1 New Zealand ` clean, green... (SIGHS) ...and fat. In the last year, nearly 70,000 extra New Zealanders became obese. Now most of us are fat. You are... morbidly obese. You know what the word 'morbid' means? It means 'deathly'. Premature death. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 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 specialist 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. And 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. (CHUCKLES) (MONITOR BEEPS STEADILY) (MONITOR FLATLINES) (PEACEFUL MUSIC) It's morning in Karaka, and housewife Mel is hard at work in the kitchen. INTERVIEWER: Three lunches,... one dinner,... Yes. ...all going on? Yes. Right, Mummy will make you a pancake. Off you go. No! Yes! Get outta here. At over 100 kilos, Mel wants weight loss surgery to reverse a lifetime of bad eating ` habits the whole family have inherited. Now, Hayley is so fussy about her toast. She has to have it hot, with the butter melted. Andrew will come in. He'll have his pancake and a glass of juice. So,... these are all my fixings for sandwiches. Mel is a stay-at-home mum, and for her, convenience is king. So, yeah, basically, a lot of it's pre-packaged. So I keep a full stock of pre-packaged stuff. And so, like, Andrew, he gets a pre-package of, just, a fruit natural. And then, Hayley, she likes these ones ` these oat slices. So she gets an oat slice. She likes the Special K, so she gets a Special K. A real fruit, little bar. And I don't know if she actually likes the cassava chips; I haven't given them to her yet, but that's what she'll get today. Will you go tell Andrew breakfast, please? Thank you. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) With breakfast done, Mel's faced with the leftovers. So,... what are you going to do with it now, are you`? Well, I mean, it seems a shame to waste... a perfectly good peanut butter pancake, so I will attempt to (SOFTLY) eat it. No. (CHUCKLES) But I want it! It was just a little nibble, see? Mel has Mark's enduring support. I'll sit here, and I'll probably eat this whole thing. I'm gonna put it down. OK. It's so good. But the good cop, bad cop routine is sometimes hard to pull off. It's very hard, as a partner, trying to offer good advice, because it's taken as` as being critical. So you have to be` You're basically walking on eggshells. You have to be very careful. And has that put a bit of a strain, just generally`? On our relationship? Mm. Um, I think it has. At times, it has. (LOW STRING MUSIC) Mel's pancake didn't go down well. (MEL RETCHES) Her failed gastric band means she can't eat solids without throwing up. She's come up with a clever workaround. So, I am going to go through the drive-through, and I am going to get a... soft-serve ice cream, because ice cream tends to go through my band easily. Yes, can I get a large chocolate Frosty? Yup, and two large chillies. And a medium Coke Zero. WOMAN OVER SPEAKER: Thank you. So, um,... yeah. So, my Frosty is the first step. It's always so good. Mmm. I'll tell you what ` there is, like, nothing like a Frosty. The Chocolate Frosty is amazing. There's just something about the texture of it; it's like having, um... I don't know, it's like having slow-churned chocolate milk, when you add the syrup in yourself. It's not overly chocolatey, and it's not under-chocolate. It's just perfect chocolate. (CHUCKLES) I made all kinds of excuses to eat it. Even though I don't need any ` I'm a grown-ass woman; I can eat a Frosty if I want to, but... it feels better sometimes to have excuses. I don't know why. I guess it helps with the guilt. Cos, you know, I'm not supposed to be eating this; I'm supposed to be being a good girl. I just don't understand people who can live their whole lives without sugar and gluten and... processed foods. I mean... I mean, yeah, I like fresh foods, and, you know, I like organic stuff. It's all good and all. But how do you live without some of the other things that God has given us? (LAUGHS) You know? (LAUGHS) He wouldn't give it to you if he didn't want you to try it. I mean, is there anything better than twice-baked macaroni and cheese, you know, where the cheese is all gooey in the bottom and all crispy on the top, and it's like... ohhh! Hello. Who's this? Is this Mummy? Hi, my bubba. Hello. (LAUGHS) (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) You got some takeaways. I did get takeaways. The motorway was starting to` Get busy? Get busy, yeah. Not too bad, though. Oh, that's good. Yeah. That's good. That's not yours. This is yours. Hm. But that's not yours. (SIGHS) What else did you get? A chocolate` Uh, uh, a chocolate Frosty. Frosty. Do they do a diet chocolate Frosty? Uh, uh, that's what this is (!) Didn't