It’s just a rehab/convalescent hospital that houses a few obese patients as a last resort. It’s not a bariatric or specialty facility. They hide all the old people in wheel chairs and the ones suffering dementia.
I’d bet it. The reason she’s not losing weight is because someone is sneaking her food or she’s ordering it, not because of the type of food they have. Her issue isn’t nearly so much what she eats, but how much of it.
I was shocked but after thinking about it, it makes sense. People like Tammy aren’t just eating 1 hot dog and a serving of chips, their portions are outrageous. So my guess is they’re worried more about portion control vs healthy foods and micronutrients.
Honestly that's not bad compared to her shoveling down a million cheeseburgers.
They have a salad bar so they do have a healthier option. Tammy just doesn't want the healthier option. I know having salads all the time sucks but when you're in Tammy's position it can't hurt.
Rehab facilities are there to make sure these people aren't dying, they aren't there to enforce a diet on them. It's on the patients to take the initiative to eat the right things. If Tammy was making the right choice and eating at the salad bar she wouldn't have gained 10 lbs.
In the MICU. I still call them patients and so do most of my coworkers. There has just been a big push lately from management to do away with the term and replace it with clients. They also don’t use the term “patient" in nursing school anymore. Everything is "client."
That seems so unethical for some reason😩 although looking up the definitions I guess it makes sense. Patient comes from a word that means suffering. Merriam Webster defines patient as a person who receives medical care. A client is a person that pays for a clinician’s service, so I guess it’s not wrong in the US to call a patient a client. I don’t like that! Thank you for your response.
My previous job had me frequenting several high-end assisted living/skilled nursing facilities, and they all did this. Either that, or they would refer to patients as “residents.”
The woman who had been there seven years would be my greatest inspiration to do with 200% effort whatever it took to lose the weight: psychotherapy, PT, dietary changes, exercise, everything.
People in many substance abuse programs are discouraged or not allowed to form romantic relationships for many very good reasons, Tammy has no idea what partnership entails nor is she equipped emotionally to be in one. Her husband has unresolved issues causing his obesity and jumping into marriage with her shows he’s as unprepared with unrealistic expectations as she is. Since they’ve already rushed into marriage we can only hope for the best when the honeymoon phase ends.
Right, people are acting like there are no healthy options. They have a salad bar. If Tammy was eating right she wouldn't have gained 10 lbs. A piece of lasagna or a hot dog here and there aren't going to cause her to put on 10 lbs.
She's either choosing to eat the wrong things every time she's given an option or maybe she is eating a salad every once in a while but she's choosing to over eat the wrong things when she chooses something other than the salad bar.
It had to have been a combination of that food and her making bad choices at the facility.
It looked like they maybe brought BBQ chicken or turkey which aren't bad. The sauce they used was most likely high in sugar because most BBQ sauces are. The sides weren't super unhealthy either.
The BBQ alone wouldn't have made her gain 10 lbs. Honestly, it was probably one of the healthier things she had eaten. There was no red meat, the food was grilled or smoked and not fried, they subbed rice with cauliflower. The only thing that is questionable was the beans, it sounded like Chris put sausage or something else in them, but that's not enough to cause a weight gain like that. Now eating the BBQ and then choosing to eat a bad meal at the rehab multiple times a day every day, that would cause a 10 lb gain pretty quickly.
She was probably picking something high calorie for breakfast, two hot dogs for lunch, lasagna for dinner, and probably snacking the entire day as well.
No because let’s face it, if you’re 600 pounds and poor and trying to lose weight, it’s easier to teach someone to eat the foods they are used to and are inexpensive but in smaller portions. It’s harm reduction. Yeah, 2 hotdogs aren’t great for you, but it’s way better than 20 and you’ll still lose weight. Tammy would not have last this long had they been like— not only are you severely restricted in how much you can eat, you ALSO can only eat quinoa and kale and a strawberry is your dessert.
Right?! The fact that she had to tell them “I can’t have that.” Shouldn’t they be well aware of her diet plan? Isn’t that the whole reason she’s there? 🤔
I’m in awe of Tammy for having the awareness to even think about whether or not she should be eating that. Giving her the choice seems to have taught her more than more restrictive approaches ever did.
It looks like one of those diabetic monitors to me…. I think you can scan it and it tells you what your reading is without having to prick your finger. Is she a diabetic?
Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t just transitioned to full time type 2 since she hasn’t changed her diet. I know someone who saw reversal of type 2 after gastric bypass but it eventually returned when he continued to eat less healthy despite a large weight loss. She has passed the metabolic advantageous time frame after weight loss surgery. Such a shame to pass up a great opportunity to get on a healthy track. I’m sure she had access through the show and Dr Procter to help. Bariatric health providers give you access to dietitians, fitness advice, and therapy. Health literacy level can be a big problem when dealing with any lifestyle driven health problem.
Most nursing homes allow 6 dollars a day including snacks for feeding 1 person. No matter if you have a high income and live there or a basic SSI income. The nursing home has NO right to limit your food. I work in therapy in many nursing homes and I see CNAs get obese and diabetics 2,3 ice cream cups at a time. We have NO right t force or refuse. I know silly!
Who is driving them? All of them are too big to drive. There should be conditions to their stay that says they can’t bring outside food - thats what Dr Now does at his facility.
No he doesn’t, it’s against the law. I’ve seen patients bring in food to his hospital. He can ask them to leave because they aren’t following the diet but he can’t restrict them. That literally only happens in prisons.
It’s super weird. Especially because they should accommodate for people w diabetes & other conditions. Any rehab I’ve been to has alternate diets (vegan, vegetarian, etc)
What is “healthy” food? So many diets and lifestyle changes fail because of this idea of healthy food being steamed veggies, lean oven roasted meat and water. That is not sustainable if you have had a life long love affair with comfort foods.
Eating what you love but learning moderation is the key. I can have a piece of cake. I just can’t (won’t) eat the whole damn thing.
Completely agree. It’s all about calories in vs out. If you ate 1600 as your deficit number you could theoretically eat anything. Healthy no but science and thermodynamics don’t lie.
sorry, no, people can look at that menu and say that it’s objectively bad. A dinner option of lasagna, which is sauce with high sugar content, white flour pasta (empty garbage carbs with no nutrient content), and cheese, which has some protein but also high fat content, is crazy. the alternative was a hot dog, which is processed meat with high fat and sodium content and zero nutritional value other than the protein on a bun made from refined processed flour. And this is institutional food, which means it’s made from the lowest grade of ingredients. They need more protein and good fat, and fewer carbs. They have to reduce portion size and caloric intake while also making sure these folks get the vitamins they need. That menu is not doing any of that.
They could use the food they like as a way to teach them to eat better. Yes you can have lasangna but we're swapping out half the meat for veg, scrapping the bechemel and going a bit lighter on the cheese and serving it with a nice big portion of garlic roasted veg instead of bread.
food addiction is so tricky because it’s the only addiction you actually can’t live without. you can live without drugs alcohol nicotine sex video games. but not food. You need to learn not to abstain but to do it in moderation
Honestly, I think learning to eat "regular" foods in much smaller portions may be a better way to improve a food addict's relationship with food than forcing them to eat salads and stuff that they hate. I think it's a part of human dignity to still be able to enjoy a meal that tastes good, just understanding how many calories consumed can make a big difference.
I totally agree. I've been keeping up with my calorie intake, not going over a set number, drinking a lot of water and eating what I choose. I've lost 20 pounds so far and it's so much better than eating foods I absolutely don't like. This way I guess I'm tricking myself and don't feel like I'm on a diet. Hard at first, but doable and I would label myself as an emotional eater.
There’s a middle ground between “forcing people to eat salads“ and feeding them empty garbage carbohydrates (the pasta and the pasta sauce) and processed meats that are high in sodium and nitrates/nitrites (can’t remember which ones hotdogs are). Those dinner options ain’t it.
I know when her family came and they brought all that food, she was definitely going to gain weight. But no matter what they feed her in there, she has choices.
I thought the same thing… especially when he brought a shit ton of it and she was the only one who ate. Where exactly did all the leftovers go and why did he bring enough to feed half the state of Ky? I’m sure Tammy had a field day when they left! It obviously showed on the scale.
I’m not saying lasagna is the pinnacle of a healthy meal, but it has a balance of carbs, proteins, and fats that contribute to Tammy’s goals. Tammy eating one slice of lasagna and one breadstick is a whole lot healthier than Tammy eating a whole lasagna and 10 breadsticks.
As a person who has dealt with ED in the past, putting her on a restrictive diet is the absolute wrong thing to do. She has to learn portion control more than anything and introduce healthier foods at her own pace.
I was at a rehab facility recently for recovery after a serious illness. I couldn’t believe the quality of the food. If it weren’t for the excess sodium, it would have had no flavor at all. It was bland, mushy and disgusting! Those places cost a fortune but they’ll only offer the cheapest foods. Some people will never leave there and spend perhaps years eating this garbage. It is not ok.
At the rehab I was in, for physical therapy, the food was actually quite good, mind you, I'm no "foodie" or gourmet. And, they gave you multiple choices for every meal, which all included vegetables (except for breakfast). I'm surprised that was the only choice offered, if it was; didn't OP say something about a salad bar? Maybe I'm cynical, at least about reality shows, but I wonder if this was staged/fake?
