I kept kicking that can down the road so far
and now it's like a great, big, heavy can,
I need help to move it.
[woman] Somewhere in me is this little glimmer of hope.
I just wanna be a normal person.
[sighs with effort]
[panting]
You can't do it, and then I just get mad.
[woman] If I don't make a change now,
I'm scared it's gonna be too late.
No!
My arm!
[woman] I refuse to stop fighting.
I have to do this for my children.
Ooh!
That's exactly what you're doing,
you're talking out your [bleep].
You're not thinking this through.
Then so be it. But it's my decision to make.
[groans]
When I open my eyes in the morning,
it's like, "Oh, [bleep], tomorrow keeps coming."
It hurts when I move.
Every day gets harder to move, harder to breathe.
You know?
And then I gotta sit up,
and I gotta kind of give myself a pep talk.
[exhales]
Just let my joints kind of get lubricated.
[sighs]
[grunts]
And when I do it, it's so painful
that I can only walk maybe 30 steps at a time.
[clattering]
Once I'm under the hot water,
showering's not bad.
I don't really have to stand all that much.
I'll put my feet up on the chair
and then I'll sit on the thing and get all in here.
Sometimes you gotta put your hand
on the wall and rotate your body
there is difficulties.
I got the detachable shower head
where I rinse myself off.
But as soon as I have to stand again,
the rest of the day after my shower basically is torture.
[grunts]
When you get to be this size,
you're definitely broken mentally.
I mean, I know I'm fat.
And I have the ability to change it.
But I can't stop eating.
Because when I'm eating, it's the only time
I get relief from the physical pain.
It's the only time that I'm happy.
But my relationship with food is an issue for my family.
Because I've been living in my parents' guest house
since I became immobile.
My mom and my dad,
they're working hard not to be enablers, but they are.
My mom's an enabler to a certain extent.
Because she's coming from a place of love.
She loves her baby boy.
-[Maria on phone] Hey. -Good morning, Momma.
[mom speaking]
Good. What are you thinking for breakfast?
[chuckles] Okay. Thanks, Momma.
I'll see you in a minute.
[Maria] All right, bye.
-Good morning. -Hey, good morning.
Do you want the eggs scrambled?
Doing chorizo, you could do an omelette.
[Mark] Um, scrambled is good.
I am very conflicted in providing food for Mark.
-Hey, Ma? -Yeah?
Can I get a whole lot of cheese, please?
Okay.
[Mark] Thank you.
[Maria] The food that he needs is very, very small amounts.
But I know if we don't feed him
proportionally with what he wants,
he'll just order more food.
[Rocky] You need that?
It's a weekend. They can...
[Rocky] Every day's a weekend for you right now.
[Mark] My dad tells me what to do.
But it has a reverse influence on me.
Did you guys already eat?
Uh, yeah, yeah.
Just had a little bit of coffee and stuff.
There's that.
-Thank you, Momma. -You're welcome.
[Mark] The more you come at me like that,
the more it makes me wanna eat,
and go down that road.
Like, it's always been a steady uphill struggle.
Growing up, I always lived in a happy home.
My mom and dad were really young when they had me.
They were married when they were really young,
and they're still together to this day.
[Rocky] I was 19 years old whenever Mark was born,
and, um, my wife and I both were babies raising babies.
And he didn't come with an instruction manual.
[Mark] If I had to put one event
that I contributed to my addiction on food,
and led me to where I'm at today,
it would have been when my dad lost his job.
That had a definite traumatic effect on me
in so many different ways.
We lost everything.
It was a whole new dynamic overnight.
All my old clothes, my old lifestyle, was gone.
We ended up moving to Arizona.
We lived on my grandmother's patio,
which is a room, but it was insulated with newspapers.
Just a horrible, horrible place.
My first day of school I ended up getting into a fight.
And it was just, "This place sucks.
I hate everything about it."
[Maria] When Rocky got laid off,
and I also got laid off from my aerospace job,
it was a real big time.
We lived a very comfortable life.
As the paychecks weren't coming in,
other priorities had to happen, you know?
We had to pay the utilities and...
It was so traumatic.
Mark was about 12. He was very depressed.
And all he did at my mom's was sleep. I remember that.
He just slept. It was just easier to sleep.
You know, than to deal with it.
I was starting to hold back a little bit on the food.
It had to have been rationed.
And I'm sure it affected Mark. Probably scared him.
"What's going on with the food?" [laughs] You know?
[Mark] Food is comforting to me
because it just reminds me of being happy.
Having that full stomach and the roof over your head,
you know, and everything's taken care of.
I think we have an addiction in our family to food.
I know that I have to get up and walk away from food.
I don't stop eating it.
And I think Mark has a lot of the same traits that I do
when it comes to that.
[Mark] In high school I was probably 220, 230 pounds.
My size got the attention of the football coach.
He wanted to put me on the line.
Once I made the football team, they told me,
"Mark, we need to get you up to 300 pounds."
It was just the excuse I'd been looking for,
to postpone doing anything about my food addiction.
I was like, "Hell yeah, I'll have four burgers."
I was a pretty good athlete.
I was faster at the time than I've ever been,
stronger at the time than I've ever been.
I got a scholarship to play football at a junior college.
I was gonna go transfer and play division one football.
But after that first semester,
we were practicing and I got hit,
and my knee went one way and I went the other.
You have to love football to make it,
and you have to be lucky to make it.
It's like you really have to love something
to fight through the pain.
And I didn't love it enough to fight through the pain.
And I just wasn't in that frame of mind,
where I just, "I don't want this anymore."
Between my knee being injured,
missing my friends, missing my family,
travelling out of state, I was just done with sports.
Then a friend offered me a job as a bouncer at a concert
for a Top 40 rock band.
Then that led me to a permanent job
working security
at a well-known music venue in West Hollywood
on Sunset Boulevard.
And it was one of the funnest jobs I've ever had.
Music replaced the excitement of football.
Ah.
No matter what race, religion,
sexual orientation, whatever - music.
That's something everybody has in common.
But what ended up happening, I would get distracted
by all the partying going down after work.
I was doing recreational drugs,
drinking, and that got me into binge eating.
And then all of a sudden I was 350 pounds.
And then after a few years security,
the company I was bouncing for offered me a promotion
at their sister venue on the strip in Vegas.
And I was kind of in the moment,
like, "Yeah, I could do that."
So I made the move.
[Mark sighs]
-Thank you. -[Maria] You're welcome.
Vegas was a slower pace of life.
Living there didn't help my fast food addiction.
I partied, I ate, and I drank.
I was consuming so much, I wound up taking a second job
as a security guy in a gated community
to try to pay for it all.
When I first started noticing Mark's weight gain
was in his middle-20s.
We could just kind of tell.
He'd be eating a little more.
He had to buy clothes
to come home and visit Mom and Dad.
[Mark] I had no idea how much I weighed at that point.
But my weight,
just keep getting higher and higher and higher.
And then, boom.
Before I knew it I was too big to do security.
And the bigger you get, the harder it is to get a job.
Because there is that negative connotation with being big.
But I found one where you can sit down at a sportsbook.
And then a pandemic happened.
That job went away.
So I put myself into storage
and I tucked my tail between my legs
and moved back home with Mom and Dad.
I've been looking for work for the past year and a half,
but now I have stipulations.
I can't go work in an office anymore.
I'm too big for that. I can't drive to the office.
