Do you watch This Is Us??

Your preop experience fascinates me Kat.  Your experience at 350lbs was not mine.  I too accomplished alot and was beautiful and intelligent.  However, I never felt truly happy.  Everything in my life was colored by my weight and what I thought other people thought about my appearance.  I always second guessed my accomplishments: I could have had more dates or hiked further or gotten that promotion, if only I was thinner.  So for me, even when I was happy about my achievements, the overhanging realization that I was SMO was always present, and with it was either sadness (at the minimum) or misery (at my worst) that I couldn't beat the food demon.

I like the show to a certain extent. I don't like how they make Kates' character so shallow & only focus on her weight. I don't really care about Toby being in a fat suit, maybe I just got used to some characters being played by people who have no business being there. I'm sure they could've found 1 fat guy irl to play Toby.

As far as Kate going to fat camp, that **** is such bs. Most people who get to that size are not rich & they damn sure not rich enough to go to fat camp. Plus the camp really doesn't get to some of the core issues surrounding people who are SMO, all those people are incredibly agile.,& not sick. The whole banging drumsticks on the floor turns me off & looks like a joke. Give me a drum to bang some damn sticks on!

Kate has a point that her character is written from the point of view of thin people who never had a weight problem. If her character got wls & the real life person does it the old fashioned way of just diet & exercise she's likely to fail & gain back a good portion of her weight & thus put wls in a bad light.

Its a show removed from reality. It should be called This is NOT Us. 

I do like this show but I do find that sometimes it's hard to relate to the characters. I do think Kate does have a life but much of her energy is devoted to her weight, something I can totally relate to. And being mean to her boyfriend, well I've done that (not that I'm proud of it). It's a way to push someone away when you really can't handle the intimacy of such a close relationship. Not surprising since she seems to have many issues. And I'm glad to see them portraying an obese person in a relationship instead of alone. I actually think the portrayal of Toby is less realistic. And it really bothers me that he is in a fat suit. This show has some good characters and interesting plot points but the writing could improve. If it last for a second season, I'm hoping it will improve. A lot of show**** their stride after the first season. 

I think they've already been renewed for seasons 2 and 3!

I forgot to mention that drumstick workout (pound) is a blast!  I wish there was a place I could do it here. And when I did it before I was the only fat person in the class!

I relate to Kate far more than I do to the "real" people on "My 600 pound Life".  She is a character in a TV drama, not a role model. No more or less shallow or self centered that here TV siblings.

 I'm in my 60's now but can remember being young and really believing that my life would be perfect if I weighed 125 pounds. In retrospect, I have had a fulfilling and happy life at every weight, from 180-280. 

And yes, I have been to a few "new age" fat camps and they are exactly as portrayed in the show. 

Agreed.  when i was young and dumb i would think like that.  If I were 10lbs thinner that relationship would have worked out. etc. etc.  god do I sometimes wish i could go back as the mature me.  oh the fun and havoc I would wreak.  I do look back at pictures of me younger and think I was totally mental for being so insecure and I'm infinitely grateful that I matured in that respect.  I do love that age does afford some of us the IDGAF gene and am grateful for my life experiences that have lead me here. 

I definitely am as " shallow " as Kate in real life pre and post op . And like her I have a hard giving good relationships a chance because I have so little self acceptance. I don't like this about myself but I think it's a product of being beaten up and beating myself up over weight for a lifetime. She was placed on diets as a little child! 

It doesn't help that  the show is LA focused a place by definition is the most shallow and body and image focused place on Earth lol  . 

But out I do think the younger you are the more youth and unrelentingly image focused you find your whole generation  is . We have much shorter attention spans and what looks good or sexy grabs our attention at least for a minute. 

Interesting thread. I do love this show.  I think I am (was) a lot like Kate - very obsessed about my weight and miserable almost my entire life and I am 58 now.  I am finding that losing weight has opened up a huge new life for me.  I feel confident when I have never before felt that.  I love shopping for clothes when I felt it was a burden and depressing before.  I love being in front of people when I used to hate it.  I find that I speak out a LOT more now.

I also watch My 600-pound Life but it is becoming depressing now.  I am noticing that I am starting to be really put off by the way these people are before surgery.  Frightening on more than one level.

I also watch My Big Fat Fabulous Life but that is starting to bother me.  Whitney is not healthy and her belief that she is, is off-putting.  She has huge health struggles and seems not to connect the dots.  And, I notice more and more a judgment of her weight, which makes me feel terribly guilty.  There,  I admitted it.