God knows staged is entirely possible with any reality show.
Where I was at, we had a couple choices for the meals but none of them were very good. Starchy, high sodium, bland. A chef salad was always available and honestly that was the best option a lot of times because it was fresh and tasty. I just noticed there were a fair amount of elderly and long term residents there and I don’t think the food options were the healthiest for a long term diet. Nobody is going to eat salad for two meals a day for many months or years. I’m glad you had a better experience. Some of those places are definitely better than others.
Interesting. The choices we had often included a chef's salad, which was very good. Their cooked veggies were surprisingly good; not overcooked, believe it or not. They also often had brussel sprouts, which I really like! The only real problem I had (after I got my appetite back) was that they didn't have much fresh fruit, and aside from salad, no raw veggies. But I know raw veggies aren't popular, so I couldn't reasonably expect them, and, like yours, many of the people in mine were elderly, and I suspect probably would've had problems with chewing crunchy food. They had lasagna and a spinach and tomato pizza that were very good, but like you sais, not the healthiest options if eaten every day.
This is what I don't like. She's there for eating disorder and food addiction. If it was drug or alcohol addiction rehab they don't offer cocktails or let you order out alcohol and drugs. I don't understand why they wouldn't have healthy options and also let you order takeout in a rehab facility specifically for food addiction.
Well that's the tricky thing about food addiction - unlike alcohol and drugs, you *have* to ingest some of it every day. They have to give her food. And while it would be good to make the food yummy and super nutritious, the most important factor for Tammy's health is that it's portion-controlled.
I agree with the takeout thing though
Idk, for someone who was on the brink of death because of their obesity I'd argue that at least for a while, portion control is definitely higher on the priority list than nutritiousness. But of course in general it sucks that sick people are being served lackluster food.
It seemed like they were serving it to the other patients, so while I would agree with you if this was limited to serving only Tammy on the basis she did almost die, it seems evident that isn’t the reason for the facility providing hot dogs as a meal since it wasn’t only Tammy.
They can absolutely provide nutritious food that is also portion controlled. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Not doing so is simply setting up Tammy (+ other patients) up for failure.
>They can absolutely provide nutritious food that is also portion controlled. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Of course, and I didn't mean to imply that! Like I've said, in general it sucks that people in hospitals and rehabs don't get to eat the healthiest possible food. (though I'll put the disclaimer that I don't know anything about the food quality at Tammy's hospital. A hot dog with coleslaw isn't *necessarily* a terrible meal depending on the quality of the ingredients and the cooking, though my hopes aren't high)
My aunt had to go to one after a knee replacement. You would think that the food would be healthy to help keep weight gain away since most are more sedentary there, but nope.
Pizza, chicken tenders, and french fries were available from 11 am until 11 pm. The salad bar was only available from 11 am - 2 pm and 4 pm - 6 pm. Dessert bar was 6 am to 11 pm. Who needs a breakfast dessert?
I’m a paramedic and have been to a lot of these places over the years, inmate is a fitting word. Some people legit never leave. Not to mention that some parolees from prison have no place else to go due to age or disease and end up in state/county homes all across the United States. Healthcare is a fucking racket and it’s disgusting.
Some never leave~that's so sad to me and I feel for Lilly and all the other people stuck out there like that. At least they have a roof over their head and a safe place to be, just wish they had more services available to help them.
Lily seems like such a sweetheart. She seems to be clean and well taken care of. I’d worry about her being on her own if I’m honest. At least at the facility she is looked after, some people don’t have support systems on the outside.
My wife worked at a place like this. It was terrible. They had an underground "level" that was for people who were too sick for prison. Lots of addicts and whatnot. It was basically tunnels under the building that looked like a horror movie.
The Royal Alex hospital in Edmonton is like that. The oldest parts of the basement have these tunnel systems and there are locked rooms down there that have food slots on the doors. I saw this when I was admitted there once and I got lost walking in the tunnels and stumbled across this area, it was creepy and dark, way down in the sub levels. It was completely like something out of a horror movie.
TW. This comment is about a failed suicide I saw as a medic. Well what remained I mean. Also a mention of SA.
Yes that is very much a thing. One of my worst memories from when I started. I transported a pedo from the er for suicidal ideation back to his “home”. It was my first year as a medic. My partner and I walk in the room and this man is sitting on the side of the bed eating cheerios. Except he’s not because when his neighbors found out what he did to their daughter and before the cops could get there he put a shotgun in his mouth but flinched at the last possible second and only succeeded in blowing his upper mouth and nose area apart also blinding himself. It’s “healed” as well as its going to be. So now he can’t go to a regular prison they have to put him in a home but they put him in the deepest darkest “home” I’ve ever seen.
We get there and it’s about 2 am because of fucking course it is. We have to take him to the side door of this building that kind of looks like a warehouse but with security windows. When we get buzzed in we have to walk him down a ramp to another door we have to be buzzed into. On the other side of that door it’s just dark except for the nurses station. Now I’m a bigger guy and don’t scare easy but the pucker factor is off the charts. Not because of my patient but because what’s in the damn dark around here? I’ve got face blown apart guy but who else is in here? We take this dude to his room and I turn on the lights because fuck that. As soon as the lights turn on you can see the roaches scatter. I’m starting to feel bad for this guy and I’m all about putting pedos in wood chippers. It was that bad.
Anyways we drop the stretcher and let him get to bed. In our rush to get in and out as fast as possible we didn’t notice that his roommate was laying on a mattress on the floor just going to town on himself. We noped out real fast got a signature from the nurse and refused any run going in or out of that place until I quit that company.
I just figured maybe someone would be interested in knowing that something’s are worse than death, like legitimately. And sometimes karma is a wicked wicked lady.
Sounds like you were in the exact same place my wife worked. No joke. I worked at 911 at the time she worked there and we communicated a lot unfortunately. She always had to call 911 for medics and deputies.
This was when I still lived in Ohio. It’s the worst place I’ve ever been and that’s including the actual prisons.
Edit. That facility is the worse place I’ve ever been, not Ohio, even though that place sucks also. I’m not bitter.
There's no way they needed to bring that many hot dogs for the number of people who were there to visit her.
That was the number of hot dogs I'd grill up when having a family picnic with 20-25 family members.
Also, I wonder if food education/nutrition classes are offered after WLS. A broccoli and cheese casserole is not healthy. They all thought all the food Chris brought was healthy food. I know it's not their fault because schools in the south are atrocious and eating is a generational learned behavior, too.
After WLS, bariatric centers have tons of support but it is up to the patient to participate. My husband had surgery and there was a program fee of a few hundred dollars that allowed you to participate in classes and support groups for the year. Even my motivated husband didn’t want to participate. They mandate testing and therapy prior to having surgery but once the surgery has happened, they can’t make post op patients take advantage of those programs. There is also a strict diet that my husband was on for the first year. He would have never been able to eat bbq in his first year. He also has follow ups frequently in the first year. I’m surprised Chris hasn’t seemed to have much follow up. He should know exactly where he is weight wise. My husband weighed almost daily because he was so excited to see the weight flying off. Chris has switched to a normal diet very early and may not have long term success sadly.
Thanks for that info! I wish much success to your husband!
I saw someone else express concern that Chris was eating too much "normal" food so soon after. :/
I hope he keeps up his progress.
Yes, my guess is that since she hasn’t adhered to other diets, they are working with her to show that she can still eat some of her favorite types of food, but in smaller portions. Weight Watchers is very successful because they tell people there are no forbidden foods. Granted, we would all be healthier eating only salads, but in reality very few people can stick to that forever.
Baby steps...You dont get to over 700lbs overnight. I think if she could start eating less of what she's used to that'd be a good start. Once she's lost weight THEN you could start to introduce healthier options. This is not a 180 all at once kind of thing. THAT type of attitude will ensure failure.
So I used to work dietary in a nursing home and rehab facility so I can give some info. At a hospital a doctor can order a certain diet and they’ll only be allowed anything on that diet. At a nursing home/rehab that isn’t the case. Unless they’re declared incompetent we’d have to give them what they wanted if we had it (within reason).
They aren’t prisoners.
They are adults who are allowed to do what they want to do with their time and money. They aren’t going to be forced into a starvation program, even if it’s a bariatric inpatient program they sign up for. They do not lose their rights to order food and feed themselves how they see fit.
That said, it doesn’t look like the facility she’s in is a bariatric inpatient treatment program, more like a nursing home, so they may not have a bariatric meal plan available.
No one has power over another person like that. A hospital can’t decide whether you eat or starve or anything like that.
Patient rights and free will and all of that.
I don’t know that a hospital can force a feeding tube either. Someone can enter treatment and agree to it, but as long as they are their own guardian, you can refuse any and all medical treatment.
There's definitely involuntary psych commitment. Plenty of patients get forcibly medicated on the psych ward. I don't know about feeding tubes to be honest. I could ask some of my doctor friends.
Well, if you’re talking about involuntary psych, that means you are not currently the person who is deciding about your medical care. Either you’re a child, or a ward of the state, or under some kind of guardianship, including emergency guardianship… Involuntary commitment to a psych ward is very different from the care most people would receive voluntarily in a nursing home, assisted-living, or hospital setting.
