[Chris] The list of things I can't deal with is getting longer every day.
[woman] Somewhere in me is this little glimmer of hope.
I just want to be a normal person.
[sharply exhales]
[man] 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.
It hurts.
[woman] I refuse to stop fighting.
I have to do this for my children.
Oh.
I've barricaded myself inside of this emotional prison.
Why it took you 36 years to think about that?
[Chris] Every day, it gets harder to get out of bed.
My body's constantly getting more exhausted.
Every day that I wake up, I lose more mobility.
I get tired faster.
Everything is limited now.
And every day it gets worse.
And eventually I'm not gonna be able to get up out of bed.
I'm too big to sleep in a normal bed, so I have to sleep
on a mattress one foot off the floor and to get to my feet,
I roll forward out of the bed really fast, kind of like a somersault.
[Chris] I lean back and then I whip my legs forward and it just pulls
the rest of me up standing.
My body weight just kind of flings me on my feet.
[Chris] So even just walking down the hallway is difficult.
I'm afraid of tripping and falling because my knees and my legs feel so worn out.
And now the list of things I can't deal with is getting longer every day.
When I take a shower, I can't stand up in the tub for, I mean,
five minutes at most before I end up sitting back down on the side of the tub.
[Chris] I'm trying to keep up with my own cleaning.
But things lately been getting pretty bad.
I live by myself.
My ex and her husband sometimes will come over to help me.
They live just down the street with my daughter, Zoey.
But I hate asking for help.
Makes me feel like a failure.
I've been a burden on them for too long.
[exhales]
[Chris] Showers wipe me out.
All right.
Once I'm clean, I have to sit down for a little bit.
Then I'm ready for my favorite time of the day.
Whoa!
[Chris] My weight makes it challenging to cook
the kind of breakfast that I want.
Because of the weight and the fat between my legs, I can't stand up straight.
So they're constantly pushing apart, which makes it really
uncomfortable to stand in the kitchen for a long period of time.
So I actually have to sit on a cooler that I sit on when I cook.
I make the meal with my stomach, not with my brain.
So I have a really big meal.
And when I start eating, as soon as I hit that first bite I eat it all.
I call it going red.
I can't stop.
When I'm eating, I don't think of anything and I... it clears my mind.
The food, I mean, when I eat food, at least for the time
that I'm eating it, it helps take the lonely away.
[Chris] I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When I was growing up, my parents struggled financially,
so I was never really sure when my next meal would be coming.
And then when we did eat, you ate as much as you could because you got me,
my brother Tommy and my sister Krystal.
It was Taco Tuesday and mom happened to bring home a big bag of tacos.
If you didn't eat as much as you could eat,
they weren't there when you went back later.
Growing up when I would make food or something like that, there was never a limit.
Like so like when I cooked for the kids or for the family
and when I cooked, everybody just got to serve themselves.
And now, looking back, I do think that that was a major thing
because, for instance, if their sister didn't eat all her food, I'd say,
"Okay, I'll give it to your brother or whoever, whichever wants it."
Well, that's something I shouldn't have done, because I think
that's part of the thing that he doesn't like to throw food away.
[Chris] So from an early age, I started gaining weight
and I just kept getting bigger.
I don't remember my parents ever being together very often.
And then one day my dad met someone else and then left.
Shortly after that, my mom took me to California to meet her sister,
and that's when my mom met a new guy.
Everything kind of started going downhill from there.
I don't know if it was just him or my mom, but after that,
we were always scraping by.
Having power turned off.
Mom would be working.
Mom wouldn't be working.
We're bouncing from place to place.
We had a lot of problems.
I mean, like there, there were times that I was, like,
I was on welfare, whatnot, they call it.
And so there were times that we had, um,
hard to pay rent and things like that.
[Chris] We've moved all the time because we would lose
the place that we were at or we couldn't afford it
and we would have our power shut off.
There was a period that we were all homeless and in a homeless shelter.
I woke up with all the other homeless kids and we had cereal
and breakfast and we got on the bus and went to school.
[Chris] Did around the time I started middle school, my mom,
she just started disappearing.
She'd come home, drop off, you know, some money or some food,
and then she would come home for a couple of days.
She's just gone all the time.
I was 13-years-old.
I really wanted to go do stuff.
And there was a lot of times I couldn't go anywhere and I couldn't see my friends
because I had to stay home and watch my brother and sister.
[Chris] But what had really been happening is that my mom had become
addicted to hard drugs, and when she hit rock bottom, I was sent to live
with my aunt in California, and that's where I got
to experience food in the cupboards.
[Chris] I even learned not to eat everything and go back for more
after dinner because I knew I could count on breakfast and lunch the next day.
I ended up playing a lot of football and I lost a lot of weight
and gained muscle.
It was amazing.
[Chris] The only setback was that about 18 months after I arrived to stay
with them, they broke up and then I got shipped back to Vegas.
And by the time I was 15 or 16,
I really started noticing weight impacting me.
[Chris] At high school I'd no longer was an athlete.
I was pushed to the side as a fat kid,
so I participated less and less.
I kept binge eating until I got so big that I couldn't fit into the chairs
at school anymore, which was humiliating.
So that's when I just dropped out altogether and we needed money.
So I found a job working at a convenience store, and I don't know
what I was thinking, but first week in that job,
it wrecked me 300 plus pounds.
And you've never stood up for longer than an hour or two.
Oh!
That was, that was the worst.
[Chris] I quit and got another job at a grocery store, but it wasn't any better.
And that was when I realized that I was stuck.
I was interested in computers and how they were put together,
and I was hoping I could do something that would lead me
towards becoming a network engineer.
But then that did end up taking me in a different direction.
[Chris] Because when I was able to buy a computer and get logged in,
the first thing to pop up was my instant messenger.
And that was how I happened to reconnect with Kaylee.
That I used to play computer games with while in high school.
[Chris] We just started talking like we used to.
We have this connection and then it became like an every night thing.
I would get off work and be talking to her about how I felt like I was stuck
where I was at, and she was like, "Why don't you come out here?"
And I was like, "I could do that."
Why not?
I mean, I have some money saved.
I have a car.
So I drove to Rhode Island.
[Chris] My first six months in Rhode Island were rough.
The only job that I could find was delivering pizza.
But besides all that, somehow me and Kaylee really hit it off.
So I moved in with her, and I found a better job working at a call center.
And then it was good times.
The best thing I remember of those days was getting really healthy.
Me and Kaylee would always go to the gym.
We'd go to the beach.
We'd go for walks.
I lost over 100 pounds and I was in the best shape of my life.
I was in love.
And then me and Kaylee became inseparable.
We got pregnant and had our little Zoey.
[Chris] And from the moment she was born.
Zoey has been the center of my universe.
Being her dad has been my main purpose in life.
Like, I remember just going to work and then coming home
proud because I was able to help and support, and that made me happy.
[Chris] Kaylee's mom's boyfriend was like, "Hey, Chris, come fill out
a job application for the cable company I work for."
And I was like, "Okay."
And that's where I was finally able to get
into a real job with a real career path.
They moved me up to a different position.
I went from $10 an hour to almost $50 an hour, and that was the first time
in my life that I was making good money.
I rewarded myself with food and I started putting more weight back on.
[Chris] Kaylee and I had been a very romantically active couple, and as I got heavier.
That just wasn't there with us anymore.
She was distant.
I think we just both knew it was coming.
We decided to separate.
[Chris] There was no fight, but breaking up was hard on me.
I would see Zoey, but I miss Kaylee.
I didn't have anyone to do anything with anymore.
So every night after work, I would just go eat food.
And that brought me comfort when there was nothing else to do.
But not even food could numb out all the issues that I was having.
Then the call center I was working at shut down.
I didn't get laid off, but I had to relocate to Oklahoma.
