Well, episode 2 last night really hit home.
The only 2 shows on TV I've ever cried while watching, was "extreme makeover (home edition)" and "the biggest loser"
I think watching shows about REAL people, in common every day to day struggles, make it easier to relate and to get attached to these individuals.
Last nights episode was like any typical biggest loser episode.
You had your challenges, last chance workouts will Jill/Bob, you had your struggles these contestants have, they even had a chef come in a teach them about portion size and what not.
There was this one part of the show where it really hit home.
During the challenge, they had the opportunity to work as a team to attain their goals for the week. They were placed in a river w/ thin planks, which of course wobbled, that they had to get across.
At each stop there were incentives that are considered "GOLD" at this point, because anyone can go home.
For instance at the first stop: 5 pound weight advantage
2nd stop: another 5 pound weight advantage.
3rd (final) stop: A phone call home (because phone calls to home are prohibited)
The last stop was from stop 3 straight back to stop one: which was another 10 pounds.
The only catch was...if 1 person fell in the water, everybody loses the challenge.
While I watched this take place, I could only think about how much LIFE is just like this challenge.
In any type of obstacle in life, many of us try to do things on our own. Yet how many times do we fail? How many times have we thrown in the towel and just let ourselves down!? How many times are we ashamed to get help and to really have the support system we need to succeed?!?
I felt so guilty.
This whole time while I was putting on this weight, and emotionally wrecking my self-esteem...I had people around me the whole time telling me, trying to keep me in line and accountable for the misery I was putting my body through.
Sure I've always had the excuse of "SCHOOL" being a stressful factor, and I'll never down play how stressed I was in school and the challenges I went through...BUT i negatively channeled my stress into eating habits and a lifestyle that will only lead me to the grave.
I watched, one person step onto the plank, then another, then you had 5 or 6 people on the wobbling plank all at the same time.
Some needed to gather their breath and calm their nerves while others cheered them on and motivated them to get across to the finish line.
At the end of the challenge...ALL of the reached their goals.
LIFE should be like this!!! Building a support team around you...and keeping each other accountable in EVERYTHING (not only weight loss), will only strengthen you as a person and the goals you want to achieve.
The next segment after the challenge were the contestant's phone calls to home.
And this is where I actually broke down in tears and felt a deep connection.
I listen as each individual called home.
"I miss you"
"I love you and I'm doing this for you and our future!"
"How are the kids?!?"
Then, the kids would be on the phone and say..."Daddy I Misses you, come home!!"
It really showed you the struggle these people have went through.
There were two individuals who really stood out to me...one was a youth pastor and the other a musician.
As the youth pastor got on the phone with his wife, he talked to her about how he was just diagnosed with type II diabetes (which he had no clue about) and how he was going to deal with it...but then his wife also informed him that she was pregnant w/ a baby girl (they also have 2 kids at home).
The man sobbed on the phone and said, If i need to do this for anyone it's my baby girl. He continued to say he did not want to die early, and being at 400+ pounds at the age of 28, will only lead you down a narrow path.
At that time...I was lost for words, and all I could think about was doing this for MY family, not only the family I have NOW, but for the wife I'll have in the future, for the kids who I'm going to father!!
THEY NEED ME!! they need me to be HEALTHY!!
I broke down and cried. Tears of shame for what I put my body through the past 2 years, joined with tears of determination that I CAN DO THIS!!
The second individual, the musician, had this life full of joy and happiness when he was younger. Playing gig after gig, and it was his true passion.
Somewhere down the road, adversity struck and he began eating himself to what he currently is today.
In a way, I can kind of relate because I'm also a musician at heart.
When he was talking about his, i believe 10 year old daughter, He was telling a story about how when she was a little girl...she said "Daddy, I want to have a big belly just like you!"
At that moment, he laughed and just brushed it off.
He later went into tears, and pictures of his daughter (who is always now over weight) showed. I could only imagine how guilty he feels about his daughter also being obese at such a young age.
As they were on the phone with each other...He could only proclaim how much LOVE he had for his daughter, but could not be there to show her.
He began to tell her..."Daddy misses you okay? But I'll be coming home hopefully later, rather than sooner, because I'm doing this for you baby!"
My heart sunk, these people have families who care so much about them, sometimes care too much about them.
These sometimes are the same people who offer them food, who take them out to eat, who shower them with unhealthful choices, because as they say FOOD is LOVE.
It was hard watching each person go through what they go through without relating myself.
I've always been the "BIGGER" kid.
But i don't always have to be that kid.
This episode really opened my eyes to my future.
All of these individuals have hit rock bottom some time in their lives, causing them to steer into the wrong direction. Making wrong decision after decision.
I want to catch myself before it gets too that point.
Hitting 230 was a pretty low point in my life.
BUT that is NOT gonna stop me, or discourage me from getting healthy again.
I'm truly thankful for shows like the "biggest loser"
There is so much CRAP on tv now, that it's hard to find something worth watching.
This show is definitely worth watching.
I pray, not only in weight loss, but in life...that I build that unit and surround myself with positivity.
Life is too challenging to do thing on our own.
With (first and foremost) GOD as the lead man and a family that will keep you in line...
Nothing is impossible with an open heart, a dedicated spirit, and a mindset of determination.
To health.
BST.TLF.
Russy
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