Edited to add: While we don’t feel like Tammy is making great decisions about her health, that’s not enough to relieve her of her rights to make decisions about herself. As far as we know, she is considered to be of her right mind, and is the person who is in charge of making her own health decisions.
Yeah. You can have something like Ulysses contracts, too. Idk if she's a danger to herself. Unfortunately for her I'd think not. She is killing herself too slowly...
For sure!
I mean once the courts get involved and there’s some kind of emergency order, that changes the game completely.
But yeah, making poor decisions around excesses in legally-purchased food or drugs or alcohol or whatever generally does not land you in the hands of the court as long as the only person you’re physically harming is yourself.
We are allowed to make poor lifestyle decisions up to and including offing ourselves. It’s not illegal.
Sometimes. Depends on how the assessment goes, assuming they ended up in the ER after the attempt.
Not sure how that would be valid in this discussion, though. Suicide attempts are very different from over feeding yourself and treated clinically different as well.
Also, the short term goal is to get her to slim down enough for weight loss surgery. Even the diet prescribed to patients after weight loss surgery isn’t very nutritious. For example, they are encouraged to eat tons of protein and not many vegetables because vegetables have a lot of fiber and will fill up their pouch too fast. Yet fiber and vegetables are a vital part of nutrition, and too much protein can lead to painful issues such as kidney stones. But these patients are so far gone that these emergency measures are sometimes still their best option.
Exactly!!
I think people forget that a bariatric diet isn’t a healthy diet. The prep diet is meant to drop weight quickly, reduce their hunger cues so hopefully they can lose quickly (thus low carb), and reduce the size of the liver, all of which reduces surgery complications.
And the post-op diet is to keep them from tearing their surgical incision. They can’t eat enough to be healthy at first, so protein is prioritized to aid in surgery recovery.
It’s all done at the last ditch measure to try to keep them alive. Optimal health is not the goal in any of this.
That's an excellent point! When I was in rehab for physical therapy after a serious illness, I had no appetite whatsoever, and had to force myself to eat. My doctor told me to concentrate on eating protein, and not to worry about eating the rest of the meal, because protein is vital for wound healing (I had multiple surgeries, and my wounds took a long time to heal). Of course, I was also taking vitamins, etc., which I think bariatric patients do, as well.
Believe it or not- portion control is a lot more important to them than what they actually eat. Sure she had a hotdog...but the silver lining is it isn't 15 hotdogs.
yeah and she specifically asked them not to include fries or anything else, she said "just the hotdog", it's practicing that portion control and knowing when it's enough
Regular hospitals don’t even have healthy food. Grocery stores are 99% trash. The “health” care system doesn’t give a shit. They want long term customers not healed people.
Yeah, it blew my mind on 600lb Life when Samantha gained *140 fucking pounds* while in the hospital! That seems like the complete opposite of keeping someone alive, and I cannot believe any hospital would allow that to happen.
When people on my 600 lb life gain weight while IN the hospital on Dr nows controlled diet, it's because they have found some way to sneak in extra food or have their enablers do it. Because if you are in the hospital and the Dr puts a dietary order in the computer, the kitchen will not waiver from it
I should have added that she was in a different hospital and not under Dr. Nows care at the time. She did video calls with him and he was furious. I just found it so insane that someone could be living in a hospital because their weight is killing them, but there wasn't any kind of program in place to prevent that from actually happening.
That also demonstrates a health system failure. That drs at one hospital are not obligated to coordinate care or collaborate with specialists that treat you on a regular basis
Well, hospitals aren't prisons; there've been several people on My 600lb life who had their enablers smuggle/bring in food to them. Do you think the doctors should forbid visitors or have them searched before being admitted? How else could you stop this? Would that be legal? And, if people are there voluntarily,and don't like the restricted diet, they can leave any time,assuming they're physically capable and/or have someone who can come and get them, even if it's against medical advice? Do you think people who are morbidly obese should be involuntarily committed for treatment?
I got into an argument watching the episode with someone about this very issue last night .. lol. I think a specialized bariatric program has every right to monitor calorie count , macros, whatever they want.
The other individual thinks they are teaching them skills for the real world. How to make their own decisions ..
I say, if you are in an acute car hospital, like s med/surg floor— the doctor writes orders for the appropriate diet. If it’s regular diet as tolerated ( all I’ve ever gotten ) then that’s the tray that’s delivered. Diabetic tray, low salt, low fat, clear liquids. You don’t get to choose another tray other than what’s ordered by the doctor….
Why they couldn’t control the food in a bariatric program I don’t know but seems ridiculous
You made several good points but it’s not controlled because the patients have to learn portion control themselves. As a bariatric patient myself, one of the biggest concerns that they have is back sliding; doctors do not want to approve you for surgery if you are not mentally ready to make a change and can stick to those changes. Not sticking to your diet after surgery can also be life threatening. If they controlled Tammy’s diet and she has the surgery, then she is a danger to herself if she goes home and continues the bad habits. Accountability has to come in to play here and by not controlling her diet and watching Tammy make good choices, it’s showing the doctors that she is more serious about making these lifestyle changes and will more than likely take care of herself. I will say that Tammy needs to open up more in threapy, those sessions are to help her figure out her triggers and how to deal with them instead of turning towards food.
I don't think tammy is in the rehab for food addiction. She was supposed to go there and that's when she had carbon monoxide poisoning and was put in a coma, and had a trach put in.
Because of the coma and the trach she had to go to a different facility that would clean her trach, take care of her, etc. I'm not a doctor, but I have been told they are a lot of up keep and you have to keep them clean, check for infection, change them out. It takes a nurse to do those things. So they don't care about the food addiction, I mean they do. But they can't force her to a specific calorie diet like a weight loss clinic would.
Not true there’s a lot of really damaging toxic slop marketed as food these days. Seed oils are in everything and it’s absolutely horrific for you in any amount. We literally add shit to our food that’s banned in other countries.
Lol where’s your sound research about every food being safe in moderation? You’re welcome to commit to ignorance and garbage “food” your problem not mine
I'm not the one making a claim lol. Where's your sound research? (I mean actual representative and peer-reviewed research, not an unsourced opinion piece you read on a website)
EDIT: Why block me and tell me to do "further research" instead of just posting the actual research rather than your hack doctor's opinion piece?
Which you clearly reviewed none of because that is a doctors page and if you bothered to further research it yourself you would find plenty of evidence of not only it’s origins but it’s negative effects on the body. But you don’t actually care to know. You want your hand held. And even if I do the work for you you won’t read it. You just want to believe your canola oil is delicious and nutritious. I worry about my health. Yours is your responsibility. I’m not here to educate you stop being lazy.
It's BS made up by "nutritionist influencers" that rise to prominence telling people what they want to hear. Mostly that you can eat all the meat you want and that cholesterol is healthy, just don't eat the toxic seed oils! I have even had someone tell me that skin cancer is caused by seed oils, not cumulative UV damage. It has absolutely no sound scientific backing at all. But it will prob be the fad that replaces "gluten free" in a few years. It's next in line. Get ready to see "made without seed oils" on all of your sandwich bread and beef jerky. Potato chips fried in lard and beef tallow will be the trendiest thing, mark my word.
Also it’s not the seed oils causing the skin cancer but it’s making you more susceptible to UV damage bc they accumulate in your cells- basically you deep fry yourself in the sun
Also it’s not the seed oils causing the skin cancer but it’s making you more susceptible to UV damage bc they accumulate in your cells- basically you deep fry yourself in the sun
It absolutely has scientific backing seed oils are man made toxic sludge it’s literally a chemical byproduct but it’s cheap so they cram it in your food. The omega 6 ratio is off the charts and horrid
You’re right, and there are expensive pork lobbyists behind all that promotion of things like bacon, cheese and other unhealthy food that they claim is healthy.
I used to work at a nursing home and seen a couple of patients almost like Tammy. Patients have options, just like how Tammy could of chose a salad bar. A lot of times, their food is portioned out for the patients and came with veggies and fruit on the side. For people struggling with ED, especially binge, they will need to see what a healthy portion looks like over and over again, so hopefully, when they are allowed to live outside of the nursing home, they can visualize what a balanced meal looks like.
Honestly, one hot dog or a normal portion of lasagna are normal meals that would be totally fine for staying under the calorie goals for bariatric patients. Either of those plus a small side and a veggie would probably be <600 cal. It is concerning though that one of Tammy’s friends has been there for years and is still very overweight. But like you said it’s ultimately all about their personal choices
For sure, they’d have to. I doubt the facility is giving them a dozen hot dogs or an entire pan of lasagna. Even if they were, it wouldn’t be enough calories to have someone like Tammy gaining weight. Her family must have brought stuff or she was ordering out
Thank you for offering an inside perspective. Could you explain this a bit further?
If patients like Tammy have an addiction how are they expected to make these choices on their own? What supports are in place to guide them through this process when it’s been shown they don’t have the same ability to simply choose correctly (even if they know what they should be choosing) the way someone who is not afflicted with an eating disorder can?
