My 600 lb. Life

[Blueplanet]

Has anyone watched the show, "My 600 Lb. Life." Is it possible fast food can cause this type of weight gain? What are they putting in this food? Is it hormones? I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. There are a lot of things that can cause weight gain.

I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime.

Like what?

[lunatica]

16. There's a show called My 600lb life

[PupCamo]

31. welcome to 21st Century America

[lunatica]

39. I don't get your comment

Did you mean to reply to my thread?

[catbyte]

59. I took the commment as a remark on the sad state of television "entertainment" in 21st

Century America. It is pretty sad.

[PupCamo]

69. that's what I meant

thank you

[lunatica]

72. Thanks. Welcome to DU

[MFM008]

2. of course, yes

food can be an addiction.

[Blueplanet]

6. I agree.

Food is an addiction. But, if you go back just a couple of decades, very few people were over 300-400. It was very rare.

[MFM008]

78. Believe me

It wasnt seen...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. Actually, ... it is Empty Calories that is the addiction.

If the body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, it will crave food.

While it is craving food, if the body is fed empty calories, it won't get the nutrients it needs. So it craves food.

While it is craving food, if the body is fed empty calories, it won't get the nutrients it needs. So it craves food.

While it is craving food, if the body is fed empty calories, it won't get the nutrients it needs. So it craves food.

....

[Shell_Seas]

3. I do watch this show from time to time...

I've seen people on there talk about eating over 10,000 calories a day (or more)...as part of their normal diet....while being bed-ridden, because of their health problems related to obesity.


It's not just what they are eating, but how much of it they are eating...

[ginnyinWI]

51. What I always think is this:

If they are bedridden, they can't get the food by themselves. Not even to go to the door to collect pizza delivery. So who is enabling the person to consume so much food?

If this were my task, I'd immediately substitute vegetables and fruits for everything they were eating. No fat, no starch. As much as they wanted, cooked or raw.

[Ms. Toad]

57. Watch the show a couple of times -

the family dynamics are ineresting - and in some instances, the 600 lb person is very emotionally abusive, and doing somethign like substituting veggies and fruits (or refusing to get calorie dense junk food) is a trigger.

[True Blue American]

64. I have watched it a few times.

Much like drugs or alcohol they have an enablor.

Seen a few lives destroyed in real life by enablors who think continuing to help a person they are being kind. They are not but justify the same way people justify Trump.

[milestogo]

67. There's always an enabler.

Usually a family member or friend. The obesity doctor always brings this up, because that dynamic has to change or the weight loss surgery is useless.

The other thing I always wonder, is how do they afford so much excess food? Most of these people are unable to work so they are living on disability, which doesn't give you much of a stipend. Food is expensive. How do they do it?

[Raven]

4. I think years of eating it can. These folks didn't get to

600-700 pounds overnight. I think it is a terrible vicious cycle...the more weight you gain, the less you exercise, the more sedentary you get.

[malaise]

5. I can't watch it

I simply can't understand how people reach that size

[Blue_true]

22. Do a quick tour of the South Malaise. You're see how people get that heavy.

It is ten times easier to find fried food of all types down here than it is to find a shop that sells good soup and salad. But go to almost any part of the WestCoast, NYC, Northern Virginia, Boston, Pittsburgh, it's fairly to find soup and salad places.

[get the red out]

37. Got that right!!!

I am not into the burnt-fried food so I have found it hard to eat out in certain parts of the state (Kentucky), like where I grew up back in the hills.

[Blue_true]

44. So you know what it is like.

I developed an affinity for salads early on, around 11 or 12. I was regularly ridiculed for liking "rabbit food". It was so hard to find a salad bar, until I went to college, there I found salad bars that were good and discovered that a sandwich could be something other that white bread, greasy meat, cheap cheddar cheese and lots of mayo.

[get the red out]

60. YES

I went to college in 1982 and loved the salad bars at restaurants. The were better back then with more veggies and not solely based on May-laden goop.

[Blue_true]

74. Yep. nt

[malaise]

61. Let me tell you something you don't know

Per capita KFC sells the most chicken in Jamaica and while we do have obesity problems, I have never heard of or seen anyone weighing 600lbs. At what point does a person pause and say OK something is wrong here.
Guess we have more home cooking.

Please note that I am not attacking persons with medical conditions that lead to overweight.