[Rocky] Hey, Mark. Let's get ready.
You ready to go?
-Yeah, right now? -Yeah.
-Okay. -Yeah?
-Let's go. -Okay.
[groans]
I felt like a complete failure.
It was a hard pill to swallow,
but fortunately, like, they're okay with it.
I mean, they want me gone. [chuckles]
They want me out quick. But at the same time,
they want me to get right before I get out.
I have a lot of anxiety about going out into public now.
I don't wanna deal with looks,
I don't wanna deal with comments.
I don't wanna deal with any of it.
I'm just over all of it.
You know?
So if I have to do it,
gotta put that brave face on like, okay, I gotta do it...
but I don't gotta like it.
All right.
The grocery store, it sucks.
Just finding a trolley that I can sit in,
it's like, "Hoo. Give me a minute."
I don't know how that's gonna fit.
This isn't gonna work.
You're gonna have to get up
-and push a cart. -I can't.
You gotta push a cart, Mark.
That's all you can do.
[Mark] By the time we are inside the store,
both of my knees are usually throbbing.
And it sucks.
I can't live like this much longer.
And I know if something doesn't change,
I don't have long.
[Rocky] I rode the scooter behind him
so that he could take a break.
-All right, you need to sit? -Yeah.
[Rocky] I feel horrible for him.
You know, I was always told
that people in China are starving to death.
So you finish your meal.
But I am ridden with a lot of guilt
because of the way that Mark is right now.
I know that I've enabled Mark over the years.
So I try not to enable him any longer.
They got ice cream down there?
Just one of those, or two?
[Rocky] But I still do, so often.
It's very hard for me to break the bad habits.
I want Mark to be healthy.
We can't live this life.
We can't continue to live this life.
I really believe in him,
but, uh, it's a hard road.
[Mark] I'm definitely at a crossroads right now.
You know what I mean? It's... it's urgent now.
[bleep] got real.
That's how you're gonna do it? You're gonna throw it on, chef style?
Yeah, dude.
-Thanks, Momma. -You okay?
Yeah. Are you drinking?
[Maria] No. No way.
-[Mark] Wuss. -[Maria] No way.
Mark is definitely becoming a shut-in.
He's home for two, three months at a time,
and he's just fine with it.
Smelling pretty scrumptious, man.
I'm starting to worry, of course, always the weight,
but now I'm starting to worry more about the mental health.
Mark, you're gonna have asparagus, right?
Yes, please.
[Maria] Mark can manipulate me and Rocky both for the food.
Mostly me,
because I feel so darn sorry for him.
Move your chair closer, Mark.
[Mark] Yup, I'm on it.
[chuckles]
We are not making Mark pay any rent,
any utilities, nothing.
We are not holding him accountable.
Because Mark basically has spent
all his money on food.
I'm really excited. This could really change your life.
I'm not going through all the [bleep]
-for no reason. -[Maria] Good.
You know what? We'll go through it together.
Whenever you get back from Houston,
I don't think you can make one of those trips
to the store like you did today.
I don't think that ever happens again.
I think you need to make a lot better choices.
They're not gonna tell me how many calories to eat.
-They're not gonna tell me how many bites to eat. -Yes, they will.
They'll tell you how much protein to have,
how much calories to have,
how much carbohydrates to have.
They'll tell you everything.
And if you're serious about listening,
they will really save your life.
[Mark] That's where we're at.
It's not like you're gonna die young,
it's like you're gonna die soon.
You don't have an A path, a B path,
a C path, a D path, and an E path anymore,
now you just have A and B. Live or die.
You were supposed to be my buddy
that went out with me,
doing everything and stuff whenever you came to visit.
But instead, you're sitting in a pool-house.
Yeah.
I feel like they're disappointed in me, absolutely.
This isn't how I was raised. You know what I mean?
Like, I shouldn't be here.
I made virtually every [bleep] poor choice
you can make in life
I had to have made to end up right here.
You really have to buckle down to do this.
I'm not gonna harass you tonight.
I want you to enjoy yourself.
-But... -Well, let's do that.
-I want you to take it really-- -Let's try that, okay?
Yeah, but I really want you to take it serious, son.
-[Mark] Well, yeah. -Just give me that.
That's all. That's all I'm asking.
I think I've kind of proven that so far, but...
[Mike] Nah, you haven't proven [bleep].
It's time to get to work.
-You're right. -Yeah.
The hard part comes next.
[Mark] I get it.
You guys ready?
[Maria] Yeah, almost, Mark. One second.
Are you okay?
-[Mark] Yeah, are you? -Yeah.
[Mark] Today I'm traveling to Houston
to meet Dr. Now,
who can hopefully help me lose some weight.
Yeah. Go ahead.
-Go. -Okay.
We're going in the car so it's gonna be a pretty long drive.
It's about 13 or 14 hours,
and I'm looking forward to none of it.
Don't forget your keys.
There's no way I can last that long
in a car without a break.
So we're gonna split it up into two days.
I'm very grateful to have the support of my mom
and my brother-in-law, RJ,
who flew down from Seattle to help us with the drive.
Because if they weren't taking me,
I don't know if I would go.
[Maria] What are you gonna do? Can you lay it down?
Can you lay the luggage down and lay this on top?
Lay the luggage flat.
-[RJ] That work? -Yeah, then just put this...
[Mark] You comfortable?
[Maria] I am, yeah. This is nice.
A new beginning.
Are we eating or are we gonna get on the road?
[RJ] Yeah, we're gonna get on the road, buddy. We'll get the gas.
[Maria] So, RJ, you drive for a little bit and let me know, okay?
[RJ] Okay. I should be able to get a good four hours in.
You're fine, aren't you?
-Are you fine? -Yeah.
[Mark] We've hardly been on the road very long at all,
maybe a couple of hours.
I'm really struggling with wanting to eat,
even though I know I'm gonna get weighed
when I get to Dr. No's.
[Maria] Is it good, Mark?
[Mark] It's okay. It gets the job done, right?
What's the job?
-Food. -Food?
Gas tank, right?
[Maria] I can't eat any more.
[Mark grunts]
It's been a long, terrible day,
and I can't wait to lie down and get some rest.
I normally don't sleep that well
but tonight I think I will.
We're more than halfway to Houston.
That's about the only silver lining.
[Maria] You okay?
[Mark] If we weren't past the halfway point already,
I might just decide to pack it in and go home.
But I can't do that.
[Maria] Oh, Mark, I'm sorry.
Guys.
[sighs] Hoo.
[sighs]
We finally made it to Houston.
And we're barely gonna make it on time for my appointment.
We had hoped to check in at the hotel first,
and maybe rest for a minute before the appointment,
but there's no time for that.
Here we are. Let's just get this over with.
Thank you.
This trip was hell.
-Stop. -Sorry.
You can't do that.
-I love you, okay? -I love you, too.
[nurse] Mark?
-Hi. -Hi, how are you?
-Good, how are you? -Good, thank you.
[Mark] Right now I feel awful.
My body's in pain all over.
And I'm really not looking forward to stepping on the scale.
Go ahead and stand on the scale.
[Mark] The last time I weighed myself I was 430,
and that was a few years ago.
So I'm pretty sure I'm in the 600s by now.
So, your weight is 715.
Hoo.
Get the hell off of that.
I'll beat it.
I'm okay, all right?
[RJ] We got your back, Mark.
