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?

Yea I know what I mean I love watching the show to and I would like to see all the people that have had the surgery. I wounded why some of the families that are on there with them some is over weight and I think they should do a show on them to as a team losing weight.

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Last night was a followup to Chastity and Angel. Chastity's daughter was getting bigger as her Mother was getting smaller. At one point the daughter was bigger than the Mother. Toward the end of the show Dr Now asked about the daughters weight and suggested that maybe Mother and daughter work together to lose weight and see a therapist together. They did see a therapist, grocery shop, plan meals and walk together and the daughter did start to lose weight too. However I wished he had mentioned it the previous year and maybe her daughter could have been losing all along with her Mother.

I really felt bad for Chastity as even after having lost over 300 pounds from her 778 pound body and having skin removal she was still suffering with all the skin infections and had to be in and out of the hospital. The show ended with her having lost 440 pounds in 2 years and getting down to 338. She still has a long way to go and I hope she gets there without any more infections. Those infections really looked bad.

After starting off badly with the whole feeding tube situation Angel's followup was fantastic. She went from 570 down to 170 in 2 years. She had her knee surgery and skin removal and began to work again and was able to restore her relationship with her husband. I hope to be as successful as she was.

Now that my surgery is looming, I watch the shows in a different way. To see how they recover, lose weight, get their lives back etc.

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Now that my surgery is looming, I watch the shows in a different way. To see how they recover, lose weight, get their lives back etc.

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I find that every time I see one I see something different, usually based on where I am on my journey.

I just saw the preview episode for next week's episode and Dr. Now fires Marla as his patient! I've never seen him so annoyed. So I guess Marla is still playing victim smh.

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Now that my surgery is looming, I watch the shows in a different way. To see how they recover, lose weight, get their lives back etc.

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I find that every time I see one I see something different, usually based on where I am on my journey.

I agree. When I watching Charity's update episode I noticed she was drinking while eating.

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Now that my surgery is looming, I watch the shows in a different way. To see how they recover, lose weight, get their lives back etc.

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I find that every time I see one I see something different, usually based on where I am on my journey.

I agree. When I watching Charity's update episode I noticed she was drinking while eating.

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Yes I noticed that as well and it was while she was in the hospital to boot. You would think they would have left the drink off her tray during dinner. But I guess they can't police everyone. She should have known better.

I wish they would show more of the kind of preparation, testing etc that they do on these patients. I know in my case I had to jump through all kind of hoops for 8 months before I had my surgery. During the show we don't even get to know the diet plan Dr Now puts his patients on when he tells them to lose 50 or more pounds before he will approve their surgery. But then I guess the hoops we have to jump through is mostly for the insurance and they don't go that route.

Last night's episode was another interesting follow-up.

Both delusional in their own ways.

Marla was back. Poor, self-deluded, and self-sabotaging Marla. She and Penny really need to be roommates.

If you want to see the results of not following your surgeon's instructions, then Marla is an excellent case study.

Even though she eventually started to come around, she wasted more than two years of her life (post-op) on just sheer stubbornness.

Finally, we get to hear Dr. Now talk about the importance of Protein and nutrition! I can't remember the second woman's name off the top of my head, but I really hope she figured out the protein thing.

Hubby and I met online and got engaged on our second date ... 20 years ago next month.

@@Daveo is right ... weirder things have happened.

Ann !!! David and I met online and got married the week we met in person. but we are both admittedly weird. 20 years on our next anniversary, so no matter what comes in the future, I'd say that was a success.

Last night's episode was another interesting follow-up.

Both delusional in their own ways.

Marla was back. Poor, self-deluded, and self-sabotaging Marla. She and Penny really need to be roommates.

If you want to see the results of not following your surgeon's instructions, then Marla is an excellent case study.

Even though she eventually started to come around, she wasted more than two years of her life (post-op) on just sheer stubbornness.

Finally, we get to hear Dr. Now talk about the importance of Protein and nutrition! I can't remember the second woman's name off the top of my head, but I really hope she figured out the protein thing.

I felt so bad for Laura when her husband was being so unsupportive. I get that for so long he was her caretaker and that its hard for him to get used to the change. However he should be proud of his wife for the strength she has to change her life.

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Last night's episode was another interesting follow-up.

Both delusional in their own ways.

Marla was back. Poor, self-deluded, and self-sabotaging Marla. She and Penny really need to be roommates.

If you want to see the results of not following your surgeon's instructions, then Marla is an excellent case study.

Even though she eventually started to come around, she wasted more than two years of her life (post-op) on just sheer stubbornness.

Finally, we get to hear Dr. Now talk about the importance of Protein and nutrition! I can't remember the second woman's name off the top of my head, but I really hope she figured out the protein thing.

I felt so bad for Laura when her husband was being so unsupportive. I get that for so long he was her caretaker and that its hard for him to get used to the change. However he should be proud of his wife for the strength she has to change her life.

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Laura! Thanks. I felt bad that I couldn't remember her name. She seemed really grounded for someone who has gone through so much. I am so glad they started seeing a marriage counselor. Her husband is 180 degrees different from the horrible Gareth. He did seem really at sea about how his role was changing.

The thing that annoyed me from both Marla and Laura was the obsession with getting skin surgery long before they had gotten to a stable weight. I wonder if the production put that in their heads?

Adding: I think the theme for this episode was: protein, protein, protein and walk, walk, walk.

@@Inner Surfer Girl - I thought the skin removal obsession/talk was a bit odd. I hadn't heard that before. It had to be production. I was happy to hear about the Protein as we certainly haven't heard that before either and I was so surprised that Laura clearly didn't know that. Do they really not send these people to therapy or nutritionist?

Having said that, I was so happy to see Marla come around in the end. I also thought it was nice that she called Dr. Now and thanked him. (Again, likely at the behest of production, but still it was a nice feel good moment.)

This skin surgery thing-- Am I missing something?

Does Dr. Now make all the decisions about when skin surgery is/isn't approved?

I don't remember ever seeing any one having to clear their skin surgery with an insurance company.

How many of WLS would have skin surgery if we didn't have to it approved by insurance companies? Or self pay? I bet a great many of us would.

Maybe I just missed that part of the production.

Did I?

Some of the skin removal seems to be legitimate masses and other barriers to mobility. He seems to be more willing to do surgery sooner rather than later if it is something that will help them move forward. If, like Marla, where it is for vanity, then it sounds like he wants them much closer to goal weight (plus the fact that if she wasn't walking at all surgery is much more life threatening).

I could understand his willingness to remove that mass for Laura. I can't imagine being able to walk with where it was located. At least she was trying.

That is what I was going to say @@Inner Surfer Girl - we aren't talking about cosmetic procedures (just look at the stitches he does - nothing cosmetic or pretty about that!). Looks like Dr. Now agrees to do some on people with very serious skin (as you say in the form of masses) so that they can be more active. It's not like a tummy tuck or arm lift - at least not the early stages he is talking about.