This evening as I was preparing my client files for tomorrow, I was channel surfing for something to peripherally watch. I tuned in to a show on TLC channel called "The 750 Pound Man" which was already in progress. It was quite clear what the show was about. A morbidly, grotesquely obese man weighing 750 pounds was undergoing treatment at a center for people who have reached this point of seemingly no return. The first thing that always painfully strikes me when I see a person who has gained so much weight-- who has literally buried themselves in food--is "what happened to you that was so painful that you had to escape into a world of oblivion?"

It was difficult watching this man's journey. He was so huge that his knees had given out on him years before, and he was literally an invalid. He could not get out of bed. He spent nearly his entire existence on his back because his skeletal frame could not support his body. The show's narrator said that in order to remove him from his house, they had to borrow a whale net from a local aquarium to lift him out of bed because it was the only thing big enough to hold him. How tragically humiliating and demoralizing to have that documented for airing on national televsion. But the man said he was determined to change his life, so he was going along with whatever was required of him.

The first scene they showed of him in the hospital, his wife was pouring him a glass of diet Pepsi. Oh great, I thought, that's really going to help. This is where I get really frustrated with weight loss treatment centers and mainstream nutritionists. Where was the healthy food? Where was the water? The first meal they brought him was a salad made with iceburg lettuce, a few sprinkles of tomato and a bunch of shreddded cheese. How in the world will the man be nourished? A diet like that is sure to be deficient.

I know that someone who is that overweight has many more issues to contend with than just the food. However, without some foundational nutritional education, the man will never heal his body. The first thing I would do is get rid of those diet sodas and get the man on a detoxification diet. He and his wife would have to be re-educated on how to eat. They both needed education, because the second thing that came to my mind was "how does a man who cannot walk or get out of bed stay so fat unless someone else is providing the mass quantities of food?"

Whenever I see a person so huge, my heart breaks. Although I was never physically handicapped by my obesity like this man was, our "inner" stories are likely the same. There is no "cure" for a person who is a slave to food, there is only "reprieve". Simultaneous to dietary changes, the man needs support and healing. There are so many factors that lead a person to this point of self-destruction that can't be resolved by a simple dietary change. It's a huge onion that has to be peeled layer by layer, uncovering years of emotional and spiritual blockage. The man literally has 500+ pounds of pain to heal and release, whether or not he his aware of it.

I hope that this show has a purpose other than just shock value and reality TV entertainment. I hope that the people whose stories are aired are supported for years and years to come. Reaching a goal weight is only the miniscule beginning. Each day after reaching the goal weight is unchartered territory, and is therefore the greatest challenge and joy of anyone who overcomes a battle with obesity.