So I drove all the way across the country to start over on my own.
I knew that food had started becoming a real problem for me, and I wanted
to get back to where I had been when I was in shape.
[Chris] It didn't help that Kaylee moved on quickly after I left and got married.
I would still get to see Zoey because I flew her back and forth between
Kaylee and I, and I hated it when Zoey was gone.
So I paid for Kaylee and her husband, Rob, to move out here.
And they stayed with me until Rob got a job.
And after I got used to Kaylee being with Rob, we're all, like, really good friends,
and I help take care of the kids.
But once again, just as I was happy and settled in somewhere,
it all fell apart.
[Chris] Without any notice one day, the cable company I had relocated
for turned around and let me go.
I was just completely blown away.
You know, I just lost the best job that I'm gonna get.
I mean, I was making really good money and that was the kind of
the tipping point where I just I gave up.
I'm up over 500 pounds at that point.
And then I really, really turned to eating before
I even knew it, I was about 600 pounds.
It was a bad place.
I was sad.
I was lonely.
I've started to get more worried about myself just feeling isolated.
And I just started thinking there ought to be something
Ito help myself not feel that way.
So I reached out to my mom to let her know the situation I'm in.
The relationship between me and my mom,
it's been kind of distant for a while.
It's been six years since I've seen my mom.
She had no idea that I was this bad.
She does want to help me.
She was concerned enough.
She dropped all her plans to come and see me.
[knock on door]
[Laura] Chris?
Yeah. Come on up, mom.
[Laura] Couldn't tell it had so many stairs.
[Chris] Yeah, it takes forever.
-Hey, you. -Hey, mom.
I miss you.
[Laura] I miss you too, sweetheart.
Oh, my stars.
You didn't tell me.
Well, you know now.
-[Laura] Yeah, I do. -I look great, right?
You... Well, you always look great. You're my son.
But, yeah, that's all right.
Yeah. I can't speak.
You know what I mean?
[chuckles] Awesome.
It's good to see you know.
[Laura] I'm glad to see you too, sweetheart.
I'm glad we started talking again.
Well, it's been, like what, six years or seven years?
Something like that.
Six years...
I'm really glad that you called me.
I'd have been here sooner.
[Chris] I know.
So what do you want?
What do you need from me or anybody else to help or to be there?
Like, you know, I'm gonna have to go to Houston to see doctor now
and just being able to get there.
I can't do on my own.
Do you have a car? Do you drive?
Does somebody take you or how do...?
I have a car and I haven't driven the car that I have in three years.
If I sit down, I can't turn the steering wheel, if I can sit down.
I haven't even been in the car in a long time.
I mean, I don't even know if I'm gonna fit in it at all, to be completely honest.
And there's gonna be a point where I'm... I'm gonna have to move...
To Houston?
Yes.
And I'm gonna need someone there to be, to be actually be there with me in Houston.
And I don't know who that's gonna be yet.
Okay.
I can do that because I...
You know, that's I think commitment.
I'll be here for you.
Whatever you need me to do.
[Chris] I'm gonna need you a lot.
I wish I could have been here sooner.
My feelings right now, they're kind of mixed.
There's a part of me that's excited that I got to see my son.
I haven't seen him in a while, but there's a part of me that feels upset because
I didn't realize he gained so much weight.
I almost didn't recognize him when I first saw him.
But I love my son with all my heart.
And if he needs me to be here, I'm gonna be here.
[Chris] Especially.
Whoa.
Just kind of jump to, you know.
But to me... I'm gonna hide over here in the corner.
Do you want to... Take over all the flavor.
Tonight we're gonna make dinner and sit together with my mom and my daughter.
And I'm really looking forward to that.
[Zoey] Hey, Dad.
[Chris] Hey. [laughter]
Zoey!
-Oh, my God! -Hi.
How did you get so big?
Grandma.
You remember grandma?
She probably... You do?
Kind of.
[Chris] You want spaghetti?
-[Zoe] Yeah. -[Chris] It's what we're making.
My mom has been so absent from my life.
She's only met her granddaughter once before,
and I want her to have a relationship with Zoey.
But I don't want Zoey to be disappointed by her.
If she were to once again withdraw from our lives and not be around.
[Laura] I'm like moving out.
[Zoey] Let's get up.
Yeah.
[Laura] Zoey just started to move it.
And I thought, wait a minute.
It was too far, too fast.
All right, I'm gonna pull it back.
[breaths heavily]
I'm gonna relax for a minute.
[Laura] Okay.
[Zoey] Well, thank you.
-[Laura] And then... -Okay, this is still really hot.
Oh. Yeah.
Mm-hmm!
Because spaghetti sandwich.
[Zoey] Grandma, I didn't feel like I don't know how to grill it to eat it.
Who gave it to me?
Yeah.
[Chris] So, Zoey.
Hmm.
How do you feel about Daddy being really big?
Kind of sad because we used to go to a pool every Saturday and every Sunday
we went to a library thing, and before we would always play that game, checkers.
-Yeah. -Hmm.
[Chris] I forgot about checkers.
-It was fun. -Yeah.
Well, when I lose some weight, we can start doing that stuff again.
We can go to the water park.
[Zoey] Mm-hmm.
[Chris] Let me get some milk.
My mom's been saying she's gonna come live with me in Houston,
and I'm excited for the chance this is giving us to spend time together.
And now that she's here, I'm really grateful.
But there's a part of me that's still skeptical.
Can I really count on her?
You guys like the spaghetti?
-[Zoey] Yeah. -[Laura] Yeah.
-A lot? -[Zoey] Mm-hmm.
I don't know. Yes, I did.
[indistinct chatter] really good.
...like the sauce I make. Your vote doesn't count.
[laughs] Yes, it does.
[Chris] What time is it? Is it time to go?
[Laura] Just about.
[Chris] All right.
[Laura] Then get up and move.
I'm almost done.
Finding the rest of my shorts. All right.
I just got to get shove everything into the bag pretty much.
-Are you gonna be able to do it? -Yeah.
I'm gonna take the blankets and, I don't know, maybe shove it in front
of my knees so it's not...
-[Laura] It has all little padding... -paddling the dash, yeah.
Hurts a lot.
You about ready, then?
That's everything.
-You got it all? -...my wallet on the way out.
All right, let's go and go.
Go and go.
Go and be there. That's it.
Bed again.
Hmm!
[Chris] So I go an appointment with Dr. Now.
And it's actually tomorrow, so me and my mom are heading out for Houston.
Okay.
Hmm.
-[Chris] You ready? -[Laura] Yeah, I'm ready.
[Chris] And my sweater.
[Laura] I got the keys and everything.
[exhales]
[Laura] Oops.
[Chris] Can you pop the trunk?
[Laura] Oh, yeah. I can.
I guess I have to.
I have the key, don't I?
[Chris] I'm a little worried because how my body has been feeling lately.
It's really been getting worse and worse.
And I don't know how I'm gonna handle all this travel.
[breathing heavily]
Oh, man.
Here we go.
Oh.
[Laura] So how are you feeling now?
I feel like a sack of potatoes.
[Laura] I get you then.
[bleep]
[Chris] Yeah.
As much as I don't want to slow down, we're gonna have to slow down.
[heavy rainfall]
[Laura] I can't even see.
I literally cannot see.
Oh, it's not gonna do anything but get worse for a little while.
You know, we're in, we're in like the easy part of it right now.
[Laura] It's gonna get worse.
Well, hey, this will keep you on your toes.
[Laura] Toes?
Hell, I want to keep on all four tires.
I can't see.
[bleep]
Well, be prepared as we're about to go through
probably one of the worst parts of it.
[bleep]
[Laura] Talk about slow.
[Chris] Just make sure you watch the lines, too.
