I guess I am wondering...what was the point of the show? Were they getting the people help or was it pure voyeurism into their lives?
Probably the later. Not that I see that as a bad thing. If the people didn't want to tell their stories, they wouldn't have signed the waiver. Sometimes people who have problems want a chance to tell the world about it.
ennay, from what I surmised, they were trying to help. One of them was put on a 3500 calorie diet. He instructed the caregiver not to give him any more food no matter how angry, demanding or manipulating he became. Of course, he also said if he really wants something bad enough he'll pick up the phone and call for delivery.
I can watch these type of shows now that I am formerly obese and have started to take care of my health. While I was obese and eating whatever I wanted, I would have changed the channel. I'd have thought they were talking directly to me and I wasn't ready yet to face that I could have ended up in the same shape as these 4 people. No, I didn't eat 33,000 cal's a day, but I'm sure there were days I had 6-7000 cals. I could certainly identify with the lady that weighed 365 and she actually was crying about how much she eats and how food is killing her. I saw a lot of myself in her. She felt like it was hopeless and that she couldn't control herself and I have felt that way many times myself. For so many of us food becomes comfort.
Annie, I agree they may have just wanted to tell their story. Let others know and be warned of the issues they were facing.
. No, I didn't eat 33,000 cal's a day, but I'm sure there were days I had 6-7000 cals. I could certainly identify with the lady that weighed 365 and she actually was crying about how much she eats and how food is killing her. I saw a lot of myself in her. She felt like it was hopeless and that she couldn't control herself and I have felt that way many times myself. For so many of us food becomes comfort.
Lily, I could have written that myself. It just amazes me though how once you turn the switch, it seems just the opposite - that there really is so much hope in fact. Why, oh why does it take sooo long and so much damage to get to that realization?
i also watched this show... one man had in home aides/care givers and upon hiring them, he had a contract drawn up they had to sign stating that no matter what that they would have to refuse his demands for more food to try to keep him on plan.
I read somewhere recently that when people are obese, that their triglycerides can be elevated and interfere with the way the hormone leptin crosses the blood/brain barrier and turns off the hunger signal. So, the hunger impulse just keeps going until enough of the leptin crosses to shut off the hunger. It's a viscious cycle sort of thing- over eating causes high triglycerides which cause hunger not to be shut off which causes more overeating. Sad.
I saw it and it was scary. Scary because I can see how you can go from being a little "chubby" to being morbidly obese.
30 lbs snuck up on me. I used to (as recently as a month ago) come home from work and binge eat. Sometimes I would stop off at the store and pick up one of my favorite snacks and eat the whole thing - whole bag of doritos, whole box of Pop tarts, or a whole package of cookies. It doesn't seem like much compared to them....but I can definitely see where left unchecked it can get worse. As you get bigger the binging gets bigger and so forth. I remember how good it felt while I was eating those pop tarts one after the other. And all I can say when I saw those people is "but for the grace of God" it would be me.
Last night on TLC there was a show called "I EAT 33,000 Calories a Day" that focused on two men and two women who ate HUGE AMOUNTS of food each day. After each segment they would have a table set with the prepared foods that each person would have eaten that day. It was incredible.
In each case the person said that they just couldn't stop from eating. Each person also had one or more people that would bring them their food AND/ OR a handy list of take out places that they would call to GET food from whenever they wanted it.
If any of you get the TLC station on your TV I highly would recommend that you watch this show. As you watch the individuals eat, you can just tell that they are TOTALLY INTO the eating experience. I thought to myself that although I have never eaten THAT MANY calories in a day, I no doubt HAVE had some significant binges that amounted to MANY, MANY calories! I also saw the old me as I watched them devour plates of fried foods. That used to be ME!
One of the guys spends $340 on food PER DAY! Another guy used money from his second mortgage of his home TO BUY FOOD!
It made me so sad to think that their entire lives were passing them by, and several of them even became prisoners in their own homes!
Watching the show made me wonder how close I could have gotten to being like this. It was scary!
Cheryl
Those programmes are so scary - have you seen some of those seriously obese people who resort to weight loss surgery - lose weight and can never eat normally again! That really is losing your life to obesity - eating is such a great pleasure - doesn't it make you think how important it is to get control - so you can still enjoy food and enjoy life - you have to find a way! It's so simple and yet so difficult!
