One of the things that helped me to be honest with myself about my weight and obesity was watching My 600 Pound Life on TLC.

The new season started last night and I just finished watching the new episode that I recorded last night.

It was preceded by a compilation episode that I did see last night. Since that one included a segment on Penny I needed to take a break before seeing the new episode.

Some random thoughts:

I thought it was sobering and heart wrenching as usual.

I HATE the obligatory shower scenes. We get the idea. They could spend a lot less time on them or eliminate them entirely and spend time on other aspects of obesity, the surgery process, or the post-surgery segment.

Nikki (I think that was her name) is a beautiful girl with a lot of style. I noticed the drawings on her walls before they revealed she is a costume designer. It was great to see her get her MOJO back.

With a disabled brother and two older sisters, it was obvious to me she was starved for affection and attention.

Dr. Now mentioned when doing the sleeve instead of the bypass something that the sleeve can be just as effective even though the bypass is more aggressive.

Watching this post-sleeve, watching her eat the volumes and types of foods (donuts) she was eating pre-op looked really gross and unappealing. (Thank, God!)

I started at a lower weight than she did and I would never dream of trying to sit on one of those balance balls or on the ground. What a difference being 20 years younger than me makes!

It is heartbreaking how young so many of these patients are who are on this show. Nikki isn't the youngest by far, but she was still really young to have reached over 650 pounds. That is an awful lot of donuts.

It was interesting to see the rate of her weight loss pick up again after she started seeing a therapist and addressing her emotional issues.

I liked the analogy that the therapist used of not being able to look at and address issues until you physically put them down/let them go.

I wanted to slap her sister until they had their talk. I know we only get one side of the story, but to not allow NIKKI to be around her nieces and nephews is outright cruel.

I think her mom has a lot of food issues and is also probably dealing with a lot of stress due to both her son and daughter.

Her dad was sweet if clueless.

I am looking forward to seeing a follow-up on her in a year. I really liked her.

I know it's January and every other advertisement and commercial on TV is about diet or exercise, but still find it jarring to see those commercials on during this show. It just seems so transparent.

Did anyone else watch it? What did you think?

@@KristenVSG2014 I can't wait to see her story!

Dr Now is an asshole. I hate the way he talked to her. Dr Summers in the UK doesn't talk to people like that and he has better results. The woman has a child with a serious illness that she was abandoned to care for by herself and she probably blames herself for the child's illness. Dr Now is a terrible plastic surgeon and an even worse shrink. You don't need a degree to realize the woman is eating to self medicate because she is worried to death about her kid.

I hate Dr Now.

I'm so nervous right now for how the wonder twins are going to butcher poor Ariel. She is adorable

OMG the wonder twins are so terrible. Dr Now is a better plastic surgeon than them. He just did the best tummy tuck I have seen on the show on Shantae.

But.....

HE JUST DID A BREAST LIFT?!?!?!?!?! WITH

Poor Ariel has terrible skin and genetics. She was so loose fat there was little hope for her when losing and her skin is so beat that her healing is terrible, but Dr Now to save the day.

This show is just amazing in how terrible it is.

I am trying to keep positive on my own end.This show depresses me and reminds me of my own issues.Wont watch.

I hear you, Pink. Sometimes, we respond in different ways to different things (images, comments from others, memories that trigger us, etc). I totally understand where you're coming from.

OMG the wonder twins are so terrible. Dr Now is a better plastic surgeon than them. He just did the best tummy tuck I have seen on the show on Shantae.

But.....

HE JUST DID A BREAST LIFT?!?!?!?!?! WITH

Poor Ariel has terrible skin and genetics. She was so loose fat there was little hope for her when losing and her skin is so beat that her healing is terrible, but Dr Now to save the day.

This show is just amazing in how terrible it is.

I felt so bad for Ariel, all the pain under her breasts. It looked horrible. You could see the tears in her eyes when Dr Now looked at them. What in the world did the previous Dr do to her that the incisions were still opened and so deep. I am surprised even more surgery was done knowing she didn't heal well from the previous one.

