‘Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition’ Recap June 13, 2011 — Dana Baker Comes Out
On Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition, Dana Baker gets rid of more than weight. This 45-year-old also gets rid of his fears. In exchange, he finds his self-esteem as his body shrinks and his confidence grows.
One aspect of this nearly 500-pound man who lives alone that makes him not only happy, but also fulfilled, is when he sings. Baker has an incredible gospel voice and is involved in a choir at a church near where he lives in Tennessee. Problem is that Dana doesn’t share any of this joy with his family because he does not want them to see how large he has become. They live in Ohio and have not seen him in a very long time.
But, eventually they do reunite—at the end of this very long year of transformation on Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition as engineered by fitness guru Chris Powell. But that happens at the end of the show.
At the beginning, Powell surprises Baker while he is doing water aerobics in a local pool. This life-changing coach telling the lovely man he has chosen to help that together they will work to get him healthy while they get the pounds off.
An initial weigh-in shows that Dana Baker owns 498 pounds, and so Powell is determined to make that number dramatically dwindle within 12 months’ time. But this subject of Weight Loss Edition is hiding something. He can’t seem to stay with the program proposed by Powell, often cheating by eating fast food and then attempting to hide the wrappers.
Chris Powell does not find this acceptable. He not only lets Dana knows that he is aware of the problem, but he also chides his subject, telling him that they both have the same goal: To make this big man smaller and to make sure this nice guy lives a longer and richer life.
After digging for the reason why Dana continues to sabotage his Extreme Makeover Weight Loss program, Baker finally admits he has a secret: He was sexually abused as a kid and has been keeping the secret ever since, eating to compensate for his shame. Chris and Dana make a pact to work on that as they work on this man’s future physique which is not only going to look better, but the resulting look is going to literally save his life.
Another confession comes later in the ABC program: Dana Baker admits he is gay but has never come out. Chris Powell hugs his protegé and tells him that now he has been able to come out, this hard worker is free to get better and to lose the weight so he can go on and enjoy a great life.
The bottom line?
Dana Baker loses 203 pounds, no longer weighing anywhere near the 498 pounds he weighed before his year-long regime started. The newly crowned weight loss champ says he hasn’t seen the 200s on the scale since grade school. He then reads a heartfelt thank you note to Chris Powell during the final reveal, ending the message on a high note—literally. Baker sings the ending and then the two hug.
And so ends another success story in the life of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. This one was a doozy. It was truly inspirational.
With that being said, did you watch the ABC reality show, Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition? Were you amazed at how much weight Dana Baker was able to shed? Do you think Dana will keep off the 203 pounds he shed during the past year of blood, sweat, and tears? Thoughts?
