S05.E04: Kirsten's Story

[dahling]

You can exercise away calories. A calorie is a unit of energy. If your weight is stable, you change nothing and add a 100-calorie workout to your daily regimen, in 35 days you will have lost a pound.  (A pound of fat = 3500 calories.)

What you can't do is exercise away a 3500+ calorie meal of fried rice and cheesecake, or 6 large pizzas a day. If you use the simple rule that a 180-lb person burns 100 calories by running a mile, you see that it's simply not possible, time or stamina-wise, to burn that many calories. But exercise of course has many physical benefits and is another great tool in the weight loss toolbox. Especially if you build muscle mass, that burns more calories at a basic level than fat. 

TL:DR You should exercise, it will help everything - but you can't out-exercise a bad diet. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Folks, we are off-topic.  We have given some leeway but we keep ending up back here.  If you would like to continue the discussion regarding diet and exercise, please take it to Small Talk.  Thanks! 

[Calicocats]

Going to small talk...

[LuciaMia]

Another one who is so desperate to get in to see Dr. Now, insisting "this is my last chance, if he can't help me I don't know what Ill do."   Then after the surgery and having to face all the new changes, its suddenly "nobody understands that I can do this  better on my own!"

[lenny]

On 1/22/2017 at 4:16 PM, AmandaPanda said:

Quote

Kirsten is close to losing all her mobility, and while she's trying to control of her obesity, she's also in danger of losing her troubled son.

What a nasty witch. Her son? She forgot about him right after she popped him out. Sadly it's not a story of him finding a loving home with grandma, she forgot about him too. So sad, this boy doesn't stand a chance at a normal life, not unless Grandma gets some help with her co dependency on the family addict. Sad, sad, sad. I was in shock that they saw nothing wrong with abandoning the boy in Texas with his abusive mother and expecting him to become the stand in servant to replace Grandma.

Edited May 31, 2017 by lenny

[Otter]

14 hours ago, lenny said:

What a nasty witch. Her son? She forgot about him right after she popped him out. Sadly it's not a story of him finding a loving home with grandma, she forgot about him too. So sad, this boy doesn't stand a chance at a normal life, not unless Grandma gets some help with her co dependency on the family addict. Sad, sad, sad. I was in shock that they saw nothing wrong with abandoning the boy in Texas with his abusive mother and expecting him to become the stand in servant to replace Grandma.

Her episode was on yesterday and she's right up there with the most disagreeable, unpleasant, nastiest people who have been shown.  Just as bad as Steven.  Her family did everything for her, including bringing her back into the home and all she did was blame her parents for all the misfortunes in her life because daddy didn't love her enough.  Felt terrible for Neiko.  Dr. Now didn't like her either.  :D

[auntjess]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 1:26 PM, hummingbird said:

I am wondering if all the counseling segments are edited for the sake of "real counseling that goes on"  just to show a bit of therapy.   

Yes, I can't imagine any real session being so  biff, bam, thank you ma'am.
Rewatching it again last night, what caught me was that she almost never(once, by my count), said "thank you."
And like all of them who realize they've outgrown cars,  there's never any thought of cutting down enough to lose enough weight to make the trip a little easier.
The whole "I'll die if I don't get the surgery" is something I can't understand.

Edited September 20, 2017 by auntjess

[ethalfrida]

On 9/19/2017 at 0:07 PM, auntjess said:

And like all of them who realize they've outgrown cars,  there's never any thought of cutting down enough to lose enough weight to make the trip a little easier.
The whole "I'll die if I don't get the surgery" is something I can't understand.

Yes...

I understand food addiction ...to a point. Having a serious sweet tooth I can very easily eat a slice of cake at certain times or grab tropical fruit.

You know those cakes at the supermarkets with the fake whipped cream and fruit on top? Those. I am the biggest non-gmo/organic freak nut on earth but I just love those cakes. LOL, but I only like the whipped cream and cake part but not the glazed fruit so I scrap it off. However, at some point I feel I've had enough and won't have any for months or maybe even a year.

So I can't understand looking at yourself or the size clothing you wear and being satisfied with that. Why is it okay?

Because most of them refuse to take the responsibility to see how they can help themselves. There is so much information available on nutrition that it becomes overwleming even for those who practice eating well. I can only go so far with them on their obesity. Struggle but make an effort.

[Mu Shu]

“Neeiiko!  Bring me mah CANE”.

im going to hell but I busted out laughing when she broke the bed and failed to wedge into the van to go yardsaling.

no, im not really making fun of her.  I can’t imagine weighing 150 lbs let alone 600.

that is one odd family.  Really depressing. 

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 1/27/2017 at 1:59 AM, swankie said:

On 1/26/2017 at 0:31 AM, CarolMK said:

She did mention that she had managed to quit drugs and alcohol and I wonder if she was able to do that on her own or if she needed to go to rehab for those.

