I’d like to see a show of hands of those of you who watch The Biggest Loser on NBC? (You know, the one with Bob & Jillian, the trainers, & Alison, the chick from Days of Our Lives?) If you have had a pulse or have been breathing air since 2004, you have more than likely at least heard of this show. The premise is this – people from all over the country who have serious weight problems come to get their butts kicked by said trainers Bob & Jillian for a few months. The person who has the most weight loss at the end of the season is crowned The Biggest Loser.
But, the producers of the show do a really good job of tugging on the viewers’ emotions as we watch these people go through their journey of weight loss. At the end of an episode, I’m left feeling like I’m the one who’s the biggest loser, for crying over problems I can’t fix for people I don’t know.
[I promise this is not a plug.] Right now the show is in its last week of the season, in fact, the finale is this Tuesday night. The contestants live at The Ranch – equivalent to an every day, hard-core fitness Boot Camp and Disney World all wrapped up into one. I’ve been thinking of packing on a few pounds, just so I could get to spend a few months on The Ranch with Bob & Jillian. Anyone with me? [Read my bio to know if that's a joke or not...]
An episode a few weeks ago showed these fit and trim contestants watching video of themselves when they were 50 or 100 or 150 or 200 pounds heavier and they were trying to live their normal lives with extra weight on their bodies. They were sluggish and tired all the time, and just the very thought of doing extra work to get themselves from point A to point B was excruciating for their bodies, much less for their mental capacities.
But, I loved when these contestants got to see the interviews they had on Day One, because the person they are now is not the person they were on Day One. Day One self said, “You can do this. I have every confidence that you can finish what you started.” That may have been the exact thing the new self needed to hear, to keep him/her motivated to keep running the race with confidence.
I wonder what I would do if I had a video tape of myself on Day One of my parenting? Would I even have known what to say? Would I understand the incredible role I have to my children? Would I be a different parent because of it? Would it give me strength to know that I’ve come so far.. and yet still have so far to go? Would it spur me on to greatness? Would it encourage me to be a better mom – for my family and for others’ families?
I’m going to go write myself a note and keep it where I can read it. I hope it’s a source of encouragement, even when I feel sluggish and don’t think I can go through my everyday life. I might be the biggest loser some days. But some days [most days!] I’ll have definite moments of being a winner.
jenna blogs at [kevin and jenna [dot] com]. She might or might not be addicted to The Biggest Loser tv show.
Annie Shultz
