Anyone else getting ready to set their DVR for this one?

what is this about? I have been watching Then came six. Have you seen this show?The last episode was great! I think it was called slumber party or something like that.

From RealitytvWorld.com


I may check out the first episode, but I'm not sure if I'll watch all 9 episodes. It depends on how they approach this.

I will be sure to check this show out,it sounds like it will be interesting to see how they do this.

If the show lives up to the preview hype, I'll likely tune in to the entire run.

I watched the first episode and like it so far. She weighs 487 now but said she was once over 700 pounds but they did not say how she lost that weight.

Watched it this morning (my DVR picked it up - a preview?) and enjoyed it. She's very likeable, but you have to think there are deeper issues underneath her weight gain than she lets on. Also I refuse to believe her nephew moved out of his parents' house just because they got a cat - deeper issues there too.

Was her friend Brittany the actress, Brittany Daniels - from Sweet Valley High? Odd.

Was that Brittany Daniels? It sure looked/sounded like her. I hope we get to see what's going on with "the nephew" too. It seems like everyone in that house has some deeper issues (as many people do).

I watched Ruby's 'Tour of Savannah' video on Style Network's website, and it is hilarious. She has such a natural sense of humor.
The show, however... the jury's still out on that. It kind of dragged for me.

I tuned in and it kinda dragged for me too. I think I may have fallen asleep before it ended :-(

I think there is a house full of emotional train wrecks there.

I can't imagine how hungry she is going to feel on a 2100 calorie diet at her size (especially with the absence of sweets...which is the cornerstone of all emotional eating).

I also wondered how she dropped so much weight before the show. They kinda left that part out. I wonder if they wanted to get her down to a "workable" size before they started the show and if she hasn't already been altering her diet for months and months and now all we will see is the successful ending weeks.

Yes, that was definitely Brittany Daniels who came to help her. I kept thinking it looked like her, but it took a while before I was certain. The fact that she called her Brittany pretty much sealed it. I wonder what gym they met at where Ruby worked. Most gyms expect their employees to be physically fit also. (Not all though, there's a spin teacher at mine that is, shall we say, not an inspiration if getting slim is what you're going for.)

And I didn't realize until this moment that the character of her daughter on her sitcom The Game is named Brittany.

Also: I wonder if her hook up with BD helped get her this show, and the cat story? Not buying it. What kind of people have a kid and say "Yeah, you're allergic, but we'd rather have the cat," and put their 16 year old out for a pet?? I'm guessing they didn't want to put the real story out there ("wink, wink") but seriously, come up with a better cover story than that.

Me too. What parents would let their teenager move in with their aunt rather than NOT get a cat he's allergic too??? My guess - I think the nephew (like roommate Jeff) are both gay and the parents probably threw him out.

My question - who IS Ruby and how did she get her own reality show?

Possibly a morbidly obese person that answered a casting call. I think it could be that simple. She has a nice personality and could possibly get viewers to respond to her. While the show is about dramatic weight loss and lifestyle change, they could not have used a miserable obese person that hates life and does nothing but sit around in their own self loathing.

I enjoyed the show. I noticed next week it's only a half hour and I think that might be better (was it an hour last night?) because it did drag in some parts.

With the nephew I instantly thought he was gay and his southern family didn't want their gay son around anymore. Who knows though?

I am more curious about Ruby's massive blackout from her childhood. Good lord. That's curious.

I think her friend's son seemed to have the most sense when they were all eating and he was telling his mom "You're killing her!" when she kept giving Ruby more food. I mean, I know they love her and want her to be happy but mac'n cheese, brownies and praline cheesecake? Come on already.

I do like that she is doing this the non-fad way and is working with the proper professionals. It still does bug me that all shows about weight loss seem to have at least one moment when they go to the health store and buy tofu and sprouts and all kinds of weird stuff that would scare tons of folks away. There are ways to eat healthy and still recognize everything on your plate. Hopefully her dietitian will help her out with that. Brittany is a nice friend and all but is hardly skilled enough in nutrition to counsel Ruby on her diet.

Actually, they did do that. It was called the The 1000 Pound Man, and I think it was on my favorite channel, Discovery Health.
I've taped this, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I wanted to come here and see what people thought.

I don't know who Brittany Daniels is, but all I could think was, "Does the woman own anything other than lycra workout gear?"

I really liked this, and the future episodes are only a half hour each it seems, so maybe it won't drag for those of you who thought it did. I didn't, but I thought there was a lot of framework that needed to be laid about her.

It'll be really interesting to learn about her blackout, and see her progress.

I got a gay vibe off the nephew too, and when she mentioned home schooling him, I couldn't think why he'd need to be homeschooled unless he was having a hard time or getting harrassed in school.

