Reality Bites: Robin Moran

 We Lost 800 Pounds is such an inspiring show, with the objective of Jackie doing the gastric bypass and you losing the weight through diet and exercise.

It did really start out that way -- the show was meant to show two women doing two routes of weight loss where each of us lose 400 pounds. It turned into showing how our lives changed after we lost the weight. 

Jackie had a stroke. How is she doing? Do you keep in touch with her?

I know she had to be in rehab because of the stroke and had some memory loss and a couple times with one of our mutual friends she could not remember even what her name was. I spoke to her about a week ago, but need to call her back because we did not get to speak very long and it is just a shame. At one point she was able to drive and people got her a car and she was going back and forth to New York to see her sister and a great-niece who had a baby and it all kind of just fell apart. I mean, she might not be alive today if she didn't have the bypass surgery. I just wish she could have had a better life. 

You 've said you've been heavy since the day you were born.

In all of my pictures growing up, even as an infant, I was chubby. This friend had called me and said  'If I can arrange transportation to the Cleveland Clinic, and if they have a bed you can fit into, will you come there and try to get some help for your emphysema and your weight?' and I said 'Yes, of course,' totally knowing that I wouldn't be able to get out of my house. Well, this friend did a mini-intervention with my other friends behind my back. So when she called and told me [about the intervention], I agreed. About one hour later, a person called and said an ambulance was on its way.

Wow.

I didn't have a chance, which is okay because that's how it has to happen sometimes -- as we know by watching Intervention. I was in the Cleveland Clinic for about five days in sort of a holding pattern because they did not know what to do with me except keep me there and find out where to send me. They had an exit interview person come in and she said, 'Aren't you afraid of living in your mobile home and there would be a fire and you couldn't get out?' And I was like 'Of course,' so she started reading me stuff on [retirement community that also cares for and treats the super morbidly obese] Andover Village. I panicked thinking it was a quote, unquote, 'nursing home,' and my only recollection of a nursing home was the one my cousin worked in. You walked in and it stunk badly. The stench was horrible and people were drooling and I thought 'I can't do that for the rest of my life.' But of course it was not like that at all, and I agreed. That's how I ended up at Andover.

How long were you there?

Two-and-a-half years.

How much weight did you lose while you were there?

Right around the 400s. When I was taken to the Cleveland Clinic I was 789 pounds, but I lost a few pounds at the hospital, so at Andover I was measured at 766. When the Discovery Health shows were filmed in May 2006, I weighed 389. But once I left Andover in September, I had already got back to my old eating habits so I was about 425 when I left.

What made you decide to leave Andover?

Well, at that time being a person in your 40s living in a nursing home or rehab facility, whatever name you want to give it, and being under the rules they have -- certain times you take a shower, certain times you take your medicine, certain times you eat -- can be hard. After two-and-a-half-years, I was doing more things on my own and wanting to be my own person. Plus, I had just broken up with my fiancé..

His name was Bob?

Yes, it was Bob. So, yeah, the little things about Andover were bothering me. I thought that when the little things started making me crazy that it was time to go. But in reality, it wasn't time to go. Once I got home, the first three weeks were good and then I got cellulite in my right leg and my demons came back in full force. Everything came back to me, and all the bad eating habits, and being isolated, and feeling fat and dealing with just getting out of a relationship. In 13 months, I put on 240 pounds. 

Was there an incident that made you decide to get help again?

I had gone into the kitchen and had made a meal, and at this point I was eating quite a bit. I made four eggs, four pieces of toast, and a pint of new potatoes that I sliced up and fried. I was walking through kitchen and fell face-forward. I couldn't get up and tried to make it to the phone and ended up having to crawl, actually slide, over to the door and holler for help. It was a mess.

Who helped you?

I live in a tiny little town with a volunteer fire department and we've got a lot of people to come and help me up. After they got me up, I was giving information to the fire department and there was another person in my kitchen, a young man who looked very familiar to me. I asked him where he grew up, because I don't live in the same town I grew up in, and he said 'You recognize me don't you?' He told me he was my pizza delivery man. So it was truly embarrassing. My pizza deliveryman had basically seen me naked because I was wearing a nightgown. Then he said to me 'You need to stop ordering so many pizzas.'

(above, Moran in December 2009)

That must have felt awful. 

