New Zealand ` clean, green... (GROANS) ...and fat. In the last year, nearly 70,000 extra New Zealanders became obese. Now most of us are fat. You are morbidly obese. Do you know what the word 'morbid' means? It means deathly. Premature death. 65% of adults are dangerously overweight, and South Auckland is the ground zero of our obesity explosion. The Manukau SuperClinic is on the front lines of this epidemic, treating over 1200 patients with controversial weight loss surgery. We remove about 80 to 90% of the volume of the stomach. Not much room for food. We've now spent two years with the most at-risk patients, and the specialists, doctors and nurses dedicated to helping them through the highs and the lows of their weight loss journey. I'm anxious and scared. That's what I feel. I did this because eating was my safe place. It's where I went. Why are you doing it? For myself. I wanna do it for myself. I can't wait to tell people... 'Stick it up your arse,' really. Copyright Able 2018 40-year-old Mel has been on a weight loss rollercoaster for 15 years. To help me stay focused, I tell myself that, 'Remember, God is good all the time. You can do this. 'He believes in you.' She opted for lap band surgery as a way of shrinking her stomach, but the results were short-lived. You start finding foods that you know you can get through your band. You drink milkshakes; you drink high-sugar drinks. The stay-at-home mum peaked at 117 kilos. I had gotten so lazy that I was buying frozen mashed potato. She tried to control her binges by purging... (COUGHS) ...and ended up overweight and bulimic. It's surgical bulimia. You get it in there. I regurgitate so much food, it's ridiculous. But after a year of ups... and downs,... When I woke up, I had made myself a pancake with peanut butter, and I was sitting on the couch, fixing to eat it. ...Mel finally lost the weight required.. (GASPS) Yay! Oh my God! Double figures. ...and made it to surgery. Patients who've had a band before have already been through that, 'Urgh, can't eat often'. They don't find it as hard to adjust to a bypass as someone who's just had a sleeve from a normal stomach. But now, one week later, post surgery hasn't gone exactly to plan for Mel. So, every little thing is taking effort. So even doing little things. Like, right now, putting your make-up on, how is that feeling? Oh, yeah, not good. I would much rather not put any on. It's been very, very hard, because... you're not satisfying. When you eat, it's more than just filling a hole for people who are addicted to food. When you take that away... it kind of strips you bare. And, so, yeah, it's been a struggle. Um... Right now I'm eating just soup. Just tomato soup. This is one can of tomato soup, and I've had, like, three meals on it already. But I also did, um... Before I went in, I did some... frozen cubes, like they show you to do. So that is paella, which is full of protein and goodness and all that. Yeah, it is dry as toast, man, when you heat it back up. There's no moisture left in that. They give you a generalisation of what you're going to experience afterwards, but it didn't prepare me. I wasn't prepared for this. The challenges are really quite huge. And that doesn't even make a dent in anything. The surgery's not gonna fix the problem. The problem's in my brain, not in my belly. Mel's reaching out to the clinic in the hope bariatric nurse specialist Cecilia can help her. Good. How are you? Good. OK. First off... Right. 91! OK. Cool. 2 kilos from being in the eights. Despite Mel's suffering, she's still managed to lose 4 kilos in the past four weeks. So, you're just two weeks post-op. Where are you up to at the moment? How do you mean? Food? Mental? Both. OK. I was great in the hospital, bounced back, happy as Larry in the hospital. I mean, I had the pain, but I expected to have the pain. You know, I was up, I was walking, I was ready to go home. Yeah. Little did I know that going home was gonna be the worst part. Yeah. Once I got home and I had access to whatever food I wanted, but I couldn't actually eat it, I tell you what ` it messes with your head somethin' big time. Yeah. I mean, I did nothing but` I had a complete meltdown. Just cried my eyes out. Just so frustrated with the whole thing. 'Why did I do this to myself?' That's the biggest part ` is getting the headspace right. So you've got to find out where you've got your enjoyment from ` from cooking and from eating. 