TLC’s ‘My 600-lb Life’ features various motivational stories about the struggles of morbidly obese persons, often weighing 600 pounds or more, trying to lose weight. It chronicles the participants’ adventures through several stages as they adhere to stringent and challenging reforms to attain their goal weight. Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, AKA Dr. Now, provides instructions and specific diet and exercise regimens needed to lose additional weight to get a chance to undergo weight-loss surgery.
The reality show, which debuted in 2012, has showcased a variety of accounts of individuals, some of whom reach their full potential while others encounter obstacles in their daily lives. Angela Gutierrez was one such cast member from season 7 episode 15, who did not have a fulfilling weight-loss journey.
Angela Gutierrez Left the Program in Month 8
When 44-year-old Ohio native Angela Gutierrez appeared in season 7, she was desperate to get weight-loss surgery. Weighing 608 pounds, she didn’t feel like a human in her size and was ready to make changes on her end too. Being a mother of two, Angela always felt constrained because of her responsibilities as she had to juggle taking care of them and even her niece, Lacy. This urgent need for change stems from the fact that she had already undergone bariatric surgery once before.
In her 20s, when she weighed around 375 pounds, Angela underwent gastric bypass surgery, which helped her lose 100 pounds. However, her life caught up, and she ended up gaining all the lost weight and more. During that time, Angela faced several issues, like being charged with child endangerment because of her attempt to take her life. She eventually lost custody of her children, which ultimately led her to depression.
As a result, Angela turned back to her food addiction, let herself go, and ate her way through her problems. After getting her children back, she took care of them along with 11-year-old Lacy, but her eating habits never improved. Almost 20 years later, with her children grown up, Angela decided to finally get the surgery again. Her son Chris, then-19, was her primary caretaker as her 23-year-old daughter Andrea was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and needed a lot of care and help.
Since Chris had a hectic job and couldn’t miss much work, Angela asked her ex-boyfriend, Eric, to accompany her to Houston to meet Dr. Now. Although they did travel to the Texan city for the appointment, the trip turned out to be a mess. Angela ended up complaining about everything, from her body pains to bathroom size issues and her entire journey. Moreover, when the doctor asked her to follow a diet and lose weight on her own, she seemed skeptical.
Over the next few months, Angela couldn’t follow the weight-loss plan and also missed the follow-up appointments with the doctor, even after relocating. Thus, in just 8 months, she ended up dropping out of the program and moving back to her home. Even when she opted to do Skype call check-ins with Dr. Now, she claimed to have lost 120 pounds on her own since leaving the program. However, since she did not look like she had lost that weight, Dr. Now called her out and even went so far as to call her “delusional.”
Angela Gutierrez Focused on Her Famil Post-Filming
Angela Gutierrez currently lives with her family in Ohio and refrains from talking about her journey on the show. After leaving the show midway, she did not make any appearances and has since not talked about it either. From her social media presence, it can be assumed that her weight has not reduced much since then. She only shares photos of her children, daughter Andrea, son-in-law Jesse, son Christopher, daughter-in-law Alexis, and her grandchildren, Emma Jean, Mia Rose, and Rocky.
Some reports suggested that Angela supported the lawsuits to have been filed against the show’s production company, Megalomedia, and also added she might file her complaint for negligence someday. However, she has not mentioned anything regarding that as of yet. In November 2021, Angela posted about beginning her diet again and getting back on track, which might mean that she has been making some progress since then. She posted photos about her healthy meal option and the calories included, also mentioning that she was trying the keto diet as well.
Angela Gutierrez Sadly Passed Away in 2023
But alas, before Angela could turn over a new leaf in the way she hoped, she sadly passed away. According to her obituary, she sadly passed away on March 21, 2023 at Bethesda North Hospital at the age of 49. Her official cause of death has never been made public, but she did post on Facebook around 10 days prior that she was having trouble with her oxygen as it wouldn’t go above 70s. Moreover, her obituary reads, in part, that “in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Lymphedema Research or to Debbie Schwab to help with her medical expenses,” indicating her demise stemmed from some serious medical complications.
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