January 01, 2014
Morbidly Obese 23-Year-Old's Quest to Change Her Life
TLC's series, My 600 Lb Life, has shocked and inspired many and in its new 8 part series this year it will feature Christina, from New Haven, Mississippi, a 23-year-old who relies on her husband and mother to wash and get dressed.
Christina's heart breaking story begins with her saying that she, "feels trapped" inside her 670 lb body and humiliated by the fact that her family have to be her daily caregivers because of her weight. Because of the sheer volume of her weight, Christina is forced to spend her life in a wheelchair and whittles away her days on the couch watching television.
Christina's road isn't an easy one. She has to first embark on a year long journey to first lose the weight necessary for gastric bypass surgery. Growing up she talks about being known as the "bigger" sibling. Before 7th grade Christina's weight was in check...after though she weighed in at 300 lbs and at her heaviest at 22 she weight 678 lbs.
Christina was married at a young age and shut herself away from family and friends and hasn't left her home since according to the Daily Mail. After a suicide attempt, Christina's family decided that something needed to change and applied to have her on the TLC show as their last resort.
TLC's show takes an incredibly difficult and polarizing topic, that of obesity and its health complications, and humanizes the problem. These are not people who set out to become morbidly obese. These are humans who let problems in their life spiral out of control and desperately want to make a change. How often do we make assumptions about those who are overweight? We label them as lazy and content with their situation instead of realizing that there are real and very hard emotional issues at play. There are reasons behind the weight. Isn't that the same for all of us?
Christina's heart breaking story begins with her saying that she, "feels trapped" inside her 670 lb body and humiliated by the fact that her family have to be her daily caregivers because of her weight. Because of the sheer volume of her weight, Christina is forced to spend her life in a wheelchair and whittles away her days on the couch watching television.
Christina's road isn't an easy one. She has to first embark on a year long journey to first lose the weight necessary for gastric bypass surgery. Growing up she talks about being known as the "bigger" sibling. Before 7th grade Christina's weight was in check...after though she weighed in at 300 lbs and at her heaviest at 22 she weight 678 lbs.
Christina was married at a young age and shut herself away from family and friends and hasn't left her home since according to the Daily Mail. After a suicide attempt, Christina's family decided that something needed to change and applied to have her on the TLC show as their last resort.
TLC's show takes an incredibly difficult and polarizing topic, that of obesity and its health complications, and humanizes the problem. These are not people who set out to become morbidly obese. These are humans who let problems in their life spiral out of control and desperately want to make a change. How often do we make assumptions about those who are overweight? We label them as lazy and content with their situation instead of realizing that there are real and very hard emotional issues at play. There are reasons behind the weight. Isn't that the same for all of us?