I had tivo'd this after the bajillion previews stumbled upon over the past few weeks. It was..........okay. Ruby seems personable enough but one hour is just entirely too long with just her being the focus. Now if they had Jillian go over there and kick her ass..

I agree with everyone about the nephew situation. There is more to that story. Your own parents chose a cat over you? That sucks.

Also, I thought Ruby was a nice person but her obsession with being "skinny" was sad. I wish she would say I want to get healthy, then skinny, would be a better goal. Skinny people aren't necessary healthy that's for sure.

I will watch the next few episodes especially if she talks with her ex-boyfriend.

One thing that did bother me about Ruby was her disability payments. She's well enough to go for walks, to her friend's for dinner and go to the doctor's office and the health food store. She can tutor and teach . . . but she can't get a job? Even a part-time one?

I caught this and really liked it. I found myself not wanting the show to end. I can see how Ruby gets people to do whatever she asks for, she really is charismatic. I have a weight issue (smaller than Ruby's but still), and I do feel way more inhibited that her. She doesn't seem to be afraid of people judging her, so I feel like I could learn a lot about her in the self-love department.

I agree that the nephew thing is strange and I barely heard his rationale for living there, but I figure he wanted to move out and live with Aunt Ruby, why not?

And I also agree with whoever said 2100 cals is going to be rough. All the FDA suggestions are for a typical person, typical diet, for 2000 calories. I'm sure she could lose weight very quickly with a higher calorie amount, but then again, I'm not a nutritionist. I'll be watching this show very eagerly.

I tried to watch this show, really I did. Maybe if the shows picks up it's pace I'll be able to watch the 30 minutes shows. Ruby seemed very nice.

I completely agree, and I think that's why she's failed in all weight loss attempts so far. A small percentage of the population can be considered skinny. Most of us will never get there. All we can do is focus on being healthy for our height, and that's what she needs to do.

About the disability payments- I know she wants to get back to working after the weight loss, but I wonder if the payers of said disability will try and claim it back from her, seeing that she can go around (not easily, obviously) and that she spends her days volunteering.

Well in all fairness, she says she can't wait to be 150 lbs. I also wouldn't mind that but I'd still be considered overweight. I don't know how tall she is, but I don't think she's looking to be stick-thin at all. Obviously she's doing this for her health, and being "skinny" is just a fun side-effect. Or at least that's how I interpret her comments.

From what I've seen on Big Medicine, even if she loses all that weight, she'll have a lot of excess skin hanging around. Skinniness may take a lot of dieting AND a lot of expensive surgery.

How much depends on her age. When I was 35 and I lost weight I didn't have excess skin, now at age 49 when I lose weight I need plastic surgery to remove the excess skin. This is with a weight of loss of 30 to 40 pounds.

umm....yeah....it's kind of on national television....lol



Now I am a bit of a cynic and a bit of a shade tree nutritionist. I would think to burn calories more efficiently, they would want to kick start her metabolism. This will not be done with 3 small meals and 2 healthy snacks. It would be more like 6 meals a day, rotating, high carb, low carb depending on the exercise she would be doing.

Now for the cynical part. Do you think they have given her gastric bypass, ergo a successful diet......just putting it out there.

Didn't she say that she used to weigh 700 lb? I assume the disablity was determined at that time.

I'm very interested to find out how she lost the first 200 lb.

This is kinda where I'm coming from. For someone that has failed over and over, ummm...hello....she lost nearly 1/3 of her bodyweight....something has been working real well. So now that she is at a workable weight, combined with a surgery, we should see a very dramatic difference.

His explanation for living with Ruby was so obviously a lie. I wondered if maybe his parents kicked him out because he is gay. (pure speculation on my part)

I don't know about the show. It was really slow but I am a fan of BD arms and shoulders (she looks amazing on The Game) so I might stay tuned in for another week or two.

My speculation: the nephew came out to his parents and was promptly informed that he should find other dwelling, and Ruby's blackouts are due to sexual abuse. I really hope that the latter is not the case, but eh... maybe I have experience in that area.

I got a little confused with the nutritionist (and why the heck is she hugging her nutritionist??? Not everyone is your friend, Ruby.). Did Ruby leave with a bag of food? Is she eating pre-packaged food? All I can see is 1) there is an opportunity to eat both the packaged food and stuff around the house and 2)why not learn portion control and food selection from real food? Why the packaged stuff?

Maybe it's supposed to jump start the weight loss, but I always wonder about those programs. I've known too many people who gain the weight right back after going off the program because they were never really in charge of their own meal planning.

That said, I liked the show and I like Ruby.

