A recent episode of My 600-lb Life followed Larry Myers, who weighed 658 pounds. The 45-year-old singer desperately wanted to lose weight to travel and continue his music career once again.
Early into the episode, Larry shared his daily eating habits, which included a large breakfast with a half dozen eggs, a container of English muffins, and a full package of bacon. He admitted that food was a comfort for him, which viewers often hear from patients on the show.
When talking about his medical history, Larry says he was always overweight as a child due to his mother overfeeding him. At one point, he weighed close to 940-lbs, which landed him in the hospital. He spent 12 days in a coma before being transferred to a rehabilitation center to focus on his health.
While in rehab, Larry lost enough weight to be approved for weight-loss surgery. Afterward, he lost about 700-lbs and began the skin removal process. Unfortunately, he did not maintain this loss and quickly gained back roughly 400-lbs.
Larry faced multiple tragedies within his family
While discussing the issues that he attributes to his food addiction, Larry mentioned multiple deaths in his family. His nephew was killed as a baby, and he lost two of his sisters and his mother.
Larry confessed that food was his way of not dealing with the pain from their deaths and became an escape for him. Singing was also his distraction, but once his weight prevented that, he no longer had an outlet. He says he never talked about the pain he felt from losing his loved ones. He simply bottled it up and turned to food.
Larry’s story, while tragic, was met with mixed reactions from fans. While viewers were sympathetic to his pain, many felt he used it as an excuse. Fans showed their support while also calling him out on attempting to pass the blame for his weight on others.
Making healthy choices wasn’t easy
Since he already had weight-loss surgery before, bariatric surgeon Dr. Nowzaradan was hesitant to approve Larry for surgery. Not only was there a concern for his physical health, but he wasn’t convinced that Larry was ready to make the necessary changes.
As the episode followed Larry’s appointments, Dr. Nowzaradan’s concerns became valid as Larry never hit his weight loss goals. He continued to make poor choices with his diet and did not focus on exercising.
By the end of the episode, he did lose just over 100-lbs, however it was not enough to safely get a second surgery. The doctor told him to lose an additional 55-lbs to be considered for approval.
Since the show’s taping, there have been no updates on Larry’s progress. He has not posted any pictures or videos of himself. He has stated that he is still living in Houston, which is required to participate in Dr. Nowzaradan’s program. However, he has not said whether or not he’s gotten the surgery or mentioned how his progress is coming along.
My 600-Lb. Life airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on TLC.
I am watching it now, it is so disappointing when people assume the surgery is their magic fix.