[Mark] No matter how many excuses,
with your help, I'll beat it.
Holy crap.
I feel bad for my mom having to see this.
But right now, this is a business trip.
[knock at door]
-Hello, how you all doing? -Hello, Dr. How are you?
-How are you doing? -I'm doing okay.
-Nice to meet you, Mark. -You too, sir.
Thank you for taking the time to see me.
Oh, definitely.
All right, you come in from where?
-Florida. Orlando. -Orlando?
-Orlando, Florida. -Well.
We drove a long way to see you.
Okay. And who is this young lady?
-This is my mother, Maria. -Maria.
And that's my brother-in-law.
He's married to my sister, April.
-[Dr. Now] Okay. -RJ.
All right, great.
So, what brought you down to Houston?
[sighs] Well...
I have a little bit of a weight problem.
Okay. I can see that.
So you came all this way to get help with that problem.
-[Mark] Yeah. -Okay.
You're 42 years old.
At what age did you start struggling with your weight?
-I've always been overweight. -Okay.
But the past couple years, this happened.
So what do you think is causing you to have
all that issue with your weight?
[sighs] I definitely eat too much.
Actually, I wouldn't even say I eat too... I eat the wrong things.
[Dr. Now] If you're 700 pounds you do both.
So what do you think is driving you to do that?
Um...
Well, hunger sometimes. Sometimes I'll get mad.
Sometimes it's just my schedule, you know,
wake up and eat something for breakfast.
-You know? -Okay.
So with all your unhealthy patterns,
you never saw a problem with any of that?
I saw a lot of things wrong with it.
And it was always, "I know I have to take care of it,
but I'll do it tomorrow.
I'm just gonna eat this right now
and I'll deal with this later."
Now it's later...
and I kicked the can so far down the road,
I can't lift it without your help, so...
All right, so, you live alone or you live with somebody?
I moved in with them.
[Dr. Now] How long you been with them?
Couple of years. A year?
So, are they supporting you to eat less, or...?
Very supportive of me to eat less.
So what did they tell you, eat less? Or you don't listen?
Um, it just depends how they come off.
Sometimes they [bleep] me off,
and it makes me wanna eat more,
like, "[bleep] you, I'll show you."
As stupid as that sounds.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
It's like, I know what I'm doing is wrong.
I don't need to hear your [bleep] about me doing it.
Excuse my language, I'm not...
Well, it's not like you just woke up today
and you realized that you're eating too much.
So what is different today than past 42 years?
I was looking for a job.
-And I can't find a job. -Yeah.
Now I can't even really leave the house.
I was able to find a job now,
or I'm gonna be working from home.
But all these jobs out there,
"Oh, there are so many jobs out there, go get a job,"
that doesn't apply when you're 700 pounds.
And I don't wanna keep staying with my mom and dad, like...
I'm 42 years old. I wanna go out there and...
be my own man again.
You know?
So you have gotten too weak to function like you want,
and you waking up to your situation?
[Mark] I guess.
[Dr. Now] Okay. All right.
We're gonna give you some instruction,
and you're gonna have to follow them
and see if you can stick with the program.
To start I'm gonna give you a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet.
Low carb, high protein.
And some exercises that you need to start immediately
if you want to do my program.
-Okay? -Okay.
I mean, you are 700 pounds.
If you stick with the 1,200-calorie diet,
you're gonna be able to lose more than 100 pounds
in one month easily.
-Okay? -Okay.
If you do that I will consider you for weight loss surgery.
Ultimately weight loss surgery is gonna be
the only option for you to keep the weight off
-for the long term, okay? -Okay.
So if you don't have a handle on your compulsive eating,
you're not gonna succeed in the long term.
Okay? So you ready to make the changes?
I am.
All right, super.
So, we have a couple of questions. Is it a good time?
Absolutely.
Um, so my daughter is a nurse,
and she's not able to be here so she sent me a list.
Are you gonna do any cardiac markers today
to see where he's at?
And will you be checking his kidney levels?
And, uh, cholesterol?
Once he gets into surgery, then we gonna see
what is going on with the heart
-and lung and all that. -Okay.
But unless we get to that point,
or he has some sort of issue that we need to look into,
-there's no point to do that. -Okay.
When was the last time you had a blood test done?
Never.
So we're gonna do some blood tests on you today.
And we're gonna make sure everything's okay.
But we don't need to do the other tests right now.
-Okay? -Okay.
-Any other questions? -That's it.
Uh, I think that's pretty much a general yes.
[Mark] Thank you, Dr.
All right, let me get all the stuff for you, okay?
-Thank you, sir. -Thank you.
Now because of my sister I gotta get blood.
[RJ] Oh, better you than me.
What an [bleep] she is.
[Dr. Now] Hopefully Mark is as motivated
to change his life as he claims.
Because at over 700 pounds,
he can't afford to continue gaining
and waste any more time.
My bigger concern with Mark right now
is his dynamic at home.
The family seems supportive,
but it's also clear from the questions
his mom had from his sister
that they are a bit overprotective of him,
and they seem to baby him a little.
If that's the case, they may be crippling him
in a way that's gonna make it hard for him
to break free long term.
And they may realize
they may not want him to do that either.
So we amy potentially have a bigger situation
that needs to be addressed with the whole family.
But right now it is Mark's responsibility
to turn his life around.
All right, Mark.
What I got here is...
a thing that you need to read.
Okay.
You have to read that very carefully.
-Okay? -Okay.
Also my book.
And there's a bookmark in here
to give you the chapter on exercise.
[Mark] Oh, nice.
[Dr. Now] Okay? So those exercises,
I want you to do them an hour in the morning,
an hour in the evening.
-Okay? -Okay.
So, we'll see you in two months.
In the meantime, if you need anything, give me a call.
-Thank you. -Awesome.
Have a safe trip back home.
[both] Thank you.
-Thank you for seeing me. -[Dr. Now] Any time.
I'll see you all later.
Have a good day, Dr. Thank you.
[Dr. Now] You too.
[Maria] So, does it say
-what foods to eat? -[Mark] Mmm-hmm.
-You guys ready? -[Maria] Yeah.
[Mark] When I saw that number on the scale today,
my first thought was, "Holy [bleep]."
It's eye-opening. It's a big number.
I mean, you think there would be disappointment,
you think there would be fear.
I'm already past all that.
Disappointment, fear, that was all on the ride up here.
That was the pre-game. But now it's game time.
Now it's just focus on the goal.
I wish I could say I was gonna start right now.
But there's this one burger place in town
that I really have to hit first.
But after that, I'm starting, and there's no looking back.
It's been a month since I saw Dr. Now,
and I feel like it's been a really productive time for me.
I started my job, so I'm working,
and that feels good.
I got a job as a travel agent working over the phone.
Good morning, thank you for calling
the travel department. How can I help you today?
Oh? We can do that.
What are you thinking? February? Valentine's Day?
So I don't even have to leave the house.
The only thing is I don't like that I'm sitting all day.
So I try to get up and walk as much as possible.
But it does feel good to be working again,
since I've been wanting to contribute to the house fund.
Honestly, in June, that's summer time.
I would probably try to do it during the week
if at all possible.
One big benefit from my job
is I feel like it distracts me from being hungry.
So I'm not sitting around being hungry all day,
watching TV, saying, "Damn, I'm hungry."