She said her drug supplier got busted and that's why she was forced to get off of the drugs.  Don't know how true that is though.  A lot of her backstory just doesn't jibe to me.

I did not believe her backstory either.  Most drug addicts are not know for being truthful.  (Trust me I know - Ambien and I used to be too good of friends.)  I think there is a lot more to her dealer story but she is shameful or whatever.  

I don't blame Neiko one bit as I, too, would have killed Kirsten in Houston.  You leave me with grandparents, fine, then show up, move into my room (I am a 14 year boy, remember?) then bitch at me?  I was glad to see him eating that food and drinking the huge drink in front of her.  I would have done that every damn day!!

On 1/30/2017 at 0:03 PM, Motor City said:

“God designed 14-year old boys to be the most obnoxious creatures on the planet, so I’m not writing Neiko off yet.  8th grade is the nadir of human life.  Then to be ripped away from your home and told to sit in this empty crap apartment and clean a hosebeast’s fat folds while all your friends are at basketball camp…I’d want to sabotage her, too, and I’m not 14.  Who is supposed to be parenting him?  He’s still a kid who needs to be raised.  Someone ought to be making him sandwiches and helping him with his homework and asking if he’s trying out for soccer this year.  The whole situation was ass backwards.”

Well said!

Yep - and I am in my early 50's with a master's degree - I should have the maturity to know better but man....Kirsten just bugged!!!  When she told ehr mom "Can we stop for food?" and the mom was like, sure!  I thought what the hell with she do to you?  She is wedged in there, she can't do much but cry and scream.  

 

On 1/29/2017 at 3:25 AM, swankie said:

Neiko had to bathe his mother and wipe her butt after she went to the bathroom when his grandparents left him alone to care for her. Not only is that inappropriate that is child abuse.

Especially since she never did any of those caretaking things for her son - now he has to parent her unpleasant ass?  Yuck.

[cynicat]

I had forgotten how irritated I was by Kirsten and think it was hysterical that Dr. Now put her on suicide watch when she whined in the hospital.  

[Mrs. Hanson]

26 minutes ago, cynicat said:

I had forgotten how irritated I was by Kirsten and think it was hysterical that Dr. Now put her on suicide watch when she whined in the hospital.  

What didn't she whine about??

[Mu Shu]

I actually like Kirsten.  She was laying down some Dianne from Fat Camp whiny nuggets.

”I just need some basic Fewd”

”I had to drink the water from my breathing machine!”

”If they would let me go home, I could use my own puke bucket”.

it looks like there are many issues she got from her parents, and transferred to her kids.  I got what she was saying about hoping she doesn’t wake up.  What hell her life has been.  No one plans to become a 600 lb invalid.  

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

She was laying down some Dianne from Fat Camp whiny nuggets.

All hail one of the greatest reality stars I've ever seen.

Dianne was a world-class whiner; Kirsten a sold close second.

[Mu Shu]

13 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

All hail one of the greatest reality stars I've ever seen.

Dianne was a world-class whiner; Kirsten a sold close second.

Let’s just hope Kirsten doesn’t show her bitchy ass roommates what the what and not shower for three days.

i wish Dianne were my neighbor.  She’s the best. 

[MrsClaus]

I'm trying to rewatch this but it is hard going.  She really is not likeable.

[ButterQueen]

On 1/31/2017 at 5:44 PM, flappa1016 said:

I figured she drank a lot of soda, but geez, 4 two liters a day!!!!  Without even taking into account the number of calories that is, the METABOLIC effect on the body would be horrible!!!  That's pure sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup there - a sure-fire prescription for diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - the size of her liver alone was probably why Dr. Now didn't have the room to stuff her insides back in AND perform a proper gastric bypass.

Someone upthread mentioned the Hillshire Farm sausages in her cart - first of all, they are low carb and are a perfectly acceptable form of protein.  Secondly, those were bought for the entire family.  They showed her cooking for them that night, and I saw that everybody at the table had the sausage on their plates (except Neiko, who had a slice of pizza and what appeared to be a bread stick), and either some type of vegetable or a salad (can't remember which).  I looked at those plates and thought "Finally that family is eating healthy".  Although Neiko is old enough now that he should be eating what the family eats, or at the very least something healthier than pizza and bread.

I'd have to rewatch, but I thought she threw 3 packages of the sausages on the conveyor.  That's a lot for 3 people.

On 2/3/2017 at 11:09 AM, Tabbygirl521 said:

I thought it was remarkable how easily she got in and out of that white crossover in TX after the drama of trying to pack into her mom's van - when Mom tried to slam the door on her bulk. I think she had lost only 50 lbs but she was whipping in and out so much more easily into what seems like a smaller passenger compartment. 

