Does anybody else eat while watching "My 600lb Life?"

I do this too. It is a motivation for me to remember where I came from an to never return. I also like that while there are successes portrayed, the show also shows that surgery is not a magic bullet, and is not workable or advisable for everyone. It keeps me grounded.

Being 10.5 yrs out, I do watch it to keep myself in "check."  Fortunately, I have kept my weight off.  I do not eat while watching TV, as I'm afraid I won't remember just how much I ate.  I also have to say that I find it nearly impossible to have eaten some of the items they eat fresh out of surgery - i.e. fried foods.  I still cannot tolerate fried foods!  I think Dr. Naz does a fabulous job helping these individuals, who all seem to be very uneducated, especially in the food area.  My heart bleeds for them!

JA

I watch occasionally, usually while sewing.  I'm considered a lightweight and had 83 lbs. to lose.  I did have several co-morbidities.  It boggles my mind as to how you get to 600 lbs. or more.  With all the talk about healthy eating, why don't they realize before getting to that point?  And, the people who supply them with the food.  I don't think I would bring someone a dozen donuts or huge quantities of food.  But, you never know what you will do until you are in a situation. 

Some eat unhealthy foods after surgery.  Did they not learn anything while preparing.  It's sad to see them homebound and having to be cared for by others.  The bathing especially would be so difficult for them as well as the person bathing them. 

The episode I saw last Saturday was a young woman who wants to open a daycare.  She did pretty well, but her mother was so critical of her.  The whole family needed to lose weight but they continued eating all the junk in front of her.  She eventually went to live with an aunt.  My husband eats things I don't eat but he isn't overweight.  He puts cookies, etc., out of sight. 

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but my gosh that sounds awfully judgmental to me - "With all the talk about healthy eating, why don't they realize before getting to that point?"

Ummm.... I'm guessing for the same reasons I myself weighed close to 300 pounds?!?! We re, all of us here who are/have been morbidly obese, in the same position. It's not from lack of intelligence or education.  Of course I knew about "healthy eating" - that doesn't mean I could put the theory into practice - and neither could you, evidently, as you've had weight loss surgery yourself!

Thank you for saying this Karen. I felt exactly the same as you when I read that post. 

I didn't mean to be judgmental, but it's difficult for me to understand how someone gets to that point.  I started gaining weight at about 9 years old and as an adult I lost then regained.  I joined WWs and lost 50 lbs. but regained.  However, my weight was always on my mind.  I bought every magazine with headlines about a weight loss program.  I tried many things but could never get the weight off.  I would get tired of not losing any significant weight on WWS, quit, then rejoin when I put on the lbs. I had lost.  I never binged on any food and I wasn't a fast food person.  I ate at Subway occasionally.  My thing was sweets and I hardly ever met a cookie I didn't like.  If I had eaten like I do now, high protein, low carb, I would probably have never gotten to the point to have WLS.

When I shopped for clothes it was so discouraging.  I avoided mirrors from the neck down.  Just getting a side view of myself in a mirror could ruin my day.  Being as I was always aware of my weight, I don't understand how a person gets to 600 lbs.  It is sad how they spend their lives.

Okay, so it's difficult for you to understand.  I understand your point of view.  I will tell you that a very vast majority of us here can and do understand. Not for lack of trying, as you did with Weigh****chers (who has never tried WW at least once?), not for lack of knowledge, not for lack of awareness. I can tell you as someone who was about 300 pounds 9 years ago that I was well aware of healthy eating regimes, the importance of exercise, nutritional data on any given food that exists - it didn't make a lick of difference in my weight. Awareness isn't the key here; the ability to possess and utilize tools, is.

Please don't misunderstand... I appreciate that you are being honest, but I also think that your perspective is very limited and therefore IS judgmental and is probably hurtful to many people here. (how would you feel if someone who has always been naturally thin say to you "How did you get to weigh 80 extra pounds?!?  Why didn't you do something about it when it was only 40 pounds?" or saying "I don't understand why you couldn't lose it without resorting to surgery.")

Ok, so you have a hard time understanding how someone gets to be 600 pounds.  Well, I have a hard time understanding how I allowed MYSELF to get to 330+ pounds at 45 years old.  I also know that if I had not had surgery, I was on the road to weighing 350... then maybe 375...  or more... if I lived long enough.

My weight was always on my mind (because it was so difficult in many ways just to get through the damn day), but that didn't help me keep from gaining more. Don't you think that people who are SSMO have their weight on their mind all day?!?  How could it NOT be when they cannot even get up to use the bathroom without help?!?) I hated the limited clothing choices... the stares or rude comments from strangers... All the fun things I wished I could do but couldn't...  having to pay for help in my yard because I was too large and my knees hurt too much to even mow the small hill in my backyard, etc.  I knew that I was making poor food choices and that I was seriously endangering my health. None of that mattered, though...

... because -- like the vast majority of the people featured on shows like this -- I had a history of trauma (in my case, there were multiple traumas, actually) and when things became emotionally overwhelming (as they frequently did), all I cared about in that minute was having some ice cream or whatever other food to soothe those negative emotions. Then, more times than not, came the self-chastisement for eating an entire pint of Haagen Dazs... So more negative emotions... Cue the cycle again.  Even though I was seeing a therapist, overeating was my primary coping mechanism.  Overeating kept me from opening up a vein or hoarding pills to use for an overdose of some type.

It sounds like you are fortunate enough not to have a trauma history that contributed to your weight, but please try to understand the depth of pain that those 600-lb people have experienced in the past, and that they likely experience every day of their lives.

Lora

Lora, thank you for your explanation.  It helps me to understand much better.  I did not have trauma.  I grew up in a 2 parent home, a very happy home.  My mother was a good cook and back then meat, chicken or fish was fried, sometimes deep fried.  We always had dessert.  I wasn't a big eater but I apparently ate too much of the wrong thing.  My mother fought her weight too.  I remember her using Ayds, a candy to help you lose weight.  She tried diet pills many times.  She would quit eating bread and potatoes but that didn't last long.  She was strict with snacking.  It was 3 meals a day and don't eat between meals because it will ruin your supper.  I baked my first cake at 9 years old and started preparing supper during the summer when I was about 14.  I've always loved to cook and bake, especially cookies. 

You gave me a totally different perspective. 

I never intentionally offend anyone.