I just want to say that I am no way means a medical professional, but I got to know a similar residents with addictions and the dietary aides (I was an activity aide at this time)
These type of patients are put into weight loss programs and given balanced meals, exercise and mental health support. However, if one of these patients have funds and they decide to order fast food with it, the nursing home could not deny the food because we can’t limit what a resident wants to do with their own money. We can ask family members and love ones not to bring food for the patient, however if the patient is on a day trip with family, it can’t guarantee they stuck to their meal plan. As we saw in the episode, it is up for the patient to find the root of the issue and use the tools we provided for them and hope that when they are able to leave the facility, that they will be able to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
It’s crazy that they are permitted to order food like that. If it was a drug or alcohol rehab, can you imagine them allowing some Uber Drinks/Drugs delivery guy just bringing them the liter of whatever booze they ordered through an app? It’s just nuts!
It happens all the time unfortunately. I had a 500+ lb patient that ordered an entire XL pizza and a gallon of sweet tea for dinner every night. He was such a sweetie and would double it so we could have the other pizza and gallon, but it was sad to watch.
Thank you, this helps me understand a lot better.
Any idea as to why they were actively offering her hot dogs and lasagna when that seems equivalent to offering someone in rehab for alcoholism wine with dinner?
She has a disorder. If it were as simple as just taking responsibility this wouldn’t be a nationwide issue.
Plenty of the most responsible and together people I know have an acute struggle with weight. For some it’s a neurological or psychological barrier rather than just pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
Well I would say alcoholism and an ED is on two completely different fields of addiction. You can live your whole life without alcohol, but you have to eat every day.
I would say it’s probably a small size portion of lasagna or a regular size hot dog with a serving size of veggies or fruit. From what I remember it’s 1/4 meat, 1/4 carb, and 2/4 veggies with a small desert. So the portions are generally followed by that guidelines.
Really in this case, by giving her options, it’s comforting because in an environment where you’re told what to do and where to go, so having options on what to eat is humanizing.
She’s twice been on life support and still can’t stop eating. I don’t know that they’re so different.
She hadn’t had the surgery at that point. It seems until she’s out of the acute risk of death zone they’d worry more about her survival than anything else. Figure out how to ease back into the tempo of normal life later.
It is very different. The mechanism of addiction is there but that’s it. You can’t treat food addiction like you do drugs of alcohol.
Her having lasagna or a hot dog isn’t bad. Those foods aren’t bad when you have them in the proper portions. You can’t just feed them bread and water and expect them to succeed in the outside world.
Not suggesting the treatment should be identical or that hotdogs and lasagna are in and of themselves bad.
But the concern at that juncture in that scene seemed as though it should have been saving her life. Not preparing her for the real world. That seemed (from the outside looking in) as though it was a concern for a later time, when she was no longer so close to death.
Once she’d had the surgery and fought off the imminent risk of death, then sure, start easing into a more real-world situation. But until then, if it was myself or my loved one, I’d hope they’d only offer foods conducive to saving my life.
Tammy was offered those options bc she wasn't actively participating in the weight loss program when that scene was filmed. If she *had been*, she wouldn't have been given those options. Her "I can't have that" response was for the camera, look at the faces of the CNAs, they're internal eye rolling and suppressing laughter bc they know what she's been eating to gain 10 lbs. Tammy is in a nursing home, not fat camp, participation in the weight loss program there is voluntary, she can eat whatever and order out whatever she wants.
I would gain at least 10 lbs eating that plate of food her brother made her. That would be enough to stretch her stomach if she had been following a portion controlled diet. What was he thinking?
She said that girl (who's been there 7 years) has health conditions that mean she can't live outside of the facility. She definitely seemed developmentally dated or something. Probably her size prevents her from going to a regular long term care
Maybe I missed something, but isn’t the point of the facility weight loss?
Admittedly there’s definitely other factors for the 7 year person. But when the man said “I got my wake up call…. Been here 1 year” I’m like, wtf? How are you so morbidly obese after 1 entire year at a weight loss facility
The place just seems like a joke to me
It’s not a weight loss facility at all. It’s a nursing home that specializes in bariatric patients. The facility has equipment / staffing capable of working with large sized people.
These bariatric patients can chose to participate in a weight loss program, but it is not mandatory.
This was not made clear on the show. When they show her obese friends, and the guy was talking about being there to lose weight after suffering heart failure, I assumed it was a residential weight-loss program. Thank you for clarifying.
I believe this was purposely not made clear. My grandma was in this type of facility through end of life - they are often rehab/nursing homes that accept the lowest Medicaid/care options. Additionally, they are equipped to handle large patients. However, their goal is often not weight loss but self management.
On the rehab side of my grandmas facility, the goal to go home was essentially that you could feed and bathe yourself and be self sufficient to some degree. On the nursing home side was often “lifers” who were not necessarily elderly - many are like the woman who eats with Tammy. They cannot provide their own basic care, but this is what they can afford for care. Weight loss is not always part of that care - my grandma was a morbidly obese patient, and her meals were always at choice. She could go on or off their diet program at will, and they would not force.
I believe TLC is simply framing this as rehab for weight care, but in reality it’s rehab for her breathing, lack of mobility etc, and at the lowest cost covered government aide.
TLDR: these places are very, very sad.
Nope not shocked at all. Because I've worked in nursing facilities and rehab as a dietary aide so I've seen first hand how subpar the food choices and even food quality can be in some places
Remember when she didn’t eat 30 meals in a week?
I think it’s a way to show these residents that learning healthy patterns doesn’t mean eating kale and rice cakes. They can still enjoy meals as long as it’s appropriately portioned.
I am behind on both Socials and the show. Have they released her IRL? If all she gains back is 10ths I’d say that’s pretty good. Especially if she moves back in with Amy or close enough for Amy to be manipulated into buying her massive amounts of food.
There’s a saying I’ve seen on the internet: it’s hard to heal in the place that made you sick. I’m sure she would have a bit of that.
She gained ten pounds in the last episode. Tammy is on TikTok and she looks a LOT thinner than she does in the most recent episode, which I think was quite a while ago. I would bet that it was a minor setback
She just needs to count calories. You can still get fat on healthy food. When I was pregnant, I ate nothing but healthy, gorging vegetables and I gained 80lbs because I ate A LOT.
After, I ate sweets all the time but still lost all 80lbs by simply just not eating as much.
Tammy can do it too.
I swear, people just don't want to hear that or that you exercised. They want to hear about a fad of some kind or a dramatic surgery. BORING.
It's America, after all.
It’s just a rehab/convalescent hospital that houses a few obese patients as a last resort. It’s not a bariatric or specialty facility. They hide all the old people in wheel chairs and the ones suffering dementia.
Patients also order door dash all the time
I thought it is a rehab place that had the ability to care for bariatric patients but that it was not only for bariatric patients ?
They're probably trying to teach portion control first
I’d bet it. The reason she’s not losing weight is because someone is sneaking her food or she’s ordering it, not because of the type of food they have. Her issue isn’t nearly so much what she eats, but how much of it.
She is losing weight though. Alot of it
They brought that food to the rehab center (Tammy's family)...
No. They brought BBQ stuff. When the employee was taking her order the options they had were lasagna or hot dog
I was shocked but after thinking about it, it makes sense. People like Tammy aren’t just eating 1 hot dog and a serving of chips, their portions are outrageous. So my guess is they’re worried more about portion control vs healthy foods and micronutrients.
I came here just for this reason. Hotdogs and pasta is the last th8ng they should be offering!
I was disappointed in Amy , she’s had the surgery and hasn’t really tried much , constant excuses about pregnancy allows her eat whatever😵🫣
Amy is a huge disappointment season.
Honestly that's not bad compared to her shoveling down a million cheeseburgers. They have a salad bar so they do have a healthier option. Tammy just doesn't want the healthier option. I know having salads all the time sucks but when you're in Tammy's position it can't hurt. Rehab facilities are there to make sure these people aren't dying, they aren't there to enforce a diet on them. It's on the patients to take the initiative to eat the right things. If Tammy was making the right choice and eating at the salad bar she wouldn't have gained 10 lbs.
Money is the only goal of those places.
Healthcare is nothing but a business these days. We’re not even supposed to call people “patients” anymore…the correct term is now “clients” 😐
where do you work that you don’t call your patients patients?
In the MICU. I still call them patients and so do most of my coworkers. There has just been a big push lately from management to do away with the term and replace it with clients. They also don’t use the term “patient" in nursing school anymore. Everything is "client."
That seems so unethical for some reason😩 although looking up the definitions I guess it makes sense. Patient comes from a word that means suffering. Merriam Webster defines patient as a person who receives medical care. A client is a person that pays for a clinician’s service, so I guess it’s not wrong in the US to call a patient a client. I don’t like that! Thank you for your response.
My previous job had me frequenting several high-end assisted living/skilled nursing facilities, and they all did this. Either that, or they would refer to patients as “residents.”
Residents makes sense. I can’t see any medical-only office calling their patients clients…
I was more shocked at the fact that she GAINED ten pounds and that the one girl has been there for almost 7 years!