I finally decided 'Okay, I have tried this for thirteen months and I need help again,' and I was just too embarrassed to go back to Andover. I started looking for somewhere else around the area and the marketing person at Andover gave me the name and number of a place by my house. Andover said 'They could really use your help because they are starting a new weight loss program,' and I said' I don't want to help, I need to be helped.' [The marketing person] still told me to call the administrator. It turned out to be the same administrator that actually had been at Andover when I was there, so I went. The facility is in a suburb of Cleveland called Berea, and I helped start their weight loss program. Unfortunately it only lasted for six months, but I met my plastic surgeon who does my leg surgeries.

Whom I love. I have a little bit of a crush on him, I have to say.

Oh, Parker? He is such a cutie isn't he?

He is so adorable.

He is such a nice guy, and a huge supporter of mine. He talked with me and said he heard that I had fallen of the wagon a little bit. He was touching my stomach and told me I was very thin in the stomach and that I should really consider gastric because I had done what I could do through diet. This was the first time that it really got into my head, the others times I always had said 'I have no desire, I can lose the weight.' But when he said it to me I thought 'Well, maybe I should start thinking about it.'

When did you have the surgery?

In July of 2009 [at the Cleveland Clinic]. I had the full gastric bypass. I wasn't a candidate for Lap-Band because at the Cleveland Clinic they don't do that procedure for people who have more than 100 pounds to lose. Also, I'm a grazer, I'm a complete food addict, and with a Lap-Band you can graze. I'm a food addict, and I will always be a food addict. The bypass surgery helped for the first five months, but now my food addiction has come back in full force. Now it's more of a struggle. The surgery is by no means anything more then a tool, and it's a lot of hard work. I don't care what anyone says -- it's a lot of hard work. It's a complete lifestyle change. 

What do you weigh now?

My weight right now is 330 pounds.

That's great.

Yeah, I have lost 75 pounds from surgery and about 460 pounds altogether.

You have made such great strides and improvements.

Well, my life is definitely better. The surgery has helped remove a lot of fat out of my legs and my goal is to remove even more. I'm hoping to see Dr. Parker again next July or August to explore more surgeries.

Did you have the panniculectomy with Dr. Parker?

Everything has been done with Dr. Parker with the exception of the gastric surgery. The panniculectomy was done in June 2006. That was wonderful -- my stomach wasn't nearly as big as other people's but it still weighed about 20 pounds. It has been so wonderful to have a lap again. I can actually set my plate or book on my lap. It's nice, too, because clothes fit better and I look thinner that way.

I assume you have a lot of fans from the show. Have you met any of them?

I've always admired people who have a natural talent for writing or playing music, and I used to think 'What do I have?' Through doing these shows, I found I have a talent for gab and being in front of a camera. I especially liked the way this production company and their producer interviewed me. They didn't force anything and didn't tell me the quesions beforehand, so every interview was genuine. We had to stop and start a lot because the producer had me crying all the time. It was such gut-wrenching material and I really had to dig deep down in there and be willing to spill these things to the world. I have had thousands and thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls. It has been so inspiring for so many people. With Facebook and Twitter I have gotten more and more, for lack of a better word, 'fans' and people recognize me more. People have come and visited me at the clinic, too. We sit and cry and talk about the struggles of each other's lives.

What are your viewers like?

I think a very high percentage of our viewers have struggled, or are struggling, with their weight. There's a small percentage of people who just have an interest in the show, like my director, who I have become very close friends with. I'm doing motivational speaking now and more recently I've had people on Facebook contact me from Finland and England, so the show is all over. I want to continue to do this and keep staying out there for people. I just feel this is what God gave me and I am pretty willing to bear everything from my life. There are so many people who are amazing from the other shows too -- I used to watch Big Medicine and Half-Ton Momand Half-Ton Dad and Half-Ton Teen. All of that. 

What are some of your favorite reality shows?

I'm a big fan of the Real Housewives, especially the New York ones.

I would love to hear your opinion on Kelly Bensimon.  

Is she the one that was a model?

Yeah, the one who tells Bethany 'I am up here and you are down here, and we are not friends.'

It's hard because I know how editing can distort the message and how it is really supposed to be, but I think there is an inherent evil in her.

Really? 

Yeah, I have a feeling that if I was anywhere near her she would look disgusted. She doesn't seem to like fat people really well.

That I'm single and hate it. I would like to be dating, and people can find me on Facebook or Twitter,. Probably more on Facebook -- I don't do much tweeting. I do have a website, but it's under construction.

Well, that will be great when it goes up. I have a feeling a lot of people will visit. 

(Above, Moran in 1996, when she weighed 650 pounds)