‘My 600-Lb Life’: How is Brianne Doing Now?
One of TLC’s most popular shows is back, and the first episode did not disappoint.
Viewers were introduced to a young woman named Brianne who like so many others has faced a lifelong struggle with controlling her weight. At the beginning of the episode, it’s revealed that her weight has hit an all-time high at 742 pounds. Understandably, Brianne’s obesity has affected every single aspect of her life.
“It’s so hard to force myself to get up in the mornings because when I first wake up, I feel miserable and I feel depressed because everything is a struggle now. And it’s like here comes all the pain. Here comes all the exhaustion,” she said. “Every day, it gets harder to breathe, harder to move, harder to live.”
Brianne relies on those around her for everything. Her journey to take control starts NOW. #My600lbLife
Posted by TLC on Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Obesity ruined every aspect of Brianne’s life
The root cause of Brianne’s obesity was psychological. She dealt with various emotional traumas by turning to food as a source of comfort. At a young age, Brianne felt unloved by her military father, who she always believed loved her younger siblings more than he loved her. Her weight skyrocketed to 180 pounds by the time she was a teenager, but her father’s reaction just made things worse. He locked the fridge, but allowed everyone else in the family full access besides Brianne.
When Brianne turned 18, she moved away from the situation at home and rebelled by drinking and partying. Sadly, she was sexually assaulted during this time, and once again she turned to food as a way to cope. By the age of 20, Brianne weighed 450 pounds. Her weight gain led to her father cutting all ties with her.
Brianne was depressed and ‘humiliated’ with her life
Brianne was 22 when she met 52-year-old Rick, who had a stepdaughter too. But even creating a loving family did little to curtail her weight gain. Soon she was so heavy she couldn’t fit through doorways and suffered a painful lymphoma mass on her stomach.
She admitted that when her husband Rick Dias had to assist her with personal tasks like using the bathroom, it made Brianne feel “humiliated.” She knew that something needed to change.
Brianne realized it was time to make a change
After excess weight ruined one relationship, Brianne was unwilling to let it have the same effect on her marriage. Rick said assisting Brianne became like “taking care of a child.” She didn’t want to go on feeling like a burden to him and the rest of her family.
Everything changed after Brianne had that first phone consult with Dr. Nowzaradan. Soon after, she made the trip to Houston and later underwent the weight loss surgery that would save her marriage and possibly even her life.
Not everything has gone perfectly since then. On Brianne’s birthday, Rick suffered a heart attack and had to have emergency surgery. In a bizarre coincidence, Brianne got food poisoning on that same day.
By the end of the episode, Brianne had whittled her weight down to 358 pounds, meaning she lost more than half of her body weight. And she’s not done yet! Though her social media accounts don’t include many photos of what she looks like today, it’s because TLC was so moved by her story that they’re still filming her weight loss efforts and will most likely air an update sometime next year.
Great work, Brianne!
