Bummed Out After Watching "My 600 Lb Life: Where Are They Now?"

[LadyK44 263]

I have a love hate relationship with this show! The thing that I tell myself is "get moving." I am on my way back to the gym in under two hours! This is a lifestyle choice!

Edited April 1, 2016 by LadyK44

[WantToBe 77]

I was 359 at my heaviest. Had band 12 years ago lost 126 pounds then gained and lost I had band removed in Dec 15 and had maintained 100 pound weight loss. I had problems with my band burin am still pleased that I am not 100 pounds heavier than I am now. Still have another 100+ to go (hope to get sleeve next month) but still no regrets with my surgery and I am going for another one. Like someone else said - pleased that my life is easier than when I mess 100 pounds heavier.

I don't like to watch My 600 pound life as it is so depressing. The show does allow me to see where I do not want to be.

[katanne 215]

It's not that enablers FORCE you to eat what you shouldn't, they just make it a hell of a lot harder not to if you're in a messed up marriage/family. We ultimately can and do have the choice not to eat what a food pusher shoves at us...the difference with My 600 Pound Life is that they are showing truly extreme situations. Most of the patients seem to come from really, really fucked up marriages/families, the likes of which most of us fortunately aren't dealing with. I don't have a dad who sends me up six donuts every morning as a "pre-breakfast," and I'm very, very grateful. Nikki certainly should have put a stop to that *much* earlier, but I'm pretty sure she and her dad equated food, any food, with love and thought he was being nice. It's easy for us to see their mistake, but a lot harder for her...not impossible, just harder.

[Dr-Patient 830]

I've never watched the show; BUT when I read the title of this post, I figured it was about weight regain. Good timing for me because, alas, I eased up on my "protein-only/first" regimen and have [i admit it], bounced up to 195. My lowest was 184 (from a maximum weight of 271.2, pre-surgery; 252 surgery day).

I still look good/great/sexy, but the thought of being soooo close to 200 pounds is frightful [and, admittedly, I got to 199.6!!], so I had a l-o-n-g "come to Jesus" meeting with myself and am committed to getting back to the basics. Starting TODAY.

One, I do NOT want to see 200 again, nor get on that slippery [upward] slope of eating/regaining. And two, yes I saw my "'friend" [who'd contacted me after 23+ years] and we saw each other in February when I went north for a medical meeting; and I will see him again in May, plus we have a beach excursion planned for September, at the resort where we met. For that trip, it will be "on!" [We've held out on the 'ultimate', and plan to still hold out in May, but come September...!]

For me, I want to be back to the 185, if possible, or at least back down to ~ 190...in four weeks. I CAN do this if I stay focused and exercise. I had thought I wanted to get to ~165-170, but my face will be too thin, I still feel. Oh well. Pray for me!

Hang in there, everyone; and know that the surgery is only a tool; we still have to do the rest and use the tool properly to get and maintain the desired results.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Dr-Patient

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I too liked seeing all of the other patients in the support group meeting.

I found it interesting that Ashley's mother had bypass. The awful way she speaks to her daughter is terrible. To find out she had bypass, too was interesting because I would have thought it might have made her more supportive and compassionate. I hate it when they show the person's family criticizing her weight while eating badly themselves.

I also found it surprising that we don't hear more from Dr. Now about Protein and fluids. His focus on calories and only eating three times seems like really old-school dieting advice.

[Alex Brecher 10,485]

@@Proud2BMe,

Yes, it is definitely depressing to see their regain, but I think we can learn from it (I didn’t see it, but I have heard about it). The initial response is “What happened?!” and I think it’s a good question to try to answer. The more we can recognize in them, the more we can try to recognize in ourselves and avoid those same mistakes that led to regain.

Like the others said, don’t forget about the difference in starting weight between you and them. If someone on the show lost 400 pounds and regained 60 pounds, that’s a regain of 15%. If you lost 170 lbs and gained back 15%, you’d gain back 25 lbs – not ideal, but not insurmountable. You could lose it again if you wanted to.

Also, I think the show is a good reminder that this is hard for everyone. Even though the show participants were “famous” and presumably had good support, it hasn’t been easy for them. It’s a good reminder to not feel sorry for ourselves and wish we were in someone else’s shoes.

So yes, it is sad they didn’t all keep all of their weight off, but there are some valuable lessons here.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

I too liked seeing all of the other patients in the support group meeting.

I found it interesting that Ashley's mother had bypass. The awful way she speaks to her daughter is terrible. To find out she had bypass, too was interesting because I would have thought it might have made her more supportive and compassionate. I hate it when they show the person's family criticizing her weight while eating badly themselves.

I also found it surprising that we don't hear more from Dr. Now about Protein and fluids. His focus on calories and only eating three times seems like really old-school dieting advice.

Ashley's mother concerns me greatly. I sense so much resentment and negativity coming from the mother that I'm very concerned for Ashley. I don't know if she is just jealous of her daughter or what but I sort of think that Ashley may be better just cutting her out of her life or limiting contact with her. The mother's "advice" seemed so fake, as if she was just saying it because she knew that people expected her to be supportive since she was her mother.

[melyssafaye 181]

I have a sick fascination with this show. I really hate it but always seem to watch it. First, I think they ham it up for the camera. Most of these people seem to be fairly poor or at least not well off. Yet, no one in the house cooks and they eat out many times a day. How is that even financially possible? The people I've known who were in those situations were on disability and used their SNAP cards to buy things like chips and frozen pizzas. It's just cheaper for the family to eat junk. This is never addressed. Instead it's "stop eating fast food".