-[Laura] I, I watch the lines now. -[Chris] You haven't...
-There's comes the hail. -[Laura] Comes the hail.
-[Chris] Yeah. -[Laura] We better hurry up. Get to Dallas.
[Chris] Outside of mom's driving and that crucial storm moment,
my knees and my legs and my back are in so much pain.
I need to get out.
I need to lie down and rest.
So we're gonna get a hotel so I can do just that.
[Laura] We're here.
-[Chris] I go. -[Laura] Okay.
Yeah.
As long as my legs work, I'm all right.
Oh.
[Laura] Okay and got it.
-Uh, so now let me grab this. -[Chris] Mm-hmm.
[breaths heavily]
[Chris] That definitely wasn't easy.
And we still have about three hours to go tomorrow.
But I'm worried it's gonna be harder than today, because I'm gonna be sore.
[breaths heavily]
I just hope I can make it in time for my appointment,
because everything is depending on this.
[breaths heavily]
[Laura] We're in storms, are gonna run into today, are we?
I hope so.
[Laura] Well, I'd like to know it.
-Keeps it exciting. -[Laura] True.
I can probably see a lot better today
than I could last night, that's for sure.
[Chris] We've been on the road for three hours today, but we're almost at Dr. Now's.
We've been driving hard to get there on time
and it looks like we're actually going to make it.
I'm in a lot of pain, but now that I'm closer to the doctor's office,
I'm not even worried about it.
I'm just nervous about meeting him and finding out
my current weight and seeing what Dr. Now
has to say about my situation.
[car door opens]
[car door closes]
[clattering]
Yeah.
Hmm.
-We're here. -Yeah.
Chris?
[Chris] I wish my mom wasn't going to see my actual weight.
I'm embarrassed for her to see it.
[woman] Okay. I need to...
[Chris] She already knows I'm over 600 pounds.
I just hope it's not a lot higher than that.
[woman] Your weight is 620.
We're going to room five.
[Chris] Okay.
[Chris] I'm actually a little relieved that my weight isn't more out of control.
I am still embarrassed of that number.
It's one thing to see me and know I'm big, but it's just another
to have it verified in front of you with a specific number
that's harder to hide from in a lot of ways.
So from here on out, every time I step on the scale,
I want that number to get smaller.
I just need Dr. Now to agree to help me.
I'll go slower.
[knock on door]
[door opens]
Hello. How y'all doing?
I guess y'all didn't hear me.
How y'all doing?
We're doing good. I'm doing good.
Good. All right.
So, Chris, you're here from Oklahoma?
Oklahoma? Yep.
Well, how was the trip down to Houston?
Oh, it wasn't too bad.
We ended up leaving late, so we had to stay in Dallas on the way down here.
And then we had a huge storm coming through, which was pretty cool.
So how long it take you to get down here?
It's a little about seven and a half hours.
Okay.
So who is the driver?
-Mom. -Mom!
-I'm the driver, yeah. -All right.
And so you need mom to bring you all this way?
-Yeah. -Yeah.
All right.
So what brought you down to Houston?
Well, it's been, you know, my weight, mainly,
been wanting to lose the weight and keep it off.
And I haven't been so successful in the past, so I'd like to see
if I could do your program and get a little bit better guidance to make that change.
Okay.
So since you live a little too far to drive here and back in one day,
is mom gonna keep helping bring you down here if you want to do my program?
We haven't really talked about it.
I mean, I haven't seen my mom in seven years, so.
[laughs] Wow.
You haven't seen your mom in seven years.
What brought her your mom down here?
Oh, we started talking again, and she found out my situation, and...
And he needed somebody to be here to, to, to start this journey with him.
So, I said I'd be here, and I flew in a couple of days ago
to be here to drive him down here from Oklahoma.
All right.
So, Chris, you're 36 years old and 620.
What do you do in Oklahoma?
Right now, I don't.
I'm not doing anything in Oklahoma.
Any goals or any?
Oh, yes. I definitely have some goals.
I mean, my my biggest thing is I want to, I want to do things
with my daughter, but I also want to there's a lot of things
I want to do for myself.
So you have a daughter, too?
Mm-hmm.
How's your relationship with your daughter?
Oh, it's great.
She's probably one of the big reasons.
It's kind of set in for me that I need to to change a lot of this.
I mean, I've been heavy in the past, but we've still been able to do things,
you know, up until the last three years.
We don't do anything anymore.
Is your daughter living with you?
No. She lives two blocks away.
How often do you see her?
Every weekend.
-Every weekend? -Okay.
So right now you're not working?
Yeah. Not working.
So what do you do all day?
Right now I play games and eat food when I'm bored or feel alone.
So what do you think is wrong with your eating habit?
I'm eating too much of everything, eating the wrong things.
So for the past 36 years, you're eating too much.
So what is the difference now?
Why did you decided to do something now?
I just want, I want more.
I don't... I've been I've been felt alone for a really long time.
I realized that part of the reasons why I cope with food and I enjoy eating
is because I'm alone.
And the only way to not be alone is to break those habits
and be able to get out and do things.
And until I can learn to control my eating habits,
which is what I want to do, I'm just gonna continue to be alone.
So, why you haven't done anything about it so far?
I didn't think that I could.
-What do you mean? -I just didn't.
I didn't think I had the willpower to do it.
All right.
So at this point, if you want to prove to me you're ready
to change and turn your life around, your actions need to show me that.
So we're gonna give you some diet instruction that will break down
a 1,200 calorie high protein, low carb diet.
I want you to lose 80 pounds in two months.
-Okay. -See how you do with that.
And then we go from there.
If you lose that weight, then we're gonna work with you.
If you come back and you're not able to lose
that, then there's not much we can do for you.
-Okay. -Okay.
All right. Any other questions?
Not that I can think of, no.
Okay.
I'll get the diet to go over with you.
Also, the stuff I'm gonna give you is gonna have exercise that you're gonna
have to start doing immediately.
[Chris] Yeah.
So, mom, what are you gonna do after seven years to keep him in track?
Well, just gonna be there as much as I can.
Even if I'm not physically there, I'm gonna make sure
that we're talking and, and know what's going on.
Okay.
Fair enough.
-[chuckles] -All right.
I'm gonna bring some stuff for you and then we're gonna go over it.
-Okay? -Okay.
All right. I'll be back.
[Laura] All righty! Thank you.
[Nowzaradan] Mm-hmm.
[Chris] What do you think?
I think I like him.
And I'm so proud of you for this.
Thanks, mom.
Chris has a bit of a unique situation, it seems.
From what he says, he doesn't have anyone living with him to enable him.
He doesn't have to work and he doesn't have any real goal in his life
other than some general hopes for things.
All right.
Here's what I'm gonna give you.
And you read that and prefactor and control your weight
and next page will tell you food to avoid.
This is all gonna be up to Chris.
And the question is, with his mom coming back in his life,
if she's gonna be the support he needs or she's gonna end up enable him.
Hopefully, both of them are serious about what they are saying
and they are ready to do what it takes to save Chris life.
If you do all this, you shouldn't have
any problem losing the weight you need.
So we'll check you back in two months and expect you to lose 80 pounds by then.
And if you do that, then we'll consider weight loss surgery for you.
-Okay. -All right.
You think you can do that?
-Absolutely! -Okay.
And if you need anything, give me a call.
-Okay. -Okay.
All right.
I'll see you soon.
-Thank you, Dr. Now! -Thank you, doc!
[Chris] Oh.
I know my life has to change.
If I keep going like I've been doing I'm not going to be around for much longer.
So I need to do this now before it gets worse.
Getting feedback from Dr. Now
to tell me about, you know, what I'm doing wrong and to kind of help
keep me accountable and keep me on track.
It does give you a lot of hope.
