Sabotage

My friend Cashen has a tendency to get somewhat obsessed with television shows. I don't mean when they are on television I mean later on. He likes to watch them season's at a time. Last year it was all different kinds of Star Trek (all of which was kind of the same to me) and now over this winter break it has been Lost. I had never watched the show before, but I knew what it was so I was a little bit more excited about watching it.

We started it a couple weeks ago and we are now on season two thanks to Netflix. I haven't watched all of the episodes, but anything that I've missed Cash catches me up on as we watch the current episode. Well last night we were watching episode 17 I think from season two and it was entitled "Dave". Let me give you a slight recap for those of you haven't watched Lost that way you won't feel lost in today's post...lol (corney right).

OK so there's a plane crash and they end up landing on an island. Each person has their own background story that you find out about in the episodes and find out that there are some kind of connections between most of them prior to the crash. Also while on the island they are having to overcome all kind of weird things. Things like black smoke, other people on the island, and other weird stuff, not just wild animals or starvation. I have a theory that their are mechanical dinosaurs on the island, but whatever. Okie dokie to get back to the point of the post I will tell you about this episode.

There is the token over weight guy on the show named Hurley. He's very stereotypical, funny, kind, everyone likes him and he's kind of shy. Why not love the fat guy huh? Well in past episodes they have talked about how at one point Hurley was in a mental institution and we never really know why. Well this episode has flashbacks to him in the crazy house. He has one friend there that his shrink keeps telling him is trying to keep him from changing. Hurley keeps trying to lose weight, but his new friend Dave doesn't want him to change and talks him into sneaking food and things like that. Later in the episode during the flash back Hurley's shrink shows Hurley a picture that he took of he and Dave and Dave is not in the picture because Dave is not real.

So what do you know after 40+ days on the island guess who Hurley starts to see? That's right Dave. Now I'm not going to lie I was exhausted last night so I fell asleep and didn't finish the episode, but I can get the general idea. We all have a "Dave" in us. A part of ourselves who thinks well whatever I like me the way I am and I don't need to change. This is what we all self sabotaging. We think we've tried to lose weight before and failed why will it be different this time? Or we find comfort in food and really just like to eat so we don't really understand why we have to change and we have this "Dave" person in our head that tells us it is OK to think this way. Well I suggest you get rid of your Dave.

If you do care about yourself and about your future you will need to make some kind of change. Yes you may like yourself and others like you too, but it is your responsibility to yourself to make good choices and healthier decisions. Just because the results aren't coming quick doesn't mean that they won't come. It is a process and in the end you will be so proud of yourself that you will no longer need to fight self sabotage because you will have already obtained success. I wish success for you all (and for me too). So keep on going and if you hear your inner Dave telling you it's OK to eat this or that or that you don't need to change for anyone then I suggest you get online and read success stories or really think about how far you've come at this point. Your Dave is right, you don't have to change for anyone you need to change for you!

Do you have any suggestions for how to get yourself to overcome urges? What works for you? Throw me a bone? I need to know what you all are thinking?

Heavy

So it is official. Whenever you lose weight you always lose it in the places that you don't want to first, especially if you are a girl. Case in point my boobs...lol. Now this shouldn't bother me except that one of my friends that I hadn't seen since October said to me, "Oh wow Cassandra, have your boobs gotten smaller?" To which I responded, no and that I didn't think so. To which she responded, "No I'm pretty sure they are smaller." Then she turned to her boyfriend who is also one of my really good friends and asked him if they were smaller. He made a wise decision and said that he didn't know. Funny how that works out huh. You try to lose weight and it goes there first. Crazy! My sib however told me that there was one way to ensure that my boobs wouldn't get smaller (she's an advocate for implants...lol).

Anyway, today's blog post is not going to be about my boobs, instead I am going to tell you about a new docudrama that premiers on A&E January 17. The series is called Heavy and will follow 22 differnent obese individuals who are suffering from severe health consequences due to their obesity. Each episode will be an hour long and will talk about two different individuals per episode. The documentary style footage will follow the individuals during their change for a six month period.

The thing that will make this particular series different from those before it is that it is not a competition show. It depicts the day-to-day struggles of the individual during a lengthy treatment program. A&E wanted this to be like nothing before so they sought out to different production companies to be a part of the filiming process. This resulted in something never seen before, a look at those who are dangerously obese who have to learn to live healthier lifestyles or they will die. The series also takes a look at the individuals understanding and root of their food addiction. Viewers get a first hand look into the lives of the person, seeing their daily struggles, pain, what their loved ones have to say, any kind of self doubt that they may have with overcoming their weight problem will be right there for all of us to see.

The first episode will be about two different 37 year olds from Houston, Texas. Tom and Jodi. Tom's story talks about how he was a big deal football player back in his hayday, but due to depression his body jumped up to 638 lbs. Tom suffers from a myriad of issues including sleep apnea, edema and the inability to sleep more than two hours. We will witness his struggle to get his life back before it is too late.The next story that we will see (on the same episode) will be that of Jodi, a recent stroke survivor who weighs in at 363 lbs. We will witness the critical juncture with her health. Jodi's weight is preventing her from getting to do her favorite thing and that is to sing, especially with her brothers in a band. She also is now having problems keeping up with her husband and two children.

Like most shows of this style on A&E (shows like Hoarders, Intervention and Obsessed), I assume that it will be just as intense as those (Intervention really gets to me every time I watch it). I was thinking that this show could be a wake up call for me and anyone else out there wanting to tackle the weight battle. You know see how bad it could get and exactly where we don't want to end up. I also thought that it may be inspirational for me or anyone else to see these personal stories and how the individuals have overcome their struggle.

To me real life achievement is where it's at. To see someone who was able to reach their goals amazes me. I don't know about you, but I would much rather watch and be inspired by someone who has been in my shoes than by someone who has been fit their whole life and never struggled with weight yelling at me and telling me how easy it is to be fit. They don't know, they've never had a problem due to their awesome genetics and super cracked out metabolisms. I'm not jealous (well hell maybe I am), I am just much more inspired by those who have overcome. What do you think? Is Heavy maybe something that you would consider watching? It starts next Monday on A&E at 10/9c if you are interested. I'll watch it and tell you what I think. You should do the same (and by that I mean tell me what you think of it).