Also, I don't think dr. Now is a good surgeon. Although, on Skin Tight he does better work than the twins.

He always sends patients home to lose weight after a long trip and 5 minute consultation. My own surgeon gave me more info, resources and time. I was immediately paired with a MD of nutrition and two registered dietitians. And I had a Bmi of 40.4.

I was watching Fat Doctor on BBC and Dr. Summers works with patients and I've seen him give super obese patients the gastric balloon for a few months in order to get their weight low enough to perform surgery safely.

Comparing the two show doctors, Dr. Now treats his patients with almost contempt. Like its his job to shame them into good behavior. Dr. Summers treats his patients as sick people with a disease and helps them with medical treatments. If my surgeon treated me like dr. Now does his patients, I would find another doctor.

Obesity is a disease not a moral failing. Most of the people on the show have obese family members as well. Not addressing whole family healing and nutrition is almost negligent.

[reinventingmyself 47]

We have to remember that this show is edited. Can't expect to see a year worth discussions, eating, dr. Visits and counseling in an hour show. The producers know what to show to get people to watch. At the end of the day it is still all about ratings. It may not appear that Dr. Now is the softest most empathetic dr. However, he operate on patients that many doctors will not even consider. But many of the patients blame any and everything for their weight issues. Many people were abused or had a difficult child hood etc. but aren't over weight. Many fail to take the responsibility for getting to the size that they are. But can't blame dr for showing tough love as many of the posters do on this forum!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using the BariatricPal App

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I don't think Dr. Now is a bad bariatric surgeon, especially if you consider he's also a "plastic surgeon". I still can't get over the fact he does skin removal surgery. It's absolutely ridiculous to claim that you specialize in both bariatric surgery AND plastic surgery. You could't pay me to have plastics done by someone who does't dedicate their entire career to it.

Anyway, as far as his abilities as a bariatric sugeon, I don't think he's terrible. He is a little tough with his patients maybe, but I think that's what some of them need. He does perform surgery o patients that a lot of other surgeons would turn away and he does seem ligitimately concerned for their health. He won't do the surgery if he thinks there is too high a risk and he does make patients prove there is at least a chance they will be compliant post-op. I wishould he would send more of them to counselling BEFORE surgery though.

I agree he's no where near as charming as Dr. Sommers on Fat Doctors, but he is also working with far more difficult patients. The patients on Fat Doctors have to go through a lot more hoops to get to that point and are much more committed to and compliant with the process.

[melyssafaye 181]

@@JamieLogical wow! You made me feel better. I thought I was being a snob when I judged him for having an office in what appears to be a strip mall with his name in huge letters. He performs cosmetic surgery along with bariatric surgery and other general surgeries like hernia repair or gallbladder removal. I noticed the camera doesn't pan out too much on the outside of the office but I expect there's a neon light that reads "100% Financing".

Personally, I want my bariatric surgeon to specialize in bariatric treatment and my cosmetic surgeon to specialize in their field as well.

The plastic surgeon that is affiliated with my bariatric team is the head of cosmetic surgery at University of Illinois and is a professor of body contour. He specializes in body contour after weight loss or reconstruction after accident, injury etc.

Maybe he isn't a bad doctor but there is just something about him that rubs me wrong. I have a hard time accepting that he was the best they could find.

[sgc 538]

A simple Google street view would reveal he doesn't have neon signs outside his office. I'm quite certain the show finances these surgeries or else why would these people expose themselves to such ridicule?

My surgeon does surgeries other than bariatric surgery. When my surgeon and Dr Now got into the profession, bariatric surgery didn't exist.

[lifeofblair 308]

I also think when the show started Bariatric surgery still wasn't as big as it is now. Or it wasn't viewed the same now (if that makes sense). He might have been the only one that operated on people that size that was willing. I'm not a huge fan, but at least he is performing the surgery. I would love to see an all-access on what all the patients do before pre-op since it doesn't show that much.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

A simple Google street view would reveal he doesn't have neon signs outside his office. I'm quite certain the show finances these surgeries or else why would these people expose themselves to such ridicule?

My surgeon does surgeries other than bariatric surgery. When my surgeon and Dr Now got into the profession, bariatric surgery didn't exist.

I don't think that some general surgeries are out of the question for a bariatric surgeon to do. I would expect them to be capable of things like gall bladder removal, hernia repair, and anything having to do with the digestive system, not just WLS. But I would not want anyone claiming to be a bariatric surgeon or general surgeon performing plastic surgery on me! Plastic surgery is an art form and a HIGHLY specialized field. I would definitely want a plastic surgeon who has dedicated their entire career and practice to the field.

[katanne 215]

Bariatric surgery wasn't a subspecialty when Dr. Now was a resident/fellow, but gastroenterological surgery certainly was. Gastros learn how to do gallbladder removals, hernia repairs, etc., and these days they learn bariatric procedures although not all choose to specialize in them.

As for plastics, I agree with everyone saying they wouldn't go to a gastro for plastic surgery...the issue with that is that in the few cases when insurance companies will pay for Excess skin removal, they usually stipulate that the operation has to be done by the surgeon who did your bariatric procedure. So the insurance industry is more or less setting up a situation where people are getting operated on by surgeons who may or may not have gotten specific training in plastics. A gastroenterologic surgeon would have to specifically seek out additional training in plastics to give you optimal results, which in my understanding they are in no way required to do as part of their residencies...I'm guessing some are going on what they learned in the general surgery portion of their residencies, where they did a little bit of everything. Not an ideal situation.

Edited April 5, 2016 by katanne