I've been letting myself down long enough, but the one person
I can't let down is my daughter.
I mean, we we used to go do things together that we haven't done in forever.
That's my biggest, my biggest motivation.
I also just, you know, I want to get out of the house
more and stop secluding myself, because that's what's got me in this position.
And with the support of my family, I'm gonna do this.
There's no other option.
[car door closes]
It's been about a month since I've seen Dr. Now for my first appointment.
Coming back took us 12 hours because of traffic and the weather.
So it was a hard trip on me, but worth it because of the help I got
from Dr. Now to start to turn my life around, by how hard that trip
was on me showed me even more how important it was for me to get healthy
just so I can function, you know?
So I'm working hard to up my stamina by doing the stretches
and exercises that I need.
Oh, I couldn't take the trash out before when I would go out to walk.
It sounds funny, but taking the trash out feels pretty good.
Not having to have somebody else take your trash out for years.
It's pretty nice.
It's those just those things you don't really think
of until you can't do it anymore.
It's something I can definitely do now.
[breathing heavily]
[sighs]
[Chris] After coming back home, my mom stayed with me for a couple
more weeks, but then she had to go back
to Vegas to be with my brother.
Since he's mentally challenged, someone has to help
take care of him and he lives with my mom because of that.
[Chris] So with my mom moving in with me, he's gonna move in, too.
But right now, she says she has to tie up some things back home
for them to make the move.
And then she plans to be here to help me.
But I'm hoping that if I lose a lot of weight soon,
then I'll be the one to help her.
So I'm making sure I don't sit for long periods of time
and that I find ways to stay active.
So I gave up playing any video games where I'm sitting
for a long time and I got a VR unit since they require a lot of activity.
So I make sure I'm up and moving around all day.
Daddy.
Zoey.
[Zoey] Hi, Daddy.
Hi.
...take this off.
Zoey makes me happy.
[chuckles]
You know, Zoey's getting older, and I want to make sure
that she knows that I'm always there.
Not just mentally, but also physically there.
How have you been?
Good.
I went for a walk today.
It was tiring, but I feel good.
What did you do today?
I was playing on my phone all day.
Oh. Normal.
[Zoey] Mm-hmm.
[laughs] So, are you hungry for some lunch?
Yeah.
What do you want?
You can make lettuce wraps.
[Chris] You want lettuce wrap?
-Yeah. -All right.
Oh.
-You want to help me? -[Zoey] Yeah.
[chuckles]
[Chris] I'm also doing really well with my diet.
I read Dr. Now's book and all the papers he gave me, and I feel like I've learned
the ins and outs of his 1,200 calorie a day diet.
Give the lettuce.
But I've added some bigger steps onto it for me,
because every five days I'm fasting for five days.
I didn't eat anything in that time.
An onion.
I just do water and vitamins, so I'm hoping that gives me
an edge to lose weight faster on the days that I do eat.
I only eat high protein, low carb options and my daughter says
she's willing to eat what I eat when she's with me,
so I don't have to get something else for her that may tempt me.
It's great to see my dad eat healthy stuff.
Just one ham and lettuce.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
My dad eats lettuce, a bunch of other healthy food like mushrooms,
and it makes me feel happy.
[Chris] How's your lettuce?
Good.
[chuckles]
You're gonna eat the ham or you just gonna eat the lettuce?
[laughs]
[Chris] Want to try mine?
-No. -[Chris] Why not?
Because there's onions.
[Zoey] Yeah.
We had a lettuce wrap with, like, um, a bunch of stuff in it.
Which the stuff he had in it.
I didn't really like having it... we had the ham.
-[Zoey] I'm full. -All right and clean up.
-Yeah. -All right.
[Chris] I'm back in Houston.
It's been a long time since I've been small enough to fit behind the wheel.
I'm being able to do this as a life changing thing for me.
So I'm really proud of myself for doing this and hitting this goal
to come here on my own.
Chris.
Hello.
[Chris] I feel really good about how I'm doing.
And so the next big step for me to keep going
is getting weight loss surgery.
We're gonna weigh you first.
Just wait one sec, while it zeros it on.
Okay.
And step up on the scale.
[Chris] And that's all gonna come down to this weigh in.
And if I made it to my goal or not, you'll lose 80 pounds by today.
So I'm really hoping I did.
[Chris] My last appointment, I was 620 and Dr. Now told me
to lose 80 pounds by today for my goal.
So it means I should be down to 540 if I met that goal.
[woman] Your weight is 566.
All right.
Good enough for me.
[woman] Good. Okay.
-[sighs] -Chris, we're going to room five.
Awesome!
That's a lot of weight loss.
More than I've ever really had.
So I'm proud of that.
Personally, I did think I lost more.
But I think that I've done more than enough to show Dr. Now
I'm ready to change.
I'm hoping he approves me for weight loss surgery today.
[knock on the door]
[door opens]
Hello. How are you doing?
Good.
-Been okay? -[Chris] Yeah.
Good.
All right, Chris, you're down to 566 and you lost 54 pounds.
-Yep. -All right.
That's a good start.
It is not quite enough, as it should have been,
but I'm happy to see some significant progress.
And that you're doing better since you came down on your own this time.
How long it take you to get down here?
Well, it's just over six hours.
All right.
Well, I'm proud of you for doing this trip on your own
and for making some progress with your weight loss.
So what changes you have made with your eating habit?
I've been sticking to... I won't eat over 1,200 calories a day,
but I do mainly all protein.
But I've been fasting.
I ate for five days and then I fast for five days.
So when you fast, you don't eat anything in all day...
I just drink water.
All day?
Yeah. Yeah.
All day.
So... I do have... I take vitamins.
So you say you're fasting for five days in a row?
Mm-hmm.
So you're going from overeating to not eating anything.
Well, I wanted to kind of give myself a reset, so I'm.
I'm kind of... I wanted to get a good bit of weight off because
I want to be able to move because I've had a lot of pain with my knees.
So now that I've got that weight off, I'm much more active.
I can move faster, I can go a lot more stamina, go to the store now.
You know, I can drive again.
So, I mean, it's... There just a lot of goals I wanted to get to really
fast to kind of help jump start everything.
Like once I leave here, I'm going to just a constant,
you know, the 1,200 calories a day.
And then I do enjoy fasting.
I mean, I feel really good when I do it.
I know it helps me lose weight.
I just want to make sure that I'm I'm doing it healthy.
Well, that's good.
But it is better to do intermittent fasting every other day.
Don't eat anything for 16 hours from the dinner.
-Okay. -Okay.
That will be much healthier to do that.
Okay.
So and make sure whatever you eat is a protein.
-Mm-hmm. -No carb in your diet.
-Okay? -Yes.
[Nowzaradan] So how do you come up with some goals for yourself?
Absolutely!
One of my biggest goals is to get out of the house
and not feel so lonely all the time.
Meeting people or just being able to go somewhere with my daughter.
Okay.
What is your goal weight?
My goal way is around 240.
A little bit under 200...
Yeah. Okay.
But you're gonna need to have some extra skin taken off.
Yeah.
And that's gonna weigh around 30 pounds.
So until that is removed, your goal is gonna be like make it 220.
All right.
So what are some of your other goals?
I have a long term goal right now.
I have a two year plan.
First year is a big focus on health, getting back into working,
um, get a good career going, save up some money.
I have a couple.
I don't know exactly what I want to do yet.
I still have, you know, a few options, but getting healthy right now
is the probably the biggest focus for me because I just I need,
I need to know that, you know, if I get into, into something, a career or something
that I enjoy, that I'm not gonna fall back and end up
taking it all away from myself again.
Why it took you 36 years to think about that?
I've... I've done a lot of like self-reflection over probably
the last half year and it just kind of clicked.
