The biggest losers...

Ok, I may well lose readers over this post. Sad but if you feel that way then don’t let the door hit you in the arse on your way out.

There was an online article yesterday regarding some former “Biggest Loser” contestants complaining that they have put their weight back on again. Read it here.

Poor diddums.

They were contestants on a reality game show.  The TV station, producers, crew, even the trainers are there because they are being paid to provide entertainment.  Even Hayley (so much more sincere than AJ Courtcase) is there for the bucks. It doesn’t have much to do with how good you are at achieving weight loss at the end of the day, it is how well you play the game, and after all, that’s why you are there.

The sole purpose is to amuse the public, to make us feel superior (or inferior as the case may be), to watch people at their worst, tearing themselves and others down.  To provide a voyeuristic public with a view of fat people at their very worst.

The show takes people who clearly have huge problems, in a lot of cases horrible personalities and no shame whatsoever, and throws them to the mercy of some pretty twisted individuals who torture them for our viewing pleasure. Possibly the worst torture for all is that they are forced to do it in Lycra, while being screamed at and filmed from terrible angles.

Now these people are fat because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Full stop.

There are reasons why they do this, the past, abuse, family dynamics whatever.  These are the reasons why mental health professionals exist, to help people deal with the underlying causes of their “issues” so that they can then take steps to get healthy.

It isn’t really how you look at the end that counts, it’s that you can be there for your family, be healthy, and lead the life you want.  TV being TV though it is all about the dream outfit, the make-over, the magazine shoots, dealing with the superficial rather than the real problems.

 

Unfortunately, deluded people who are looking for a quick fix sign up for this show in droves, expecting miracles and when they don’t get them are looking for someone to blame.

In the article a former contestant who lost 25kg, a great effort you say, yes, but still dangerously overweight, has now piled on over 40kg since she left the show. And she is angry, I would be angry to, with myself though, not the show.  The show didn’t make her stop all exercise and eat the amount that it would take to put on that kind of weight. That is some dedication there.  The show stopped when she walked off-stage and back into her life.

Of course real life is going to get in the way, no-one has 8 hours a day to exercise, not much of a life anyway if you did, but the simple truth is that if you burn more kilojoules than you consume you will lose weight.

 

Now to do that you need to get your shit together, review your life, relationships whatever. Get help sure.  You also need to take responsibility for your own actions. No-one is holding you down and shoving the food into your mouth, step up and get on with it.

Alcoholics and drug addicts have to go through some pretty shitty things to get well, so why should food addiction be any different.  It is though. You can successfully navigate life without booze and drugs, it isn’t easy but you can, but you have to eat food to live…and it is everywhere - every magazine, TV shows galore, billboards. All of these addictions will trash your life and more than likely kill you, but there is no sympathy for the fat.

Society would never stand for a show with mentally ill people working through their problems in such a way but it is socially acceptable to laugh at the obese, whatever the reason for their size, including mental illness. To view them as entertainment. The TV stations are just cashing in on that…it’s their function.

But as long as people line up to get their fat arses on TV then people will watch. 

So if you are really serious about weight loss, get help, go for a walk, eat your veggies, whatever it takes but don’t blames others for your own behaviour.

It is sad, but probably the biggest losers are those who learn nothing from their experience.

Note: I am extremely overweight and struggle every day.  It is a process that I have to work though myself, a position I got myself into.  It is no-one’s fault but mine and I own it. If it was a matter of will power I would be a size 8, I quit smoking cold turkey several years ago and never looked back, that was easy, I just stopped.  It took a long time for me to get this size and will take a long time to get healthy again.  Everyone of has our own challenges, for example some people are just born arseholes, and there is no fixing that. I will do it though….and no Lycra shots I promise! Support is nice but not expected, I won’t bore you to tears with every kg lost, but I will be putting regular updates on the blog to keep myself accountable.  xxx