'My 600-lb Life': James King died after gaining 160 lbs in 2 months as his wife sneaked him pizzas
James King had been fighting for his life before coming on the show as his weight stopped him from living a normal life. Weighing 791lbs, doctors had informed his family that he only had a few months left to live if he continued in the same direction. Unable to cut ties with food, James had always struggled with his weight.
He put the blame on his past trauma and unloving relationships that he had in the past. James revealed on the show that his parents did not have a healthy relationship. He recalled seeing his mother only thrice in his childhood and during these times she was always drunk. James added that it was his dad who took care of him.
While James spent a lot of his time wondering how his life would have been if he had his mother in his life, as he grew up, he finally got the chance to reconnect with her. This moment made James believe that he had everything in his life but nothing had prepared him for what was to come.
A couple of months after their meeting, James' mother passed away and it left him shattered. On the same day, James revealed that he got a call where he was informed that his house had burnt down. Having two losses on the same day, James fell into a deep depression and his journey with food began.
While James got addicted to food, his family tried their best to help him out. James's father even refinanced his home in the bid to make some money that could help James with his weight loss journey. Meanwhile, his daughter dropped out of school as she wanted to help her father with everyday chores.
While James' father and daughter tried to help him out, his wife, Lisa, did not seem to be on board with the idea. Dr Younan Nowzaradan had a hard time convincing Lisa that she was an enabler. While James had to be on a strict diet to lose his weight, the results were not showing and Dr Nowzaradan could not help but blame Lisa for it.
It reached a point where James had to be admitted to the hospital because his health conditions due to his weight became bad. Dr Nowzaradan was surprised to see how his health scare also did not motivate him to lose some weight.
He tried to put him on a strict diet when James got admitted into the hospital but was surprised to find out that in two months he had managed to put on 160lbs while staying in the hospital.
Dr Nowzaradan was quick to question James about his weight gain. There were a handful of excuses that he had planned. Right from justifying his weight gain to it being "water weight" to saying it might be "muscle weight", James refused to admit that he had put on weight due to overeating.
Dr Nowzaradan held Lisa accountable for these changes as he found out she tried to sneak in food including pizza for James to eat. He was not happy about this and looking at his level of motivation, James was soon taken out of the program.
In April 2020, TLC confirmed that James was no more. "TLC was deeply saddened by the loss of James King, who shared his weight-loss journey on My 600lb Life. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time," they wrote on their Twitter page.
'My 600-lb Life' airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on TLC.