[Blue_true]

75. One poster mentioned people eating 5+ Whopper or Big Mac type burgers and then

downing a lot of other stuff. That seem more that having medical issues that cause excess weight, though the two could be related for some people.

The thing that bothers me where I live are the number of overweight very young children.

[malaise]

76. It's frightening hearing about all these kids with Type 2 diabetes

I watch the food channels and seriously carnival food would give me a heart attack

[Blue_true]

79. With kids.

It may be related with parents being stressed economically and needing to hold down jobs. There is no time for a parent to get home and prepare a nutritious meal that takes three-four hours, so they go with faster meals or buy pre-made food, both of which will likely have more sugar, starch and fat.

[malaise]

80. That's the truth re the stresses

but a nutritious meal does not have to take three to four hours.

[janterry]

7. 71.6% of all Americans are overweight; 39.8% obese

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

[50 Shades Of Blue]

8. I've seen some episodes on YouTube. Many of the subjects are sexual abuse victims.

They overeat as a form of protection. I think they're all using food as an escape from reality - even though it just makes things worse. Many also have overweight family members, and sometimes there is a "feeder" spouse who enables the bingeing so the overweight one can't/won't stray. There are a whole lot of factors involved.

[Initech]

12. They all have enablers too.

There was this one guy who weighed 650+ pounds and pretty much sat naked in his room and played video games all day. He mentioned that his enabler in his food addiction was his father who also weighed over 500 pounds. So there is that.

[Blue_true]

24. 650+ pound anything sitting naked in a bedroom playing video games all day

is an image that need to be quickly scrubbed from one's brain.

[Initech]

33. Agreed!

[Sanity Claws]

29. They must have enablers

Anyone who had to work, grocery shop, cook, clean up after themselves and do all the other things one does day-to-day would be doing enough exercise to avoid such a tremendous weight gain. They may be obese without enablers but never reach the point where they couldn't walk anymore.

[kskiska]

48. The enablers are usually obese, also.

[fierywoman]

9. Fast food and processed food is actually engineered to be addictive.

[Blueplanet]

14. Yes.

I believe it is addictive. Some people have a craving for it. They will spend $25-30 for one order.

[fierywoman]

20. Here's one link. But there are many many articles and books, too.

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/the-secret-engineering-of-junk-food

[Blueplanet]

82. Thanks for the link fierywoman

Cheetos and Lays potato chips are delicious. No one can eat just one.

[Blue_true]

25. Yep. nt

[Croney]

10. I watch every episode.

The morbidly obese person has (1) a food addiction, (2) emotional problems since childhood, and (3) an enabler who gets the food to them.

The filming has started because they have agreed to see Dr. Nowzardian and work toward weight loss surgery. Sometimes it works. Putting a person on a 1200-calorie-a-day diet after they've been used to 10-20,000 a day is hard. If they fail, he sends them to psychotherapy and that usually helps.

I like to watch the actual surgery. The robotics are amazing.

I've read that many of them gain the weight back because they can't keep to a low-calorie diet. Some do succeed though.

[Blueplanet]

15. Weighing 700-800 pounds

and yet they can live. The human body is something that boggles the mind.

[DeminPennswoods]

26. That's what I've seen, too, but

for most the family is also heavy although not usually as much as the person featured on the show. Dr Now tells his patients that only about 5% of morbidly obese people keep the weight they've lost off, so the odds are long. But there's also a "what happened" sequel series that continues to follow the lives of the people on the original show and most seem to be keeping their weight off.

[catbyte]

63. I remember seeing one of the patients during the first season, Christine, I think. She lost so much

weight that the doctor wouldn't do her final skin removal surgery until she gained a bit. I've seen her on YouTube and she looks great. She's kept it off almost 4 years. She also ditched her enabling, unenthusiastic husband. I think that helped, too.

On edit: I just googled her and she lost 525 pounds.

[Croney]

65. Amazing! Yes, skin removal is important to their well-being.

Some have masses I can't imagine living with.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. Mostprocessed foods are engineered to make addictive, with sugars, simple carbs, etc.

.

It got so bad, I've switched over to a Keto diet, and I have lost 12lbs in 2 weeks, down to 235lbs.

On this thing, I virtually have no desire to eat, but there is that Keto Flu you get the first week cutting over to it.

.

