Some Thoughts About "Heavy"

I watched the first episode of Heavy last night (A&E, 10pm EST, Sundays). I'm a fan of Intervention and interested in how the show would portray the extremely obese and what the doctors/trainers/support team would do to help people who are well beyond typical medical intervention.

The episode revolves around two individuals who are paired up to work throughout the show's arc. They start with the usual personal montage and biographical background, move to their daily life and how their weight has affected their well-being and outlook. A medical exam and prognosis by an obesity specialist rounds out their evaluation.

You can read Jodi and Tom's stories at the site.

There are some interesting (and yes, obvious) parallels between the people on Heavy, Intervention and Hoarders: Buried Alive. It is the pattern & cycle of addiction. There is usually a trigger of some sort: Jodi's father dying, Tom's dropping out of high school. Paired with a lack of coping skills and/or emotional support, they start down the path of self-destructive behavior. Their family attempts to intervene, which (maybe) works for a while, but they relapse. The family is upset, then angry, then disgusted, pushing the addict deeper into self-loathing, guilt, isolation and denial. This happens repeatedly until the crisis stage, where it is literally do or die.

On Heavy, the rehab facility is a weight-loss center, where Tom and Jodi are thrown into a diet and exercise regimen for 30 days to learn weight-appropriate exercises (because a 600+ pound man needs a pool workout to preserve his joints), how to shop, portion control, etc. There is no "cleansing," no liquid diet and no way to make excuses. A lot of weight comes off - 51 pounds for Jodi and even more for Tom - before they rejoin their families for real-world interaction.

While Tom initially backslides, resulting in a return to the facility, Jodi takes charge of her personal life. She describes her live-in mother as a "cancer," and Jodi kicks her out of the house when it becomes clear that is what has to happen for Jodi to reclaim her health and work on her now-crumbling marriage. There are moments of realization that not everyone is rooting for her to succeed and a lot (A LOT) of whining & crying. Nevertheless, Jodi does what she needs to do to get healthier for her family and hopefully she will continue on the path to wellness.

Tom has a much tougher treatment prognosis. He is massively obese and upon his return home it seems his family is actively trying to undermine his success. This may be reality TV editing, but only offering unhealthy food options with a smirk is classic passive-aggressive behavior and shows how much Tom needs to deal with aside from his food issues and body mass. Tom does manage to get to the 100-pounds lost point and undergo the lymphedema surgery he needs to continue progressing.

What I would like to see more of in this series is a focus on the emotional aspect of food addiction and what the health team does in order to create better coping mechanisms in their patients. There is no greater authority on how to lose weight than an fat person and no greater barrier to weight loss than actually being fat. (Read that again, and believe it.) The cycle of helplessness, anger and guilt that accompanies emotional eating is just as strong an addiction as alcoholism or drug addiction. Since one can't give up eating, strategies for dealing with emotions would be a great thing to highlight and might add some depth to the treatment segments.

Looking forward to next week's episode already.