Today's Dr. Phil Show

I don't normally watch Dr. Phil since he's on in the afternoon, but my mom called me this morning and told me to tape it, so I did (it's on in the mornings at her house). The topic was "How Weight Issues Consume A Persons Life". It originally aired back in Dec. '06.

The first woman they brought out was named Angelique who was 28 years old and weighed 500 pounds (she should weigh around 140 pounds). Her mom was raising her daughter because she couldn't take care of her and she can't work because she can't fit behind the steering wheel of a car to get there due to her weight. Dr. Phil asked her why she eats and she said "I eat because I love the taste, the textures, etc. I'm addicted to food." The more I watched, the more I felt like I could identify with her. Even though I don't weigh 500 pounds or consume the large quantities of food the she does, I related to her love for the food and the need to eat an entire box of something "because it's there and you feel like you really need it" and then feel bad about it afterwards.

Dr. Phil went on to show her that just by cutting a few things out of her daily diet, in 1 year how much weight she could lose. She said she eats 13 cheeseburgers per week. Dr. Phil broke it down like this...

3,500 calories = 1 Pound
13 Cheeseburgers per week = 8,350 calories
8,350 calories = 2.4 pounds per week
Total loss per year just by cutting out the cheeseburgers = approx. 125 pounds

Dr. Phil said we don't think about how this stuff adds up, or how it all comes together in the end. We just keep eating it. You don't even have to weigh 500 pounds to be dealing with this. How many people stop and grab a high calorie drink at Starbucks? Even if you only do it once a week, those add up. He went on to show Angelique how much sugar she consumes in 1 year (at this point they rolled out a grocery cart filled with 59 - 5 pound bags of sugar. That's a total of 295 pounds of sugar per year. He said she should be consuming only 15.64 pounds of sugar per year. She was also consuming 26 pounds of salt per year. She could lose 115 pounds a year if she just cut her sugar back to the 15.64 pounds and reduced her salt intake. Add that to what she could lose just by cutting out the cheeseburgers, and she could lose approx. 240 pounds.

After they talked to Angelique, the brought out another woman named DeeDee who had been on the show before. She weighed 750 pounds at the time and had to use oxygen tanks, 2 canes, 5 men, a special van with a lift, and a large wheelchair just to get there. Dr. Phil told her that her life expectancy had been shortened by 40 years due to her weight.

She was back this time and walked out on stage with just the 2 canes. She now weighs 498 pounds and has lost over 250 pounds in 7 months. She's no longer on oxygen and can ride in the front seat of the car instead of the back "like cargo" she said. She said it hasn't been the easiest thing she's ever done. "You don't just pop a pill, go to sleep and wake up beautiful. It's a lot of hard work and we're all gaining in every manner (except for weight)." She said the biggest change is that she's now able to breathe on her own. She said "If I can get to 200 pounds, there's going to be a party... with no food involved." LOL!

Just by the mom losing weight, her kids (who use to take care of her and called her a burden) have also lost weight. Her son has lost 71 pounds, and her daughter has lost 55 pounds. They're both proud of her their mom now and they say she's no longer a burden since she can take care of herself.

The 3rd and last woman Dr. Phil brought out was a woman named Jennifer who lost 162 pounds in 3 years. She had a lot of loose skin. Her husband said he had never even seen her naked. She decided to get surgery because she felt worse than before she lost the weight. She wanted to wear things that skinny people wear (like a bathing suit) but she couldn't because of her loose skin. She had to have 2 surgeries, but after the surgery, she looked amazing. She said she feels like she's been reborn. The Doctors removed 13 inches of skin from her stomach, 12 inches from her back, 6 inches from her thighs and 8 inches from her arms. Total amount of skim removed along with some liposuction was 15 pounds. That's a lot!

I think today's show was good. It just shows that no matter how much weight we have to lose, it can be done with hard work and determination. I know the last thing I want is to be stuck inside due to my weight. I think I'll work on it now before it gets out of hand more than it already has.

I'm actually taping another show right now called "You On A Diet" (also a rerun that aired back in Dec). I'm guessing they'll be talking about the book (which I own, but haven't actually read). If the show is any good, I'll recap what they talked about in another blog.

Oh, and in case you're wondering how my weigh in went today... I didn't go. I was up all night sneezing myself to death and didn't feel well, so I looked up the meetings and will be weighing in tomorrow morning (you probably thought I was avoiding it didn't you? LOL!). I said I would face the scale and I will. I almost always do what I say I'm going to do (unless I forget or get too busy) but that won't be the case here.