Season 4 Special: Moments of Truth

[Muffyn]

Pivotal moments, whether tragic or triumphant, decide the success or failure of individuals struggling with extreme obesity.

 

Hand-picked updates on prior patients.  So not-happy to see Gareth and Penny in her toilet bed.  

[Scorpiosunshine]

Ugh, Gareth - - what an absolute ass. I'm so happy Zsalynn got away from him and his negativity.

Basement Lady (Olivia? I feel terrible about calling her Basement Lady) not only looked fantastic, but also much younger!

[Noirprncess]

Hand-picked updates on prior patients. So not-happy to see Gareth and Penny in her toilet bed.

Lol, you mean, Penny's kitchen/toilet bed. I did not need one more shot of her deep frying wontons while talking about how they were the HEALTHIER option than eating out. Delusional much lady?

Although, I must admit, the volumes of comments about Penny & Co on TWoP was pure comedy.

Still shocked that Melissa is preggers and having a third baby. I do think she's going to gain quite a bit of weight back. She really struggled.

Olivia looked awesome. She looked healthy and happy.

I do wish this had been more of a how are they doing now episode. Although I wonder how many have gained a significant amount back.

Forgot to say, we knew the writing was on the wall for Gareth when even their daughter asked why Zsalynn married him.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Noirprncess

[leighroda]

I was disappointed in the special, I was excited when I say there was an update show, but I don't really think the little 5 minute blurbs really do anyone any justice.

Ohhh Penny...how could I forget deep fried wontons are healthier than eating out, no wonder I sometimes struggle with my weight, I don't even own a deep fryer.

[notyrmomma]

(pasted in from the other thread) I said this over in another thread, but I was disapointed with this show because they really didn't show any updates.  Also I thought Melissa looked terrible.  I believe she was pregnant, but they could have put a little makeup on her, maybe foundation would have been nice.  I know that's not really nice to say and we shouldn't shame other women, but come on!  You're on a show where everyone wants to see what you look like now.  Why not put your best face forward?

 

The only new things we saw were the interviews with Melissa and Zsalynn, the rest was just old footage from the last three seasons and maybe just a generic update like "Charity continues to lose weight".  Gee, thanks.  

[poeticlicensed]

I was disappointed that this wasn't really an update show. LOL, I know more about the current status of some of these people from this board and the social media links! 

 

I had forgotten how vile Penny was. Ugh. What a nightmare

[islandgal140]

Shouldn't a show allegedly updating on people who underwent extreme weight loss surgery have featured a full current body shot compared to a before picture and starting and current weight numbers? Sounds like a waste and a missed opportunity especially for the ones who gave new commentary. Thanks show.

 

Lol, you mean, Penny's kitchen/toilet bed. I did not need one more shot of her deep frying wontons while talking about how they were the HEALTHIER option than eating out. Delusional much lady?

 

Every time they show the scene of Penny in the hospital crying after learning that she hadn't lost a pound after surgery and Dr. Now telling her that patients that underwent surgery at the same time have lost 100 lbs she says 'where's my yellow brick road' I think you had one, you just paved it with fried wontons and ate it! Sorry, not sorry. 

 

I keep underestimated how horrid Gareth was. Ugh.

 

If you want to get a gander of how wonky editing is on this show take a look at the scene with Gareth, Zsalynn and their daughter. Keep your on at that cute cat. 

He goes from sitting on Zsalynn's stomach with his back to the camera, to flat on his side on her stomach facing the camera, being gone, being back on her stomach with his back to the camera, gone, back on stomach, and than oddly enough sitting on the back seat cushions of the love seat Gareth is sitting on. So weird!

 

It is hard to imagine people letting themselves get over 500 lbs let alone 600-700 lbs but I can understand food addiction and likely depression to an extent. What I find it still more unfathomable that they have found these mates that actually love having such a burden to have to bathe, clothe, toilet wipe, feed, change diapers, powder and lotion down, and do everything for. These enablers actually get worried of the person not needing them anymore and being able to do things for themselves. I don't get why someone wants to be needed that way. Like. at. all. 