I was curious about the prepackaged foods as well. If I were Ruby, I would want to know how to make a diet function in the real world, portion control, ect. and if I were an emotional eater, the first thing I would go through with a therapst is how to redirect that energy somewhere else and deal my emotions better.

Also, I was weirdly irritated by the fact that when she first announced she couldn't remember anything before twelve years of age (before she began to cry) she seemed cavalier about it, like, "Oh, I just misplaced my first decade on the planet, you don't think that's weird, do you?"

Overall, she seemed really likeable but that she's putting a lot of pressure on herself to do this, which would make me eat more than anything.

Like someone upthread said i'm sure she got approved at 700 pounds. But even so, it seems that she wouldn't stand a fair chance of getting hired at 500 pounds (and, yes, I know there are 500 pound people who have jobs, but what did they weigh when they were initially hired).

I enjoyed the show. I kept thinking about Brookhaven Obesity Clinic and how I would not be able to watch a show based on a single one of its patients. Ruby is very personable and I found myself rooting for her. I also think she's pretty and was saddened by all of her "never date again" comments. I hope she's able to drop at least a couple of hundred and finds a few laps to sit in.

Count me in on not buying the nephew's backstory. I like him but I felt badly at thoughts of what his life must have been like for him to leave home for Ruby's and get home-schooled. Plus that Napoleon Dynamitesque quality could not have helped things.

On a lighter note--Ruby is BFF with Jessica/Elizabeth Wakefield!!! Awesome. Also, Georgia's macaroni looked delicious.

Did Brittany play both characters? I thought she was actually a twin.

Her twin, Cynthia Daniel played Elizabeth. I'm pretty sure they were also Double Mint Gum twins at one point.

Regarding the disability payments...I'd assume she's getting some kind of compensation for "starring" on her own reality show, so her disability checks are probably a thing of the past. I'm just guessing.

And her obsession with getting skinny is matched by her obsession with food. A pretty dangerous combination. Just watch her Savannah tour on the website - food is all she talks about, and how she can't eat it any more. I think her shrink has a lot of work to do. Of course, there's that pesky childhood amnesia issue, too. I foresee years of therapy ahead of Ruby. I just hope they don't proclaim her "cured" at the end of this series.

Count me in with those who aren't buying the backstory on the nephew.

This show was not as offensive as I thought it would be. I am a proponent of HAES (Health at Every Size) and in my opinion, Ruby's problems have ultimately little to do with weight. Its more about not moving enough, eating basically a totally carbohydrate and fat diet, and some likely deep seated emotional issues that have not been dealt with. Getting skinny isn't necessarily the magic bullet of health most people tend to believe it is.

Full disclosure: I weigh on the dark side of 250 lbs myself- but I am able to chase my 4 kids, walk for several miles, and do whatever needs to be done. I have a life partner who had bariatric surgery-- and her energy level can never equal mine when it comes to stamina or any sustained work.

I wonder if the amnesia about her childhood is from some kind of injury? An acquaintance has been hit by cars on two occasions (she was a jaywalking pedestrian) and had head injuries both times, and she was also unable to remember her childhood before a similar time span.

I also didn't think I'd watch this but ran across it, and it looks interesting. I'm hoping if she has surgery it's a lap band not the irreversible surgery.

I watched the repeat of the episode last night while on the phone commenting on Ruby. Today I watched it again online to fill in the gaps. Now, I'm full of comments.

Ruby seems like a nice girl, and so do her friends around her. But, like many southern girls I've known, she knows how to manipulate those around her in order to get what she wants. By using guilt, niceties, whatever -- she has managed to make her friends enablers. It was nice to see her LA friend come in and confront her head on. The cause of her weight gain is defiantly from a myriad factors: unhealthy southern cooking, enabling friends, adopting changes to her lifestyle (the brick bed, extra wide chairs, etc) that don't confront the issue at hand, psychological issues, and more I'm sure.

There is defiantly something fishy about her nephew's story. I am hesitant to jump to the conclusion that he is gay -- though the signs are there. What really struck me was that Ruby helps him with his struggles, etc. I also think he is at an age where sexuality is being formed and jumping to conclusions on his is not necessary. I wondered if it has to do more with religiosity, acceptance, or other issues that more hardline conservative types tend to argue with their kids about. At least I know my parents did.

I hope we see more about Ruby's psychological issues. She seems to know that she is blocking something from her past -- I wonder if she knows truly what it is, or has she blocked them out for so long.

Her boyfriend was in exceptionally good shape. I would normally feel bad for Ruby because of his ultimatum ... but her weight (and refusal to control it) weren't really fair to him, so I can sympathize some. What brings him back in the next episode will be interesting. I'm sure I'll have more comments later.

