Some of the most courageous people on the planet appear on "My 600-lb Life." The word "courage" might surprise you because on the TLC Reality TV show, they often act like whiny, self-centered bullies. But consider the story of Lee Sutton and Rena Kiser who weigh nearly 1,300 pounds between them. This couple shared their private homemade hell and personal humiliation, including LGBT slurs to let others learn from their weight loss story.
Grocery shopping is a 'walk of shame'
The 1,263-lb couple got a lot of stares when they grocery shopped or ate in public.
Lee weighed in at 714 on "My 600-lb Life" and Rena weighs 549 pounds. They were always hungry and could not go more than an hour without eating. The reality television pair understand why people gawk. Lee says it's like a train wreck -- you can't help watching and wondering what happened. The pair were determined to see Dr. Younan Nowzaradan and get bariatric surgery no matter what people said, and they made some startling comments.
Morbid obesity blurs gender
On the "My 600-lb Life" episode, YouTube commenters thought that the couple were lesbian or that Lee was a transgender female to male. Others thought they were just shaming, but comments were based on physical observations that are actually linked to obesity.
His extra weight caused breathing problems, sleep apnea and changed his voice. Extra hormones affect masculinity, sexuality, and make him appear to have breasts. Rena says she doesn't look or feel like a woman anymore.
Weight loss on the buddy plan wins and fails
Dr. Now says that Lee and Rena enable each other's weight gain.
Lee relies on Rena to clean him after toileting and he gets angry when he gets hungry. But, they find on "My 600-lb Life" that they can enable each other to succeed on the gastric bypass surgery diet. But, Lee starts to overeat and quits portion control. This hurts his caregiver who is waiting on Lee's recovery to get her own weight loss surgery.
Then, he gets violent and abusive and it all goes haywire.
Why Lee and Rena shared their story
At the reality TV Celebrities' appointment Rena lost weight without surgery while Lee shed only 9 pounds after bariatric surgery. He blames overeating on malnourishment fears and explodes on TLC's Dr. Now. Lee admits to kicking his girlfriend but says at least he doesn't batter her (the counselor schools him on that). Yet, through it all Rena works her program, gets surgery, and loses 250 pounds. Lee cleaned up his attitude and lost too and now they can have sexual relations for the first time. So, the episode of "My 600-lb Life" wasn't pretty, however, by letting viewers see their problems, the couple can help others avoid the mistakes they made.