Neiko was definitely being a brat but it seemed most understandable to me. Frankly, none of them had strong communication skills or consistent respectful behavior to each other or anyone else. I hate when the patients act like brats with the medical staff. 

I imagine Kirsten has worn the parents out so maybe they are acting out as well. But I bet their family dynamic has always been painful. And didn't she mention needing to hash something out with her dad regarding the past, but we didn't see the convo? Something ain't right with the whole gang. 

????

[auntjess]

Just refreshing myself, and going to tape the rerun of this.
Now, I'm try to find who just plain James is, with no initial.

Edited May 1, 2018 by auntjess

[auntjess]

And Kirsten was as much fun the second, or maybe 3rd, time around,
If you're writing "affirmations," remember the difference between "your" and "you're."

[Miracle Maxie]

I was more listening to this go-round than actually watching it and I had trouble telling Kirsten's voice from her son's. Jeez, the woman makes a strong argument for the arrested development theory I've seen going around these threads lately. She looks and acts like a whiny twelve-year-old. (She also looked uncannily like Jennifer of Jennifer and Melissa on a few occasions - do they all have the same "scared face"?)

[Lillith]

Late to the party but I thought they were all awful. I wondered if it was a chicken/egg thing. Like she was awful because her parents clearly disliked her, or her parents clearly disliked her because she was awful. I was so conflicted about her mom and son. They were both nasty to her, but she was nothing but a whiny, self absorbed drug addict who shirked all responsibility. It seems like she was trying at least a little by the end. So, yay? 

[MutualCore]

Kirsten is such a peach! I like how she barks orders to her son Nico - 'bring me my cane!". No please, no thank you. What a nice person. So deserving of being cared for.

[CrazyInAlabama]

From what I've read on here, and in a couple of articles, Kirsten popped out kids, dumped them on her parents, and then went off with her friends.     I read that her mother only let her move back in after Kirsten's boyfriend/dealer got busted, and she begged to move in.    There were conditions for her to move back too, with no drugs, no booze, and she had to do something about her weight.      It sounded to me as if she was a virtual stranger to her own kids, and only went to Dr. Now because she had no choice.    And her mother had weight loss surgery herself too.  

I can't blame Nico for being thoroughly angry about sharing a room with her in the parents' house, getting left with her in Houston, not going to school, but sitting all day around the apartment with his mother who is a virtual stranger to him.      

[iggysaurus]

Quote

And like all of them who realize they've outgrown cars,  there's never any thought of cutting down enough to lose enough weight to make the trip a little easier.
The whole "I'll die if I don't get the surgery" is something I can't understand.

This is what I don't understand too.  If they've seen this show, they know that Dr. Now always requires the patients to lose about 50 lbs (or more) on their own before he will agree to do surgery.  If they know they're going to have to do that anyway, why not just start before they even get there?? Like you said, it would make the trip easier and they'd get a head start on what they know Dr. Now will ask them to do. But for some reason, it seems like none of them can even conceive of trying to lose weight on their own until Dr. Now orders them to do so. 

I guess it's just the structure of the show and they deliberately don't lose weight before the trip so that it'll fit the narrative and bring drama. But still, the lack of logic there annoys me. 

[DC Gal in VA]

On 1/13/2019 at 3:29 PM, iggysaurus said:

This is what I don't understand too.  If they've seen this show, they know that Dr. Now always requires the patients to lose about 50 lbs (or more) on their own before he will agree to do surgery.  If they know they're going to have to do that anyway, why not just start before they even get there?? Like you said, it would make the trip easier and they'd get a head start on what they know Dr. Now will ask them to do. But for some reason, it seems like none of them can even conceive of trying to lose weight on their own until Dr. Now orders them to do so. 

I guess it's just the structure of the show and they deliberately don't lose weight before the trip so that it'll fit the narrative and bring drama. But still, the lack of logic there annoys me. 

 

Tee hee iggysaurus, me thinks it's all about the "last supper/suppers" AND lunches AND snacks AND dinners AND................  I've often heard many of them remarking how they need to stop at whatever drive thru on the way to see Dr. Now 'cause it'll be the last time they can eat like that before their WLS which we know isn't always accurate since more than a few of them gain weight instead of losing "tirty pound in a munt." 😆

[rolliby]

I used to be overweight and I didn't whine near as much as this girl here. Honestly, she should have been jacked up by her mom and dad long ago.

And she said after leaving the hospital that she wanted to "show them" how she could take care of her own self...… and then the next scenes she's yapping at her mom to bring her some food? And it took her a whole year to be able to make a meal for her whole family and then she acts like everybody is supposed to be so grateful and focus on how she's doing all the time?

