My 600-lb Life

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My 600-lb Life is a reality television series that has aired on the TLC television network since 2012. Each episode follows a year in the life of one or more super morbidly obese individuals, who each begin the episode weighing around 600 pounds (270 kg), and documents their attempts to reduce their weight to a healthy level.

Patients are placed under the care of Houston surgeon Younan Nowzaradan (often referred to as simply "Dr. Now"), who first has them attempt losing weight on their own by following a strict diet, and then depending on the patient's progress may offer gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy to further assist in weight loss. Dr. Now's clinic featured on the show is located at 4009 Bellaire Boulevard in Houston, and surgeries are performed at the Foundation Surgical Hospital of Houston.

Video My 600-lb Life

Concept

This series was originally a five-part miniseries involving four morbidly obese patients. Because of its popularity, new episodes were filmed, including a "Where Are They Now?" retrospective in Season 4 that follows up on previous patients to track their weight-loss journey months or years after bariatric surgery.

In Season 1, patients were filmed over a period of seven years (2004-2011). Beginning with Season 2, patients were filmed for only one year.

Beginning with Season 5, new episodes will be filmed as 2-hour episodes instead of 1-hour. This was previously done with Melissa's Story (split into two parts) and Lupe's Story. Recap episodes titled under "Supersized" and "Extended", which include additional facts and footage respectively, also aired during this season.

Maps My 600-lb Life

Subject outcomes

As of February 2018, all but two of the patients involved in this series are still alive despite their potentially life-threatening condition of morbid obesity. Henry Foots, who was featured in season one, died of an illness unrelated to his weight loss surgery in 2013.

Susan Farmer, who appeared in an episode on the show's third season, notably faced neuropathy as a result of her weight, which was profiled on the show.

Robert Buchel was featured in season six and died in November 2017 during filming of the show, as a result of a heart attack while staying in a skilled nursing facility in Houston. Buchel's death was the first in the series to be featured during the patient's respective episode.