My 600-lb Life is back on TLC with more candid stories of dramatic weight-loss journeys. The 11th season of the reality series premieres Feb. 1 with an episode that focuses on Geno. The 31-year-old is closing in on 700 pounds and has decided that it’s now or never if he wants to take charge of his health.
Dr. Now meets with his new patient in the ‘My 600-lb Life’ Season 11 premiere
In a teaser (via Twitter) for the first episode of the new season, Geno and his family sit down for an appointment with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan. The Houston-based bariatric surgeon wants to know why Geno has decided now is the time to lose weight.
“I figure that this is, like, probably my last chance to really take care of myself,” he says. “I’m pretty unhealthy in this moment.”
“Well, I agree with that,” Dr. Now replies. The blunt-talking doctor goes on to ask Geno – who is 31 years old and weighs 684 pounds – what he’s willing to do to save his life.
“Basically, pretty much anything,” Geno says.
Geno has tried to lose weight in the past, he tells Dr. Now
Geno has tried in the past to lose weight, he says. But none of the various diets he’s tried has worked. That includes a recent attempt to shed pounds by eating seven to eight small meals per day. Dr. Now isn’t surprised his patient’s last diet was unsuccessful.
“Who gave you that frickin’ idea?” he asks. “The human body is not made for that. A body is actually made to eat one or two or maybe maximum three times in one day.”
Now, Geno is hoping weight-loss surgery will help him get to where he wants to be. Both Geno’s mom and uncle have had the procedure, with good results, and he’s hopeful it will work for him as well.
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Geno of ‘My 600-lb Life’ reflects on what caused him to gain weight
In another clip from the My 600-lb Life Season 11 premiere (via Twitter), Geno reflects on how his family dynamics may have contributed to his weight gain.
“We’re a very close family,” he says. “And us being an Italian family, when we eat, we eat in abundance … that’s just how we come together, we would always make food for each other. Food was, like, always the glue.”
At age six, Geno already weighed 100 pounds. By the time he was in the fourth grade, he was 200 pounds. But it’s not just a family tradition of large meals that contributed to Geno’s weight issues, both he and his mother say.
“I think Geno might have some food addiction,” his mom says. “Because, you know, Geno’s dad was a drug addict.”
When Geno was 12, his mom and dad divorced. That was when he began to turn to food for more than just sustenance.
“That was probably when eating for me became something bigger than just filling up on food,” Geno recalls. “It became something I needed in order to feel better emotionally.”
See the rest of Geno’s journey when My 600-lb Life Season 11 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.
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