This show kinds of scares me in a way. I don't know if I would be able to stand the miles of incisions and the months of pain. I was once 497 pounds and the Dr has already told me I will have at least 30 pounds of excess skin based on the weight I have lost all ready. I am not sure a 63 year old (which I probably will be when it is time to think about skin removal) woman should even think about skin removal surgery. But than again I do want to fall in love again and who could fall in love with someone carrying around all that excess skin. I don't know maybe because I am from the older generations but it seems to me if you have all that excess skin you don't wear skin tight dresses and skirts etc like I see so many of the Ladies wearing. I plan to wear nice clothing but nothing that will be showing all my excess skin.

For someone as young as Ariel it is worth it. If she takes proper care of her wounds, which they don't do on the show, she should have almost invisible scars in 5 years.

The show is meant to scare people and be as exploiting as possible. Take it all with a grain of salt.

What kills me is people talk about foreign doctors but the wonder twins are complete hacks!! Everyone they operate on has open incisions. Everyone. They are awful

I watched last night after not watching several of the prior episodes. Ariel's arms and legs looked bad. Like sausages. Her mom looked like she had WLS and is on her journey. Something unbalanced about the way she looks. I've seen it before with super morbidly obese folk.

I read this thread a couple of days ago and started watching the show on YouTube. Before surgery, I had no problems watching the show, I still have no problem watching the show. But the main thing was that before surgery, I would watch and say to myself "I am fat but I am not that fat..." As I proceeded to eat a brownie the size of an iPhone 6 Plus with some ice cream in top. Now I watch the show and think to myself that could have been me, that would have been me if I didn't take control when I did.

Did anyone watch last nights episode? I couldn't believe that dude came up to her in her truck! She did a good job though of losing weight for surgery.

Did anyone watch last nights episode? I couldn't believe that dude came up to her in her truck! She did a good job though of losing weight for surgery.

I watched. If anyone needs therapy it's her. Not because she's crazy...she's not. But because she uses food as a panacea for her issues. Wasn't surprised she abused her pain meds. I hope she's seeing the therapist and getting healthier physically and emotionally. Oh and her in the truck...I bet she never went shopping with her family. She did it because of the show. The shower and shop part of the show are for us to gawk at them unfortunately.

Did anyone watch last nights episode? I couldn't believe that dude came up to her in her truck! She did a good job though of losing weight for surgery.

I have experienced well-meaning strangers approach me in public and usually in parking lots. It is a trip.

This was definitely another sobering episode. My heart ached for her. Talk about a poster-child for poverty, abuse, and neglect.

Her son is adorable and I truly hope the surgery will help break the cycle.

What I still find unfathomable is how young so many of the recent people on the show have been. Over 700 pounds by her mid-20s is crazy. I weighed a lot when I had surgery, but that weight was gained over decades. It is like we have a whole generation that is being poisoned by our culture's unhealthy relationship with food and all of the fast, cheap, convenient, unhealthy food, that is a staple in our diets.

On another note, I am currently taking a nutrition class through our county extension office for kicks. I am sure there are some SNAP and WIC recipients in the class. In addition to some pretty sound nutritional info they are also teaching things like potatoes and rice are great staples for your diet because they are cheap. It wouldn't be that big of a deal except that at least 75% of the class is overweight and it sounds like their families are, too.

I have been open about my surgery and the food plan I am

following so hopefully some of what I share in class may be helpful for some folks. I even showed a couple of people MyFitnessPal and helped one woman download it to her phone.

I am seriously considering contacting the folks who develop the curriculum to see if it would be possible to develop a WLS-friendly or even a generic Bariatric-friendly version.

Shaking my head.

There is really nothing wrong with potatoes and rice. Most of the world eats them.

The issue is preparation and quantity.

High fructose corn syrup is a bigger issue than potatoes and rice.

There is really nothing wrong with potatoes and rice. Most of the world eats them.

The issue is preparation and quantity.

High fructose corn syrup is a bigger issue than potatoes and rice.

I was the one who brought up high fructose corn syrup. It wasn't mentioned at all in the curriculum.

Yes, @@Inner Surfer Girl, it struck me how young she was, too. I even commented to my husband about it. How does someone get to over 700 pounds in 27 short years? It really makes you wonder about her endocrine system, also.

She really seemed like she was ready to make a change. She seemed like a sweet soul, and I wish her well. Her son was absolutely adorable!