I mis-typed. Could not remember which twin she played but the way I wrote it seemed like she played both. And now I can't stop laughing at the thought.

Do we know how many episodes will air? I did not find much on mystyle.com.

Oh my god, did you see when she went in for the hug, it looked like the nutritionist though she was maybe going in for a kiss! Oh, the look on her face!

I like Ruby, and I do wish her well. I want to hear more from the ex-bf, as I am sure it was more than just a simple, "get skinny and I will marry you" ultimatum...at least I hope there was more to it. Why be with ANYONE giving ultimatums?

Has there only been one episode?

I have to say that I was quite pleased with the way this show started off..not so much of the exploitative tone (33000 calories a day/superwide wheelchair @ brookhaven etc) that one usually sees on a show about fatties. She is being portrayed as a HUMAN with regular relationships (although somewhat enabling--but that can be true of many of us), so i will tune in for more. I do want to know how she lost the initial weight, and if that was a while ago or is still in process (with this "revelation" being trumped up for the show). Although i would like to know what (if anything) she is "blocking"--part of me hopes there is nothing there...I get a little tired of everything being "blamed" on some past trauma. Believe it or not, some of us just are greedy, love food, and are low on self control. Plus, as noted previously, she has a life that has been adjusted for her to be comfortable. She has physical comforts, pets, nice home, loving friends/family---so there isnt much "incentive" to change her lifestyle.

Re: the ex boyfriend...I cant wait to "meet" him. She seemed pretty big in the photos (back of the moto, etc), so i can't imagine that he wanted her to diet down to super thin or even average...he probably likes big girls, and just wanted her to be a little more "manageable" or even healthy for her size. I mean, most men who want a thin woman dont start off dating someone 400lbs and hope to get them skinny. From the limited clips of him, and the fact that he chose to be a part of the show, he doesnt seem to be like your typical controller/abuser...most of them wouldnt even want to be associated with a "Ruby" in the public eye...so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

*any or all of these opinions subject to change by the next commercial break*

In the case of the ex-bf, I kind of understand where he's coming from. Now, if Ruby weighed, for example, 180lbs and he told her to lose weight before he'd marry her, now THAT would be ridiculous. But in her case, she's killing herself with food. It'd be the same as marrying someone with a drug or alcohol addiction. I can understand his need for her to 'get clean' before he'd marry her...I wouldn't want to stand there and watch a loved one eat themselves to death.

I liked the first episode. I agree with the others who have said that Ruby is a very likeable person - she is quite pretty as well. I also agree that there is a good chance that she had some sort of trauma in her childhood that she is blocking that could be a big factor in her weight problem - didn't she say she has been fat since she was 8 years old?

As a person who is going through the process of getting approved for bariatric surgery, I wonder why that hasn't been mentioned. It's not that I think that is the answer for everyone, but from what I've seen, Ruby is a prime candidate for surgery. I will tune in to the rest of the season - I hope she does well!

One thing about someone Ruby's size is that if she did have Bariatic surgery, the weight would come off super fast. Then she would have to have surgery to remove all that hanging skin.

Exactly. They don't mention that 200 lb loss much. I really wonder if they had not already done the surgery and gave it a trial time to see that it was going to work and now she is in success mode. I mean c'mon...this is not a live show. It has been filmed already. Right? People get caught up in real time and think reality tv is live. I am sure the cameras have packed up and gone home already and their show is finished.

I absolutely agree that Ruby is a beautiful girl. Usually that kind of weight takes a toll on one's looks, but she is really pretty.

Coming down from 700lbs, having lost ~200 and with about another 350lbs to go, Ruby's going to have to deal with loose skin no matter what. Doesn't really matter her age/how slowly she loses it...the skin can only recover from so much, and 550 extra pounds stretching it out is a lot to come back from.

I am sure she will have surgery. They want her to be beautiful at the end...as she should be.
I'd love to know when this was actually filmed. Does anyone know?

Re: Bariatric surgery...I don't think she has had it, yet...She wouldn't be able to eat the quantities shown on her plate, and for most people, the brownies/praline cheesecake would result in some serious distress (bathroom issues) if eaten. Now, IIRC, they didnt actually show her eating the food that much, so it could have all been for show. The other issue with the surgery proposition is that most docs wont do it on people "that" large...at least until they lose a significant amount of weight to shrink the liver/make it easier for them to operate. So her initial weight loss could be leading up to the introduction of surgery as an option.

as far as "types" of surgery go, from what we've seen, LapBand would not be the ideal for Ruby...first of all, she has a significant amount of weight to lose, the port would be very difficult to place/reach in someone with that much fat around the abdomen, and the types of foods she eats are "sliders"--things that would go right thru the band, thus limiting its effectiveness.