Recently I have been watching several episodes of My 600lb Life. Since I do not have a t.v. I am not able to watch other weight loss reality shows with any regularity. I was wondering what your thoughts are about such shows. Do they fairly represent the struggle with obesity? Are they realistic about how weight loss truly works?

I am interested in reading your thoughts about it. Let me know.

I watch My 600 Pound Life as well. Obviously that show is a pretty extreme example. since the patients involved are all over 600 pounds. They are usually at a level of immobility and dependence on others that most of us don't reach. I also have noted that most of them gained weight steadily and never made any serious attempt to lose weight. Whereas most of the people I have talked to on these forums are more like me where they have gained and lost and gained and lost weight over and over and over again. I think the only reason I didn't reach 600 pounds is because I'd managed to lose and regain about 300 pounds over the course of my life. If I'd only had the "ups" and not the "downs" then I would have been pushing 600 too!

While they are extreme cases and maybe haven't had the past weight loss attempts that most of us had, I do think they still have a lot of the same struggles. They are emotional eaters. They use food to cope with things. They are addicted to food. They are overwhelmed. I can definitely relate and sympathize with almost every single person I've seen on that show. I have had some great talks with my husband about the show as well. I posted about that not too long ago:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/362447-my-husband-finally-gets-it/