You know, I've barricaded myself inside of this emotional prison
where I'm by myself, so I'm lonely and bored.
I eat when I'm bored and I can't fix the boredom because I don't do anything
to interact with people.
And I'm not afraid of going outside.
I'm not afraid of talking to people.
I just kind of put myself in that position and I don't want to be there
anymore because I wasn't always like that.
It's a very positive outgoing and do good kind of person just went away.
All right. That's good.
I'm glad you decided to change your life and make it better.
And we'll work with you to help you do that.
I'm gonna approve you for weight loss surgery.
Yes!
So the next step will be I want you move down to Houston.
Okay.
The drive you had to make yourself a little bit long to keep making that trip.
I give you a couple of months to lose another 30 pounds.
And if you do both of those things, we will move ahead with surgery
and get you down to your ideal body weight, hopefully in a year or less.
Yes!
200 pounds, like, I've, that, that would be crazy.
You got all the ingredient to make a good focus.
You got your frame of mind in the right place and goals to help motivate you.
So you're gonna succeed with that just keep it up.
So as soon as you move down to Houston, let me know.
I will be down here as soon as I can pack everything in the car.
[laughs]
All right.
As soon as you do and lose some weight, we start the process
and see if we can get you ready for weight loss surgery, so you can be able to maintain
healthy weight and be productive and get back to your life
and change it like it should be.
All right?
That's what I want. Thank you.
I'm super excited!
-[laughs] -All right.
In the meantime, if you need anything, give me a call.
Absolutely. I will.
All right. Have a safe trip back home, and I'll see you in Houston.
All right.
[beep] Hey, mom.
It's, it's your son.
Just wanted to call and let you know that I did get approved.
I just have to move down to Houston, and everything is good to go.
Um.
I gonna be heading back home, here soon, so I'm gonna...
I'll call you back in a little bit or call you back later.
I love you!
I am very happy to see that Chris is starting out with some good progress.
He needs to lose a little bit more to show me he's gonna work harder and stick with it.
But I'm proud of him for setting goals for himself
and working to start achieving those.
He seems motivated and as long as he sticks with that we're gonna
move ahead with weight loss surgery here soon.
[Zoey] You should probably take these plants.
The plants?
Yeah.
Umm... take that.
See the box with the clothes in it.
Uh-huh.
Take that box, the whole box or tote,
out of the other tote and then put them in that one.
-Okay. -This?
And tell if you can pick it up.
You can throw that away.
Oh, okay.
[Chris] You got it.
Today I'm taking care of my daughter and her brother, Landon.
It's taking a bit longer to figure out my move to Houston.
There's just a lot of moving parts and things to figure out
that are taking time for me and my mom.
But I'm trying to get everything done to make the move as soon as I can.
I've been packing up my place in phases over the last month.
[Chris] Zoey and Landon have been helping me.
I think they're just trying to spend as much time
with me as they can since they know I'm leaving.
My dad is gonna be moving to Texas, so he can get his surgery.
I'm gonna miss him while he's gone, but it will all be worth it
when he comes back.
[Landon] Yeah.
Come on, strong man.
You can do it.
[Chris] I wish I didn't have to leave them because I don't want to go that
long without seeing them both.
But I know this is what I need to do to be a better father
and to be there for my daughter
and to be a better person for Landon to look up to.
[Landon] Put this thing out.
Clean bowl. Clean bowl.
[Chris] You know, that stays in the wall.
This pan may not fit in here.
I'm gonna miss my stepdad when he leaves.
I think the surgery is gonna be really good for him and I'm very excited
for when he gets this small.
Oh, that's comfy.
Do you want to take some stuff down?
[Laura] Yep. He can do that.
Yeah. You can just hand down to him.
-[Chris] And take... -[Zoey] Dad?
[Chris] When you're done come back up here.
[Landon] Okay.
-I think it was mine, well I'm not sure. -You want two things?
-There you go. -You good?
Yeah, he's got it.
-All right, Good. -[Zoey] Dad.
I'm just gonna delegate tasks for a minute while I rest.
[exhales] It's a little rough.
[Chris] It took my mom a week longer, but she finally made it down
here with my brother last night.
So we're finishing packing up all my stuff.
Four more things.
-Get a box. -[Laura] Good.
Okay.
All right.
We're gonna go put all those stuff in the kitchen in it.
And then we're headed to Houston with all our stuff in tow.
I'm excited, but tired.
I think I got almost the whole bathroom in one box.
[Zoey] Nope.
[Chris] I'm trying to hold it together,
'cause it's gonna be really hard to say goodbye to my daughter.
Zoey, go get the pillows that are left in there.
-Oh, my... -Yeah. The green pillows.
Yeah. The brown pillow and the blue pillow.
[Zoey] Okay.
[Chris] And you can take those down. Move it!
[Zoey] Move it!
You can bring the microwave out here.
Put some strength into it, man.
Yeah!
[Rob] You're gonna have to start putting stuff up there.
[Chris] I'll look around at all this stuff I can't believe
that I'm actually doing this.
[Laura] Awesome!
[Chis] Yeah.
Everything's in the truck.
And we're doing this together for me.
I know that it has to be done, but it's a lot.
[Laura] Good job, kiddo.
It should be the last step right here.
That's it.
It's done.
And the lock outsmart the mom.
[Laura] Oh, shut up.
[chuckles]
[Laura] It didn't outsmart ...
[Chris] Where are you going? Get back over here. All right.
This is your first refrigerator thing when we get there?
-Okay. -Yep.
Landon told me to take it if that's the case.
Now give me a hug, you guys.
Yes, I want my hugs.
Okay, then I'll take a hug this way.
[laughs]
Have a safe journey.
-Oh, definitely. -[Zoey] I love you dad.
-[Chris] Don't cry. -Oh, baby doll.
You're gonna get to talk to him all the time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Laura] Oh, sweety.
Oh, we can talk.
When I start driving, I'll call you.
Okay?
Then we can talk the whole way.
Yeah.
All right.
Can you give grandma a hug?
Yeah. You gotta give me a hug, too.
I got to have hugs too.
And I'll talk to you every day, too, okay?
Okay. My love.
You guys both be good, okay?
-Okay. -[Landon] Okay.
Okay, you sit down.
Be nice to your brother?
-Okay. -Be nice to your brother.
-I love you. -[Chris] Love you.
[Laura] Oh, we're ready to go?
-[Chris] Nope. -Okay.
I left the keys in the car.
Good thing I ain't going far without 'em.
All right.
And then you two are gonna get in there.
Yeah, I'm gonna follow you.
Yeah.
-That's what I gonna do. -You get in there.
You get in there. I'm gonna get in the car.
[Laura] All righty, I'm in here.
I didn't know...
Tommy, you go with Christopher.
You go with your brother.
Yeah.
I get to ride with the cat. Yeah.
Okay.
Let's get out of here.
[Chris] What do you think he's gonna say, the doctor?
[Laura] I think he's gonna tell you when you're gonna have your surgery.
We're almost there.
[Chris] Oh, good.
Whoo!
[Chris] Me and my mom and my brother headed back to see Dr. Now.
We've been here for about two weeks, and then moving down here was exhausting.
All right, so we're pulling up from way over here.
I'm glad to have it over with.
And since then, I've just been focusing on losing weight.
Dr. Now knows we moved here to Houston, and he wanted me to come
in to see him, to make sure I'm staying on track.
Don't forget anything.
-[Laura] Yeah. -[Chris] Guys.
[Laura] Don't forget anything.
[laughs]
Don't forget your brains.
[laughs] Okay.
Eddie, Freddy's.
[Chris] And I'm kind of excited because the fact that I'm down
here is a big hurdle that I got over already.
So I'm expecting Dr. Now will tell me when I'm going in for surgery,
because I know I'm doing everything I need to do.