She's one of the most selfish people I've had the displeasure of seeing. She is a joke and her face is frozen in a perpetual grinch cry. waaaa. And please SOMEBODY tell her to put some cream on her feet. I don't feel very sorry for people who abuse themselves and then abuse other people because of it.

[Kenzie]

Her constant whiny blubbering, the face-wiping and her adenoidal voice made getting through this episode a viewing purgatory.

[Lemons]

I just saw this for the first time and she is the most despicable person they have had on the show.  Her and her obese mother treating Neiko like he’s nothing but a nuisance.  A lot of these people are extremely selfish and can’t see past their own needs but this was neglect.  They were always angry with him and never tried to see his point of view.  His mother threw her life away with drugs alcohol and overindulging with everything bad.  But they are treating Neikos life like it has no value.  

And to watch Kirsten blubbering everytime she had to move as if it was someone else’s fault was maddening. She tried to paint a sad childhood as a reason but took no responsibility.  

[fonfereksglen]

1 hour ago, Lemons said:

I just saw this for the first time and she is the most despicable person they have had on the show.  Her and her obese mother treating Neiko like he’s nothing but a nuisance.  A lot of these people are extremely selfish and can’t see past their own needs but this was neglect.  They were always angry with him and never tried to see his point of view.  His mother threw her life away with drugs alcohol and overindulging with everything bad.  But they are treating Neikos life like it has no value.  

And to watch Kirsten blubbering everytime she had to move as if it was someone else’s fault was maddening. She tried to paint a sad childhood as a reason but took no responsibility.  

I have no doubt, as a former middle school teacher and aunt to five nephews who have parents who care about them, that Neiko is now a few years later living on the streets or is in a perpetual cycle of law enforcement issues.  Did he ever go back to school after being stuck in Houston?  This episode bothered me more than any other. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by fonfereksglen

[Lemons]

8 hours ago, fonfereksglen said:

I have no doubt, as a former middle school teacher and aunt to five nephews who have parents who care about them, that Neiko is now a few years later living on the streets or is in a perpetual cycle of law enforcement issues.  Did he ever go back to school after being stuck in Houston?  This episode bothered me more than any other. 

I tried to find some info but don’t see anything.  I doubt Kirsten miraculously became mother of the year.  Neiko is the one with a sad childhood not Kirsten. 

[Concerned]

On 4/30/2019 at 7:50 AM, Lemons said:

I tried to find some info but don’t see anything.  I doubt Kirsten miraculously became mother of the year.  Neiko is the one with a sad childhood not Kirsten. 

This show was filmed in 2016 and Neiko was 14. I hope he’s joined the Navy by now and left this horrible family behind. There seems little online updates so likely Kristen is heavier then ever.

[Imafoxqueen]

I watched her episode a billion times. And yet here i am watching it again. I absolutely HATE the part were she yells at Neiko (Her own SON!) To GET OUT and pull the seat forward. And the way she said Get out and push it forward is not polite AT ALL. Also the part were she said im so tired of Neiko making everyones life miserable made me SO MAD! I just am really upset with her actions and feel really bad for Neiko and her daughter. I really do.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The original episode of Kirsten is rerunning now.    It's been so long since I saw her complain to Dr. Now that she didn't want to live, so he put her on suicide watch.      

 I don't blame Neiko for disliking Kirsten, he barely knew her, and was stuck with her in that little apartment.     

Edited February 22, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[JunkFoodTV]

She is one of my favorite criers. I really like the criers. Kirsten and Susan. Yes I'm sure I should be in counseling....I wonder if Dr. Paradise is available. 🥰

[newyawk]

OMG. I just watched this one and it is the funniest episode I have ever seen of this show. She is a huge Baby Huey crybaby. Her complaints are hilarious. I loved when she was griping that after she said she didn't want to wake up, she was then put on suicide watch. Dr. Now: "Checkmate!" 😆😆😆🤣

Her kid is an obnoxious asshole, but I can get why he is at the end of his rope with her. Still, it was really out of line for him to be openly trying to derail her weight loss efforts. I need to see where she is now. And omg, I couldn't believe her abdominal wall condition. I couldn't watch that surgery. I couldn't believe Now was able to fix it. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Kirsten was only the bio mother to her two kids, the grandparents raised them while Kirsten was off living her own life.  Going to Dr. Now's program, and cleaning up was the condition of Kirsten moving in with her parents. In the Supersized edition, they had more information from the mother about the entire situation.     

 I don't blame Nico for lashing out, his so-called mother was virtually a stranger, and he was dumped off to live in that one bedroom apartment with her.          

Finding out Kirsten's mother also had WLS, and regained made me wonder if Kirsten has any chance of permanent weight loss.   

Edited August 28, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[newyawk]

I didn't blame him for lashing out, it was the way in which he did it that I objected to. He was simply mean about it. I didn't like him at all and found him hard to sympathize with