Now I have a little bit of a purpose to me,
and a little bit of purpose to your day
where you're not just existing,
so it defnitely helps.
Thank you for calling.
Have a great day. Enjoy your trip.
It's like the job is helping me with the diet,
and that's a bonus.
Still got a long way to go, still a long road,
but I'm making progress. I get better and better every day,
so, one step at a time.
My family really helps me stay focused.
But my mom is the one with me every day.
-Hi. -[Maria] Hey, what's up?
[Mark] Nothing. How are you?
[Maria] I'm good. Just looking through the magazine.
[Mark] And she's the one helping me plan meals,
and helping me make sure that we keep track of it,
and that I stay on top of the plan.
Are you hungry?
Maybe a little bit, but I don't know.
You ready to eat a little bit of something-something?
I don't know, with the doctor looking at me and all.
Doctor's always looking at you.
[Mark] Order stuffed crust?
[Maria] A pizza?
How about a little egg and cheese burrito?
Well, that's a nice consolation prize.
We'll slap in a couple little turkey pepperonis.
-I know, right? Okay. -Yeah.
-Can we do that? -Yeah.
-This is low-carb tortillas, right? -Yes, yes.
Don't be so paranoid. Yes.
-Thank you, Mom. -All right.
All right. Perfect. 28 grams.
I still don't think I'm gonna come close
-to my 1,200, Mom. -No.
All right, Mark. This is gonna be a little bit simple today.
All right.
I didn't heat the tortilla either.
Is that okay? Yeah?
-You did good, Ma. -Thank you.
[Mark] I wouldn't be the successful
that I have been right now
without the support that I have of the people around me.
The success that I do have is a big testament to them.
My mom will go grocery shopping
and there's no junk in the house.
And just the words of encouragement, like,
"Hey, you're doing great and I'm proud of you." So it's...
It's been really cool.
Thank you. I'm gonna go home.
Walk careful.
Have a good day. We'll talk later.
You're just walking more and you don't even realize it.
Oh, I realize it.
I'm not kidding, Mark. You just, you walked out--
I'm not kidding either. I realize it.
-You do? -[chuckling] Yeah.
I mean, I called April in tears. I'm not kidding.
Why? Is it that bad?
No, Mark. You just walked
and you picked up the chair like it was no big deal.
But it was unbelievable, you know?
It was just...
-I couldn't believe it. -Yeah?
Wait till you see how quick I go home now.
[chair scrapes on floor]
Peace out, Ma. Thank you.
-Love you. -Love you, too. Bye.
Have been progressively getting better and better.
I feel like I'm seeing some results from it all,
because I'm able to do more.
But I could always do better than I'm doing now.
So I try to do better every day.
All right, baby.
I'm making progress. I can see that I'm making progress.
The scale says that I'm making progress, so...
that's all I'm doing, and I just keep hoping that
tomorrow's gonna be better than today,
because that's what I'm working towards.
[panting]
[Rocky] All right, so we're close.
You anxious?
I'm curious to see what my weight is right now.
[Rocky] He's gonna say, "Okay, get ready
for the surgery next week."
-[Mark] I don't think he's gonna wanna do that. -Okay.
Turn in here.
We're here.
I'm back in Houston to meet with Dr. Now
for my first follow-up.
My dad came with me this time.
The trip was a lot easier on my body.
So I'm feeling pretty good,
and I'm hoping my progress is gonna be enough
to show Dr. Now what I could do.
Thank you.
So, what are you gonna do
if you've only lost, like, 40 or 50 pounds?
Work harder.
So you're gonna forgive yourself
and you're gonna keep trying.
Mark.
-Let's go, Padre. -All right.
-All right, how are you? -Hello, I'm good. How are you?
-Good. -Hello.
[Rocky] Hi there.
-[exhales] We meet again. -The moment of truth, huh?
[nurse] All right, Mark, you ready?
[Mark] 120 pounds is a lot to lose,
and I've been working really hard to hit that goal.
I've needed to turn my life around for a while now,
and I haven't been able to do it.
But now this is my big chance,
and I don't wanna mess it up.
So I have to succeed. There's no other way forward.
I'm at Dr. Now's and I'm about to find out
how much weight I lost in the past couple months.
At the first weigh-in I was 715 pounds.
I'm supposed to lose 120 pounds over two months.
So that would put me at or below 595.
[nurse] All right, your weight is 618.
[Rocky] Oh, my God.
I mean, that's damn impressive, son.
-Long ways to go. -I understand that.
All right, we're gonna go to room five.
-All right. Thank you. -You're welcome.
[Mark] Hey, all right.
That's not too shabby.
I think that's more than I've lost
in my whole life combined.
Sure, it's not all the way to my goal,
but it's almost 100 pounds.
And that's pretty damn good.
And I'm pretty sure Dr. Now will be happy about that.
[knock at door]
-Hello. -Hey, Doc.
-How you all doing? -Good, sir. How are you?
I am doing well.
All right, Mark. Well, I see you lost some weight,
so what changes you made in your eating habits?
Um, my eating habits have done a 180.
So I've done really good
as far as everything. I haven't been perfect.
I had a piece of pie, I had a piece of fudge,
and other than that I've been pretty darn good.
So you change your eating habit
and eating only two or three times a day, no snacking?
I'm eating one or two times a day.
I have my protein coffee in the morning.
I eat vegetables with... At least once a day.
Um, meat, you know, no breads. Nothing like that.
Okay, so you made some changes
in your eating habit, which is good.
-So 220 will be goal weight. -220?
[laughing] I mean, you...
[Rocky] It's a great weight.
Yeah, I don't think I've been 220
since I've been, like, 10 years old, but...
I mean, I'd love to get there.
[Dr. Now] Well, that is what you need to be.
All right, Mark, you're doing good.
Keep it up. I'm pleased to see that you lost that weight.
I'm proud of your progress.
But keep it up, and don't make this
as a victory lap and forget about everything.
Oh, I'm taking this one day at a time.
So, I'm gonna approve you for weight loss surgery.
And as soon as you move down here,
and as long as you stay on track,
we will move ahead with your surgery
and help you to get to your goal weight.
Do I really have to move, though?
Yes, you have to move to Houston for a period
if you want weight loss surgery.
Right now, I'm feeling good.
I'm taking this step by step.
I mean it's a struggle
that I know I have so much further to go.
I don't even know. I can't even say this to you.
Could you help me do this without the surgery?
Is that possible?
I feel strong in my mind. I feel like I can do this.
I'm making the right steps. I know it's gonna be hard.
Can I... Can we try this without the surgery? Like...
[Dr. Now] Well, right now, you're doing good.
But as you lose more weight,
your weight loss will slow down.
And at some point,
your weight loss just stops,
or can't go any further.
Then surgery would be an option
to give you an extra tool.
Okay.
[Dr. Now] So if you don't want to do surgery,
and you want to do my program,
then I'll make you a deal.
As long as you keep losing
the same amount over the next two months,
then I will agree that you can do this on your own.
But if the next time, your weight loss slows,
then you should consider weight loss surgery.
-Okay? -Okay.
All right. So at this point,
let's concentrate on
sharpening up your eating habit.
And don't feel like
what you're doing right now isn't perfect.
It's not. So you're doing good.
But you can do better.
[Mark] So how much do I need to lose?
Well, you're 600 pounds.
You can lose 50, 60 pounds easily in a month.
-Okay. -Okay?
