Alright, has anyone seen the Half Ton Teen, Dad, and Mom shows that aired Thursday nite on TLC? Or even most of the shows this week, that have been about obese teenagers and adults?

Now I find these shows interesting, sometimes I feel bad for the people, sometimes I don't.

However, I've noticed that almost every single weight loss story about these people results in gastric bypass surgery. I don't find this, okay, I guess. 'Cause for normal over weight people, they make sure you've tried losing weight in every other way before you go for surgery. So...how come these people don't have to try and lose it any other way? (and yes, most of them could at least still use their legs!) I know they say "it's a life or death situation if they don't get the surgery", but still....it seems like all these shows really push the idea that "surgery is best!". Maybe the rules change once you reach a certain weight, but hell, there are people on this forum alone who are 400+lbs, or who were, and they're losing it naturally. Now I guess in the extreme obese cases, like the 1,000lb man, you can't really, do much, but still.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the idea of surgery is grossly over pushed.

I saw them.

I understand the need for the bypass. These people's health are/were in danger. Unlike someone who is 300 lbs, who can do it naturally, these people are 800, 900 and 1,000 lbs, they need to lose as much as they can as fast as they can, and bypass is the only real way they can do it.

When Renee died, it was very sad. I think she would have died anyway, because at that pt she'd only lost 100 or so lbs. At 29 too. Had she gotten to it earlier, she would have maybe not had the heart attack.

I don't think it was 'pushed', I was intrigued and motivated to get my butt to the gym.

I suppose part of my problem with these shows, is I can't wrap my mind around how some of these people can get to almost 1,000lbs. I can understand letting 200, 300, into the 400's creep by, but isn't there a point when someone says "I NEED to lose weight?" These shows don't go much into that, they just say "they need help now", which is more than true, but why not then? They never say what these people's thought processes were while gaining the weight. That bugs me. That sorta is where my "them pushing surgery" comes into it, why wait until you're that weight and just get surgery, how come they haven't been trying before? I'd LOVE to see a show where they go into the thoughts and minds of those over weight, what they were thinking, what made them eat, etc.

But like that 19yr old male, whose Mother would buy him any and everything, I just don't understand how you can do that to your kid?

It was sad that the Mother died. I felt bad for her daughter, and that the woman wanted so badly to get down in weight so she could have that time with her daughter.

I watched those shows too.

I think what happens is when somebody gets past a certain point, they give up hope and decides that they are a lost cause which leads them to eat even more. Unfortunately, once somebody gets up to 400-500lbs it is pretty tough to get to a gym which further exacerbates the problem and the pounds keep piling on and on.

I think surgery was probably the only option for these specific cases. However, I was pretty disturbed by the consistent argument that they would lose 700lbs once they had the surgery. The pounds don't just go away after the surgery...a significant amount of psychological and dietary work needs to be done in order to achieve such a drastic weight loss.

The 1,000 lb man boggled my mind. The others didn't so much, only because he was such an athlete in High School. I think his excuse for running around with a gang is a crock, I don't see how that has to do with such a drastic weight gain.

Maybe they did give up at a certain point.

I was looking on line to see if I could find any more info about the 1,000 lb man, and I found there is a new 'heaviest guy' in the world, but he lost about 500 lbs and he lives in Mexico. He was up at 1,200 lbs.

It isn't just in America (the land of plenty).

I've only met a few people who were ever that large. And I always wonder how you could be bed bound from being so heavy your legs can't carry your weight, and still not do anything about it.

It bothered me that the "half ton man" made a comment that he got down in weight so they couldn't measure him in tons or near tons anymore. And then he was laying down in bed with a bag of Lays potato chips next to him. But, to each their own I guess. He did lose a lot of weight.

