If you ever needed more motivation...
 

I was just flipping channels when I hit the discovery health channel. Inside Brookhaven Obesity Clinic was on. I watched it for a few minutes and shuddered to think that these people started like the rest of us. Some of them can't get around their homes, others can't even get out of bed without major assistance from a crane. It scarred me. I was only 240 at my heaviest, but I never want to be over 200 again.

If any of you are ready to give up, that show is on marathon today. No one on this planet was born obese. Maybe we didn't have much choice of food when we were younger, but any of those we can start to fix once we get our own transport and money. At a certain point it's all on you.

Good luck everyone!

I'm watching it right now! Also, I think you miss-typed your current weight. It says 296.

oops... thanks, I'm so used to putting a 2 on my number ^-^

I've watched this show before--thanks for the reminder about it.

What I find horrifying is that the patients order food delivery on the sly. :dunno:

Jay

I've seen pretty much all the episodes, the one where the young 27 year old girl dies really got to me. But at the same time I wonder about all the enabling people in their lives. I mean at one point, if you can't leave your bed, SOMEONE is bringing you food... If it were me and my spouse/brother/sister/mom or whoever was demanding I go and get them (insert name of horrendous, calorie-laden snack/meal here) I would say, yeah, yell at me all you want, here's some carrots, deal with it. You want those cookies, get your @ss out of bed, go to the store and get them yourself. And by the way, any delivery person who shows up at the door will be turned away. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't get it...

As I sternly told myself earlier today, "You're either going to do your workout or watch a show about a bunch of people who didn't."

Well, I did my workout...and now I'm watching anyway. It is hard to sit through, but like you say, extremely motivational.

I've watched these shows as well. DH thinks it's sick to watch them, but I think it's a situation of "there but for the grace of God go I".

There was another show on recently called "I eat 30,000 calories a day". The severely obese person asks for food but the family won't bring them as much as they want. So they call take-out and get this - They put a basket out the window with the money in it and they have the delivery guy put the food in the basket.

As long as a person kids themselves, they can't improve their situation.

I've seen a few of these shows as well.

You are so right, there is no doubt in my mind, if I had kept on going the way that I was, I could have eaten myself up to who knows how many pounds. 400? 500? More? There was nothing to stop me. Well, I guess there was something to stop me - ME. Thank G-d.

I'm wondering though. Folks who have never had to lose over 100 lbs, they probably wonder how people like ME got to be 287 lbs. In other words, what makes someones cut-off point, the point at which they decide to do something - and do it - 30 lbs overweight? 50? Or like me 165? And everything in between and above? :dunno::dunno:

I remember this show well. I was busy most of yesterday or it would have been a great thing to watch again. If anyone knows about it airing again, please PM me.

I seem to recall on that show the hospital allowing delivery drivers in there with food. Does anyone else recall that happening and if so, why????

I have wondered the same thing. Why did I let myself get to that point? If my knees had held up would I have gotten larger? I think that I will be forever grateful for bad painful knees.

I tried to watch Inside Brookhaven Obesity Clinic last night but just could not bear to. That could easily have been me. It did inspire me to maintain the commitment that I have made.

Robin you're exactly right. What is the cut off? For me, there really wasn't one. Looking back on how I ate, laid around, smoked and drank, I can't believe I wasn't OVER 400 lbs. Or more. I was certainly well on my way.

I went from about 190 to maybe 315 in under six months late 2003...then crept up to near 370 over the next four years. It just kept "sneaking" up on me, except it wasn't really sneaking, I just refused to be mindful of what I was doing to myself.

I haven't seen one of these shows since I restarted my weightloss journey last August but I remember the horrid, uncomfortable, sad, miserable, guilty feelings I would have watching them when I was super morbidly obese. And to be honest, I would also feel a little snobby and superior since *I* wasn't trapped in my home, or in a bed...but who was I kidding? No one. I surely would have gone that route eventually had I kept to my horrible eating/drinking/smoking/laziness habits...

I find that 'cut off' notion fascinating too. Does anyone have any links or books or anything?

Yup. I mean those folks that are 700 lbs, they must think that I'm (just using me as an example, it could be any one of us) so *lucky*, that I caught it when I did - so early on and would be grateful to be in that position. Then you've got those that would be horrified beyond belief and can't understand for the life of them how anyone could let it get to 287 lbs.

It is fascinating, when you come to think of it. The thing is, I just can't think of it. Not at the moment, anyway, if at all. It's too difficult and impossible to decipher. And it's getting my stomach in knots.

And Susan, your signature kind of alludes to what we're speaking about here. I've noticed it several times. I think it's apropos to what we're speaking about.

I wonder if there are any studies or anything.

What makes the difference between me (who's never been over 165) or my husband (who's never been over 210) or the OP who stopped at 240 or Thighs who stopped at 215 or ... ?

I often refer to Anne M Fletcher's book Thin for Life (love it!) Her subjects started at many various stages of overweightness but I don't think she ever addresses any comparables WRT 'cut off points'.

It's probably as complex as the reasons for being overweight in the first place.

wish I was home to watch. Or at least tape em.

My husband is definitely an enabler. Not because he wants me to be fat (it's the opposite -- he loves it when I'm fit), but because he finds it difficult to say "no" to me in those instances. I can be very persuasive and I have a way with words, and twisting words, to get what I want. And food is my addiction. And I will say what I whatever I can to get what I want.