[Laura] Yeah.
And we're here.
Chris.
-Come on. -...Come on.
[Laura] The fun stuff.
How you doing?
[woman] I'm fine. How are you?
-[Chris] Doing good. -[woman] Good.
In my last appointment, I was 566.
Dr. Now told me I need to lose another 30 pounds by today.
[Laura] It's just.
[woman] Just let it zero out and then we'll get on the scale.
Okay. You can step up on the scale.
[Chris] So it means I need to be down to 536,
and I feel really confident I did that.
Your weight is 525.
All right. That's my thought.
Awesome!
We're gonna be going to room five.
Okay. Come on, Tommy.
Hopefully, he'll.
[Chris] I'm happy with that.
That's even better than what I was supposed to do.
I'm excited to see what Dr. Now has to say about that.
And I'm really hoping that that means that I can get on the schedule
for surgery here very soon.
Try to steal my seat, man.
Well, can we stay?
He'll be in soon.
Hmm.
[knock on door]
[door opens]
Hello. How y'all doing?
-[Chris] Hello. -Pretty good.
-How you doing? -Good.
How is everything going?
Good. Really good, actually.
How was your move?
Was rough.
-[Laura] Tiring. -Very tiring.
Worn me out kind of hit a limit myself
with all the packing and moving.
Well, welcome to Houston.
It looked like you brought a lot of people down here with you.
Yeah, I brought my mom and my brother, Tommy.
All right.
And I'm glad to see everyone.
And I'm glad that you moved down to Houston.
I'm also very glad about your progress.
You lost 41 pounds this time, so you're down to 525?
Yes.
You almost about the 100 pound weight loss.
Yeah. Five pounds off of it.
It feels good.
So, I'm gonna set you up to have some tests done, make sure everything's okay
and see if we can get you ready for weight loss surgery.
-[Chris] Absolutely! -[Laura] Awesome.
[Nowzaradan] So as long as you put into work, we'll help you do that.
-[Chris] Okay. -Okay.
Are you all supporting him doing this?
Yeah.
This is gonna be a family affair.
I mean, we all could use to lose a little bit of weight.
So he's the one that knows the diet and what he's allowed to eat, not eat.
So he's gonna be the cook, and we're just gonna follow suit with him.
Well, that's good.
How much weight you lost?
I haven't lost it yet.
But when I come back next month with him, I hope to have lost weight.
They just started two days ago.
-[Laura] Yeah. -Two days ago?
-[Chris] Yeah. -[Laura] Yeah.
Did you check your weight when you come in?
No, I didn't. But I'm going to about the way out.
-[Chris] You can do that on the way out. -Yeah.
I will check mine on the way out and see what it shows.
Check your weight and let's keep track of that.
-I will definitely. -[Chris] All right.
We're gonna check yours too.
-Accountability. -[laughs] Yes, I do.
I want the accountability too.
-I think that's... We're gonna do. -You check your weight too?
-Yeah. -All right.
So I'm glad everybody's getting healthy.
So stick to it and keep working hard.
And Chris I'll set you up for doing some tests.
Okay.
And I'll see you next month and in the meantime,
if you need anything, let me know.
[Chris] Absolutely.
-Okay. -All right.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
All right. Y'all take care.
I am very happy.
I'm proud to see Chris is doing so well.
So far, he has been completely committed to make the life changes he needs,
and it looked like his family has been supportive
and doing all they can to encourage and helping.
So I am very encouraged by him and his family
and in all of his tests look good.
Then next month, we will move ahead with his weight loss surgery.
Hey, can we weigh ourselves?
-[woman] Sure. -Awesome.
I want to know.
Without the purse though?
[laughs] Nothing else on me, okay.
We had to wait... Over here Tommy.
Want to, want to be able to see.
-You get to go next. -Just stand over here.
You got to wait for it to zero. Yeah.
I looked over and there was no lights on.
[woman] Yeah.
-You can step up on it... -Okay.
I'm afraid to find out what this says.
[woman] You're 225.
Yeah.
We definitely got to lose some weight.
Okay.
You get to be next.
[Laura] Oh, God!
There you go.
[Chris] Face over here.
[woman] Your weight is 243.
[Chris] Huh, you said you were, like, so much more,
you know, he's doing well.
You're not used to it as much as we talk.
-You're doing good. -Let's go.
Yeah, let's go.
[Chris] I'm super excited to be on the schedule
for weight loss surgery and to be able to get
that soon and feels really good.
And I know that's gonna help me lose
even more weight and stay on track for the long term.
I'm hoping that my determination
keeps rubbing off on my family,
so they can all get help together too.
I can barely wait until next month.
I'm gonna stay the course and do what I have to.
[Chris] No, it's like a boiler room.
[Laura] Yeah.
[Chris] Nice.
You ready for a walk?
Aren't I out here?
-I don't know. -Are you ready?
Aren't I out here?
You might be out here, but are you ready?
[Chris] Well, I was supposed to have my surgery last week.
They ran all the tests and everything looks good,
and I was excited about it.
But as the day got closer, I started to realize that,
it's getting easier and easier to keep losing weight on my own.
So I started to think, I might not need weight loss surgery
to do this or maybe I was getting it too soon.
And so right before the surgery,
I got to where I decided,
I didn't want to move ahead with it.
I called and told Dr. Nowzaradan...
[Chris] I will see if we can sit up here.
[Laura] Works for me.
[Chris] He didn't think it was a good idea.
He warned me that if I stop making progress,
that weight loss surgery would be off the table.
But he told me, as long as I was losing that I had time
to wrestle with the decision.
You should give Mom some.
-You no need it. -Yeah.
Why?
Because you look dehydrated.
-[Laura] Are you ready? -Yeah.
-We're up. -All right.
-Guess, I have a goal. -Okay.
[Chris] I have a goal to lose another 50 pounds
by the end of next month.
So I'm working hard to do that and my family
is working hard to lose weight, too.
What do you think the weight limit on the bridge is?
Let's find out.
[Chris] You know, me and my whole family
are eating better and working out every day.
We're taking walks together every other day
and getting out in the world and being active.
And the thought of having to stop
all of this for a month or so to have surgery.
Just feels like it's not the right move
for me right now.
So, I know, I can keep going like I have been without
anything like surgery right now.
[Chris] To the air conditioner.
Mr. Chris.
Let's go.
[Chris] We're back at Dr. Now's to see
if I'm still making the progress
with my weight loss even though I didn't get the surgery.
-Good morning. -[Laura] Good morning.
[Chris] Me and my brother, and my Mom
have been working hard to lose weight.
So I'm confident that I've been doing
a good job and that we've all lost weight.
See, I'm gonna stand.
We're gonna see if we get an update.
Okay.
We're gonna get on the scale,
I need to zero it out.
Okay, you want to step on the scale?
I do.
Oh, man.
[Laura] Awesome.
Now you can step up here.
Your weight is 218.
[Laura] Okay.
-[Laura] Next. -[Chris] Tommy's turn.
237.
[Laura] You got better.
[Chris] What we started... we started.
-Oh, he started initially at 245 and I started 225 so. -Okay.
We're gonna be going to room five.
-Five. -Okay.
[Chris] See, I'm just really happy about that.
We're all doing so well.
It's a good feeling to feel proud of my family like this.
I think Dr. Now is gonna be happy with us, too.
Have a seat.
[Chris] I will close the door.
Yes.
I'm sliding.
I don't know why this seat slides?
[knock on the door]
Hello. Hey, how are doing?
-[Chris] Hello. -[Laura] Hello.
All right. How's everything going?
Good. Doing good.
This year, you're down to 481 pounds, you know?
Yeah, I was hoping I'd be a little lower.
Well, losing 44 pounds in two months is not bad
at this point.