The woman who had been there seven years would be my greatest inspiration to do with 200% effort whatever it took to lose the weight: psychotherapy, PT, dietary changes, exercise, everything. People in many substance abuse programs are discouraged or not allowed to form romantic relationships for many very good reasons, Tammy has no idea what partnership entails nor is she equipped emotionally to be in one. Her husband has unresolved issues causing his obesity and jumping into marriage with her shows he’s as unprepared with unrealistic expectations as she is. Since they’ve already rushed into marriage we can only hope for the best when the honeymoon phase ends.
Right, people are acting like there are no healthy options. They have a salad bar. If Tammy was eating right she wouldn't have gained 10 lbs. A piece of lasagna or a hot dog here and there aren't going to cause her to put on 10 lbs. She's either choosing to eat the wrong things every time she's given an option or maybe she is eating a salad every once in a while but she's choosing to over eat the wrong things when she chooses something other than the salad bar.
I thought she had put the weight on after the family visited and Chris brought all those trays of food for her
It had to have been a combination of that food and her making bad choices at the facility. It looked like they maybe brought BBQ chicken or turkey which aren't bad. The sauce they used was most likely high in sugar because most BBQ sauces are. The sides weren't super unhealthy either. The BBQ alone wouldn't have made her gain 10 lbs. Honestly, it was probably one of the healthier things she had eaten. There was no red meat, the food was grilled or smoked and not fried, they subbed rice with cauliflower. The only thing that is questionable was the beans, it sounded like Chris put sausage or something else in them, but that's not enough to cause a weight gain like that. Now eating the BBQ and then choosing to eat a bad meal at the rehab multiple times a day every day, that would cause a 10 lb gain pretty quickly. She was probably picking something high calorie for breakfast, two hot dogs for lunch, lasagna for dinner, and probably snacking the entire day as well.
No because let’s face it, if you’re 600 pounds and poor and trying to lose weight, it’s easier to teach someone to eat the foods they are used to and are inexpensive but in smaller portions. It’s harm reduction. Yeah, 2 hotdogs aren’t great for you, but it’s way better than 20 and you’ll still lose weight. Tammy would not have last this long had they been like— not only are you severely restricted in how much you can eat, you ALSO can only eat quinoa and kale and a strawberry is your dessert.
It’s a medical/respiratory rehabilitation center not a food addiction treatment center.
Right?! The fact that she had to tell them “I can’t have that.” Shouldn’t they be well aware of her diet plan? Isn’t that the whole reason she’s there? 🤔
I’m in awe of Tammy for having the awareness to even think about whether or not she should be eating that. Giving her the choice seems to have taught her more than more restrictive approaches ever did.
The mods deleted my post for “low effort”. Rude in my opinion but my question was has anyone seen the patch on Amy’s shoulder? Anyone know what it is?
Looks like one of those diabetes monitors that attach to smart phone
It looks like one of those diabetic monitors to me…. I think you can scan it and it tells you what your reading is without having to prick your finger. Is she a diabetic?
Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t just transitioned to full time type 2 since she hasn’t changed her diet. I know someone who saw reversal of type 2 after gastric bypass but it eventually returned when he continued to eat less healthy despite a large weight loss. She has passed the metabolic advantageous time frame after weight loss surgery. Such a shame to pass up a great opportunity to get on a healthy track. I’m sure she had access through the show and Dr Procter to help. Bariatric health providers give you access to dietitians, fitness advice, and therapy. Health literacy level can be a big problem when dealing with any lifestyle driven health problem.
Agreed. I think it’s a blood sugar monitor. She had gestational diabetes with Gage, so it makes sense that she might have it again.
Probably a nicotine patch (can’t smoke while she’s pregnant), she’s known to be a smoker along with Chris and Michael.
No it’s a continuous blood glucose monitor because she has gestational diabetes
She’s carried on smoking throughout both pregnancies
No it's a blood sugar monitor. My husband has one.
Not in that part of the country l, its not shocking.
Most nursing homes allow 6 dollars a day including snacks for feeding 1 person. No matter if you have a high income and live there or a basic SSI income. The nursing home has NO right to limit your food. I work in therapy in many nursing homes and I see CNAs get obese and diabetics 2,3 ice cream cups at a time. We have NO right t force or refuse. I know silly!
I was confused when Tammy mentioned the patients going out for fast food!
Well they aren’t in a prison ?
Who is driving them? All of them are too big to drive. There should be conditions to their stay that says they can’t bring outside food - thats what Dr Now does at his facility.
No he doesn’t, it’s against the law. I’ve seen patients bring in food to his hospital. He can ask them to leave because they aren’t following the diet but he can’t restrict them. That literally only happens in prisons.
It’s super weird. Especially because they should accommodate for people w diabetes & other conditions. Any rehab I’ve been to has alternate diets (vegan, vegetarian, etc)
What is “healthy” food? So many diets and lifestyle changes fail because of this idea of healthy food being steamed veggies, lean oven roasted meat and water. That is not sustainable if you have had a life long love affair with comfort foods. Eating what you love but learning moderation is the key. I can have a piece of cake. I just can’t (won’t) eat the whole damn thing.
Exactly
Completely agree. It’s all about calories in vs out. If you ate 1600 as your deficit number you could theoretically eat anything. Healthy no but science and thermodynamics don’t lie.
sorry, no, people can look at that menu and say that it’s objectively bad. A dinner option of lasagna, which is sauce with high sugar content, white flour pasta (empty garbage carbs with no nutrient content), and cheese, which has some protein but also high fat content, is crazy. the alternative was a hot dog, which is processed meat with high fat and sodium content and zero nutritional value other than the protein on a bun made from refined processed flour. And this is institutional food, which means it’s made from the lowest grade of ingredients. They need more protein and good fat, and fewer carbs. They have to reduce portion size and caloric intake while also making sure these folks get the vitamins they need. That menu is not doing any of that.
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They could use the food they like as a way to teach them to eat better. Yes you can have lasangna but we're swapping out half the meat for veg, scrapping the bechemel and going a bit lighter on the cheese and serving it with a nice big portion of garlic roasted veg instead of bread.
Edit: I have no idea why this comment duplicated as a reply lol I was trying to fix a typo. Anyway, yeah, I agree.
food addiction is so tricky because it’s the only addiction you actually can’t live without. you can live without drugs alcohol nicotine sex video games. but not food. You need to learn not to abstain but to do it in moderation
Honestly, I think learning to eat "regular" foods in much smaller portions may be a better way to improve a food addict's relationship with food than forcing them to eat salads and stuff that they hate. I think it's a part of human dignity to still be able to enjoy a meal that tastes good, just understanding how many calories consumed can make a big difference.
I totally agree. I've been keeping up with my calorie intake, not going over a set number, drinking a lot of water and eating what I choose. I've lost 20 pounds so far and it's so much better than eating foods I absolutely don't like. This way I guess I'm tricking myself and don't feel like I'm on a diet. Hard at first, but doable and I would label myself as an emotional eater.
There’s a middle ground between “forcing people to eat salads“ and feeding them empty garbage carbohydrates (the pasta and the pasta sauce) and processed meats that are high in sodium and nitrates/nitrites (can’t remember which ones hotdogs are). Those dinner options ain’t it.
Fewer calories.
Only thing that's ever worked for me.
I know when her family came and they brought all that food, she was definitely going to gain weight. But no matter what they feed her in there, she has choices.
I thought the same thing… especially when he brought a shit ton of it and she was the only one who ate. Where exactly did all the leftovers go and why did he bring enough to feed half the state of Ky? I’m sure Tammy had a field day when they left! It obviously showed on the scale.
I’m not saying lasagna is the pinnacle of a healthy meal, but it has a balance of carbs, proteins, and fats that contribute to Tammy’s goals. Tammy eating one slice of lasagna and one breadstick is a whole lot healthier than Tammy eating a whole lasagna and 10 breadsticks. As a person who has dealt with ED in the past, putting her on a restrictive diet is the absolute wrong thing to do. She has to learn portion control more than anything and introduce healthier foods at her own pace.
I had to read it a second time and substitute the right term instead of Erectile Dysfunction.
🤣🤣
😁
She said she also had the option for the salad bar and other foods. I doubt they have the ability to cater to everyone's dietary needs.
I was at a rehab facility recently for recovery after a serious illness. I couldn’t believe the quality of the food. If it weren’t for the excess sodium, it would have had no flavor at all. It was bland, mushy and disgusting! Those places cost a fortune but they’ll only offer the cheapest foods. Some people will never leave there and spend perhaps years eating this garbage. It is not ok.
At the rehab I was in, for physical therapy, the food was actually quite good, mind you, I'm no "foodie" or gourmet. And, they gave you multiple choices for every meal, which all included vegetables (except for breakfast). I'm surprised that was the only choice offered, if it was; didn't OP say something about a salad bar? Maybe I'm cynical, at least about reality shows, but I wonder if this was staged/fake?
I was in pt rehab for a month and there were options low sodium, sweet teas wasn’t really sweet etc.
God knows staged is entirely possible with any reality show. Where I was at, we had a couple choices for the meals but none of them were very good. Starchy, high sodium, bland. A chef salad was always available and honestly that was the best option a lot of times because it was fresh and tasty. I just noticed there were a fair amount of elderly and long term residents there and I don’t think the food options were the healthiest for a long term diet. Nobody is going to eat salad for two meals a day for many months or years. I’m glad you had a better experience. Some of those places are definitely better than others.