I know some people (including my DH) say they absolutely, positively couldn't watch a show like this. For me , it's like therapy. I see myself in these people. I see how it could happen, how food can control one's life to a point that nothing else matters. I can remember all the times that I sent my son to get me enough junk food for at least 2 people. I can remember thinking if we were out of Mt. Dew that I'd die of thirst. I can remember having 4 little debbie snacks and a quart of milk for breakfast. I can remember telling DH that the "kids ate it" when I'd ate the new tub of ice cream while no one was around. I remember sticking my McDonald's sack under the car seat while I went thru KFC. I can remember ordering a large adult meal at the drive through and a kids meal so they wouldn't think it was all for me. I can remember dishing out the dinner plates for DH and the kids, so there would be plenty left for me. I can remember eating a full meal at home and going to my mom's, my sisters or a friends house and them be having dinner. When they'd ask if I had eaten, I'd say "no" and eat again. I can remember picking up family buckets of chicken at KFC and taking it to work with me and eating all of it during my night shift. I can remember buying 4 candy bars at the hospital gift shop and telling the clerk "they're for my kids" and eating every one of them on my way home from work.
So, no matter how gross and disgusting this might be to watch, I realize I WAS these people. I thank God every day, that I got a handle on it when I did. Seeing this type of show reinforces to me how lucky I am. These people aren't doing anything I didn't do, I just hadn't reached as high of calorie level as them yet. The steak, chicken fried steak, potatoes and gravy, cheeseburger and greasy fries, heaping bowls of mac n cheese, pies, cakes, candy, chips, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, cookies, fried chicken, mexican food, chinese food, piles of pasta and all the foods they had loaded on their tables, Yes, I used to eat them too and in larger quantities than anyone should eat them. I knew nothing of moderation, fresh fruits and veggies were very rare for me just like the tables of what these people eat.
As I was reading your post I was saying many of the same things to myself about ME! I have always been able to "pound " food with the best of 'em! I live in a family of athletic males who are thin with fast metabolisms. In my heyday I was probably going one-for-one with them on all the food. We aren't big junk food people, BUT the amounts of steak, potatoes, almonds, cereal, eggs, peanut butter and other "good" and nutritious foods that I ate for NOT being a skinny, athletic person...well, saying the amounts were in excess is a BIG understatement!
When my husband would take a second piece of homemade apple pie, I would go right along and get MY second piece, too! I was eating three to four TIMES what an actual serving of pasta was supposed to be as well. I was eating like a marathon runner but not running the marathon!
My one "junk food" was the Baja Steak Chalupa at Taco Bell. I would order TWO of them and eat them in the car at lunchtime. I checked Calorie King yesterday at discovered that my beloved Chalupas of Choice were each 370 calories for a total of 740 calories!
I also enjoyed making homemade cookies. I would make a TRIPLE BATCH and end up with only a DOUBLE BATCH of actual cookies because I would eat a BATCH WORTH of the cookie dough as I baked the cookies! And I wondered how I got that extra 100 pounds on my body???!!!!!
I've eaten a whole bag of potato chips at one sitting, and a whole bag of peanut M&Ms all by myself over a couple days. I had a stash of Dove Treasures in my diningroom china cabinet drawer and would eat seven or eight of the "treasures" at a time.
It got me thinking...What stopped US from becoming like the people on the show? How is it that at 200 something or 300 something we STOPPED and said, "Enough!" and DID something about our weight? I will be thinking about that all day!
Love your posts, Lillybelle, and I am VERY inspired by your weight loss! I still refer to my method of buying jeans or a top or a dress a size smaller as 'The Lillybelle Method!" Thanks for the tip! It has helped a lot. Oh, by the way, those "tight" jeans now need a belt because they are getting L-O-O-S-E!
If I had not gained control, or should I say attempted to gain control, because when you first start you don't HAVE the control yet, who knows where I could have landed up. 325 lbs, 350, 400? The morgue? Thank G-d, Thank G-d, Thank G-d I did something about my weight, no make that my control, before I gained even more.
I watch anything I can that is like this show. I'll be looking for it in February.
I think that for most of us, something just 'clicks' and then that doesn't become us. Sadly for some others, nothing ever clicks. I hope, hope, hope that by throwing more shows out there like that, it'll click for more.