'OK, how am I gonna get that enjoyment? Where am I gonna get that from again?' And that's where you've got to go and do some soul searching. It's only you now that can make the choices. Mel is currently hating weight loss surgery. It's making her confront her own demons. She takes Cecilia's advice and spends some time soul searching. Her new reality may not immediately be what she had hoped, but Mel begins working on what she needs. And two months later, a new Mel with a new mindset begins to emerge. (PANTS) How are you feeling? Already out of breath. You're supposed to do three sets of 15, but, yeah, it's crazy. MAN: And down to your chest. You want elbows in. Oh, within. OK. (GRUNTS) I have been doing the gym now ` this is two and a half weeks, and I love it. Absolutely love coming here. I feel so good, and I'm excited to be here. How long's it been since surgery? Eight and a half weeks. How much weight have you lost? Since surgery, I've lost 10 kilos. But a total of 35 kilos since I started the whole process. Well done. (PANTS) And her family are now reaping the rewards of a healthier Mel. Two, one, climb. (INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC) You couldn't have done this a year ago. Oh God, no. I wouldn't have even attempted. I was the mum who sat there and had my hot drink while the kids played. I would've never even thought about coming and doing it myself. Mark and Haley, do you think Mel's a new person? It's amazing. Can you believe she's in a t-shirt and jeans? Well, she's worn it before in this adventure, but... she's never looked so good in it. (LAUGHS) I'm still just Mom. Just a little less Mom. I feel better overall. Um, and, you know, I just know that this is a lifestyle now. It's not just something that's gonna be over with quickly. It's` This is the new me, and it's something I have to continue to work towards. Hug it in. Pull it in. * (SOLEMN MUSIC) 48-year-old Lisa's weight loss journey has been a marriage of heaven and hell. She had to get over a food obsession... Chris has actually seen me before I start a meal, and when I know there's a great meal in front of me, I actually get the shakes. ...and frequently plummeted into depression. Woke up on Tuesday morning and, uh, felt really down ` you know, negative thoughts, negative voices saying not so nice things. Under psychiatric care, she was prescribed a heavy dose of exercise. I'm so unfit. It's not comfortable. But she made it on to the surgery list in record time... We should just try get on with things, and we'll try and get Cecilia to get you a date as soon as possible. ...only to come crashing down and self-sabotage a week later. You are so gonna pay for this. She paid the price on the official clinic scales. I've put on 600g. But she soon got back on track... (LAUGHS) ...and she nailed her final weigh-in. Well done. Are you still wanting to move forward for surgery? Absolutely. You made my day. All right. You're welcome. And come surgery day, Lisa overcame her anxiety... How were you feeling this morning when you woke up? Scared. ...to walk herself into theatre. Now, three days after surgery, Lisa is coming to terms with the drastic nature of the operation. I feel relieved that it's over. I'm in a little bit of a state of shock that I've actually done it, and there's literally no going back. My stomach is gone apart from a little, tiny tube, and my relationship with food at the moment, only being three days post, is I really don't need it. I don't want it. I had one teaspoon of pureed mince last night for dinner, and one teaspoon of Greek yoghurt, and I had two teaspoons of Greek yoghurt for breakfast this morning. So what's your biggest target now? What do you really want to achieve? I want to achieve being a normal size where I could actually go into Glassons and buy something off the rack. That would be my goal. Brilliant. It'd be awesome. But Lisa's optimism is short-lived. She struggles to drink water, and is admitted to Middlemore Hospital suffering severe dehydration. So, uh, Lisa has come in today. She's been feeling quite awful. I went to a shop yesterday, and I was standing in the shop, and my legs started shaking, and my arms started shaking, and, just, yeah. So I went to the GP, and he said to go to Middlemore. I just can't seem to get enough water down physically. It's a little bit scary. What are you hoping the doctor will tell you? (SIGHS) I'm just go glad I'm getting the drip. I don't care what the doctor says. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) (WHIRRING) Three months later, and Lisa has her eating and drinking under control. But her main reason for seeking weight loss surgery was to alleviate her depression. Today she's hoping to be discharged from the care of the psychiatry team. So, things are really good. It's been three months since surgery. I haven't had any down periods. I was waiting for it, and just nothing came. So doing really well. I feel a bit more confident then about going back to the GP. Yeah! After two years of close supervision and heavy medication, Lisa is now well enough to be discharged. Her surgery has been a physical and mental success. I don't know what I'll do without ya. (LAUGHS) Having you at my beck and call every six weeks is nice. It's a nice little back-up there. But going back to the GP is a good thing. Wonder. Just like that. Just like that. Back into the real world. (UPBEAT MUSIC) A year ago, Lisa was 126 kilos and full of dreams of a lighter life. Chris has given me` He gave me a piece of clothing for Christmas. So this here is the top you gave me. Look how tiny it is! But Lisa had a lot of issues she needed to conquer before she got anywhere near that top ` overeating, depression and inactivity. But having overcome these obstacles,... (UPBEAT MUSIC) (LAUGHS) How much weight have you lost in total? 