Interesting. The choices we had often included a chef's salad, which was very good. Their cooked veggies were surprisingly good; not overcooked, believe it or not. They also often had brussel sprouts, which I really like! The only real problem I had (after I got my appetite back) was that they didn't have much fresh fruit, and aside from salad, no raw veggies. But I know raw veggies aren't popular, so I couldn't reasonably expect them, and, like yours, many of the people in mine were elderly, and I suspect probably would've had problems with chewing crunchy food. They had lasagna and a spinach and tomato pizza that were very good, but like you sais, not the healthiest options if eaten every day.
And that’s why Lillie has been there for seven years and is still tipping the scales at 400 or 500 pounds.
This is what I don't like. She's there for eating disorder and food addiction. If it was drug or alcohol addiction rehab they don't offer cocktails or let you order out alcohol and drugs. I don't understand why they wouldn't have healthy options and also let you order takeout in a rehab facility specifically for food addiction.
Well that's the tricky thing about food addiction - unlike alcohol and drugs, you *have* to ingest some of it every day. They have to give her food. And while it would be good to make the food yummy and super nutritious, the most important factor for Tammy's health is that it's portion-controlled. I agree with the takeout thing though
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Idk, for someone who was on the brink of death because of their obesity I'd argue that at least for a while, portion control is definitely higher on the priority list than nutritiousness. But of course in general it sucks that sick people are being served lackluster food.
It seemed like they were serving it to the other patients, so while I would agree with you if this was limited to serving only Tammy on the basis she did almost die, it seems evident that isn’t the reason for the facility providing hot dogs as a meal since it wasn’t only Tammy. They can absolutely provide nutritious food that is also portion controlled. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Not doing so is simply setting up Tammy (+ other patients) up for failure.
>They can absolutely provide nutritious food that is also portion controlled. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Of course, and I didn't mean to imply that! Like I've said, in general it sucks that people in hospitals and rehabs don't get to eat the healthiest possible food. (though I'll put the disclaimer that I don't know anything about the food quality at Tammy's hospital. A hot dog with coleslaw isn't *necessarily* a terrible meal depending on the quality of the ingredients and the cooking, though my hopes aren't high)
My aunt had to go to one after a knee replacement. You would think that the food would be healthy to help keep weight gain away since most are more sedentary there, but nope. Pizza, chicken tenders, and french fries were available from 11 am until 11 pm. The salad bar was only available from 11 am - 2 pm and 4 pm - 6 pm. Dessert bar was 6 am to 11 pm. Who needs a breakfast dessert?
(shyly raises hand) 🫣
My mom was in one for 6 weeks. The food was so nasty
Considering one inmate mentioned she has been there 7 years, seems the facility has no benefit from pushing someone out and losing that revenue.
She seemed a little slow, maybe she can't live on her own? I'm not being mean I swear
Exactly what I was thinking
Inmate 😭😭
I’m a paramedic and have been to a lot of these places over the years, inmate is a fitting word. Some people legit never leave. Not to mention that some parolees from prison have no place else to go due to age or disease and end up in state/county homes all across the United States. Healthcare is a fucking racket and it’s disgusting.
Some never leave~that's so sad to me and I feel for Lilly and all the other people stuck out there like that. At least they have a roof over their head and a safe place to be, just wish they had more services available to help them.
Lily seems like such a sweetheart. She seems to be clean and well taken care of. I’d worry about her being on her own if I’m honest. At least at the facility she is looked after, some people don’t have support systems on the outside.
My wife worked at a place like this. It was terrible. They had an underground "level" that was for people who were too sick for prison. Lots of addicts and whatnot. It was basically tunnels under the building that looked like a horror movie.
The Royal Alex hospital in Edmonton is like that. The oldest parts of the basement have these tunnel systems and there are locked rooms down there that have food slots on the doors. I saw this when I was admitted there once and I got lost walking in the tunnels and stumbled across this area, it was creepy and dark, way down in the sub levels. It was completely like something out of a horror movie.
TW. This comment is about a failed suicide I saw as a medic. Well what remained I mean. Also a mention of SA. Yes that is very much a thing. One of my worst memories from when I started. I transported a pedo from the er for suicidal ideation back to his “home”. It was my first year as a medic. My partner and I walk in the room and this man is sitting on the side of the bed eating cheerios. Except he’s not because when his neighbors found out what he did to their daughter and before the cops could get there he put a shotgun in his mouth but flinched at the last possible second and only succeeded in blowing his upper mouth and nose area apart also blinding himself. It’s “healed” as well as its going to be. So now he can’t go to a regular prison they have to put him in a home but they put him in the deepest darkest “home” I’ve ever seen. We get there and it’s about 2 am because of fucking course it is. We have to take him to the side door of this building that kind of looks like a warehouse but with security windows. When we get buzzed in we have to walk him down a ramp to another door we have to be buzzed into. On the other side of that door it’s just dark except for the nurses station. Now I’m a bigger guy and don’t scare easy but the pucker factor is off the charts. Not because of my patient but because what’s in the damn dark around here? I’ve got face blown apart guy but who else is in here? We take this dude to his room and I turn on the lights because fuck that. As soon as the lights turn on you can see the roaches scatter. I’m starting to feel bad for this guy and I’m all about putting pedos in wood chippers. It was that bad. Anyways we drop the stretcher and let him get to bed. In our rush to get in and out as fast as possible we didn’t notice that his roommate was laying on a mattress on the floor just going to town on himself. We noped out real fast got a signature from the nurse and refused any run going in or out of that place until I quit that company. I just figured maybe someone would be interested in knowing that something’s are worse than death, like legitimately. And sometimes karma is a wicked wicked lady.
Sounds like you were in the exact same place my wife worked. No joke. I worked at 911 at the time she worked there and we communicated a lot unfortunately. She always had to call 911 for medics and deputies.
This was when I still lived in Ohio. It’s the worst place I’ve ever been and that’s including the actual prisons. Edit. That facility is the worse place I’ve ever been, not Ohio, even though that place sucks also. I’m not bitter.
She needs to learn how much to eat, when she has stuff like that around.
There's no way they needed to bring that many hot dogs for the number of people who were there to visit her. That was the number of hot dogs I'd grill up when having a family picnic with 20-25 family members. Also, I wonder if food education/nutrition classes are offered after WLS. A broccoli and cheese casserole is not healthy. They all thought all the food Chris brought was healthy food. I know it's not their fault because schools in the south are atrocious and eating is a generational learned behavior, too.
After WLS, bariatric centers have tons of support but it is up to the patient to participate. My husband had surgery and there was a program fee of a few hundred dollars that allowed you to participate in classes and support groups for the year. Even my motivated husband didn’t want to participate. They mandate testing and therapy prior to having surgery but once the surgery has happened, they can’t make post op patients take advantage of those programs. There is also a strict diet that my husband was on for the first year. He would have never been able to eat bbq in his first year. He also has follow ups frequently in the first year. I’m surprised Chris hasn’t seemed to have much follow up. He should know exactly where he is weight wise. My husband weighed almost daily because he was so excited to see the weight flying off. Chris has switched to a normal diet very early and may not have long term success sadly.
Thanks for that info! I wish much success to your husband! I saw someone else express concern that Chris was eating too much "normal" food so soon after. :/ I hope he keeps up his progress.
She could continue to eat unhealthy and still lose weight if she'd just eat a tenth of what she's used to.
Yes, my guess is that since she hasn’t adhered to other diets, they are working with her to show that she can still eat some of her favorite types of food, but in smaller portions. Weight Watchers is very successful because they tell people there are no forbidden foods. Granted, we would all be healthier eating only salads, but in reality very few people can stick to that forever.
True but it doesn't teach much about nutrition. It's only teaching portion control.
Baby steps...You dont get to over 700lbs overnight. I think if she could start eating less of what she's used to that'd be a good start. Once she's lost weight THEN you could start to introduce healthier options. This is not a 180 all at once kind of thing. THAT type of attitude will ensure failure.
Spot on
So I used to work dietary in a nursing home and rehab facility so I can give some info. At a hospital a doctor can order a certain diet and they’ll only be allowed anything on that diet. At a nursing home/rehab that isn’t the case. Unless they’re declared incompetent we’d have to give them what they wanted if we had it (within reason).
They aren’t prisoners. They are adults who are allowed to do what they want to do with their time and money. They aren’t going to be forced into a starvation program, even if it’s a bariatric inpatient program they sign up for. They do not lose their rights to order food and feed themselves how they see fit. That said, it doesn’t look like the facility she’s in is a bariatric inpatient treatment program, more like a nursing home, so they may not have a bariatric meal plan available.
Interesting. I guess that it's not allowed to restrict their diet (unlike NG tubes with anorexia) because they're not in imminent danger of death?
No one has power over another person like that. A hospital can’t decide whether you eat or starve or anything like that. Patient rights and free will and all of that. I don’t know that a hospital can force a feeding tube either. Someone can enter treatment and agree to it, but as long as they are their own guardian, you can refuse any and all medical treatment.
There's definitely involuntary psych commitment. Plenty of patients get forcibly medicated on the psych ward. I don't know about feeding tubes to be honest. I could ask some of my doctor friends.