-So far, you have lost 139 pounds, huh? -Yeah.
[Nowzaradan] All right. And whole family's losing, too.
So, that's great.
So, how is everybody in family doing?
-Good. -[Laura] We're doing good.
These two stick with me, they do everything.
We go for every walk, every... every push.
Every time I push, they push.
I mean, it's... it's great.
[Laura] It's a family affair.
-We're all gonna lose weight. -Yeah.
So you only needed to move down to Houston
to start losing weight?
Well, it's all of it, I mean...
No, it makes... It does, it actually helps we help support each other.
And... and for me, I've always been one of those...
I have no problem with going for walks or anything
like that, except I hate to do it by myself.
And now that we're here, he'll say,
"Ready to go for a walk?" And I'm like, "Yep, let's go."
[Chris] We took a big chance coming down here financially,
it was the stupidest move we've ever made, but honestly,
it was probably the best move we could have all made ever.
Okay, well, that's good you have been sticking
with diet and losing weight.
But the question is, how long are you gonna be
able to maintain that on your own?
As long as you do, I don't have any problem
for you, keep doing what you're doing.
But I thought the only reason you wouldn't do my program
was that you needed to like weight loss surgery.
Yes, so, initially I came... my whole goal
when I started this was to come out here
and to get the tools I needed to lose weight.
I thought that surgery was the only thing
that was gonna help me do this.
You know, my mindset, that... that was it.
You know, surgery was the tool that I needed.
Well, once I came out here and I started
going through this process, you know,
you provided me with tools pre-surgery,
you know, these are the things you need to do.
I went over the book.
I started applying these techniques.
I started applying the eating habits, the exercise.
And I continued with that day after day after day
and then we moved out here,
and I was ready for surgery.
But then I realized, I was doing
this and it's getting easier.
And I'm like, "Oh, I'm losing this weight."
I've overcome a lot and I didn't relapse
where I've always relapsed in the past.
And I don't feel at this point that I need to go
through getting a surgery when I'm... I'm absolutely
confident that I can do this now.
Well, that's good and I think that's great.
But in the long term, that may be not feasible
to do that to the rest of your life
without the surgery.
And that was the surgery is a tool
that will give you a better control
of your eating habits long term.
I think you're gonna do well for a while,
but you will never be able to get
to your goal weight and maintain it for long term.
Even with the surgery, the failure is there five,
ten years after people have surgery.
So this can be a challenge for you but right now,
you feel confident that you can do it without surgery.
I want to see you every month and make sure you're keeping
up with your weight loss and stay on track.
So keep it up and we work with you as long as you can do
that, we support you and see how are we doing
with this plan going forward, okay?
And meantime, if you have any issues
or anything, let me know.
-[Chris] I will. -[Laura] Thank you, Doctor.
All right. Well, see you again.
That was good.
It's exactly what I wanted.
Yep.
I'm happy to see that, Chris continue making good progress
over the last couple of months but I think his success
has led him to get a little overconfident.
I think a factor that may potentially
contribute to that is the fact the program I give everyone
has been refined over and over to get better
at producing the maximum possible
results and weight loss as fast as it's safely possible.
So if it is followed, there gonna be
a lot of progress just by doing what it says.
And for some patients, it may even feel like it gets
easier the longer they do it.
Chris isn't the first person to get overconfident
with the process before surgery,
but the difference with him right now
is that he's still losing.
And as long as that's the case,
we can work with him.
But if his progress stops, it's gonna be important
to get him back on track and that he takes
advantage of weight loss surgery because
if he doesn't, he's just going to gain all his weight back
and end right back where he started.
How you doing?
It's tiny cart for a tiny mom.
[Chris] Me and my family are doing a grocery run today.
[Chris] Do you want to do something like chicken and broccoli?
[Laura] Yeah, and mushrooms.
[Chris] I lost 16 pounds this past month
when I should I've lost 25.
If I'm gonna meet the goal I set for myself to lose
50 pounds next month.
[Chris] With it, we'll do a chicken broth and we'll have a salad.
[Laura] Yeah. There you go.
[Chris] So I know I need to lose 34 pounds this month.
And I think I can do it if I've cut back even more on portions.
[Chris] These work.
[Laura] Okay.
[Chris] And we can see if they have that...
a low-calorie ice cream.
[Laura] Yeah. And what about eggs?
-Do we need to get eggs? -[Chris] Yeah. Okay.
[Laura] Yeah. Okay.
Low-calories.
[Laura] Okay. Sounds good.
[Chris] No. We'll get one.
[Laura] Okay.
[Chris] I don't think there's anything else.
My family has really stepped up.
This whole experience has been bringing us closer
together as well, which is such a cool side effect.
[Chris] Yes, please.
Thank you. Thank you.
I'll take this out, too.
We did miss all the rain.
[Chris] I got enough sweat on me.
All right, where are we going?
[Chris] Dr. Now wants me to start therapy.
He says, he usually starts this type of therapy after surgery.
But he says if I'm gonna hold to doing
this without surgery, he thinks I should start this process now.
[Matthew] Hi! Are you Chris?
-[Chris] Yeah. -Come on in.
-You gonna seat right there. -Thank you.
[Matthew] Welcome.
-Glad you're here. -[Chris] Me too.
I... I want to talk about your childhood.
So let's go back to the very beginning.
So, what was growing up like in your house?
Which house?
Ah... there were... there were several homes.
[Chris] I lived with my mom.
I remember living with my mom.
[Matthew] Mm-hmm.
[Chris] Living with my aunt, my uncle.
I live with my dad for a very short period of time twice.
I remember living in a homeless shelter.
-I remember living with CPS. -[Matthew] Holy cow.
So how do you... what...
what explains all that shuffling around?
[Chris] I don't know.
[Matthew] It sounds like maybe something was going
on probably with your mom that... that made
it so that she couldn't take care of you.
What was happening with your mom?
[Chris] I mean, I love my mom.
My mom is the most caring person.
She's given me everything she's ever had.
She lacks responsibility.
[Matthew] Okay.
And commitment to things that...that need to be done in the future.
She'll do everything she can with what she has today,
but then lacks the commitment for the future.
It's interesting 'cause I don't hear
a lot of hostility towards you around.
I had, I mean, for a long time I had resentment.
We went almost two decades without talking to each other.
I had like, deep anger because I wasn't taught
really anything.
I had... just had to learn and that just
hit me all the time, and I was always angry about it.
When did you reunite with your mother?
[Chris] Um, I started talking to her this year.
What... what... what turned that on?
[Chris] Getting to the point where I was at, reaching out to everybody.
You... you... you reached out to her.
Mm-hmm.
Part of me realizing my issue was being lonely.
I've always felt lonely.
And I'm like, well, maybe I just need
to reconnect with maybe my mom,
'cause that's kind of, you know, maybe I can...
[Matthew] You know, I want to bring your mom
-in if you're okay with that. -Yeah.
-[Matthew] So you're okay with me bringing your mom in? -Yeah.
[Matthew] Okay. Let's bring her in.
-Hey, Laura. -[Laura] Hey!
[Matthew] Are you okay joining us?
-[Laura] Sure. -[Matthew] Come on in.
-Come on in. -Absolutely.
Have... have a seat right there.
Okay.
Great.
Ah, welcome.
You know, I've heard about an... an awful lot about Chris' story.
You're here because I want Chris to come to understand
this life he's had in a way that...
that makes him feel okay about himself.
Right.
'Cause one of the negative consequences of having
all the back and forths of his childhood is that he, you know,
he feels a little unwanted, a little bit of an outsider...
Left out. Yeah.
[Matthew] And... and the word that he's been using is lonely.
Are... are you sad about any of this?
I'm sad about the fact that I didn't have the relationship
with my son that I should have had.