46 kilos from my heaviest. How do you feel? I feel healthy, strong. Um, happy. Yeah. And has Chris seen you in this at all? No. He hasn't? Mm-mm. What do you think he's gonna say when he comes home? Well, it's gonna be one of two things. One, he's forgotten, (LAUGHS) which is very likely. Or two, he's gonna go, 'Wow.' Wow! That's a surprise. You fit it! Amazing. Speechless. I'm very rarely speechless, but... coming in and seeing her in it ` what an amazing surprise. Today when I weighed in, I was 83.6 kilos, and I went out of the obese range and into the overweight range. So I've only got one more step to go, which is 17 kilos to lose to be in the normal range. So I've lost 46; 17 to go. Well done, guys. OK? Yep, that's us. So proud of you. * 18-year-old Lauren is the SuperClinic's youngest weight loss patient. Really bright. (CHUCKLES) At 167 kilos, she's also one of the largest patients with the most to gain from surgery. I wanted to change what I am and what I look like and for health and... just be able to be more helpful around and be in different situations positively. But first she had a lot to lose. I want to lose over half of my body weight. So that'd be about 80kg. She found it hard to let go of a childhood love of food... My favourite's lasagne or bacon and chicken fettuccine. ...until she discovered new ways of having fun. No, it's good. It's comfortable. Not too hard that I'm struggling. The weight started falling off, and she nailed her final weigh-in,... (LAUGHS) Well done. ...having lost 13 kilos. And as Richard's youngest ever patient, she sailed through surgery. She seems pretty motivated, and, you know, she's done really well. Only a few weeks later, Lauren is enjoying an immediate benefit of weight loss. BOY: How do you know I haven't go it? (LAUGHS) A new job. Today we're gonna make dreamcatchers. What do you want to be like in the future? Maybe it catches that. Have a puppy. I wanna catch a horse. Kitty cat. I wanna catch a unicorn. (LAUGHS) So, things have really moved on for you. You've got a new job. You're feeling confident. You look really great. (LAUGHS) How much weight have you lost? 20kg since surgery day, roughly. Yeah, but all up, it's, like, 34, I think. And are you pleased? I am. I feel much better. So I feel like I'm able to do more now. Now I don't feel judged or anything like that. Yeah, quite happy. How much more weight do you want to lose? Well, to get to my goal, I want to lose another 40kg. And only six weeks later, a new Lauren is already emerging ` healthy and happy and getting ready to paint the town red. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Every time I go out, I take selfies. I used to always, like, take the photo from way up here so you didn't get the double chin. And now it's, like, all right to be in front cos it's not so much double chin. This is one of my favourite ones. That was the beginning of my weight loss. So that was after I lost about 5 or 6kg. Like, you can see more of my eyes; they're not so narrow and... bulked up. This one, I just like the shape of my face in the` Yeah, not being able to have the excess weight under there, I guess. I really like this one cos I'm smiling and really happy, off to work. This kind of shows` has a glimmer of my future. Just really happy ` look happy, feel happy. How would you sum up your weight loss journey? My weight loss journey has been exciting. Um, tough. Fun. Um, but, yeah, mainly those three. So tough because of having to go through the different stages, having to be tough on myself mentally as well as physically. Exciting seeing the difference. And fun because it's been an interesting journey as well. Yeah. So no regrets? No regrets at all. And I hear you've got a new tattoo. Decided to get a tattoo marking a step in my life; like a milestone, I guess. Yeah. When I look at my tattoo in the future, I think I'll feel proud of myself knowing that if I put my mind to something, I can do it, and it'll always be there to remind me that I can. Yeah. At only 18, Lauren's new life is now ahead of her. Her journey to surgery is over. But Lauren represents a new worrying trend ` that we are getting fatter younger. 32% of Kiwi kids will be overweight or obese by 2025. This is a public health time bomb, because the Manukau SuperClinic is already overrun. And a new year brings an even bigger stream of hopeful patients and to surgeon Richard Babor's information session. In terms of the bigger picture, we're like battling a tsunami of obesity, and we've got, like, a teaspoon to bail out the life raft. You guys are people who decided to take the first few steps towards losing a whole lot of weight. Perhaps driving here, you would've driven past all the takeaways and fast food joints and various other outlets of toxic carbohydrates turning our population obese and the third fattest nation in the world. So good on you for coming. I want you guys to remember that you're part of the lucky few. I really want you to take advantage of it. www.able.co.nz