Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition – The road to success is not always easy

Meet Nyla, this week’s subject on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. Nyla is 27 years old and weighs 435 lbs. Nyla keeps her air conditioner set to 60 degrees to keep from sweating, has never met her father, and eats 10 lbs of crawfish (plus potatoes and three ears of corn) at one sitting. One of those things is the main reason Nyla has gained so much weight — her father, and the feeling of abandonment and not being good enough has caused her to turn to food for comfort. Otherwise, she’s surprisingly healthy.

Chris Powell had a real challenge on his hands with Nyla, and as a viewer it was tough to take a side. Nyla’s attitude towards Chris and the program, particularly when it came to the food restrictions, made me feel like giving up on her but knowing the real pain she needed to deal with deep down inside, you had to root for her too. It was a surprise to see her commit to the boot camp, but once she got home she fell back on old eating habits to make her feel better if a weigh-in didn’t go well. She really was sabotaging herself, and setting up a situation that would cause Chris to walk out on her.

Maybe Chris didn’t realize how deeply upset Nyla was about not knowing her father, but it seemed like if anyone needed to see a therapist, like he did with Ashley to deal with her mom issues, she was the perfect candidate. Instead, knowing how much she liked to dance, Chris offered her the reward of a dance lesson with a Dancing With the Stars pro if she hit her Phase 1 goal of 100 lbs. Needless to say, with the stress affecting her the entire time, Nyla only lost 74 lbs (a good number, but still not good enough with someone starting at 435 lbs).

Nyla kept trying to commit, kept failing, kept eating, and kept fighting the process with Chris. An interesting fact we learned about the production of the show was that the subjects are allotted $100 per week for groceries … as long as they are approved by Chris. Nyla’s excuse for spending her own $30 a week on ramen noodles was that she couldn’t afford the foods he wanted her to eat (and that’s a big problem in this country that good foods are more expensive than junk – $3.00 for a head of cauliflower vs $1.50 for a six-pack of ramen?!). Money was tight and bills were piling up, but if someone is handing you money to buy food, why would you spend your own $120 a month on junk when you need to put it towards a utility bill?  At the six month weigh-in (where she only lost 20 lbs after setting her own goal of 70 lbs), she again tried to push Chris away, brought up her bills and father as an excuse, and stormed away. Chris managed to talk her off the metaphorical ledge and back to the program. But before she embarked on Phase 3, Chris dropped a bombshell … he had located Nyla’s father and family.

Again, we got another little insight into the production when Nyla turned down the chance to look at the information Chris gave her, but then said she was still interested to know what was in the envelope after a producer asked her during an interview if she wanted to see it. Unfortunately, things got a little too real when Nyla read a letter from her aunt explaining that her dad had been in jail, and then tried to do better in life when he got out, but couldn’t hold it together when his wife passed away and took his own life in 2010. It was devastating to Nyla, and heartbreaking to watch … and, I think, a little irresponsible on the part of the producers and Chris. They knew he was dead, but the way it was handled, without anyone really there to support her, really seemed detrimental to Nyla’s mental state. I’m glad that she did get it together and met her “new” family, and learned that her dad wanted to see her but he feared she would reject him. So many wasted years when they both wanted but feared the same things.

But that was the kick in the pants Nyla needed, and although she didn’t reach her goal for skin removal surgery, Chris did reward her with the dance lesson from Tony Dovolani, and even he was impressed with her skill (but also noticed that she needed to work on her confidence). In the end, and even with dealing with sciatica during the last three months of the program, Nyla lost 157 lbs for a final weigh-in of 278 lbs. She seems to have a new attitude, she got some closure with her father, she gained a new family, and she started teaching dance classes at the local gym! Now that things seem to be going well, I wish her all the luck in continuing to reach and maintain her goals.

“Honey child, two minutes into the workout and I was in full tantrum mode.” — Nyla

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Jul 16, 2012 @ 01:24 EST5EDT