you get the memo? It's a diet chocolate Frosty. That would be a no, then. That would be a no, yes. Yeah. Is it possible to make Frosty out of yoghurt? Then it wouldn't be a Frosty; it'd be, like, chocolate yoghurt ` yuck. Yeah, but yoghurt's got no sugar in it. (STRAW SNAPS) Yeah? (LAUGHS) See? You're... (LAUGHS) I'm what? (LAUGHS) I'm your wife. You're just lucky I love ya. (LAUGHS) Mel's eating problems are complicated. (MEL RETCHES) A failed band is compounded by her food addiction. I didn't get it all, and I will be back. Yeah. (CLEARS THROAT) Yeah, only half of it came out, probably. Convincing surgeon Richard Babor she needs weight loss surgery is her only hope. Eating around the band is what they call it. It's like a mental thing you do. You start finding foods that you know you can get through your band, so you quit trying to eat lettuce; you quit trying to eat the good stuff, the veges and stuff like that, cos it's just gonna get stuck. So you eat things that you know are going to go through. So you eat ` well, not even eat, you drink ` milkshakes. You drink high-sugar drinks, your sports drinks, and things like that, and you think, 'I know I've been bad. I'm gonna go` I'm not gonna have a milkshake, 'I'm not gonna eat ice cream. I'm not gonna eat the things that slide through my band. 'I'm gonna really follow my regimen'. I've got my little plate, you know, that has all my little sections in it. 'This is all I'm gonna eat.' And then you're starving, because you can't eat what's on your plate, because you've already took one bite, and it's stuck right here. Stuck. That's it, yeah. And you have to throw it up. I regurgitate so much food ` it's ridiculous. Right. And I'm tired of it. I'm just so tired. I've been doing it for 10 years. It's ridiculous. I know better. I know the minute I put it in my mouth, I'm not gonna be able to keep it. Yeah. And I do it anyways. You know, it's a difficult problem, because... we... try to avoid getting into managing bands, you know. Because there's thousands of bands out there, and we... don't wanna become the band... fixer-upper service, right? But I feel sorry for you, you know, because you've got yourself into this pickle and you've been struggling with it for 10 years, and so... I just kinda think we should try and help you. That would be awesome. Because Mel's band has failed, she's on the surgery list. Target weight loss ` 5 kilos. It will be farewell to the fast food if she's to drop the weight in just eight weeks. Food is now the enemy. It's the enemy. It's my adversary. It's what I go up against every day. 1 (PEACEFUL MUSIC) (BIRDSONG) (TIN BANGS) (INTRIGUING MUSIC) Good exercise. (LAUGHS) It's been a long, hard weight-loss journey for Josephine. What's that one? This is cranberry juice. Even though the cranberry juice has a bit of a tart kind of taste, it's actually full of sugar. I've been drinking a lot of this. Two years and five failed weigh-ins. She's burnt off 130,000 calories, lost the equivalent weight of a bag of cement, and walked the same length as 90 Mile Beach. See, you beat me. (LAUGHS) But to drop the last 3 kilos prior to surgery, boot camp's the answer. (PLAYFUL MUSIC) High as you can go. Drop that bum down too, guys. Make sure you drop that bum down. She couldn't get down like how she is now, on her knees. So that's a massive achievement right there. Great goal for her. Now bring your hips forward. (BUZZER SOUNDS) That's it. Jogging on the spot, both sides. Reset. (PANTS) (BUZZER SOUNDS) Well done. Thank you. Very good. INTERVIEWER: How are you feeling? Good. Oh, feeling good. It's hard? (BOTH LAUGH) But nothing comes easy in life, so... Cos I put this fat on, and the trainings and everyone here helps melt it away. 'Big six' on three. One, two, three... ALL: Big six! (WHOOPING) (CAR HORNS HONK) Six weeks later, it's the day before Josephine's surgery. Last thing on the bucket list is not KFC. I haven't had KFC in over a year. The smell of it's different. Like, the last time I` I was in the car driving, and I was at the lights. And there was a family in the car next to me, and they were eating KFC, and I` They smelt of the whiff of that KFC, but... it was different. It smelt oily and greasy. Before, two years ago, I would have said that was` that smelt delicious, and then I would've changed lanes, and I would've went straight to KFC, straight into the line, and, 'Yes ` that, that, that, that, that.' But instead of going straight to KFC, I went to Subway instead. (CHIMING MUSIC) Josephine's big day has arrived. Hi, Josephine. Wake up. Remember, it's a big day for you. Aren't you looking forward for your special day? Mm. I can't wait. It's today. Oh, I can't wait too. I'm looking forward for that. All right, get up! Get up, sleepyhead. Princess? Come here, Princess. Mummy's going today. I'm excited. It's been a long time coming, and it's finally here. (SIGHS) (SIGHS) (WHIMSICAL MUSIC) Josephine? She's had massive support from the Manukau SuperClinic and her mum, Naomi. It all comes down to this last weigh-in. Has she managed to keep the weight off? A single kilo over, and the surgery could be cancelled. Josephine would go back on the waiting list, and it could take another year to get to this point. (SCALES BEEP) Yay! Josephine's made it. Her target was 147 kilos, and she's lost another six. Yay! (LAUGHS) I'm glad you've made it, you know. You've been a long time coming here, eh? Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, we can compare it in a few months when she's lost some weight. It'll be good. Yay! All right. Oh! Her mum, Naomi, has been by her side every step of the way, but now she must trust Josephine into the care of the surgical team. She won't be alone. 1 20-year-old Jackson has been on the surgery list since he was 14. But with a peak weight of 230 kilos,... (MOURNFUL MUSIC) ...losing weight is hard work. And the labours of making the list have curbed his enthusiasm. (MUSIC CONTINUES) Jackson is currently between jobs, and the day-to-day grind of doing nothing is proving seductive. INTERVIEWER: Are you doing any exercise at the moment? Yeah, I went for a walk this morning. Went for a walk around the block, around to the park, and then come back around. Came home and had a shower and then laxed out. Have you thought of joining a gym or doing anything like that? Nah. No, I don't like the gyms. They're all full of wankers and dickheads. Have you been to the pool? You've got a pool in Papakura. It's free. Yeah, nah. Nah, I haven't been to the pools, either. Do you want to? Nah. I've missed heaps of dietician's appointments. I didn't really need to go see the dietician, cos I already knew what I was doing. That's why I missed so many. Mm. You know. But is it possible that a dietician might know a little bit more about nutrition than you? Not really, cos I pretty much know what not to eat and go and touch and stuff, eh. Just, nah, man. What do you think will happen to you if you don't qualify for surgery? I dunno. Haven't even thought about it. Flatmate Willem is worried about his friend. INTERVIEWER: Do you think that he could be his own worst enemy? Yeah, sometimes, eh. Yeah, like... I think sometimes when he feels under pressure, he kinda gets scared. Shies away from... his goal. Can only, like, encourage him so much, but, you know, at the end of the day, it's really up to him to push himself there. How do you think he gets through that fear? Do you think he tries to be tough, but actually, this is quite` Yeah. Yeah, nah, I think so. He acts like it doesn't bother him, but I mean, if it really didn't, he wouldn't be doing all this, so... Willem isn't the only one concerned for Jackson. Today, he's a no-show at his weigh-in with Cecilia. I'll ring him now and see. See how we go. (TENSE MUSIC) Hi, this is Cecilia, the bariatric nurse. OVER PHONE: Can you call me? I hope to catch up with you soon. Thanks. Bye, now. (LAUGHS) I've just been too busy doing all my stuff, eh. I've got no time for that kinda shit. Mostly, the people who make it through to weight loss surgery have to work really hard. And really do care. Do you care enough? Yeah. Yeah. You do? What kind of things have you been eating? I don't know exactly. (SIGHS) Healthy foods. A bit of everything, really. Have you been weighing yourself? Nah, not since the last time. Do you know if you're losing weight? Nah, I dunno. Don't even know if I am, to be honest. Do you feel like you are? I dunno. I just do it, really. I don't know if I am losing weight. (SIGHS) So, yeah. Two weeks later, and Jackson is a no-show at his clinic appointment. He didn't arrive at the clinic appointment, and it's something that we're really clear about from the start. Non-attendance, rescheduling... We eventually will discharge you back to your GP, because what we find is that if the patients aren't committed to attending these sessions, we know that they won't be committed post-operatively with their surgery. And we're doing an awful lot for these patients. We're committing an awful lot, with not just the surgery, but with the clinic appointments, the costs associated with that. And there are hundreds of patients wanting this surgery that would jump tomorrow to make these appointments, and they would attend every session, and they would do everything that we're telling them, so this is where we're at with Jackson. RAPS: # I wish that boy would. # I'm in Hollywood # tryna get my money good. # Walkin' like a man when I'm walkin' round my hood. #