So, you know, stick with your healthy eating habit,
and increase your activity,
and become more independent.
See where we go with that, okay?
Thank you, Doc.
So, you know, we'll figure out if you can do that on your own
or you're gonna hit the plateau
and we're gonna have to get you to surgery
to get to your goal weight.
But in the meantime,
you can keep focused, and, you know, take care.
[Mark] You also. Have a good night.
All right, well, see you all later.
That's exciting though, right?
I mean, now you know you have it, I mean,
I know you're trying to do it on your own,
but you know you have this.
I'm really proud of Mark.
He was able to lose almost 100 pounds in two months.
So he stick with the diet and did very well.
But I have a lot of concerns with him.
He lives with his parents
that look like they're enabling him.
So I'm hoping that he will be able to
move out and be on his own,
and not depend on parents,
and have better outlook on his life.
At this point I'm gonna
approve Mark for weight loss surgery.
But I'm gonna give him two more months
and see how he's gonna do.
I'm hoping that he will continue with his weight loss.
I'm encouraged with his progress.
And let's see how Mark will do next couple of months.
I just have a lot of people invested in this.
Like my parents, my family, my cousin,
my sister.
I owe myself, but I owe a lot of people.
Like, there's... I got a lot of supporters out there.
So just time to go to work.
No time to, "Ooh, 100 pounds! Ooh!" You know what I mean?
Be like "Oh, holy [bleep]. I did it."
That's what I'll say at the end of it.
Looking back, like, "Damn, I did it."
And getting the surgery right now
just feels like a cheat.
So I wanna keep this up.
And I'm gonna give it everything I have
to make sure that I do.
It looks like there's only one hotel
that matches your criteria.
Rates aren't that bad.
If you want a balcony it'll be 860 for the whole trip,
if you want the balcony for the three nights.
Yeah do you wanna use your points on that,
or do you wanna do...?
Mark.
You ready?
Don't... Come on.
[Mark] I'm thankful for how supportive my family has been to me,
even if it's been annoying at times.
My mom and sister have both been on me
for working as much as I have,
and for not going out much.
[Maria] Hi, guys.
Mia.
[Maria] Can you help?
-Yeah. -What are you making?
[Maria] We'll do a quick lunch.
[Mark] Okay.
And I feel like my family needs
to give me some breathing room.
But I know they're all proud of me.
[Maria] Cauliflower.
[Mark] My mom and my sister
have both told me they think I'm doing great,
and my weight loss has been an inspiration
to the whole family.
But they seem to kinda doubt whether I can keep doing this
on my own without surgery.
-What do I do with this one? -Keep going.
-[Maria] Yeah, keep going. -[Rocky] It's not done.
[Rocky] I think he could be doing a little bit better.
But I'm proud of Mark's progress so far.
I keep telling him, "Cut back on the portion."
I used a protein shake as the creamer.
[Rocky] And what's the coffee?
-[Maria] I really think you're gonna like this. -It'll be okay.
So April weighed out his... um, his portion.
[Rocky] Oh, good.
April is really focused on making healthy foods.
I love it. I think Mark needs to just suck it up.
He's being a little whimp.
This is a leaf!
[April] Yeah. It's good.
It's good, Mark.
-You think about cooking it? -[Mark groans]
[Maria] I'm here at home with Mark
but I don't see him all day.
He works from home.
You know, there's still a lot of struggles.
You know, he won't go out.
You know, it's hard. It's hard for me.
This is good.
You can have, like, maybe three wings tonight?
You don't need four or five or six.
You need to start getting your stomach strengthened, right?
[Mark] You're my trigger.
Yeah, you're my trigger, too.
Anybody ever tell you that?
-That was really good. -It really was.
[Maria] He ate a little bit, but could have been better.
[Lily] Ooh, yeah.
Wow. Wow.
-All right, Mark, you're up. -On your feet.
Watch your toes.
[laughs]
[Mark] At first, when I started Dr. Now's program,
getting surgery was the goal.
And when I got his instruction
on what I need to do to lose weight and get healthy,
I realized that I just needed that guidance
of somebody breaking it down for me like that.
And then we learned that I needed
to move to Houston for a year,
just because of the surgery.
It was kinda the final thing
that pushed me over to realize that
I don't need the surgery, you know?
I know what I need to do, and I have all the support
that I need here with my family.
And I think leaving that,
giving that up, would actually be bad for my progress.
-I think I'm done. -[Rocky] Are you really?
[Mark] Think so.
So, going to Dr. Now's for my second follow-up appointment.
Right here.
-Here. -Yeah, right here?
[Mark] Since I last seen him,
he wanted me to lose 100 pounds.
So we'll see what the scale says.
I think I did good. My diet's been good.
Like, I haven't really screwed anything up, I don't think.
Mark.
-[sighs] Hi. -[nurse] Hello.
-How are you? -I'm okay, how are you?
-[sighs] I don't know. -Oh. Hi.
[Mark] I can't wait to prove to Dr. Now
that I can do this on my own,
and I don't even need the surgery.
Okay, step up on the scale.
[exhales heavily]
[bleep]
All right.
Me and my dad are back in Houston again
to see Dr. Now.
I'm supposed to lose 100 pounds over two months.
So that would put me at or below 500 pounds.
-[nurse] Your weight is 576. -[Mark exhales]
[Rocky] See? You lost more weight.
That's not bad, right?
Ah, you know.
And we'll be going to room five, okay?
[Mark] All right. 42 pounds isn't bad.
I mean, it's pretty good weight loss.
But I don't know what Dr. Now is gonna say.
Probably that I need the surgery.
But I'm still not sure that I agree with him.
[coughs]
[knock at door]
Hello, how you all doing?
[Mark] How you doing, Doc? Good to see you.
[Dr. Now] Nice to see you.
Well, let's look at what's going on.
You started from 715 pounds.
You're down to 576.
So overall that make it 139-pound weight loss.
But you went from losing 50 pounds a month
to 20 pounds a month, which is a huge drop.
And so your progress is slowing just like I told you.
It will get slower, and that is normal,
because you get closer to where your body should be at.
So weight loss surgery is going to be
a way to get to your goal weight.
But not 100%.
-You still have to do... -[Mark] Right.
...some work with that to make that happen.
So, what will be next step
if we consider weight loss surgery?
The next step will be that we need to do some testing on you
to make sure it is safe for you
to have weight loss surgery.
And to see that surgery is going to be
a reasonable risk to take in doing the operation.
So, what do you do all day?
Oh, I'm a travel agent.
I book vacations for people.
-Okay, so you work at home? -Yeah, I work at home.
So you can do that anywhere,
where you are, or in Houston?
-Um, I can, yeah. -Okay.
So for weight loss surgery,
one of the big step is gonna be
that you have to move down here.
So we'll do your surgery
and make sure everything's okay,
then you can travel when we okay you.
But will be a while before you're ready to travel back home.
Okay? So at this point I think you're on the right track.
You continue with your weight loss,
so this is not the end of the road
that you stop your effort to lose weight.
-No. -Just keep it up.
And we will start the process of getting you ready
for weight loss surgery, okay?
All right, so we're gonna do some blood tests on you
and get your EKG today.
And we need you to come back one day, middle of the week,
for you to have endoscopy done.
And we'll set up your psych evaluation,
all those, you can do those when we are back at home.
Once we see that you're okay for surgery,
you then can make arrangements to stay in Houston.
