100 pounds cardio Diabetes diet emotional eating empty calories limiting calories Losing weight Motivation Non-Scale Victories Obesity portion sizes portions relationship with food staying motivated Success Stories swimming weight gain weight loss

So Heavy

So Heavy

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

Related Posts

22 Comments

  1. Christi

    I watched. I loved it! Yes it was heart wrenching at times, but also gave me hope. Why do we wait so long to finally do something about our weight? It’s a good question. For me, it is because I have been in denial and been depressed. When my mental shift finally shifted from depression to anger, I was ready. I had to get pissed off at myself to finally find the determination to make my health/life better.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s the way to do it! Anger is a great motivator. I was pretty pissed off at my doctor who called me obese. That rage was motivation!

  2. Carbzilla

    I watched. I’m totally addicted to these shows. I feel like enough bad days and that could be me (though I’m not sure even I could figure out how to eat 10,000 calories). I get so much inspiration from shows like this. I felt this was so much more realistic than BL (which I don’t really watch anymore). Man, that facility was GORGEOUS – can we go fo a week?

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Tiffany I felt the same way! I wanted to swim in that pool SOOO bad! πŸ™‚

      Doing some rough calculations, I think back in my “old days” I had to be eating about 4,000 calories a day. But that’s just a guess. I can safely say 50% of those calories were SUGAR calories too.

  3. Kristina @ spabettie

    I watched it – I like it SO much better than Biggest Loser. Yes, they have some growing room (it WOULD be exceptional if they would explain swimming, etc) but they DO go a long way to help the home viewer. This is not a game like the Biggest Loser – this is a real chance for people to get real and focused individual attention. When Tom went home and failed, they brought him back until he “got it” ! That is awesome.

    I was happy to see Jodi’s complete turn around, because at first her attitude was working against her. She didn’t want to work with a trainer that had never been fat before – (paraphrasing)… and at the market, her comment about not eating anything behind glass because it’s too expensive (in the meat area) while she DOES choose ice creams that are also behind glass. Ironic, and also more expensive for her health, if that makes sense? I find it sad when people use fast food as an excuse because healthy food is too expensive… when she obviously has money to spend on probably nightly pints of ice cream. πŸ™

    I am really happy this show is on – I wish it were available on a basic television channel so it would be more widely viewed – maybe then shows like the Biggest Loser would stop with the sensationalism and do what they are armed to do best – help people!!

    πŸ™‚

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Kristina– I agree! It’s so much better than BL. I’ve ranted about BL before but for me it feels like it’s an unrealistic game. When those people go home from BL they won’t have learned any of the skills they need to make the changes because they lived in this weird world where they worked out 5 hours a day and had meals prepared by a nutritionist.

      Heavy was good. It was sad, it was tragic, but in the end it was inspiring to see them make realistic changes in their lives and stick with it.

      Thank you for reminding me of that comment about the trainer! I took notes during the show and forgot about that. I agreed with Jodi about not wanting to have a personal trainer that was skinny and had never struggled. I can relate to that. When I was 250 pounds I didn’t want some skinny Barbie Doll telling me how to lose weight and have willpower! I probably would have punched her out. Haha

  4. Jenn

    I had an OB/GYN lecture me about my weight when I had an issue that I needed to be taken care of. And she continued to talk down to me because supposedly she “couldn’t feel my uterus” through my fat.
    Doctors don’t seem to grasp that they can feed into the self defeating mentality. It really mad me feel small and insecure. I was in there for a feminine issue, not to be lectured that I’m fat. Yes, I know this. She also belittled that I was playing tennis twice a week for a couple hours at a time. Like it wasn’t enough. Um, isn’t it better than laying on the couch, doing nothing?!

    Also, on a side note, I know the girl who’s the model in the images for the show πŸ™‚

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s incredibly insulting! I had my share of rude comments at doctor’s offices too. Usually I’d leave feeling worthless and depressed about my body and it wouldn’t motivate me to change anything. There’s a fine line between being a jerk doctor and scaring someone “Straight” so to speak. For everyone it’s different–for me it was the word Diabetes.

      And to belittle doing several hours of tennis a week is ridiculous! Tennis is HARD!

      That’s cool you know the model! Does she live in Portland?

      1. Jenn

        What was wrong with my actually doing something? Why couldn’t she at least take care of what I was in there for? I don’t understand some doctors, honestly. My new doctor just informed me that my cholesterol is a little high and that I need to keep an eye on it with diet and exercise. Ultimately, it’s my choice weather I want to be healthy or not (I do) but lecturing and belittling is not the way to do it.