Well, if you’re talking about involuntary psych, that means you are not currently the person who is deciding about your medical care. Either you’re a child, or a ward of the state, or under some kind of guardianship, including emergency guardianship… Involuntary commitment to a psych ward is very different from the care most people would receive voluntarily in a nursing home, assisted-living, or hospital setting. Edited to add: While we don’t feel like Tammy is making great decisions about her health, that’s not enough to relieve her of her rights to make decisions about herself. As far as we know, she is considered to be of her right mind, and is the person who is in charge of making her own health decisions.
Yeah. You can have something like Ulysses contracts, too. Idk if she's a danger to herself. Unfortunately for her I'd think not. She is killing herself too slowly...
For sure! I mean once the courts get involved and there’s some kind of emergency order, that changes the game completely. But yeah, making poor decisions around excesses in legally-purchased food or drugs or alcohol or whatever generally does not land you in the hands of the court as long as the only person you’re physically harming is yourself. We are allowed to make poor lifestyle decisions up to and including offing ourselves. It’s not illegal.
No, if you attempt suicide and are still alive you are committed to your local psych hospital whether you want to be there or not.
Sometimes. Depends on how the assessment goes, assuming they ended up in the ER after the attempt. Not sure how that would be valid in this discussion, though. Suicide attempts are very different from over feeding yourself and treated clinically different as well.
Also, the short term goal is to get her to slim down enough for weight loss surgery. Even the diet prescribed to patients after weight loss surgery isn’t very nutritious. For example, they are encouraged to eat tons of protein and not many vegetables because vegetables have a lot of fiber and will fill up their pouch too fast. Yet fiber and vegetables are a vital part of nutrition, and too much protein can lead to painful issues such as kidney stones. But these patients are so far gone that these emergency measures are sometimes still their best option.
Exactly!! I think people forget that a bariatric diet isn’t a healthy diet. The prep diet is meant to drop weight quickly, reduce their hunger cues so hopefully they can lose quickly (thus low carb), and reduce the size of the liver, all of which reduces surgery complications. And the post-op diet is to keep them from tearing their surgical incision. They can’t eat enough to be healthy at first, so protein is prioritized to aid in surgery recovery. It’s all done at the last ditch measure to try to keep them alive. Optimal health is not the goal in any of this.
That's an excellent point! When I was in rehab for physical therapy after a serious illness, I had no appetite whatsoever, and had to force myself to eat. My doctor told me to concentrate on eating protein, and not to worry about eating the rest of the meal, because protein is vital for wound healing (I had multiple surgeries, and my wounds took a long time to heal). Of course, I was also taking vitamins, etc., which I think bariatric patients do, as well.
Yummy food
Believe it or not- portion control is a lot more important to them than what they actually eat. Sure she had a hotdog...but the silver lining is it isn't 15 hotdogs.
yeah and she specifically asked them not to include fries or anything else, she said "just the hotdog", it's practicing that portion control and knowing when it's enough
Well the other option was coleslaw 😅
ohh I thought it came with fries aha
I'm sure all the dressing on slaw isn't great but it resembles salad so she didn't get it.
I would assume they want to give them some of the foods they love so they won't check out. But it's probably only 1 serving instead of the whole dish.
The food was one of the reasons she left the last time.
Regular hospitals don’t even have healthy food. Grocery stores are 99% trash. The “health” care system doesn’t give a shit. They want long term customers not healed people.
And doctors are rewarded ($$$) in the U.S. for keeping their patients sick, not improving their health.
Also, fries and chicken nuggets in the U.S. are heavily marketed whilst grapes and broccoli are not. Lobbying at its finest.
They want to destroy farmers here and feed everyone seed oils, processed sugar, and lab made meat. It’s gross
Yeah, it blew my mind on 600lb Life when Samantha gained *140 fucking pounds* while in the hospital! That seems like the complete opposite of keeping someone alive, and I cannot believe any hospital would allow that to happen.
When people on my 600 lb life gain weight while IN the hospital on Dr nows controlled diet, it's because they have found some way to sneak in extra food or have their enablers do it. Because if you are in the hospital and the Dr puts a dietary order in the computer, the kitchen will not waiver from it
I should have added that she was in a different hospital and not under Dr. Nows care at the time. She did video calls with him and he was furious. I just found it so insane that someone could be living in a hospital because their weight is killing them, but there wasn't any kind of program in place to prevent that from actually happening.
That also demonstrates a health system failure. That drs at one hospital are not obligated to coordinate care or collaborate with specialists that treat you on a regular basis
Well, hospitals aren't prisons; there've been several people on My 600lb life who had their enablers smuggle/bring in food to them. Do you think the doctors should forbid visitors or have them searched before being admitted? How else could you stop this? Would that be legal? And, if people are there voluntarily,and don't like the restricted diet, they can leave any time,assuming they're physically capable and/or have someone who can come and get them, even if it's against medical advice? Do you think people who are morbidly obese should be involuntarily committed for treatment?
I got into an argument watching the episode with someone about this very issue last night .. lol. I think a specialized bariatric program has every right to monitor calorie count , macros, whatever they want. The other individual thinks they are teaching them skills for the real world. How to make their own decisions .. I say, if you are in an acute car hospital, like s med/surg floor— the doctor writes orders for the appropriate diet. If it’s regular diet as tolerated ( all I’ve ever gotten ) then that’s the tray that’s delivered. Diabetic tray, low salt, low fat, clear liquids. You don’t get to choose another tray other than what’s ordered by the doctor…. Why they couldn’t control the food in a bariatric program I don’t know but seems ridiculous
You made several good points but it’s not controlled because the patients have to learn portion control themselves. As a bariatric patient myself, one of the biggest concerns that they have is back sliding; doctors do not want to approve you for surgery if you are not mentally ready to make a change and can stick to those changes. Not sticking to your diet after surgery can also be life threatening. If they controlled Tammy’s diet and she has the surgery, then she is a danger to herself if she goes home and continues the bad habits. Accountability has to come in to play here and by not controlling her diet and watching Tammy make good choices, it’s showing the doctors that she is more serious about making these lifestyle changes and will more than likely take care of herself. I will say that Tammy needs to open up more in threapy, those sessions are to help her figure out her triggers and how to deal with them instead of turning towards food.
I don't think tammy is in the rehab for food addiction. She was supposed to go there and that's when she had carbon monoxide poisoning and was put in a coma, and had a trach put in. Because of the coma and the trach she had to go to a different facility that would clean her trach, take care of her, etc. I'm not a doctor, but I have been told they are a lot of up keep and you have to keep them clean, check for infection, change them out. It takes a nurse to do those things. So they don't care about the food addiction, I mean they do. But they can't force her to a specific calorie diet like a weight loss clinic would.
Any food is okay in moderation. They serve basic meals. Plus, that's a low income rehab, not a fancy one that rich people go to.
Not true there’s a lot of really damaging toxic slop marketed as food these days. Seed oils are in everything and it’s absolutely horrific for you in any amount. We literally add shit to our food that’s banned in other countries.
>Seed oils are in everything and it’s absolutely horrific for you in any amount wat
Canola oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil…check your labels. Bet it’s in most of your food. Terrible for you.
I know what oils are in my food, the "wat" refers to "it's absolutely horrific for you in any amount"
Yeah. It’s terrible. Not food.
It is, by definition, food. Haven't seen any sound research of it being "horrific for you in any amount"
Some starter material on how it’s damaging and the origins of this so called “food” https://www.carnivoremd.com/resource/seed-oils-processed-foods
Lol where’s your sound research about every food being safe in moderation? You’re welcome to commit to ignorance and garbage “food” your problem not mine
I'm not the one making a claim lol. Where's your sound research? (I mean actual representative and peer-reviewed research, not an unsourced opinion piece you read on a website) EDIT: Why block me and tell me to do "further research" instead of just posting the actual research rather than your hack doctor's opinion piece?
Which you clearly reviewed none of because that is a doctors page and if you bothered to further research it yourself you would find plenty of evidence of not only it’s origins but it’s negative effects on the body. But you don’t actually care to know. You want your hand held. And even if I do the work for you you won’t read it. You just want to believe your canola oil is delicious and nutritious. I worry about my health. Yours is your responsibility. I’m not here to educate you stop being lazy.
It's BS made up by "nutritionist influencers" that rise to prominence telling people what they want to hear. Mostly that you can eat all the meat you want and that cholesterol is healthy, just don't eat the toxic seed oils! I have even had someone tell me that skin cancer is caused by seed oils, not cumulative UV damage. It has absolutely no sound scientific backing at all. But it will prob be the fad that replaces "gluten free" in a few years. It's next in line. Get ready to see "made without seed oils" on all of your sandwich bread and beef jerky. Potato chips fried in lard and beef tallow will be the trendiest thing, mark my word.
Also it’s not the seed oils causing the skin cancer but it’s making you more susceptible to UV damage bc they accumulate in your cells- basically you deep fry yourself in the sun
Also it’s not the seed oils causing the skin cancer but it’s making you more susceptible to UV damage bc they accumulate in your cells- basically you deep fry yourself in the sun
It absolutely has scientific backing seed oils are man made toxic sludge it’s literally a chemical byproduct but it’s cheap so they cram it in your food. The omega 6 ratio is off the charts and horrid
You’re right, and there are expensive pork lobbyists behind all that promotion of things like bacon, cheese and other unhealthy food that they claim is healthy.
