The first season of My 600 lb. Life featured an update on two heart wrenching stories from last season: Zsalynn and Christina. Zsalynn originally found attention in a BBW community where she met her husband, but when she gained so much weight that her health and mobility began to fail, her husband turned on her.
“Big cannot be beautiful if it means my daughter might not have a mother,” Zsalynn says about her motivation to lose weight. At one year and one month from her weight loss journey, Zsalynn weighs 349 lb., and is 90 pounds away from her goal weight.
Even though she hasn’t reached her goal weight, her life has improved drastically since her episode. She’s able to go out and do things with her daughter all the time, which was a fantasy when she was nearly 600 lbs.”I have to stay on track so I can keep having these amazing moments with my daughter.”
She’s still married to her husband Gareth, who is upset with her weight loss. He recently told her he wanted her to gain weight, and told her he’s no longer attracted to her. She’s falling a bit short of her weight loss goal, and Dr. Nowzaradan believes its because of the lack of support from her husband.
Zsalynn seeks therapy, and admits that she just wants to be loved, and doesn’t expect it to ever happen because she’s been faking it for so long that she things other people are faking it too. Faced with choosing her health over her marriage, Zsalynn resolves to choose her health. She decides to kick Gareth out, and focus on taking care of herself and her daughter.
She continues to lose weight after her husband leaves, and Dr. Nowzaradan thinks she’s ready for skin surgery. “I’m grateful every single day that I’m where I am today,” Zsalynn said. “Now I can really be her mom. I don’t want to miss one single day of it. Weight loss surgery really gave me my life back. Before I had surgery, I was in a dark, lonely place, and now – I never thought life could be this good.
Christina, who was closer to 700 pounds, has lost 318 pounds, and is now 140 pounds away from her goal weight of 250 lbs. She no longer has to face the humiliation of having her husband and her mom feed, bath, and help her go the bathroom.
She’s now able to go to the beach with her sister, but she’s suffering from the burden of excess skin. She still has to 40 more pounds to quality for skin surgery, and she successfully completes that goal, but had her sutures tore, causing her to pass out and need emergency medical help. Dr. Nowzaradan said she was probably pushing herself too far and may be suffering from malnutrition.
After Christina recovers, she still continues to eat so little that Dr. Nowzaradan has to coach her on eating more. She finishes out the episode by visiting the iFly experience in Austin, TX. Being able to be lifted up by the air made her feel like she’s really making progress. She’s now trying to introduce solid food into her diet after living off of shakes for a long time. “When I was over 700 lbs., I didn’t feel young, I felt older, I felt trapped,” Christina says. “I don’t have to hide anymore. I want to fully experience life. Being able to live like a 24-year-old now is amazing. Now, I get to to live, and that’s exactly what I want to do.”