How that work for you?
I appreciate that, Doc. Thank you so much
for taking the time. Thank you for everything.
All right, you're welcome.
That's my job to change your life, okay?
And it's very much appreciated, thank you.
[Dr. Now] You're welcome.
If you need anything, call us.
Otherwise I'm gonna wait for you
to let me know when you can come in a week
for doing your endoscopy.
-All right? -Sounds good, thank you for everything.
-You're welcome. -I appreciate you.
-Very much. Thank you. -You're quite welcome.
Yeah, thank you, Dr. Now. Appreciate it.
All right, you all take care.
-All right. -We will, sir.
All right, have a safe trip back home.
Thank you, sir.
You come see me in Florida one day.
I'll send you on a good vacation.
-I'll get you a good package. -All right, thank you.
I was happy to see that Mark continued to lose weight.
But it will be highly unlikely
that he will be able to reach his goal
with the diet and exercise.
He won't be able to do that without weight loss surgery.
I think he's coming to the reality that
weight loss surgery is going to be only option for him.
At this point we're gonna set him up for doing some tests,
and if all those tests are showing that
weight loss surgery is a safe option for him
to get him to his goal weight.
[Mark] After the appointment,
I'm considering doing the surgery.
What's holding me back to saying yes,
I still think I could do it on my own.
I have a lot to work on.
And if I get the surgery,
I don't want it to go to waste.
I want it to be for the right reasons,
and be completely successful and...
I just wanna wash my hands and be done with this.
I need to have a serious sit-down with my family
then I have to sit down and make a final decision.
Wrap it up and put it in the fridge.
[Mark] It's been a week since my last appointment
where Dr. Now told me he wants to move ahead
with weight loss surgery.
My pants are falling down.
Well, yeah, that's because
you need, like, two sizes too small.
[Mark] I had all my tests done
and I was cleared to move ahead,
so all I would have to do is move to Houston.
[Maria] Do you not have a drawstring on them?
[Mark] It's tight. It keeps falling.
But I don't think I need to take
such a drastic step just yet.
Especially because all my tests show that
I'm still in pretty darn good shape overall.
Dr. Now's diagnosis also doesn't take into account
the fact that I got this trainer
that is really helping me.
He's helped me take my workouts to a new level,
and he's also been helping me plan meals,
so I can take my weight loss up a notch.
-He's home. -Hi, guys.
-Hey. -What up, Padre?
What's going on?
Nothing, just Mark finished his lunch.
-Oh, okay. -Just hanging out.
Do another pizza bowl?
Okay. I'm not surprised.
I get it. I like it, too.
Let's have a drink. We need to have a talk.
Okay.
[Mark] You got it?
[Rocky] Yeah, I'll get it.
[Mark] All right.
[Rocky] You wanted to talk?
[Mark] Yeah.
So, everything's been going good.
I've been working with a trainer at the gym.
Been losing weight,
he's happy with the progress I've been making.
But with all that being said...
All that being said, what?
Um...
You sound nervous.
[sighs]
I'm not gonna do the surgery.
-Okay. -Not this month.
Hopefully not ever.
Mark, this is a real big decision
and I think you need to get your sister involved in this.
I'll tell her.
Yeah, let's let her know at least.
Okay, there she is.
Hold the phone.
Don't... There's no time to waste.
Hey, how's it going?
[Mark] Hi. Are you okay?
Yeah, are you?
[Mark] Yeah.
You look like crap.
I'm tired.
Yeah. I told Mom and Dad my decision.
What decision?
About moving to Houston
and getting the surgery and all of that.
Are you gonna do it?
No.
Why?
It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Yeah, I get it.
I got the greatest weight loss doctor in the world,
and all you guys want me to do it.
It's not an easy decision for me not to do this.
So you understand, 550.
You haven't even lost 200 pounds.
-I know. -Okay?
You've lost what, 160 pounds?
And 250 more
and you're down around 300?
[Mark] I can't hear that.
-You have to. -I can't hear that.
Okay, but you have to.
That's the same [bleep] Dr. Now did.
That's the same [bleep] he was saying.
"You still have 300 pounds to lose."
Like, yeah, I don't care.
You work hard, you do everything you can,
and the number on the scale,
that's gonna take care of itself.
What's three months from now look like?
I can't have...
a long-term thing on the [bleep] 'cause you're...
-You do. -No.
You have a long-term thing no matter what.
I have no intention on going backwards.
I know, but you're not gonna get the opportunity again.
I know, but I'm gonna get the opportunity
to see what I'm made of right now.
And that's more valuable.
'Cause you know what? You guys are...
There's a possibility you guys are all right.
But we won't know until we know.
[April] I have to go.
I think you should do the surgery.
-[Mark] Okay. -I think she's right on.
You always think she's right on.
-I do too, though. -She's smarter than you.
You got my back if I don't do it, right?
No, you're out on your own if you don't do it.
Think you got about two weeks to get to Houston.
You can always change your mind.
It won't make you any less of a man.
-I'm not afraid to change my mind. -Okay.
-I have to see what I'm made of first. -All right.
-[Maria] Okay. -[Rocky] All right.
I hope it all works well.
See you later.
[Maria] I just don't know why he would sway from it,
why he wouldn't just jump at the opportunity.
But he's a grown man.
I love you, Momma.
-Pops? -Yeah?
-You're a [bleep]. -Yeah.
That's where I would get my breakfast right there.
Every day.
Right now I'm going to the gym to work out
with my trainer Alejandro.
I've been working with Alejandro
for a couple months now.
I see him three times a week,
and it's really helping to motivate me
to get off my butt, and do what I gotta do.
With Alejandro's help, I've really taken
my weight loss journey to the next level.
-What's going on, brother? -[chuckles] Hey!
Hey!
-All clean shaven. -That's right.
-Hey, man, got the hair! -All right.
Remember, today, work on that deep breathing.
The challenges that Mark faces unlike the average person,
is because of his weight, with his body,
it does very extreme stress on the joints.
So I like to try and keep him moving,
but I also let him have his rest periods in between.
Let's go.
Come on, Mark. Keep it up, buddy.
I believe Mark will actually get
to his goal weight without the weight loss surgery
because of the willpower that he has.
Success starts within. If you believe that in yourself
that you can make it, you're gonna make it.
I'll go first, bad boy.
110%, let's go.
[Alejandro grunts]
[Mark] I'm loving the motivation Alejandro gives me.
It's been great.
And I feel like it's making me work harder.
Not just with the workouts but with how I eat, too.
He's showing me a new diet
that can help me do even better.
And it's been exciting, because I feel like
I'm getting all these great tools
to turn my life around.
And I didn't move to Houston.
Dr. Now called me to check up on me,
and I told him I decided against the surgery.
I told him that I have a good trainer,
and he's helping me do a lot better.
He wanted to set up a local place for me
to get my weight checked.
If I do that,
and my weight loss has slowed again,
I told him that I would consider the surgery then.
[Alejandro] What you feeling right now?
It was hard.
Got a long way to go, dog.
Long way to go, but at the same time,
you gonna be proud of yourself when you finish it.
-Yeah. -I get you.
'Cause nobody else did it but yourself.
All I'm doing is just giving you the support that you need.
-You're doing a lot more than that, homeboy. -[Alejandro chuckles]
[coughs]
Where's Stupid?
-[Maria] Uh, April? -Yeah.
