In the third episode of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, we meet Dana Baker, a 44 year old man who cannot remember a time when he was fit. 250 lbs overweight, Dana must take 8-10 painkillers each morning “just to function” as he put it. Weighing in at 498 lbs, the work out routine and healthy lifestyle were not nearly as much of a challenge as loving himself. The conflict of low self esteem was brought to the surface much more than in the first two episodes and far sooner in the episode as well. If viewers were tuning in for a feel good episode, they got a lot more than they anticipated! Water aerobics and a song in the choir may have been soothing enough for Dana at home, but trainer and transformation specialist, Chris Powell’s boot camp made him finally face reality.
“You’re 500 lbs. What drove you to that?” – Chris Powell
After transforming Dana’s home and giving his kitchen a healthy makeover, Powell set Dana’s three month weight loss goal at a 110 lbs. Unfortunately, Powell was more determined than Dana was until Dana finally opened up about what was eating him up inside… or what he was eating and holding in all of these years. What a brave man to finally admit it and let the words come out about his sexual abuse. It was not easy coming to this admission but he did it and carried that weight, (which partly caused) his addiction (ribs and punch) across one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the nation. Viewers saw Dana at his most vulnerable standpoint and Powell at his most aggressive, while standing up for Dana when a pedestrian was shouting, “fat” and “cow” on the bridge. It feels good knowing how committed Powell is to not only being healthy but being respectful and compassionate human beings. There’s so much more to being healthy than exercising and eating right. Being healthy is also a state of mind and to have Powell stand up for Dana in that moment was truly moving. Dana’s spirit was lifted and encouraged more than ever with someone by his side, empowering him. Some people under estimate the grace that people have and that is exactly what sets Powell apart from the rest. He’s not just a trainer, he’s a trainer with compassion.
Having lost 111 lbs during Powell’s three month stay, the reward for this individual was a getting a vocal coach. Little did Dana know that this prize would extend into a visit to Los Angeles to reunite with and sing with his brother at a church concert. What joy it brought to see Dana getting out of the house to socialize and be happy while doing so – not feeling so weak and inferior like before. Though this series of exciting moments only lasted for some time, as medical director, Dr. Terry Shaack informed Powell of Dana’s torn ACL and Powell informed Dana of his disappointing 29 lb went loss out of his 70 lb weight loss goal for phase two. Rachel did not let her medical status stand in the way at this point in the game and neither did Dana. The strength that these individuals have is truly inspiring. Seeing typical “before” and “after” photos are encouraging, but actually seeing what it takes to get to that transformation on this show is the ultimate motivation.
Things did not get better right away, as Dana failed to meet his nine month weigh in goal, which made him miss candidacy for the skin removal surgery. But in not making his goal again, Dana dropped another revelation that he is a homosexual. Clearly, this man had some heavy secrets that he held in for so long, so food became his comfort in keeping those secrets. What a scary reality it is to see what holding secrets in and not being true to self can do for someone. Dana was losing weight over his year long transition into a healthy life but he couldn’t get over the mountain in his path until he actually acknowledged what that mountain represented. Once he did that, the weight noticeably came off more, making his final weigh in at an incredible 203 lbs in front of all of his family and friends.
This week, we followed a man who’s secrets got the best of his health. Dana was a prisoner of his secrets and food were the bars. “Dana” was definitely the most emotional journey we’ve gone on this season so far. For ABC to share this side of the struggle, is truly commendable. ABC could have edited this part of the journey out but it was the reason why Dana got where he was, so it was very important to show the viewers that food is not just a simple desire. There’s so much more to some people’s battles with food and this episode proved that on the highest degree. Also, the aspect of the show that was lacking a bit in the past is steadily improving. Instead of not giving any insight into the exercise routine, Dana did mention that he does 100 squats on Fridays. He even mentioned one day that he worked out for 5 hours. While that is quite excessive and unnecessary for the average person, this does give an obese indiviudal an idea of what to expect when losing all of the excess weight at a year long pace. Overall, this episode was the most captivating of the season so far. So I haven’t anticipated a new episode of this show as much as I do now for next week’s episode. What did you think?
Note: Congratulations to Chris and Heidi Powell who welcomed their son, William Cash into the world on Monday morning in Arizona. William weighed in at 7 lbs., 13 oz.
Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC.