Edited January 7, 2016 by islandgal140

[Noirprncess]

I agree islandgal140. I jump a tad when the lady with the body fat wings mentioned her fiance. Her FIANCE!

[auntjess]

 

Still shocked that Melissa is preggers and having a third baby.

Isn't Melissa the first shows, and didn't she get a divorce?  Is this another husband, or a remarriage?

[leighroda]

Isn't Melissa the first shows, and didn't she get a divorce? Is this another husband, or a remarriage?

Melissa was on the first season of the show. Her husband admitted to cheating, but I don't think they ever actually separated/divorced. I could be wrong that's just how I remember it.

[notyrmomma]

I thought I saw something, albeit cryptic, on Melissa's facebook page within the last year about them separating.  Oh well, God bless her.  Three kids is not easy, three kids and a butthead husband is downright difficult.

[gunderda]

I stopped watching after about a half hour since it wasn't really an update show.  Except Melissa.  She has probably gained weight due to being pregnant but they could at least SAY that instead of putting a blurb at the end that they are expecting child #3.  And color me another person shocked that she was still with her husband and they were on to baby #3.  I thought they were done and over with too.  Hopefully he got his shit together.

[Guest]

like "Charity continues to lose weight".  Gee, thanks.

Right? There was simply no point to this show. Nary a real update on any of these people and ... what of Pauline?! I also would have liked to have seen more of that poor fellow who developed Guiilain-Barre syndrome. And they totally glossed over Chuck (*shudder*) who moved on from that wife to another wife -- who also dumped his pathetic, lazy ass.

[Muffyn]

This is one of those instances where there is a really interesting show they could have produced, but they didn't.  It would be interesting to hear of the ups and downs people went through after surgery, how the weight loss impacted their relationships, who was able to reach which personal goals (go to school, get a particular job, etc.).  By providing almost no new information or only vague information on the people they showed, I wonder if they even bothered to speak to some of them again or if they simply didn't like what they found when they did check in.  Even if they had done the show only on Melissa, we could have seen a very interesting program. She had a difficult marriage.  She at one point had lost more weight than they wanted her to.  She had three kids.  From FB, she may now be separated.  There is a lot that could be mined there about how her relationship to her body changed, how weight loss doesn't fix a bad marriage, how she is raising her children and if they have a healthy idea of eating, etc.  

 

There is also something interesting in the failures.  While the thought of more Penny time makes me cringe, seeing her now and understanding how she sabotaged her weight loss is important for people to understand.  There are too many people who seem to think the surgery will solve everything. As she well proved, the surgery does nothing if you do everything you can to make it fail.  I do wonder how her husband and son are doing.  

 

I would also be interested in knowing how Donald, the man with Guillain-Barre syndrome, is doing now.  After a coma and a year in recovery, what is he able to do?  Is he still living with his family?  Has he been able to achieve any of his goals? 

 

So, yeah, I join you all in your disappointment in this "special".  After seeing it, I understand why they didn't show it a week earlier to try to get more interest in the show.  This did not exactly make me want to watch more.  

[Noirprncess]

I think Melissa got more of an update because they followed her around for like 7 years or so unlike the current folks that they follow for just a year.

I wish they covered whether she still works for Dr Now or not.

I got the feeling from the show that her husband was a mute and less belligerent version of Gareth.

[leighroda]

I thought I saw something, albeit cryptic, on Melissa's facebook page within the last year about them separating. Oh well, God bless her. Three kids is not easy, three kids and a butthead husband is downright difficult.

Oh, that's possible, I don't follow her on any social media, I only know what was shown and I think at that point they had worked through the affair, but it's very possible and probably most likely that they are separated at this point.

