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S05.E13: Hannah

jjj

By jjj
in Extreme Weight Loss [V]

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jjj

jjj

(edited)

Adding thread; although my online guide says this is Episode 10, I'll make it the next number in the series, so Ep 13. (Chris is the lead trainer, so it is safe to look.)

 

Well, they finally broke a candidate -- a broken bone in her foot.  I did not see what happened, but as Heidi said, "She was working toward her goal, then all of a sudden we were in the doctor's office getting a cast." Genius. 

 

Last week, they berated the candidate for not contacting them in Phase 2 when she was struggling to lose weight.  This week, the candidate contacted them, and as Chris said, "I can't walk over to her house, it's 1800 miles away.  So we hired a private investigator."  And they did!  When she did not meet her Phase 2 goal, after "doing everything I was supposed to do," Chris showed her the grainy stalker footage of her going to a fast-food drive-in and getting pizza delivered.  It was creepy.  (Please note that she had lost over 100 pounds at the end of Phase 2, down from 310 pounds to 204, which I find amazing.) 

 

Ultimately lost 151 pounds, and she was the one who got to wear the form-fitting bright orange dress (it was lovely and very flattering).  The background story is that she was too heavy to have a baby, but after saying that at the beginning, I don't think it was mentioned again until the very end.  The blessing of the one-hour show, no time for extraneous drama!  This candidate seemed to have a very sweet and supportive husband, who spent a lot of time working out in the gym with her, and tearing up from time to time when he talked about how wonderful his wife is.  This was another very engaging candidate who just had to work through the big challenge of losing so much weight. 

Edited by jjj
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ClareWalks

ClareWalks

(edited)

Personal Training Pedantry...because this episode was rife with it. Blech.

 

First of all, for Heidi to judge Hannah for "hiding behind a mask of makeup" is laughable. Between the plastic surgery, veneers, bright-orange spray tan, bleached hair, and the raccoon eye makeup, Heidi is so false that she would set off a lie detector just by WATCHING the Maury Povich show.

 

Hannah's concern about being able to have a baby at that weight is very real. The odds of having hormone or ovulation issues is excellent when you are that obese. I think Hannah was worried about the wrong thing, though, which is "how do I carry a baby and deliver the baby at this weight?" Honestly, you'd be lucky to get pregnant at all if you have PCOS or something, so maybe go to the doctor and get tested for things?

 

Breaking her foot, of course, is typical. And Chris and Heidi took zero responsibility for it. Follow that up by encouraging her to do one-leg exercises that will cause muscular imbalances that could lead to more injuries in the future, and bingo, you've got a standard Powell strategy.

 

Then at her 6-month milestone, they made her do an eco-tri (kayak instead of swim) around the Bahamas. Fine. But it ended with a SEVEN MILE RUN and I almost lost my shit, literally. Yeah, Chris, you goddamn genius; make a woman who tells you she hasn't been hard on her body (meaning she hasn't done anything high impact, I bet, in about 4 months) because she was afraid of reinjuring her broken foot (that YOU CAUSED, let's face it), and make her RUN (not walk, because god forbid. Screw people who think walking fast isn't challenging) SEVEN MILES. There is not enough capslock in the WORLD. Her odds of injury were sky-high in that situation. 

 

 

For a woman who wants to have children, is skin removal surgery a good idea? How does that work?

 

It probably wouldn't affect her ability to get and stay pregnant, but yeah, what's the point of getting your stomach skin removed when you're just going to stretch it out anyway? 

 

Best thing about these one hour episodes, besides less Heidi, is they don't drag out the ending weigh-in as much. Lord, that thing takes up 20 minutes in a typical 2-hour show. I fastforward through the entire thing except the actual final number.

 

Oh, and Heidi's makeup at the end...good, sweet baby Jesus in the manger, she looked like a drag queen. As Trixie Mattel would say, she "didn't paint for the back row, she painted for the check-cashing place down the street."

Edited by ClareWalks
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MakeMeLaugh

MakeMeLaugh

Hannah was just stunning in the before section all dolled up giving her presentation--she could start a company helping women (overweight and otherwise) dress and style themselves. Hilarious watching Heidi (potential hostess of the Extreme Cosmetics Show) order her not to hide behind makeup. OF COURSE she broke her foot--Dr Blondie telling them this wasn't an injury she could work through hinted to me that the participants often are in her office with injuries. Good for Hannah doing so well anyway.

Good point on skin surgery and subsequent pregnancy, ClareWalks.

We missed some drama stuff in the one-hour episode. Did I miss Mario Andretti? The ABC site describes this two-hour version:

Hannah had a tough childhood; after her parents divorced, her mother had to work the night shift as a nurse, and would take sleeping pills in order to sleep during the day, leaving Hannah to fend for herself. She has vivid memories of attempting to make her own meals at 10 years old, sometimes eating only ketchup out of a coffee mug because she thought it “tasted good.”

Now married and successful in her career, Hannah is ready to have children of her own, but several doctors have told her that getting pregnant at her current weight is dangerous.

As friction caused by her fertility issues starts to build in her own marriage, Hannah decides to change her life – and hopefully save her marriage – by writing a letter to Chris and Heidi.

This year, Hannah will not just lose a lot of weight, she’ll attempt to kick-start the active, exciting life she’s always wanted to enjoy with her husband, beginning with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race cars with racing legend Mario Andretti!

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editorgrrl

editorgrrl

"Hannah is ready to have children of her own, but several doctors have told her that getting pregnant at her current weight is dangerous." I thought Hannah said she'd never seen a doctor because she didn't want to be told she can't have a baby. I'm glad I was wrong, because that meant the entire show was about a problem she may not have even had.

