It’s about being the longest – not the Biggest – Loser.

May 3, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

I recall watching half an episode of “The Biggest Loser” once.

And I remember thinking:

“Wait… but what happens after the formerly fat lady sings? And the show ends? And the cameras pan away?”

The most massive facet behind fitness is motivation. What motivates you to run or bike nearly daily? Or to eat well? Is drinking lotsa agua and downing brown grains just well ingrained? Or did you painstakingly program it into your brain yourself? Whatever your inspo is, it has to be consistent. Which is why when the lights went out on the Biggest Losers, they went back to just being big (literally) losers – or so they felt, from the internet shaming they enduring, adjacent to the shame they felt anyway for re-accruing all that fat they’d diligently slaved to shave off themselves not long ago.

Like Danny Cahill, for instance – the winner of Season 8. Homeboy’s starting weight was 430. By the show’s end, it was an impressive 191. Seven years later, the dude’s ballooned back up to 295 lbs. Similarly Sean Algaier weighs more now than he did before going onto the show. Granted he got down to 289 from 444 lbs – but now he’s 450. And the trailblazing first chick to win on the show, Ali Vincent, admits she’s followed in their heavy footsteps since her 2008 victory.

Or this dude, Erik Chopin:

So, what’s going on here?

Nothing I wouldn’t expect, really. It’s what happens every time you try to cure a symptom instead’ve an underlying issue inducing the symptom. Short of the rare percentaged few who just have some sort’ve fattening glandular disorder (protip: you’re probably not one of ’em), peeps are fat ’cause they either eat badly, exercise insufficiently, or both. And they fail in these areas because of a failing in habits – which goes back to a mindset that needs to be reset. That’s why fatties snap their lap bands as soon as they pass a bakery. It’s why formerly bullied kids who’ve angrily lost weight, inflate as soon as they fall in love. Fixing the physical issue, won’t alter your snacking habits. And slimming down outta fear and anger means that’ll all go away the second you get happy.

Like the fear of constant weigh ins. Or disappointing a trainer. Or losing the contest. Likewise, if you’re only doing it ’cause your camera conscious, what happens when the cameras disappear and the focus is off you? Or – if you’re not working as much ’cause all your efforts are fitness focused, how’s this gonna integrate into your life later?

Now, this is where you might pass this off as another unrealistic reality show that’s not applicable to reality.

But the truth is, we all kinda do the same thing to ourselves all the time. If you’re not doing it for you now while you lose weight, you won’t do it for you later, when you want to keep your new physique. Fitness can’t just be a thing you save for when the stars all align and the cosmological setup’s convenient. Yet, many of us non T.V. stars are guilty of using externals and scale-scaredness as malevolent motivation instead’ve making the effort to self-inspire for the sake of enjoying life. Using outside sources and negative motivators as our only draw toward fitness is a sure way to watch your weight go up and then plummet over and over again, roller coaster style. When it comes to maintaining weight loss, the only authentic way to stage a successful mindset reset is to set perpetual positive goals behind why you do what you do, in tandem with putting your bad habits on blast (so you can nix ’em). Finding a form of cardio you adore and a stash of healthy delicious go-to foods is a good start. If it’s a one time goal or drudgery, then that fat’s patiently waiting – stashed in your bags the second your island holiday or honeymoon ends. It’s when you learn to enjoy some aspect of exercise (even if it’s just the bit where you brag about it on Instagram), detox from bad snacks (so you can fall in love with real food), and acknowledge that your chronic visits to DQ equals LBs… that you can begin fixing your shiz. Half the problem is ignoring the real problems, and looking for fake ones to fix.

That way you don’t hafta do the unthinkable task of habit changing.

“It’s true. McDoctor my doctor said so…”

It may seem harsh – but we must habit change.

I know this ’cause I went through the same for ages. And I learned the following:

For something to stay sustainable – to avoid the riding the XL-XS-XXXXL sine wave, we must change.

We must transform. If you want fitness forever, you’ve gotta keep that change daily.

And how do you do that? By doing hard work inside out. Yes, there’s the external habit stuff: you’ve gotta quit the crap foods (save for occasionally, maybe.) Yes, you’ve got to work out (which will only hurt for the first few weeks, while it feels foreign.) Think of it as forming a fitness chrysalis, after which you’ll emerge beautiful. But, in conjunction with all’a that, you’ve gotta sack up and ask yourself (or recruit a mood guru to assist you and ask) what might be causing the root sentiments sending you into self-sabotage mode in the first place. Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, or naughty nomming – our auto-destructive tendencies tend to bloom from seeds of sadness or fear or anxiety or some unfortunate cocktail of ’em all. Because we’re so accustomed to decades of digging into deep dish pizzas as a palliative by the point we even bother asking ourselves that, though, it can be tough to uncover. Which is why a “feel” pro, probing like a brain gravedigger to exhume those forlorn corpses might just be your best bet at any success.

In sum, fellow everyday Jane Does and Joes, it doesn’t take winning a T.V. show to suffer a fleeting fifteen minutes of fitness and rebound pounds. Most of us have done this most our lives. Thanks to the diet industry with its false answers, fast food on every corner, and photo-shopped models, we’re at no loss for a constant cascade of inapt carrots swaying before us as we run for our lithe(s). So, I say, go for the trifecta. First, find your fitness bliss. Something you love doing. Martial arts. DDR. Whatever. Next, spend some time enduring the worth-it withdrawal from bad food… and inviting into your life (and fridge) whole food options. And – while you’re purging your system of inimical ingestibles – also detox your noggin’s contents on a couch somewhere with someone in the Freudian field who specializes in dietary disorders. Find the means to tweak those think-settings and suddenly assuming the other two aforementioned habits won’t be such a struggle.

Some’ve us may never end up on prime time as contestants for our efforts.

But at least we can all relinquish the perpetual parting gift of re-inflating every other month.