I was slightly disappointed that she seems to have gained a lot of the weight back. I try not to have too much of an opinion since I'm sure it's difficult to live with the world noting every gain/loss... But you can't necessarily go on a update show centered on weight loss and expect nobody to question a drastic change. I kinda wish it had been addressed, whether it is truly pregnancy weight, or if she experienced a gain, I don't judge her if that is the case, I just think it's important to show the ups and downs, as many can probably relate.

[Madding crowd]

This show was a complete bore but did anyone watch the Skin Tight show? It made me cringe both looking at all the loose skin and the surgery and then the horrific scars. I felt so sorry for these people and I have to admit it is a fear of mine that I will get lots of loose skin if I lose weight. I don't have any where the weight to lose as these people, but I don't think I could stand losing so much weight and still having to wear huge clothes because of the excessive skin. I was kind of hoping the woman on the show would have seen another doctor besides Dr. Now. He doesn't seem to care much if he leaves gigantic scars. Someone who is more experienced in plastic surgery might do a better job. 

[notyrmomma]

As a public service, here are the personal Facebook pages of some of the prior contestents so you all can see what's up with them for yourself (I will edit this to add more as I find them, and not everyone has public pages):

 

Edited - I moved this to the thread "I can clean my own vagina now - past contestants" as it probably fits better there

Edited January 9, 2016 by notyrmomma

[JunebugTx]

This show was a complete bore but did anyone watch the Skin Tight show? It made me cringe both looking at all the loose skin and the surgery and then the horrific scars. I felt so sorry for these people and I have to admit it is a fear of mine that I will get lots of loose skin if I lose weight. I don't have any where the weight to lose as these people, but I don't think I could stand losing so much weight and still having to wear huge clothes because of the excessive skin. I was kind of hoping the woman on the show would have seen another doctor besides Dr. Now. He doesn't seem to care much if he leaves gigantic scars. Someone who is more experienced in plastic surgery might do a better job.

I missed the very beginning, but I did see most of Skin Tight, and I'm with you - I hate the idea that if I lost a bunch of weight, I would likely end up with a bunch of saggy skin to deal with. I could stand to lose about 50 pounds, but I would hate to deal with having to make sure your extra skin is arranged evenly underneath your clothing all the time.

[Hannah94]

2 years later, I am watching this episode tonight because of all the comments on Penny in the You're the Worst poll. She just said "no one told me I had to lose weight when I got here". WTF. Is this girl for real?

Another golden comment from her (while sitting in front of a mountain of deep fried wontons): "eating all of this is still less detrimental to me than not eating". What does that even mean???

[Kyanight]

45 minutes ago, Hannah94 said:

2 years later, I am watching this episode tonight because of all the comments on Penny in the You're the Worst poll. She just said "no one told me I had to lose weight when I got here". WTF. Is this girl for real?

Another golden comment from her (while sitting in front of a mountain of deep fried wontons): "eating all of this is still less detrimental to me than not eating". What does that even mean???

Trust me, it only means something in Penny's own head.  Everyone else in the world rolls their eyes and shakes their head.   I don't know why, but Penny just pisses me off more than any of the others.  

[Hannah94]

5 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

Trust me, it only means something in Penny's own head.  Everyone else in the world rolls their eyes and shakes their head.   I don't know why, but Penny just pisses me off more than any of the others.  

I thought I had seen the Penny show before but I must have gotten her confused with someone else...maybe Pauline? Because I am fairly certain I have not seen this delusional bag of lame excuses and denial before now. Wow. She has definitely "earned" her votes in the poll!

[auntjess]

On 2/3/2019 at 11:23 PM, Hannah94 said:

2 years later, I am watching this episode tonight because of all the comments on Penny in the You're the Worst poll. She just said "no one told me I had to lose weight when I got here". WTF. Is this girl for real?

Ah Penny.  This is akin to many of them,  who lose some but maybe not enough, and say that if they don't get surgery, it will be for nothing.  
Well no, at least you'll be x pounds lighter.
None of the people who have died, are the ones I thought would.