Funny thing is, my husband is a very strong person. He is just ... well, he's always been thin, and he doesn't binge, doesn't drink, has never been addicted to anything.

He doesn't "get it". Maybe those other enablers don't "get it", either.

Or, they "get it" too much, and they too are addicted to food.

Another thing. Those that need to lose say, 50 lbs, feel just as *desperate* to do so, as those that need to lose over 100 lbs. I'm not saying at all that they shouldn't be, as there struggles are just as valid. But that's an interesting element as well.

I think those OMG "I have to do SOMETHING" weights are so individual. I know people who will NEVER let themselves get over 150lbs, whereas for me it was 250lbs.

But I can't understand how people let themselves become IMMOBILE from the weight. I mean, if you have to poop in your bed because you can't get UP, you would think this would be a sign that your life has to change.

I saw the whole series, and I've thought alot about this. And it seems to me that life for these people is, actually, quite EASY. People around them feed them, clean them, and devote HUGE amounts of time catering to those immobile by obesity. They get their housing paid for, their groceries bought, their floors cleaned, their TV and cable and internet, and don't have to do a thing.

On a TLC show recently that featured Manuel Uribe, the largest man in the world, it showed that he has a team of doctors that visit, the media films his every move, and his new wife is now his caretaker. Meals are delivered, his bodily functions are taken care of for him, he gets fan mail, he's on TV, doctors make house calls...Why WOULD he get out of bed? What incentive is there for him to get healthy?

Those at the Brookhaven Clinic have 3 squares a day, a clean room to sleep in, their bodily fuctions are take care of. They have TV, internet, outings. It is the acceptable INFANTILIZATION of these individuals and they really seem to get something out of it. That in itself might be the crux of the problem.

While on one hand our society appears to be fat phobic, we go out of our way to make obesity not only acceptable, but comfortable. I don't mean that the individual is physically comfortable all of the time (chafing, rashes, etc.) BUT two seats for free on an airplane because one seat is too small for you is a bit much. A safe haven to go to when you can't even clean your own bottom is always there, and you don't have to lift a finger. And while there, you can order out, you can exercise or not, you don't have to stay awake in nutrition classes, you can online as much as you like. And what is worst is that there is an episode where the patients complain about the food! That it isn't what they would normally eat!!! There seems to be no consequences for their actions!!!

I also noticed that we as a society are beginning to place obesity in a "disease" category, which makes those struggling with it able to become a victim with the corresponding victim mentality. And some are better victims than others -- if you keep watching the show, very very few of the patients at the centre take responsibility for their condition. Most blame society, or fast food manufacturers, or their genetics, or their social environment for this "disease process". Some DO take up the challenge and move to change their lives, but they are few and far between.

There was another show on TV about a really overweight woman who wanted to lose weight. She lived in a nice home with two other people who took care of it and of her, 24/7. She had a doctor, a bariatric doctor, two trainers, a nutritionist, a psychiatrist, and a food delivery system all on her team. Oh, and her own TV show to boot. And the LOW point for me was when they had a HUGE conference to decide if this poor woman was "psycholocially capable" of cooking for herself!!! A TEAM to decide if she could boil a freaking egg!!! If THAT isn't pushing your own problem onto other people to solve, I don't know what is.

Kira

That's the thing. We can't understand it for others. Just like the lighter ones can't understand if for us over 200 lbs-ers. Heck, I can't even understand if for MYSELF. And the ones that are bedridden, probably can't understand for THEMselves.

I was able to get around my house, but barely able to get around outside, my time was limited, my body ached too much and my stamina was very poor. It was getting worse and worse, and that's when I put a halt to it. I was getting less and less mobile. And I was getting less and less mobile every year. When I BEGAN to get less mobile, why didn't I put the brakes on right then and there?

We can just keep going around and around. :dizzy:

I know whom you're talking about. That's Ruby, and she was on the Hourglass eating plan.

I see your points, definitely -- people need to grow up sometime; they need to learn how to take care of themselves. However, people with these issues with food -- these addictions --may not be "psychologically capable" of the simple things others may take for granted.

I actually was on the side of the member of her team (don't remember who) who wanted Ruby to stay on Hourglass for a while longer.

I understand the points that her trainer -- and you -- make, but it's not like she has 25, 50, or even 100 more pounds to lose (during which time she could learn "how to boil an egg"). I think for some morbidly obese people, the road seems just SO long, so unending, that a lot of hand-holding is what they need at the start.

That may not work for you, it may not work for me, it may not end up working for Ruby, but it could be enough to get the ball rolling, instill confidence, and get a person to a point where he can feel confident in taking the reins.

I hear you, Ms Rockin! I think later on in my post I say that I believe it gets this way for some because they do get something out of the immobility -- attention from others, sympathy, whatever. But they get something out of it. There is no incentive to get away from there. And perhaps this is something we need to realize -- we all assume that those in that situation want to get healthy. But maybe they DON'T. There has to be some sort of fulfillment in those situations in order to stay there.
For you, there was no incentive to GO there! And I am so thankful that you took hold of your life and changed it for the better. Because you sure aren't the type to do any differently, which is why your perspective on this board is INVALUABLE.
:hug:
Kira

I'm going to close this thread because I'm afraid it will go round and round (with sharp corners ;) )

The OP's notice about the programs is noteworthy and I hope everyone gets a chance to see at least part of any of these programs.