Extreme Weight Loss (ABC)

[Bearcata]

I didn't watch much of the 2nd episode. Watching the first episode I was really bothered by the fact that the girl/woman, while losing a great amount of weight did the majority of that in the first several months. Towards the end it seemed as if her weight loss had become incredibly negligible for someone her size. There just seemed to be a whole lot of unfinished business on the mental/emotional part of the journey. Maybe it's just way to much to cover in the time frame.

A&E had a show that aired earlier this year called Heavy. Same premise super obese people that take a year to lose their weight. Each episosde covered 2 people, their training, their therapy sessions, their nutrition etc... Heavy did a very good job identifying underlying emotional issues that lead to overeating and food addiction.Depending which facility the participants went to they either spent 3 or 6 months away from home training, eating right, therapy session etc... most where adults ranging from 30 to 50. Skin removal surgery was not part of the process. I do think one or two of the participants did have the surgery but their trainers did favor them waiting until they had lost more weight. The trainers did not want they surgery interferring with the training and weight loss process. On some of the episodes there was a bit of follow up to see how some were doing 3 or 4 months later.

[Bearcata]

Really? I cannot imagine what it would be like to have 20+ pounds of hanging skin on my body. There is an odor involved too, as sweat catches in all the folds. It has to be part of the journey when people are this heavy.

I am not anti skin removal, but I do agree that it is better to reach your goal weight, be able to maintain it and let your skin tighten up as much as possible naturally before having the surgery. Extreme Makeover is using skin removal surgery as a quick fix and that is what I object to.

[NCLurker]

I am not anti skin removal, but I do agree that it is better to reach your goal weight, be able to maintain it and let your skin tighten up as much as possible naturally before having the surgery. Extreme Makeover is using skin removal surgery as a quick fix and that is what I object to.

I didn't see it so much as a quick fix, but what I did object to was the fact that, at least in the first episode, the participant clearly was having issues that were greatly impacting the weight loss. To me, that would indicate that the timing might be really bad for removing the excess skin. Make sure that the person is really making progress through many of the issues BEFORE removing the excess skin. I would think that it would be terrible to remove the excess skin to only have that person gain all the weight back again.

[cantstopwatchin]

I actually liked this episode. Once Alex got past the 6 month slump, it seemed he really applied himself and I was amazed at how much he lost from the 6-9 month period. He gained his motivation back and I think he'll do well and keep the weight loss off. Where I left last week's episode feeling that Rachel would regain easily, I think Alex will maintain his weight. She was obsessed with her surgery but we didn't see him mention it once - it was all about the weight loss to him.

I loved watching this episode!! Kudos to Alex!!!

[Shoepie]

I am not anti skin removal, but I do agree that it is better to reach your goal weight, be able to maintain it and let your skin tighten up as much as possible naturally before having the surgery. Extreme Makeover is using skin removal surgery as a quick fix and that is what I object to.

I suspect that people this heavy have to have more than one surgery on the same body parts. I cannot imagine one operation would work when they are not close to their goal for their first tummy tuck. Their arms and thighs must need it too. How grim.

[alizarules]

I actually liked this episode. Once Alex got past the 6 month slump, it seemed he really applied himself and I was amazed at how much he lost from the 6-9 month period. He gained his motivation back and I think he'll do well and keep the weight loss off. Where I left last week's episode feeling that Rachel would regain easily, I think Alex will maintain his weight. She was obsessed with her surgery but we didn't see him mention it once - it was all about the weight loss to him.

I loved watching this episode!! Kudos to Alex!!!

ITA. I really liked who he was and believe he will maintain.

[Bearcata]

ITA. I really liked who he was and believe he will maintain.

Hopefully he will maintain because after seeing his two younger brothers he will be a role model so they will not go through what he did.

[PhoneGrrrl]

Perhaps it is best to chalk this up to being an "Extreme Makeover" show--one that MUST have a gut-wrenching emotional component to it--but it disturbed me that they pushed Alex on the basis of "this is what your dead mother wants for you!" Basically, they put him on the guilt train to weight loss and that's not healthy. You have to commit to loose weight for you or it won't stick, IMO. He should have had grief counseling and wanted to lose weight for himself, not solely for his mother. And maybe he really did, as he seemed to be quite enjoying himself at the end, but that's not how the edit played.

As for the surgery aspect, the extra skin was causing Alex problems--rashes, chaffing, a hinder to exercise--so I could see why he had it done at that stage. The first girl, IMO, was too early.

[Bearcata]

In tonight's third episode the participant is 49 yrs old. It will be interesting to see how an adult handles the process of losing weight with Chris vs the two younger particpants. Rachel was 21 and shy guy 23, but both came across very young. Also it seemed that the first two had weight issues as children. I wonder if it makes a difference if you were fat as a kid versus gaining it as an adult?

[mandmmom2]

I totally forgot to record the 2nd episode! I'll try to remember to record tonights. I'm forgetting a lot lately...