With Friends Like That...

It's a challenge for most people to drop a significant amount of weight. It's even more of a challenge when your friends and family are not supportive.

I watched The Biggest Loser last night. The contestants were sent home for a week (I think it was probably over the holidays) and then had to return to the ranch and resume the competition.

I was surprised at how many of the "welcome home" celebrations included lots of junk food. These people do not just have 10-20 pounds to get rid of. All of The Biggest Loser contestants are obese. They were returning home after losing anywhere from 33-70+ pounds and were involved in a competition where they could not only regain their health but could win $250,000.

Regarding the food at one gathering, the comment was made that, "everyone here is not on a diet." True, but it would have been such a hardship to have the party center around family, friends and fellowship while offering some healthy snacks rather than tons of donuts, pastries, gravy, etc.? (Of course, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that TBL supplied all the food to increase the dramatics.)

The worst example of sabotage was when contestant Paul went out to eat with his friends and family. He didn't just slip up, he pigged out. Plate after plate of wings arrived at his table and Paul ate plenty.

I absolutely believe in personal responsibility and Paul blew it big time. He let himself and his team down. What appalled me about the behavior of Paul's group was that a few of them were actually taunting him with a huge, decadent dessert they were eating. This is a guy who's father and grandfather died in their 40s and with his lifestyle Paul was following in their footsteps. How anyone who cares about him could be anything less than totally supportive of Paul's efforts to get healthy is beyond my comprehension.

(I do realize that things are not always as they appear on "reality TV". Selective editing, showing scenes out of chronological order, splicing reaction shots into scenes where they didn't really appear, etc. are all SOP on these shows. However, it sure looked liked those folks were going out of their way to entice Paul to eat that dessert.)

It sucks when people try to sabotage your efforts but you can still succeed. Tomorrow, I'll write about the importance of discovering your deepest motivation to help keep you on track even when circumstances make it more challenging.