But when he called me and he told me
that... that... this all goes like it's supposed to,
then he's gonna have to move to Houston.
He's gonna need somebody come with him.
-[Matthew] Yeah. -And I said, "I'm there.
I'll be there for you."
-[Matthew] So Chris gave you a tremendous gift? -[Laura] Yes.
When he asked you to come with him,
[Laura] He gave me the opportunity
if you think about it, yes.
Yes, he gave you the opportunity to make
good on... on some things that you didn't do very well
-when he was growing up, right? -Right.
Well, and the good news for both of you guys
is it's never too late, right?
[Laura] Right.
[Matthew] And I... I... I want to come up with some
homework for you guys to do together
to sort of recapture this relationship.
Even at his age, I want you to take care of him a little bit.
Okay.
[Matthew] Just symbolically, cooking is a great
example, but there's probably other...
other motherly things you can do.
So let your mom take care of you a little bit.
Second thing is, I want you to do more stuff
that you didn't get to do when you were growing up.
Do something fun.
Go have fun at the pool and blow up a beach ball
and hit it back and forth.
That'll be great. You both like movies, right?
-Yeah. -Yeah.
[Matthew] So, I would find some movies to watch.
Do you like the same kind of movies?
-Yeah. Mostly. -Mostly.
[Matthew] Good. It's so great to meet you guys.
I'm really happy you came in.
I think you guys are gonna do great.
And, um, I can't wait to hear Chris, your success story.
And Laura, I think you're gonna be along
for the ride and it's gonna be great for you too.
-Thank you. I think so, too. -Okay. Yeah.
[Matthew] Take care, guys.
Okay.
Oops.
Good to meet you, Chris. Take care.
[Chris] Me too. Thank you.
Hey, Tommy!
[Tommy] Yeah.
What are you doing?
[Chris] Nothing.
Get the hell out of the kitchen.
I get to make dinner.
Yes, I'm making dinner.
That's part of the deal. Get out.
-You don't want any help? -No. I got it.
I want to get simple.
I have salad but salad, chicken
and... and broccoli, right?
[Chris] Since my appointment with Dr. Paradise
me and my mom have been focusing
on our relationship a little bit.
And my mom has really been making an effort
to spend time with me and to be present
and I have appreciated that a whole lot.
I'll always be working on showing Christopher
how important he is to me.
I have never felt closer to my son than I do
here recently, and it's something
that I don't want to lose no matter what.
I'm gonna go sit at the computer
and talk to Zoe.
[Laura] Okay.
[Chris] At this point of my life, I don't really
need anyone to take care of me and I don't need a mom
like I did when I was younger.
But just being able to talk about things
with her and Dr. Paradise and then having my mom
here to support me, it's gone a long way in helping
our relationship and with healing
some of the wounds from the past.
So I feel like, I've been able to really forgive her
and let go of some of that pain
and that's been liberating.
I definitely feel like, I'm getting
another chance with my mom,
not only for myself but also for her.
I mean, we're both getting the second chance
at a different life for both of us.
I mean, this is a huge opportunity
for... for me, definitely but I also feel
it's a... it's a big opportunity for her, too.
Oh, you made that look really fancy.
[Laura laughs]
[Chris] What was this, Overnight Chef?
[Laura] Get out of the way. You can't eat that in the way.
I can.
It's just like super fancy.
[Laura] Told you.
It's got everything in it.
I figured everybody got a little of everything.
Mmm.
[Chris] I definitely feel a lot less isolated
with, you know, with mom around and helping out
and helping me move forward with everything.
So I'm excited to keep going on this journey and to stay healthy.
And I'm happy I can do that with my mom and my brother.
Isn't a bad salad either.
-Don't gut. -[Laura laughs]
I'm tired.
You look tired.
No, I am.
You went to sleep before either of us.
[Chris] I'm back at Dr. Now's Clinic
for my monthly appointment to see how I'm doing.
And my mom and my brother are going to get weighed,
too, so we can check their progress.
Christopher.
[Chris] Dr. Now says it's normal for my weight loss to slow down
as I start to make a little more progress.
So I set a goal of losing 40 pounds over the last two months.
And if I did that, it would put me down to at least 393.
Step up on the scale.
[Laura] All right.
Awesome. That's awesome.
Yes, yes, yes.
[Laura] Okay. You...
All right. Your turn.
[Chris] All right. There we go.
It feels good to be hitting these goals.
And now I want to see the same thing for my brother and my mom.
-Tommy, you turn. -[Tommy] All right.
[women] Now, you turn.
[Chris] It's really cool to be doing this as a family.
All right.
We're going to room five.
-All right. -Awesome.
[Chris] Five, five, five.
[Chris] I'm excited about our progress and how we're doing,
and I'm happy to keep showing Dr. Now,
how I'm serious about this and that I can do what I said I would do.
Hello!
[Chris] Hello!
Hey, how are ya'll doing?
-Good. -Great.
Well, Chris, you lost 238 pounds.
So, you're doing good job in losing weight.
I am proud of you and your family.
If we continue making progress like, we discussed,
we'll keep going like this as long as you maintain that.
I'm definitely gonna do that because I'm not doing a...
um, a temporary eating habit.
I'm building a lifestyle.
You know, everything I do is preparing me for the long term.
Every single day I wake up,
I'm no longer forcing myself to eat healthy
these are natural decisions now.
[Nowzaradan] Well, you're doing what you need
and staying on track without surgery.
You keep doing what you're doing and stick with the program
and let's see how we do next month and then we go from there.
I still think that you're gonna need
weight loss surgery at some point,
but as long as you keep making progress and do what you say,
we'll keep working with you.
So we'll see how you do next month.
And we figured out in future if things changes, okay?
Okay.
All right. So if you need anything, let me know.
But keep up with your appointment with Dr. Paradise
to keep working on the issues,
driving you to eat, okay?
Absolutely.
Thank you, Dr. Now.
All right then you all have a wonderful day,
and I'll see you all again.
All right, We'll be here.
All right. You take care.
Thank you.
[Nowzaradan] I am very proud of Chris and his family
for the life change they have made over the last year.
Right now, they are all sticking with it and doing well
and I'm confident they are all gonna be able to stay on track.
I think Chris is going to eventually need weight loss surgery,
likely at some point soon because he doesn't realize you don't just switch off
what it got you and to be over 600 pounds.
And so at some point when he has to go deeper to face more issues,
he's going to need all the tools he can get to stay on track.
But right now he's doing great and his defined statistics,
he has shown me he's one of the hardest working
and determined weight loss patient I have had.
I have no doubt he will do what he needs to keep moving forward
and get to his target way to change his life
and maintain it for the lifetime.
[Chris] This is actually the best part of moving out here.
[Laura] Oh, yeah.
Could you imagine trying to find any park in Vegas that had trees?
[Chris] I've been feeling really good about all that I'm able to do now.
One of my big goals for the year was to get to where I can go out
and do normal things, like normal people...
[Chris] Thirsty?
[Chris] ...I go to movies or a restaurant
or do something fun, like bowling.
[Chris] Oh, it feels nice.
[Laura] Oh, yeah.
Oh, it is nice in here.
Growing up, we didn't do things like this.
We didn't have the money for it. We didn't have the time.
Mom was always gone working.
She was always out being able to go to the movies
and relax and just spend time with her and my brother.
Now, I can go out with my family
and actually fit into a seat at the movies.
Here you go, kiddo.
[Tommy] You know, you have one... and wow.
[Chris] Okay. Be quiet now.
[Chris] My next big goal is to get to my target weight.
I have about 190 pounds left to do that,
and I'm not gonna stop until I get there.
And then we're all gonna live
in Oklahoma together as a family.
And I'll be with my daughter then.
I can't wait for that.
[Laura] Oh, he did do.