Preloading

Outcasts in Their Own Families

Overweight family members confront the loved ones whose mean words have hurt them the most.
Jill returned to The Oprah Show in 2006
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In 2006, Jill returned to The Oprah Show to share the latest on her weight loss goals. After having gastric bypass surgery, she had lost 170 pounds! Jill says the decision to have the surgery changed her life. "I'm a different person. I'm more outgoing, I'm fun," she says. "For the first time, I love to be me."

Jill says she's no longer angry at her dad. "I realized something that was very powerful for me. I have realized that my dad has always loved me," Jill says. "I was so defensive about everything, and now I can look at it as he was concerned for me and he wanted me to be happy. I truly believe that."

Just because Jill lost weight doesn't mean her problems went away. Jill says she cried every day for three months after her surgery because she missed food. "Food was my life," she says. "Food was my best friend and I miss it."

Jill continues to see a therapist twice a month and also attends gastric bypass support group meetings. "It is a daily battle," she says. "I have said to so many people, it is the hardest thing I have ever done and it is the hardest thing I still do."

Read what happened when Jill and Kirk returned to The Oprah Show in 2011 
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Published 05/18/2005
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