I didn't watch the whole episode of the Half Ton Mom. That sucks to find out that she passed away.

i understand your point but i guess its the easy way out and, it is basically a show that's supposed to be fore entertainement anyway

Entertainment? Are you fucking kidding me? Its a fucking Train Wreck! A tragic, sad, pathetic train wreck that the program creators of TLC should be tarred and feathered and then cleaned off with a high powered fire hose for running. We are a sick society that we find people who have let themselves get this way entertaining. It is sad that somebody that is beyond obese and in danger of dying (or does die) become the equivalent of modern day freak show spectacles.

I'm disgusted with TLC for their programming. They should change it to TWC (Train Wreck Channel).

Don't even get me started on that show "Obesity in America" that featured too many people who had given up and were just making excuses. Like the woman who said she would mind losing weight, but she didn't want to deny herself a Snickers? Geez lady, a Snickers once in a while isn't gonna do you any harm, but 5 or 6 in one day? Get fucking real.

I think you're taking it the wrong way.


I think these programs have purpose for the people featured in them. They are not listened to, they are not respected, they are treated terribly by society. They needed a chance to get the world to listen to them, they want the world to see that they are humans too .All of these people wanted to and chose to go through with these documentries. Can you imagine how thrilled they must have been to have TLC approach them or respond to them? I really truly believe that these people felt like this was the only way to have society listen to them (which in its self is very sad).

As for the other segment with the snickers eating lady, I didn't watch it.

I missed this show by choice. I had my 'go around' with Brookhaven Obesity Clinic series. Same premise, different characters. I found two constants in this type of show: Enablers and Unablers. The enablers bring the food in, the 'unabler' (unable to push it away) eats it. This is NOT entertainment. These are assisted suicide shows.

I lost all hope when Brookhaven allowed patients to order whatever the fuck they please or could afford. The head Doc's stance was 'We can't force them to not do it' or along those lines.. What a pathetic 'clinical' decision.

Yanno, for 15 grand a month, you'd think they'd have a better system in place than this. This is the 'World Leader in Obesity Curing' ??

The only difference between some of us and many of them is that we've become compliant with control. I don't care how many decades of footage is shot or how many terabytes of internet is used on obesity discussions, control is always going to be the answer to success.

Right, wrong... it doesn't matter. These and other 'reality' shows of various content are train wrecks. They may have wanted to have a chance for the rest of the world to listen to them/see them as humans too... but the overall effect after the editing and producing was to reduce it to a sideshow.

It is hard to find respect for people when they are portrayed as having zero respect for themselves. Or zero self-responsibility. That may or nay not be the case, but that is how it comes across.

Just once I'd love to see one of these types of shows were the person being featured would say "yeah, I got myself in to this mess. Nobody pointed a gun to my head and told me to eat the entire box of Twinkies, then sit on my ass all day doing nothing. Now I have to undo 200 extra pounds worth of damage." I could respect that, and I respect those that come on this forum with that attitude. Instead we get Ms. "yeah I'd like to lose weight but I'd rather eat a Snickers" or the guy that checks in to the Brookhaven Obesity Clinic, whines about the food & all the torturous exercise... then speed dials Chinese food delivery.

Good grief! That clinic is 15 Grand a month? No wonder our health insurance costs are through the roof!

I've watched a couple episodes of 'Brookhaven' and I was stunned. Of all the people they featured, only ONE of them seemed to have any indication of hope for getting weight off on her own after staying at the clinic. They showed her at the beginning of the show walking around with the walker, but she was significantly smaller and getting around unassisted by the end of it. All this while her boyfriend checked back in because he put all the weight back on after checking out the first time around. Yeah, its about control. Or should I say lack thereof?

I think a turning point for me was taking responsibility for the shape I was in and I stopped making excuses or being in denial about what I was eating or my level of physical activity.

I did do this to myself. I did make myself obese. I ate too much and was incredibly lazy about working out. That's how the vast majority of people become fat.

This sums up exactly what I was thinking!

Amen to that. Is that not child neglect? I understand that he's 19 and unfortunately I did not see that episode but I can't imagine that this just happened over the period of a couple years.

It is so sad especially to see young children so grossly overweight. How can people let this happen?

You'd think that that would be taken as child abuse, but apparently it's not.