Posted by I am watching My 600 lb Life again, as part of my motivation to re-lose what I gained last year. They are on Season 9 and there are 3 episodes on my cable provider’s On Demand so far.
I’m starting with Carrie of Huntington, TX. She’s about 36 and starting 602. She is married to a guy named Chris, who is 318 (and looks more like 450–he’s got a HUGE gut. Maybe he’s short. I am 6’1” and was about 305 at my highest weight, and I don’t remember looking like that.
They both live together and love each other very much, it seems, but they enable each other like crazy. There’s a scene where they share a chicken and pasta casserole that can feed 8 and a dozen Olive Garden-style breadsticks. Holy carb!
She’s also got a teenage daughter from a previous failed relationship, who is unfortunately following her mother down the same obesity road. She does have a job and can get in and out of the house—many people on this show are in worse shape when they start out.
In the first follow-up visit to Dr Now—2 months in—we got to see them in the car en-route, in which they spend the night at a hotel before actually going into the appointment. She’s worried she didn’t make her goal of 60 pounds, because she knows she cheated on her diet—as did Chris.
It turned out she was 590 (-12), and 306 (-12). She was kinda honest about screwing up, but that wasn’t good enough for Dr Now! He kept asking her what Dr Now could do to help her to lose weight—putting her on the spot. He sent them both to counseling and gave her the same 60 pound goal (and 20 pounds for Chris).
They went to see Dr Paradise for couples counseling. Carrie was nervous because her father died from complications of bariatric surgery. Chris is worried about losing Carrie if she loses weight and becomes more independent, because he fears he will not be necessary in her life anymore and will get dumped. Dr Paradise tells them to change that dynamic.
After the appointment. they arrange for a healthy meal delivery service at home—in lieu of Carrie not asking Chris to get her food all the time and Chris saying “yes” every time.
Two months later, Carrie dropped to 556 (-34) and Chris to 290 (-16). It was better for Carrie, but she still didn’t make her 60. Dr Now told her to go to therapy alone (in addition to the couples therapy) and work on the issues that are causing her to underperform. Next goal is 60 pounds in 2 months and this is her last chance! Meanwhile, he was pleased with Chris at his progress.
Carrie did some journaling over the next 2 months and worked with Dr Paradise, but they didn’t show her appointments with him.
At the next appointment: Carrie was 491 (-65)! Chris was 271 (-19). Dr Now approved her for weight loss surgery—contingent on a 20-pound weight loss in 1 month. He is still worried that she may relapse after the surgery because she may be focused solely on getting the surgery as a magic cure.
She did manage to lose 16, but Dr Now said that was OK. (She pulled this off even after a flash flood wiped out the trailer home they were living in—well done.) The surgery went well.
So the next scene shows them staying in Carrie’s sister’s house. She has to eat a broth diet while Chris and Carrie’s sister and daughter are eating hamburgers in front of her! Poor Carrie! In her voiceovers she talks about the struggles she is starting to have with cravings and avoiding overeating. Her daughter Hayleigh is taking walks with her—something she couldn’t do at 602, as she couldn’t take more than 10 steps without losing her breath.
At her next appointment, she was 442. It was a total loss of 160 since the very first appointment. Chris was 257, or 60 down since starting. Hayleigh was apparently losing excess weight, too. Dr Now is proud! She can reach target weight in 10-12 months, with skin removal an option when she gets into the lower 300s.
After 12 months, she was 409 and going shopping with her daughter for the first time in years, and playing some cornhole in the park.
So the first episode of the season featured a successful patient. I was glad to see these folks do well. All this seemed to take place before the Corona because I didn’t see any masks on anyone, so I hope that didn’t throw them for a loop when it hit all of us.
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