Quote:
Originally Posted by Windchime
...I think it's entirely possible that he does love her and is becoming more attracted to her as she is losing weight. (I freely admit that is a big reason why I want to become slim--because I want to increase my chances of attracting a man).
This might make sense if he had met her when she was thin and she had subsequently gained weight, but that's not what happened. From the timeline, and things she has said in previous episodes, it sounds like he met her near her highest weight (over 600 lbs). To me, it sounds like he is a closeted "chubby chaser." She was "fine" so long as she was virtually housebound, but after she lost some of the weight and then wanted to go "out" and DO things with him, he didn't want to be seen in public with her, so he made the excuse of not being able to be with her because of her weight.
That her friends not only dislike him, but despise him suggests to me that he wasn't just a nice guy who couldn't cope with her weight problem, but was abusive in some ways. I think his giving her a gift of beautiful, expensive embellished jeans in a size far, far too tiny for her to wear (a size that could be too small for her, even at a healthy weight), as a "motivator" shows how off-kilter his relationship with her is.
He fancies himself a "personal trainer," which may have been his motivation in the first place. He may have had fantasies of dating a hugely fat woman and "transforming the ugly duckling into a swan." When she didn't change fast enough for him, he dumped her. I could be wrong, but that's certainly my impression of him, given his current behavior. The too-small jeans is a crappy gift. It says "you're not good enough for me now, but one day you will be, if you do as I say." It doesn't acknowledge all of the progress she has made, instead it shines a spotlight on how far she still needs to go, in order to be acceptable to him.
No one needs that kind of person in their life.