[robbob]

18. And the keto hangover!

I’m doing the Keto diet also and have lost 20-30 lbs. I’m not strictly counting my carb intake, so my weight loss has been slow, but I DO feel more energy and I fill up a lot quicker. And, I have NO problem with the diet itself; last night was grilled salmon with oven roasted veggies; absolutely delish! Maybe tonight will be a slow roasted pot roast surrounded by root veggies! Getting hungry thinking about it!

I’d say the hardest gap to fill is snack foods. No chips, corn or other, nothing to dip in my guac, no sugars...it’s hard to find no carb snacks! And, keto advocates tend to smother everything in cheese and creamy sauces, and I’m trying to cut down on dairy. I’m not 100% sold on the health benefits of a strict keto diet, and once I’m happy with my weight I plan to introduce foods I consider healthy but are strictly forbidden on keto (fresh fruits, brown rice, whole grain pasta), but just keep them to a minimum.

[Blue_true]

36. Do you workout?

Setting up a simple home gym works wonders, if you are budget conscious, you can set one up for maybe $150 tops. I have had one for several years and love it.

[robbob]

70. My exercise regimen is mostly dedicated to stretching/strengthening back and legs...

Strained my back last year, inflaming the sciatic nerve leading to throbbing pain down my right leg all the way to my ankle. Pain like I’ve never experienced! So every other day I try to spend an hour doing stretching and strengthening routines to try and get things functioning normally again.

This year, at age 59, I got into downhill skiing, something I’ve only dabbled with in the past, but am enjoying tremendously! What a great way to pass the winter! In the spring I’m back to golfing (no cart, I’ll walk thank you), which, if I’m being honest, is how I hurt my back in the first place.

I’m learning that the secret of enjoying life as we get older is directly related to staying healthy, which of course includes diet, weight, staying fit, flexible and healthy!

[Blue_true]

73. Sounds like you are doing the right things.

BTW, when you start practicing for golf, try a hockey-shot type swing on your drives and irons. I had to do that a few years ago when I had a nerve issue near a hip. My scores actually got better, from mid 80s to low 80s. You will be surprised by how well the swing works. It takes pressure off your back and hips and have your shoulders do more work.

[Ms. Toad]

58. You are mistaken about foods being stricty forbidden -

it's all about the carb count. Berries (strawberries and blueberries), watermelon, and cantoloupe are staples for most folks eating keto. Brown rice is less common, but can be eaten in very small quantities as part of an otherwise minimally carb diet.

[robbob]

68. Yes you're right

And I knew I was not being accurate even as I wrote it. The thing is, I can’t wrap my mind around this whole “counting carbs” concept (I mean, really? Do I have to weigh every bite of food before I put it in my mouth?), so if I know things contain sugar or carbs I just try to avoid them.

[Ms. Toad]

81. For a while - yes.

If your goal is (1) to control diabetes via eating low enough carbs to keep your blood glucose in the normal range or (2) you are fanatical about staying in ketosis.

I'm in the former category - and for about a year weighed everything I ate, closely tracked my blood glucose, so I could see how many carbs I could eat without exceeding normal levels. By now, I don't have to weigh everything because I have enough experience that I no longer need to.

(I'm not a fan of the just eat ketogenic and the weight will fall off bandwagon - it ignores the reality that the way a ketogenic diet works is because the fats make you feel more satiated. If your eating is driven by not feeling satiated, it generally works. But if that is not the driver, and weight is the reason you are following a ketogenic diet, you have to count something. Carbs, calories, points, etc.)

I have a scale at work, one at home, and one of those is a travel scale so when I travel I take it along with me (although there is less need now).

[Blue_true]

35. You're lucky you don't get keto something else below the belt.

I chose to work out. Did around 90 minutes yesterday and 60 early this morning. May take tomorrow off as a lay day or cut down to 40 minutes, either works.

I try to stay away from diets, but respect that other people can make them work. I learned to stay away from dieting after having a Twix-rage incident a few years back. I was on a low sugar, low Carb, high vegetable, high protein diet. My head was a little heavy all the time, but I kept it up. My weight was great. One day a low battery on my car stalled me at an auto mechanic's shop. The guy didn't have many appetizing snacks so I bought a Twix bar given no other decent choice. I remember thinking that I would bite off a little of one bar and throw the rest away. But when I ate the tiny amount my brain went, ummmm, this is sooo good, so I ate the rest of the candy while the mechanic got my car ready, but still on my hate sugar routine, I refused to buy another bar right away. By the time the mechanic got my car ready, my head felt alert and great, I had more energy and my mind could not get off Twix bars. On my drive home I had to pass the grocery store that I regularly shopped at, so I figured that I would go it and buy a twelve-pack box of Twix candy and eat it over maybe the next two or three months. I got home and opened the box and ate one pack, long story short, within an hour I had eaten 10 of the 12 packs and I felt super great, at the moment a bell went off in my head about dieting that rings until this day.