[Maria] She's driving with Dad.
-Is she a couple cars in front of us? -Yeah.
I might get over real quick.
[Mark] Me and my family are heading
to the local clinic here in Florida
that Dr. Now is sending me to,
because they supposedly have
a scale that can weigh me accurately.
My sister and my brother-in-law are back in town,
so I asked everyone to tag along.
Because I wanna show everyone that I was right,
and that I'm succeeding on my own.
And I wish they could've just believed me
in the first place.
-Hello, Mark. -Hi.
My name's Melanie, nice to meet you.
Mark. Nice to meet you. Thank you.
We're gonna go ahead and take your vitals, okay?
[Mark] Okay.
But Dr. Now and my family,
everyone thinks I'm gonna have less progress than before.
But I've been working hard to prove them wrong.
And that's what I'm gonna try to do.
All right, here we go.
At my last weigh-in four months ago,
I lost 42 pounds
to get down to 576.
Then Dr. Now said my weight loss
is gonna slow even more.
I've been working hard to lose more this time,
and show everyone once and for all that
I'm gonna succeed at this.
All right.
Come on Mark, we're gonna go ahead into--
[Mark] Well, okay.
Not quite what I was looking for.
-Hi. -[Rocky] Hey.
[Mark] Now I'm supposed to call Dr. Now.
I already know what he's gonna say.
[cell phone ringing]
[Dr. Now on phone] Hello. Hi Mark.
[Mark] How you doing, sir?
Nice to see you.
Nice to see you, too. What's going on with you?
Um, nothing. Same old, same old,
just trying to stay busy, keep working out.
And that's great. So how is your weight doing?
[Mark] Um...
I actually gained a few pounds.
Believe it or not.
So what happened?
[Mark] Yeah, I...
I don't know.
Um, I don't wanna come up with any excuses.
I haven't really used the bathroom in a couple days.
But...
no excuses, just gotta work harder.
Mark, the reality is that we told you
that it's going to be statistically impossible
to hit your goal weight.
Statistically for success,
for this type of thing without any surgery,
with exercise and diet, is 0%.
So what are the solutions for you?
If you want fresh advice from me,
it's going to be come back to Houston
and have your weight loss surgery.
So let's keep your goal of losing 50 pounds a month.
And then come and see us for weight loss surgery.
Even that's gonna be a challenge for you.
Right, well...
Doc, my life is going really good right now.
You know, work is going really good,
I'm making really good progress at the gym,
I'm feeling good, I'm feeling healthy.
Um...
Like, I'll definitely lose,
like, 20 pounds in a month. Like, I like that goal.
I can't give up on doing this on my own.
I just can't.
[Dr. Now] You're playing a risky game, Mark.
So here's what I want to do.
If you want to stay in my program,
then I want to set up a therapy appointment
over video with you and your family
to talk through things.
You think that is something we can do?
[Mark] Okay.
Okay. If you need anything, give me a call.
Thank you, Doc. You have a great day, sir. Thank you.
You too.
-Bye. -Bye now.
I really like him.
Then you need to start talking to him.
'Cause what he's telling you is true.
And your attitude of, "Oh, I can have
a couple of cookies," [bleep] like that,
you're stupid to think that.
I gotta do it my way.
I feel like no one understands what I'm trying to say.
Dr. Now probably thinks I'm crazy.
But I'm not. I just have to do it my way.
Today we're doing a video call
with a therapist Dr. Now set up for us.
He wanted my mom and my dad
and my sister to be a part of it.
But my sister can't,
so it's just gonna be me and my parents.
I'm just gonna take the call in the pool-house.
[Dr. Paradise] Mark.
Dr. Paradise, thank you for taking the time.
You're more than welcome. And I have Rocky and Maria.
-Yes, hi. Good to meet you. -Okay.
And you guys are all,
you're in the same house, different rooms, right?
-Right. -Okay.
So, it's good to talk to you.
I'm glad we're all finally connecting.
Mark, can you tell me where you're at with, um,
your weight loss and the surgery?
I understand there's some decisions being made right now.
I'm not doing the surgery.
I wanna see if I can do this on my own.
Like, to me, for me, it feels like
if I take the surgery right now,
I'd be giving up on myself.
[Dr. Paradise] Mark, what I'm interested in is
why you wouldn't take advantage
of something that could be helpful?
You could be 300 pounds in no time.
There's a 16-year-old girl who I recently became close to.
She suffers from CRGS.
Which I know, you obviously know what that is,
but she can't even put on her shoe.
You know what I mean? If she's fighting this battle,
it's like if this 16-year-old girl
going through can fight this battle,
I can go through and fight this battle. It's...
[Dr. Paradise] Mark, what does that have to do with
getting the surgery?
Surgery is not an option for her.
There's no quick fix for her.
If she can fight through this, then I can fight through it.
[Dr. Paradise] My guess if I talked to her and I said,
"Do you want Mark not to have the surgery so he can...
you guys can share the hopelessness
of not having any intervention?"
She would say, "Absolutely not."
She would say, "I would take a surgery yesterday."
So I'm trying to figure out whether it's denial,
whether it's fear that you're gonna use that tool
and you're gonna fail.
I don't know why you're rejecting it.
I see Mark progressing,
Mark's moving, he's going to the gym,
he's really picked up the pace.
But I feel, my heart feels,
do the surgery to better yourself.
You're getting older.
Thank God you're not diabetic.
But if things don't happen fast enough,
you know, his health will change.
I'm not afraid to get the surgery,
when I need to prove this to myself
through grit and tenacity.
You know what I mean? Like, I'm not afraid of failing.
I've been failing my whole life.
[Dr. Paradise] Mark, what's the real fear?
There's no real fear.
What I'd like to do is what feels right.
[Dr. Paradise] This is make-or-break time right now.
And I feel like you're asking for, like,
an extension on a homework assignment. [laughs]
You know what I mean?
Like, "I'll get it done,
just give me a couple more days."
Mark, you're past the weight,
and you've been past the weight
where we think, "Oh, this is just a willpower issue," right?
You are in the "your weight's gonna kill you" category.
And this is the medically reccommended treatment.
There's all kinds of people, including your doctors,
that are giving you strong advice
that this surgery is your best possible bet right now,
and it doesn't make sense that you're turning it down.
And you need to ask yourself,
"Why am I going against medical advice?"
I need to know I'm betting on myself
for the first time in a long time.
[Dr. Paradise] I don't know that it's really betting on yourself.
Your very best bet is to have the surgery.
And I hope that you reconsider.
I hope that you think about what it means
to not take advantage of
the tool that you have in front of you.
Thank you so much for taking the time,
and I'm so sorry, I don't wanna disappoint you.
Mark, this is isn't about my being disappointed.
This is about my making recommendations
based on data and experience.
I like you. You seem like a really nice guy.
You seem like you have incredible willpower.
Good luck, and I can't wait to hear how you do.
Take care, guys.
[Mark] I like Dr. Paradise.
He said I was going against medical advice,
and it's scary because...
I don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing.
But I'm gonna try it.
[Rocky] A lot of times,
the way you have to deal with Mark is
you have to let him fall flat on his face.
But I'm always gonna be there to pick him up.
I can't not do that.
What do you do for consequences
for a 43-year-old man?
You know, he's not some teen.
I can't take away his car.
He's gonna do what he's gonna do.
[Mark] All right. I'm heading back to the local clinic
with my family right now
in order to get weighed once again.
