022 by Suzywriter

[snarkish]

I wish Diana's Journey had a chat page! She's one of my favorites! I can't wait to see where she is now!

[Suzywriter]

I will never buy Lume because the commercials are so revolting. 

[mmecorday]

I had no idea the show was new tonight! TLC buried it like a Bronte sister. 

[sagittarius sue]

11 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

I had no idea the show was new tonight! TLC buried it like a Bronte sister. 

Around an hour ahead of time, I noticed it on my cable guide so I had time to check out the previous WATN episode.  The show's only allowing 10-15 minutes for a true update.  So far it's covered what was shown back in 2018.

[Suzywriter]

Diana seems so very lonely.