[get the red out]

40. Thank you!

I am all for people doing things to improve their health, but we get dietary bandwagons going and sometimes it doesn't work so well for some individuals.

[fleur-de-lisa]

13. I watch it ocassionally, but it's so sad

especially the patients who have enablers bringing them sacks of food when they have become immobile and can't get it for themselves.

It's also pretty clear that some of them are clueless about nutrition.

[Aristus]

17. It's the type of food, and how much of it they are eating.

You hear stories on these shows that talk about the subject eating 10 Big Macs for lunch, washing it down with 2 liters of Coke, and then a gallon of ice cream for dessert.

Aside from being a huge amount of food, the soda is sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, which, in addition to just being bad for you, suppresses the secretion of a hormone called leptin, which is what makes you feel full after the stomach has stretched to a certain extent. Without leptin to tell your brain that you're full, you keep eating and eating and eating.

Also, the family members who continually bring these huge amounts of food their house-bound, and often bed-ridden, loved ones bear a certain amount of the blame.

[Vinca]

19. Some of the people manage to do well, but many of them seem to think the surgery

is going to be magic that will suddenly make them lose weight without changing their habits. Others seem to be trapped by their enablers (who are often also people with severe weight problems). The show really brings it home that obesity begins and ends with emotional eating. It's almost impossible to overcome the addiction that develops.

[Runningdawg]

21. Discrimination

If an anorexic won't eat because of her emotional problems she gets: IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY attention, a team of Drs, therapists and nutritionists working for her, in-patient care paid by insurance, a whole variety of drugs to encourage her to eat and any surgery that is necessary to correct her condition.
Apply the same care to morbidly obese patients and watch the problem all but disappear.

[fleur-de-lisa]

23. That's a great point, Dawg. I hadn't thought of that.

[hack89]

30. Treating anorexics is not easy

it is in fact extremely hard and many times treatments fail.

As for the morbidly obese, there are treatments (My 600lbs Life details most of them). And they fail many times too.

Mental illness is very hard to treat because you are depending on mentally ill people to make consistently rational choices.

[Runningdawg]

34. I only know the show in passing

Are the patients given appetite suppressing drugs or drugs for depression and or anxiety? Are they enrolled in a physical rehab program? Do they visit with a dietician weekly? How many therapy session a week do they attend? Are there support groups for their families? Are they sent to inpatient 21 day addiction programs before or after surgery?
OR do they have the surgery, get wished the best of luck and are forgotten about?

[get the red out]

41. They are sent to a therapist

That is shown on the show.

[Runningdawg]

43. For how long? Before or after?

[kskiska]

49. They usually end up at a clinic in Houston

that specializes in gastric bypass or lapband surgery. Even after such surgery, many of the patients relapse and gain the weight back. One recent show featured a woman who had relapsed for several years and wanted a second surgery. The doctor was skeptical about whether she even qualified or had the willpower to lose the weight.

[Maru Kitteh]

83. And there's your discrimination factor.

Nobody shames an anorexic for not having the willpower to eat.

People need to look up "The Biggest Loser Study" and educate themselves a bit about the disorder of obesity. HINT - it often has absolutely nothing to do with "willpower."

[Mariana]

86. Surgery isn't done on anorexics to help them eat more.

Deciding that weight-loss surgery isn't appropriate for an individual is not "shaming" them. It's a medical decision based on many factors, one of which is the patient's history and the ability to comply with the doctor's instructions.

[Maru Kitteh]

88. Never said the surgery is "shaming" them. The trope about "willpower" is.

Implying a deficit of character is shaming.

[phylny]

66. I'm obese

I wish there was a drug to help me. I'm desperate. I feel like I'll never be normal again.

Thank you for your compassionate answer.