And this is a big one.
I made a choice to go out on my own.
To continue with my weight loss journey
without the surgery.
[Rocky] What do you think you weigh?
[Mark] Anything over 220 and I'm disappointed.
[Rocky] I think you're three times 220.
I would go with that.
[Mark] And it's been challenging.
But ironically enough,
the most difficult part
has not been the diet or the exercise.
It's been trying to convince my family that I got this.
I can't say that I know what I'm doing,
because I [bleep] have no idea what I'm doing.
I'm not confident that I made the right decision.
-Hello. -Hi there.
-Hi Mark. How are you? -[Mark] Good, how are you?
Good. Nice to meet you, my name's Tina.
-Mark. Nice to meet you. -Why don't you come on back?
Go ahead and step on the scale.
I want to take a picture,
-get a picture of the scale. -Okay. You do it.
Get your picture.
[Mark] The last time I weighed myself,
I was 570-something.
I'm supposed to lose 20 pounds,
to get down to 550-ish.
Okay, you go ahead and have a seat.
We ready to talk to the doc? Let's do it.
[cell phone ringing]
Hi Mark, you doing okay?
Good to see you, sir. Always good to see you.
Yeah, I'm doing good, man.
What did you weigh today?
[Mark] 578.
Well, you were down two months ago to 579.
So essentially your weight loss has slowed down.
-And that's you not... -Considerably.
...making any progess with it.
All right, Mark, so this is not working for you.
And so your weight is plateauing now,
and once we've got those you stay that for a while,
then start going up slowly a pound or two.
And then next thing you know,
you're back to the original weight.
I won't go back to my weight.
I hope to God I won't go back to my weight.
Doc, I worked so hard to get to this point.
You have to work harder
to maintain that rest of your life.
I understand that's your feelings, I do.
But it's like right now,
I just feel like I can do this.
And I need to see if I'm right.
-You know? -All right.
If you wanna continue with exercise and diet,
then I wish you the best.
And there's not much more we can do for you for that.
And in any point in the future
that you come to reality that this is not gonna work,
then let us know, and then
see what options we got for you, okay?
And you are running the risk of being back to 700 pounds
in just a matter of time. Okay?
-Yes, sir. -All right, if you need anything, give me a call.
Always good to see you, sir. Thank you.
All right. Bye now.
-Have a good day. -You too.
[Rocky] What do you think?
-[Mark] Mmm-mmm. -You ready?
-I don't know. -What do you know?
[Mark] Mmm-mmm.
[Rocky] What would you say if you found out
you didn't lose a couple of pounds?
[Rocky] If that?
I'm not worried about my weight right now.
I'm getting better.
I mean, this ain't a game, this is your life.
You don't think I understand that?
Okay. So no matter what you do,
it's gonna be hard work. And no matter what,
even if you do it on your own,
you're still gonna have skin surgery,
so you're still gonna have surgery.
I'm not... I don't have a problem with the skin removal.
I'm trying to get to that point first.
I don't have a problem with the...
I need to see if I can do this!
I understand that, love.
-Why can't you support that? -I am supporting you.
But I, I--
Then stop bringing it up. Every [bleep] third...
Every third word you [bleep] say to me is [bleep] surgery.
I don't need to hear about surgery from you
-six times a day, please. -Hey, hey, back off.
You just need to sleep on everything
that's been said to you,
and think about
what the conversation was with Dr. Paradise.
Dr. Paradise, he's a frickin' doctor.
He's not just talking out his [bleep].
And something... That's exactly what you're doing.
You're talking out your [bleep].
You're not thinking this through.
You're just determined to do it your way
which is not necessarily the right way.
Then so be it, but it's my decision to make,
and if you need me to move out I'll move out.
No, it's your decision to make.
But if you keep being a [bleep] with us about this
because Mom mentions it or something like that,
that ain't gonna work.
I don't need to hear it every freaking day,
multiple times a day.
Well then, you have a choice.
But we live there,
and you're not gonna disrespect your mom.
I'm asking you not to bring up the surgery.
I'm not gonna [bleep] forget the surgery is an option.
-Yeah. -It's not gonna slip my mind.
Well, you know, even if you have the surgery, Mark,
it's still a tremendous amount of work.
-I understand! -Okay, but you think that--
I heard this from the doctors, I understand--
[Rocky] Well then why don't you just listen
to your mom and let her talk?
But you think you're getting off easy
doing the surgery and "poof" you're done,
but that's when the real hard work starts.
You guys haven't been listening to...
-[Maria] Yeah, I have. -No, you haven't.
You [bleep] haven't.
We have, but at the same point,
we're just hearing the same load of [bleep]
-that we've heard for so many things... -Great.
...in your life. Okay, great.
Yeah.
I'm done talking. All you guys want me to do is talk
and I don't wanna [bleep] talk.
No, I don't want you to talk anymore.
-We gotta go. Let's just go. -We're good.
Yeah, let's call it.
-We're not getting anywhere. -[Rocky] Yep.
[Dr. Now] I'm proud of Mark for his hard work
and the progress he has made.
But if he continues on the path he's on,
he's gonna undo that all very soon.
And we can see from his weight
that process has already started.
So it is unfortunate
that Mark is continuing this path,
where he says he wants to prove himself
and he feels like surgery means
he's given up on himself.
But really all those statements
and excuses are a smoke screen
for the fact that he's scared to leave what's safe for him.
And so that is the real issue that his family
is gonna have to work with him at this point.
They clearly love him and want what is best for him.
They need to give him some more tough love
if he's gonna keep acting like a child.
Because his choices and behavior right now
is gonna ultimately lead to a very bad place for Mark.
Hopefully he comes around
and starts to see reality soon.
But until then, we've done all we can for him.
[Maria] Okay, we're ready to eat, guys.
[Rocky] Awesome.
[Maria] Let's keep it covered,
I don't want husky food in there.
[Rocky] Mark, look at all that food, my God.
-I know. -[Maria] Mark, get your...
-Yup. -[Rocky] He'll be back.
[Maria] No, you won't. You're done.
You guys get out of my way.
I'm trying to, I got a fan behind me.
[Mark] You know what? I worked really hard last month,
harder than ever.
And I got a scale that I can use to weigh myself now.
Dr. Now says that those aren't accurate for someone my size
if they're not professional ones,
but it seems to be working for me.
I lost a few pounds again this week,
so I know I'm turning things around.
And I'm going to improve it.
I'm gonna keep working hard.
[Maria] What do you think about Uncle Mark?
Well, I'm kinda confused.
Are you doing the surgery?
Mmm-mmm.
-I hope not. -Why not?
I'm gonna try not to do it.
[Rocky] You think he should?
What's wrong with the surgery? Why not?
Yeah, I think it would.
So why not do it? It would make it so much easier.
[Mark] My mom and dad have been talking about me moving out.
Mostly my dad.
Because I can tell my mom isn't as crazy about
kicking me out.
Let's be honest,
I wanted to get out of there for a while now.
Get my own place or something,
so I have a roof over my head that's mine.
You want some dessert?
Or you want something?
-I have these pecans, I'm good. -You good?
I think I'm gonna go to bed here soon, guys,
believe it or not.
The point is, I'm gonna work hard to succeed.
No matter what anybody says,
or even what the scale says.
That's what's about to happen.
And that is where I'm going.
Always forward, never back.