The Biggest Loser

I've been a fan of the show 'The Biggest Loser' and when they had open auditions for season 8, I jumped at the chance of a lifetime to go and try out. My best friend Liz went to the Louisville, Indiana audition with me, we made the long drive there and then got up after only a few hours of sleep and went and sat in the cold with other people who were also trying out, we just happened to get in line right behind this very nice couple (Jen and Rick) and immediately hit it off with them, we sat there and talked to each other for hours while waiting for the talent agents to get there and start calling groups of eager BL fans for auditions. When it was finally our turn, we went in with a group of ten people and had an open chat, giving our opinions on what we thought of the weight gain of Jessica Simpson and how we thought she felt and other questions, among which, one was 'do you feel that overweight people are discriminated against in public?' a few other questions followed and the agent just sat there and listened to the group talk and then when our 7 minutes were up, we were all rushed out and the next group was called in; that was it, that was what we drove so far for, and then the waiting started, the agents told us that if we got a call back, it would be withing the next 4-5 days, waiting was horrible, and it was such a let down to not get that call...but alas, I was going to try out again!! I just could not take that I was not right for the show, so I talked to my husband and I decided that I was going to drive to Nashville, TN and try out again to get on the show that I loved so much, I wanted to change my life and I wanted to the help that they gave on the show and they had great support of other people who were on the show. I left at around 1 am to go to Nashville and made the drive by myself and when i got there i was so confused as to where the beginning of the line was, I was snapped at by a such a rude woman who obviously thought that she was better then everyone else there, she also snapped on other people, like the girl who got in line behind me, she was also confused as to where the end of the line was, but we sat there and talked and then it started to rain, that sucked!! I had no umbrella and no hood on my jacket or anything, the kind woman in front of me shared her umbrella with me and we sat and talked about our lives and what we did in our free time, it was a good time, I really enjoyed getting to know people who had the same struggles that I did. But once again, I got no call back and I was devastated, I cried myself to sleep a few nights and would just break out in tears because, once again;I had been rejected....

After the rejection of TBL, I found comfort in others who had also been rejected, Christine who was on my facebook account as an acquaintance has now become such a dear friend, she has also went through the rejection of being on TBL, although, she made it farther in the process then Jen or myself did, she got a call back interview and it seemed to be the most stressful time for her just waiting to see if she was going to be picked to make it on the show, she waited and waited and waited...it was so hard when she didn't get the call to be on the show, the devastation hit hard, not only her, but all of us who had tried out and wished more then anything to make it on the show.

Since my rejection of not making it on the show, I decided that I had to take control of my own life and make my own decisions about getting healthy. I started working out 3-5 times a week, riding a stationary bike, I started out at 1 mile of huffing and puffing and now I do 4-5 miles a day and I'm addicted to it, I found that I have muscles where I never knew they existed before, I swim everyday I go to the gym, and I love it, I've found that when I don't go, I miss it, it feels like my day is not complete without some sort of exercise. I've lost 25 pounds and will keep posting my weight gains and losses as they come with my weekly weigh ins.

Going back to TBL, I don't really want to be on the show now, I've come to realize that they aren't really in the business of helping people as much as I thought they were, I've realized that they try to make it out as you can't be a whole and complete person and you can't make your dreams come true unless you are skinny enough to do them, I find that so sad and disheartening, I fell in love with the show and the people who were on the show because they seemed to want it so bad, now the contestants who get on the show, immediately want to know how to get an agent to promote them out, they don't want to be there to lose weight, they want to be there for their fifteen minutes of fame, not at all like the people I met while waiting in the lines at the auditions. even the season finale was awful, people who we all thought would work hard, didn't. Some even lost 10, 22 and 30% of their body weight, not at all the outcome that everyone wanted to see. There is even speculation that the at home winner, Jerry, had some sort of surgery or took weight loss pills to lose the 177 pounds that got him the win, how did this 68 year old lose so much weight while being at home, he could not do it before? So what made him do it at home this time? he only spent two weeks on the BL ranch. An the winner, Helen, she is a 48 year old selfish woman who sent her own daughter(who has been heavy her whole life) home. Helen has only been heavy for a few years and didn't want to give her young daughter who seems to have a very low self esteem a chance to get healthy. So instead, she doesn't lose that much by the end of the show. Doing it at home was not doing it for her. I feel sorry for her.

The cherry on top at the BL finale was that they had two bleach blond young girls on the show for America to vote for, as to who was going to be on next season, these girls almost looked identical and had the same stupid story about how they missed out on life being young, I was like, what?!?! you are 24 and 19, what have you missed out on??!?! They did what seemed to be fake workouts with Bob and Jillian; Jillian even pretend to sit on one of the girls lap during an exercise routine, what a sham!! They probably had spray bottles to spray them with to make them look sweaty...wouldn't want to mess up their gobs of makeup they were wearing.

It was so depressing to come to realize what the show is really promoting, not a healthy lifestyle, but that you can only be happy if you are skinny.

I'm done ranting for now.