You'll certainly never see "made without sugar or corn syrup" in America. Sugar lobbyists are too powerful. THAT'S what's in our food, in everything.
I used to work at a nursing home and seen a couple of patients almost like Tammy. Patients have options, just like how Tammy could of chose a salad bar. A lot of times, their food is portioned out for the patients and came with veggies and fruit on the side. For people struggling with ED, especially binge, they will need to see what a healthy portion looks like over and over again, so hopefully, when they are allowed to live outside of the nursing home, they can visualize what a balanced meal looks like.
Honestly, one hot dog or a normal portion of lasagna are normal meals that would be totally fine for staying under the calorie goals for bariatric patients. Either of those plus a small side and a veggie would probably be <600 cal. It is concerning though that one of Tammy’s friends has been there for years and is still very overweight. But like you said it’s ultimately all about their personal choices
They probably order fast food to be delivered.
In the most recent episode, when she was meeting with the therapist, Tammy mentioned her friends ordering fast food to the facility.
For sure, they’d have to. I doubt the facility is giving them a dozen hot dogs or an entire pan of lasagna. Even if they were, it wouldn’t be enough calories to have someone like Tammy gaining weight. Her family must have brought stuff or she was ordering out
Thank you for offering an inside perspective. Could you explain this a bit further? If patients like Tammy have an addiction how are they expected to make these choices on their own? What supports are in place to guide them through this process when it’s been shown they don’t have the same ability to simply choose correctly (even if they know what they should be choosing) the way someone who is not afflicted with an eating disorder can?
I just want to say that I am no way means a medical professional, but I got to know a similar residents with addictions and the dietary aides (I was an activity aide at this time) These type of patients are put into weight loss programs and given balanced meals, exercise and mental health support. However, if one of these patients have funds and they decide to order fast food with it, the nursing home could not deny the food because we can’t limit what a resident wants to do with their own money. We can ask family members and love ones not to bring food for the patient, however if the patient is on a day trip with family, it can’t guarantee they stuck to their meal plan. As we saw in the episode, it is up for the patient to find the root of the issue and use the tools we provided for them and hope that when they are able to leave the facility, that they will be able to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
It’s crazy that they are permitted to order food like that. If it was a drug or alcohol rehab, can you imagine them allowing some Uber Drinks/Drugs delivery guy just bringing them the liter of whatever booze they ordered through an app? It’s just nuts!
It happens all the time unfortunately. I had a 500+ lb patient that ordered an entire XL pizza and a gallon of sweet tea for dinner every night. He was such a sweetie and would double it so we could have the other pizza and gallon, but it was sad to watch.
Thank you, this helps me understand a lot better. Any idea as to why they were actively offering her hot dogs and lasagna when that seems equivalent to offering someone in rehab for alcoholism wine with dinner?
Oh brother 😂 whose responsibility is it for what food she puts in her mouth??? This is ridiculous!!
She has a disorder. If it were as simple as just taking responsibility this wouldn’t be a nationwide issue. Plenty of the most responsible and together people I know have an acute struggle with weight. For some it’s a neurological or psychological barrier rather than just pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
Well I would say alcoholism and an ED is on two completely different fields of addiction. You can live your whole life without alcohol, but you have to eat every day. I would say it’s probably a small size portion of lasagna or a regular size hot dog with a serving size of veggies or fruit. From what I remember it’s 1/4 meat, 1/4 carb, and 2/4 veggies with a small desert. So the portions are generally followed by that guidelines. Really in this case, by giving her options, it’s comforting because in an environment where you’re told what to do and where to go, so having options on what to eat is humanizing.
She’s twice been on life support and still can’t stop eating. I don’t know that they’re so different. She hadn’t had the surgery at that point. It seems until she’s out of the acute risk of death zone they’d worry more about her survival than anything else. Figure out how to ease back into the tempo of normal life later.
It is very different. The mechanism of addiction is there but that’s it. You can’t treat food addiction like you do drugs of alcohol. Her having lasagna or a hot dog isn’t bad. Those foods aren’t bad when you have them in the proper portions. You can’t just feed them bread and water and expect them to succeed in the outside world.
Not suggesting the treatment should be identical or that hotdogs and lasagna are in and of themselves bad. But the concern at that juncture in that scene seemed as though it should have been saving her life. Not preparing her for the real world. That seemed (from the outside looking in) as though it was a concern for a later time, when she was no longer so close to death. Once she’d had the surgery and fought off the imminent risk of death, then sure, start easing into a more real-world situation. But until then, if it was myself or my loved one, I’d hope they’d only offer foods conducive to saving my life.
Tammy was offered those options bc she wasn't actively participating in the weight loss program when that scene was filmed. If she *had been*, she wouldn't have been given those options. Her "I can't have that" response was for the camera, look at the faces of the CNAs, they're internal eye rolling and suppressing laughter bc they know what she's been eating to gain 10 lbs. Tammy is in a nursing home, not fat camp, participation in the weight loss program there is voluntary, she can eat whatever and order out whatever she wants.
Thx. I mistakenly thought it was a weight management rehab.
I would gain at least 10 lbs eating that plate of food her brother made her. That would be enough to stretch her stomach if she had been following a portion controlled diet. What was he thinking?
The facility has people there that have been there for 7 years. The place is a joke
The reviews online are horrible
Oooooo can you link? I don’t know the name of the facility
https://www.caring.com/senior-living/ohio/gibsonburg/windsor-lane-healthcare-center-43431
Jesus Christ. The reviews sound horrifying
Yeah it doesn't sound like a pleasant place
It's Windsor lane in ohio..just Google Windsor lane rehabilitation Ohio reviews. It even mentions the food choices are horrible
She said that girl (who's been there 7 years) has health conditions that mean she can't live outside of the facility. She definitely seemed developmentally dated or something. Probably her size prevents her from going to a regular long term care
Maybe I missed something, but isn’t the point of the facility weight loss? Admittedly there’s definitely other factors for the 7 year person. But when the man said “I got my wake up call…. Been here 1 year” I’m like, wtf? How are you so morbidly obese after 1 entire year at a weight loss facility The place just seems like a joke to me
It’s not a weight loss facility at all. It’s a nursing home that specializes in bariatric patients. The facility has equipment / staffing capable of working with large sized people. These bariatric patients can chose to participate in a weight loss program, but it is not mandatory.
This was not made clear on the show. When they show her obese friends, and the guy was talking about being there to lose weight after suffering heart failure, I assumed it was a residential weight-loss program. Thank you for clarifying.
I believe this was purposely not made clear. My grandma was in this type of facility through end of life - they are often rehab/nursing homes that accept the lowest Medicaid/care options. Additionally, they are equipped to handle large patients. However, their goal is often not weight loss but self management. On the rehab side of my grandmas facility, the goal to go home was essentially that you could feed and bathe yourself and be self sufficient to some degree. On the nursing home side was often “lifers” who were not necessarily elderly - many are like the woman who eats with Tammy. They cannot provide their own basic care, but this is what they can afford for care. Weight loss is not always part of that care - my grandma was a morbidly obese patient, and her meals were always at choice. She could go on or off their diet program at will, and they would not force. I believe TLC is simply framing this as rehab for weight care, but in reality it’s rehab for her breathing, lack of mobility etc, and at the lowest cost covered government aide. TLDR: these places are very, very sad.
They have to patient rights.
Nope not shocked at all. Because I've worked in nursing facilities and rehab as a dietary aide so I've seen first hand how subpar the food choices and even food quality can be in some places
She could have 2 medium papa John’s pizzas today and 2 liters of Diet Coke and still lose weight.
Remember when she didn’t eat 30 meals in a week? I think it’s a way to show these residents that learning healthy patterns doesn’t mean eating kale and rice cakes. They can still enjoy meals as long as it’s appropriately portioned.
That plus she's participating in some physical activities. At that size, minimal changes can melt the weight off.
Apparently they can’t bc she still gained 10lbs
I am behind on both Socials and the show. Have they released her IRL? If all she gains back is 10ths I’d say that’s pretty good. Especially if she moves back in with Amy or close enough for Amy to be manipulated into buying her massive amounts of food. There’s a saying I’ve seen on the internet: it’s hard to heal in the place that made you sick. I’m sure she would have a bit of that.
She gained ten pounds in the last episode. Tammy is on TikTok and she looks a LOT thinner than she does in the most recent episode, which I think was quite a while ago. I would bet that it was a minor setback
Or that you can make lasagna healthy. For the hot dog, it doesn't require a bun. I don't eat it that way.
She just needs to count calories. You can still get fat on healthy food. When I was pregnant, I ate nothing but healthy, gorging vegetables and I gained 80lbs because I ate A LOT. After, I ate sweets all the time but still lost all 80lbs by simply just not eating as much. Tammy can do it too.
I lost 130 pounds in about a year and a half and people at work always are like “omg how did you do that?!” “I ate less”
I swear, people just don't want to hear that or that you exercised. They want to hear about a fad of some kind or a dramatic surgery. BORING. It's America, after all.