But what "friction" in her marriage? Her husband was so supportive. The only tension I can think of was Hannah's guilt over his selling his sports car, which was apparently just a setup for Hannah to ride with Mario Andretti? The race car stuff made sense with Bryce, but here?!

To build on ClareWalks's RuPaul's Drag Race reference: "The shade of it all!"

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jjj

jjj

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I finally saw the opening segment, and yes, that was cruel to leave the impression that she might not be chosen, and to leave the recorder behind to capture her reaction.  That, and the private investigator grainy black-and-white footage of illicit food runs was very intrusive.  Who knows what else might have been learned, beyond food!  It was moving the show into "To Catch a Predator" area.

 

I think the preview last week even showed her meeting Mario Andretti -- was any of that in the show last night?  I was on the computer while the show was on, so could have missed it, but it would have stood out.

 

Good point about having the skin-reduction surgery before having a child.  It would make more sense later. 

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Vivigirl10

Vivigirl10

 

For a woman who wants to have children, is skin removal surgery a good idea? How does that work?

I imagine there would have to be some pretty significant healing time (if they're doing her stomach, which I imagine they would) before you could re-stretch it with a pregnancy.  Yikes.  I agree, it seems like it would make more sense to wait and do it post-baby.  

 

I hope Hannah waits a bit before getting pregnant.  I have nothing to base this on, but it seems like she could easily head down a slippery slope through a pregnancy related weight gain and post-delivery stress.  

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gryphon

gryphon

(edited)

 

Breaking her foot, of course, is typical. And Chris and Heidi took zero responsibility for it. Follow that up by encouraging her to do one-leg exercises that will cause muscular imbalances that could lead to more injuries in the future, and bingo, you've got a standard Powell strategy. 

I was really worried about this--muscle imbalance.  After my ACL surgery I really had to work on getting both legs to equal strength with each other....It's so difficult to do when you can only move one leg--or one leg not as much as the other.  I wish they would have addressed this. 

Gah, Heidi. Hiding behind makeup?   Pot, meet painted kettle. 

Edited by gryphon
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scenicbyway

scenicbyway

I thought it was odd they'd even discuss skin surgery when she so clearly wants to have children.  It would've been nice to see them counsel her on a healthy pregnancy diet, because it will probably be hard for her to gain and lose weight again so soon.

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jjj

jjj

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I'm enjoying reading the posts in this thread. However, as soon as I saw this was another Heidi episode, I deleted it. I'm out when it's Heidi and not Chris.

No, Chris is the lead trainer -- Heidi is in the background.  But she always gives us something to talk about here!

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ChicagoCita

ChicagoCita

Weird that they previewed the whole Mario Andretti thing and then it didn't make it into the show.  I think 60 minutes is too short -- as someone said, 90 minutes may be the sweet spot.

 

Hannah looked great at the reveal, but whose idea was it to give her a dress with a peplum? Those add weight to anyone except the skinniest women.  For someone who carries her weight in her hips, as Hannah seemed to -- not that she didn't look fabulous -- it was a curious wardrobe choice for a weight loss show.

 

How loving her relationship seemed to be with her husband and family. It was nice to see a totally supportive spouse and no nightmarish backstory of abuse.  She was a beautiful woman even before losing weight.

 

I agree, the hidden cameras and spy footage and private investigators are getting creepy.  Show runners, you have a sweet, goofy, caring individual in Chris Powell!  He was made for this kind of show!  Stop with the creepy stalker gimmicks, and stop highlighting Heidi.  She may be sweet, goofy and caring in real life, but she comes across as vapid, fake, and judgmental on TV. Stop trying to make Fetch happen.  It's not going to happen.

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Eeksquire

Eeksquire

 

Hannah was just stunning in the before section all dolled up giving her presentation--she could start a company helping women (overweight and otherwise) dress and style themselves.

ITA.  Also, can she please tell us what hair care products she's using because she had Kate Middleton level shiny gorgeous hair from beginning to end.  And the dress she wore to meet Chris in the gym the first time was adorable and I'd like one please and thank you.

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Jadzia

Jadzia

I think 60 minutes is too short -- as someone said, 90 minutes may be the sweet spot.

 

I agree, if only because I feel like I have no idea why this woman was heavy to begin with. They never explained it and never showed her overcoming what was holding her back before. So now I don't know if she really made a permanent lifestyle change or just followed through for the year-end goal.

 

Speaking of which, have they ever done any "where are they now" episodes for this show? I would love to see how many people stick with it. I know The Biggest Loser has a pretty high rate of people yo-yoing back to their old ways, but I would imagine this show being a year that might be long enough to make more permanent lifestyle habits.

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Eeksquire

Eeksquire

Jadzia, i completely agree with everything you said.  I was wondering exactly the same thing about "where are they nows" - I'd like to see a follow up episode or two.  Seems like they've had enough seasons to have people to choose from.

 

I also questioned the origin story here - I think the only thing I caught was that she started gaining weight in college when she met her husband and it made me wonder about their relationship, especially since Chris highlighted it again after their first meeting when they asked her what she had always wanted to do and it was more or less "make my husband happy".

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Ford

Ford

(edited)

Totally agree about stripping women down into their bra and panties, and doing it anywhere. There is no reason for that at all. Ridiculous.

Next everything on Heidi, ditto. pot calling kettle black with her all the time. (Make up etc..) Please get rid of her.

Also why did Hannah gain weight, why did she need to save her marriage? They never went there. I felt like this episode did not go deep at all.

Next why did they do her teeth on this episode? Her teeth looked fine to me. Also what is the name of that dentist? I actually do need that kind of work but it costs around 30k to get that done, so wow. If he is giving it away to them, they should slow down when they say his name. He had about 30 seconds of credit there. I just googled Extreme Weight loss Dentist and they pop right up.

Edited by Ford
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