        She lived in Seattle for a while, and moved to LA to be with my friend (who’s her boyfriend) and then landed that job shortly after. I have to say I’m envious that her dreams are coming true…. but if I have to move to LA.. bleh πŸ™‚

        1. Lisa Eirene

          Some doctors are just plain jerks! I’ve had my fair share of jerks (one quite recently too). In the end everyone has to make a decision to be/get healthy or not. Shaming isn’t going to do it!

  5. Maia

    I watched the show. I had actually been looking forward to it because posters were up around NYC advertising for it.

    I am definitely interested in it, but I kind of wish we got to see these people longer than in one hour. I feel like weight loss has so many different emotions that go along with it, and I don’t feel like one hour segments that cover 6 months can’t possibly show them all.

    I do like that it addresses a lot of the same issues that Biggest Loser does, but it takes out all of the “game playing” crap.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I felt like it was rushed too. Especially now that I realize each episode is a different pair! I want to know more about their struggles!

  6. Lisa

    I watched the show. I guess I misunderstood the advertisements. I thought they would be following the people for some amount of time rather than cramming their story and 6 month weight loss journey into less than one hour. I did enjoy the show. It seemed “real” and I like the fact that they seem genuinely concerned about those participating by sending Tom back after he couldn’t stay on program at home.

    After reading the other comments, I’d just like to say that no doctor has ever chastised me for being fat. I have friends who have told me about their experiences, but it’s never happened to me. I don’t understand why, because I’ve been overweight since middle school. It makes me wonder if I would still be struggling to lose weight if a doctor had said something to me about my weight.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Sometimes “tough love” works for people. For some people it doesn’t.

      I’m not sure how the show will progress. I think they might have updates of each contestant in each episode?

  7. Jennifer is Always Sick

    I hadn’t heard of this show. Her mother was laughing & mocking her? Wow. I cannot even begin to describe how that must make her feel. I hope she takes some solace in the fact that, if anyone recognizes her mother on the street, she will be shouted at and mocked in the most brutal way possible. Reality TV fans get downright MEAN. They do NOT hold back.

  8. blackhuff

    Also heard of the show. Will not mind watching it. It sounds very heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing this

  9. Kelly

    I watched it. It was an emotional roller coaster. I was very impressed with Tom’s determination and would find myself frustrated with Jodi’s whining. But it was so inspiring to see them lose the weight.

    Losing weight has been the most difficult and frustrating and rewarding thing I’ve ever done. It’s a struggle. Watching shows like Heavy and Biggest Loser inspires me to keep working at it.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I was annoyed by Jodi’s whining too. On the other hand, Tom was so determined and positive it was wonderful!

  10. Mary (A Merry Life)

    I heard about the show but haven’t tried to watch it yet. I really loved your recap.. it made me want to watch it for sure. I love shows where it’s not a game but a real life changing experience.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Mary I’m with you…I don’t want to watch a game where the host of the show puts a plate of cupcakes in front of the contestants and dares them not to eat them. That’s not teaching them anything!

  11. Jane

    I know this comment is a bit late, but I wanted to share my thoughts. I loved the show. I agree with the other opinions about Jodi’s whining. I wanted to shout at the tv. It really left me feeling very frustrated and I really don’t know why. Was I angry at her for acting like a brat? Or was I frustrated at myself for having bad thoughts toward her like, stop whining acting ignorant and contributing to the opinion of most of America about people who are overweight. I have no doubt that she knew going into this show that is was going to be very hard work. Don’t get me wrong I was rooting for both of them hoping they would lose enough weight to really make a difference in there lives. I hope that they continue to follow both of them and we see continued success. I to know what it’s like to be 250 pounds and unhealthy and I don’t wish that on anyone. And as far I am concerned the Biggest Loser has gone to far. They seem to enjoy humiliating the contestants and I just know that someone is going to die on that show. I don’t care if they are under a Dr’s care no one should be losing 38 pounds in 1 week!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Jane, you have some really good insight. I think you might be right…maybe Jodi annoyed me so much because I could see the old me in her–the whiner that said she had “tried everything” and had excuses for being fat – family, genetic, stress, etc. I would love it if there was an expose/behind the scenes look into Biggest Loser. How many of those contestants resort to bulimia or starvation to lose 38 pounds in one week?

Leave a Reply