[Maru Kitteh]

84. I have always struggled with weight. Contrave finally worked but was $117/mo. Then I talked to

my MD about trying prescriptions for the component drugs, bupropion and naltrexone, separately. $10/ea per month. It's worked for me. The milligrams and formulation of course are not identical to the brand name, but this combination has allowed me to drop to a healthier weight without abject misery and pain. When I was on it before, it was easy to maintain my healthy weight and I anticipate the same results this time as well.

Of course it doesn't work for everyone and some people cannot take it, like those on narcotic pain control, history of seizures or uncontrolled high blood pressure. All I'm really trying to say here, is never give up, and I hope you find your answer someday soon.

[phylny]

85. Your caring, thoughtful post made me smile

Thank you!

[Sneederbunk]

27. Like programs about hoarders and little people, I find it voyeuristic.

Therefore, I do not watch.

[Runningdawg]

42. Same - I don't watch shows that make money off others misery or make light of their situations.

[FloridaBlues]

32. Yes I have watched this show. Really is eye opener.

[smirkymonkey]

38. The one thing I have noticed is how many more chubby to obese children there are these days.

When you start out like that, it's much easier to continue to have weight problems throughout the rest of your life. When I was growing up (1970's) we were all thin and tiny, there was only the occasional heavy person. Now it's not uncommon to have a third or more of the class with a weight problem (of varying degrees).

[kskiska]

50. When I grew up in the 50s

there was usually only one or two overweight student in a classroom, and very rarely a morbidly obese student. We didn't have fast food back then, just a few hot dog stands, and families ate dinner at home every night.

[GumboYaYa]

45. Don't let sugar off the hook here.

Sodas, cookies, candy...anything with refined sugar is absolutely horrible for you and should be avoided at all costs. https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/8/3/412/4558122

And it is everywhere. Try eliminating refined sugar from your diet, it is almost impossible unless you eliminate all processed food from your diet.

[Doodley]

46. It is hard for the enabler - hard to say no. Maybe foods need to be

given a slightly unpleasant flavor.

[Mariana]

53. How, exactly, would that be done? nt.

[Doodley]

62. Just needs imagination.

[Mariana]

87. Whose imagination?

The producers? What possible motivation would they have to intentionally make their food products less appealing?

[Doodley]

89. The enablers.

[Codeine]

54. An odd business model.

Welcome to Tony’s, Home of the Slightly Unpleasant Flavor!

I mean seriously, Arby’s has that niche covered.

[NickB79]

47. 10,000 calories per day will do that

My wife and I watch that show quite often. The portions they eat are huge.

[Codeine]

52. Any calorie-dense food

consumed in large quantities multiple times a day will make a person obese. Nothing to do with hormones or any other hidden villain, just too much food eaten too often.

Most of those folks have massive depression or anxiety issues and use food to make themselves feel better. Unlike other forms of self-medication it can be hard to overcome food issues because one cannot simply avoid food completely like one could do with opiates or alcohol.

A friend of mine had bariatric surgery to lose weight. Two years later he had managed to stretch his stomach so much he was gaining all of his old weight back, and more. His eating habits will kill him before he reaches sixty.

[Ms. Toad]

55. Calories consumed calories expended.

An excess of roughly 3900 calories over what your body needs for its essential functions + movement = a pound of weight gain.

Thyroid disease can make it harder to maintain/lose weight. Fast food tends more calorie dense (so it's easier to get to the 3900 excess calories), because sugar and fat are added to make less-tasty processed junk more tasty.

[catbyte]

56. When you consume 30,000 empty calories a day and don't move, it adds up

Have you seen the amount of food they consume per day? I watched an episode a week or two ago, and she had a supersized triple cheeseburger, fries, large shake plus chicken nuggets. Then she was still hungry and her boyfriend ordered at least three large pizzas, wings, and bread sticks. And that was just one meal.

What I don't understand is how they can afford all that fast food. It's expensive as hell, yet she explained her lack of weight loss on the fact that healthy food is "expensive." I wish the ones who really want help the best. Addiction is a nasty thing to overcome.

[Raine]

71. I've watched it several times

sure fast food can do it but too much of any food can do it too. Most all of those people have emotional problems (most of the women were molested as children or raped at some point) that caused them to find comfort in food and eat and eat and eat.

[Different Drummer]

77. I have seen it.

My personal opinion is that fast food is like many other things--okay in moderation. Many of the people in this show don't seem to show moderation in their eating.