Chitoka Light weighed in at 700lbs at the start of preparations for TLC's Family by the Ton....
TLC's Family by the Ton has since been renewed for a second season....
Chitoka Light: I think it truly is a struggle. You lose, and gain back.
U.G. Digital Mag: Right. It’s hard enough to lose one pound.
Chitoka Light: Right. Food is a part of our lives, and you need it to survive. You can’t just walk away from it, and that’s the struggle. For me it was a gradual process. I didn’t have a huge trauma in my life. People don’t believe it when you say it, but you don’t see it sometimes because you see yourself everyday.
U.G. Digital Mag: That’s true. I know that to be true.
Chitoka Light: I started eventually noticing limitations in what I could do. It should have been red flags, but instead of changing my habits, I would do things to accommodate. I should have said let me stop because I can’t go upstairs anymore. It wasn’t a decision to become bed bound. At first, I had trouble getting around, but the thing that kept me mobile was I had a car. Once my car broke down, that was the thing that took it to the next level.
trouble getting around, but the thing that kept me mobile was I had a car. Once my car broke down, that was the thing that took it to the next level.
U.G. Digital Mag: It’s hard to reverse things when you don’t have a strong support system. Through the show, we saw you had support, yet, everyone was going through the same struggle. I would imagine that made it really difficult because they couldn’t truly support you since they themselves needed the same support.
Chitoka Light: Right. Also, what wasn’t shown was that my mother was terminally ill. I was taking care of her because my sister was struggling to do it alone. I was living in Tennessee before, so I hadn’t really seen how much she had declined. I don’t think I realized how much it ultimately took a toll on me. I’m the older sister, so I went straight into making sure her health was good.
When you become a caregiver, you often let yourself go. God blessed her because she lived so much longer than she was given. They said she had 6-8 months to live, so I wanted to make it as comfortable for her as possible. I have no regrets about that. In the show, it did show me going to her funeral. She passed about three months into the project. I didn’t realized until she passed that I was under so much emotional stress. I didn’t realize how consumed I was.
U.G. Digital Mag: How did you ultimately connect with the network for the show?
Chitoka Light: One of my cousins, who’s show did not premiere, she thought it would be a good idea for us to try it.
U.G. Digital Mag: I think it was very educational. People were able to get a lot from it. I want to speak more on the aftermath of it all. There’s a lot I’m sure didn’t air. Where are you now in terms of progress?