Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss

I admit it. I'm a big fan of weight loss shows, like the Biggest Loser. This summer, ABC started airing Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss, and I became intrigued. Remember when Extreme Makeover was all about facelifts, tummy tucks, and chin implants? Well, it's a bit different. Trainer Chris Powell spends a year with each person (they all are extremely obese) and tries to help them lose half of their weight. He's pretty amazing, mainly because he's so supportive of each person he deals with.

I've had a few episodes sitting on the DVR, and last night, we watched one featuring a man named Wally (http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-weight-loss-edition/episode-detail/wally/811464). Wally was extremely obese, and while he reached his goal of losing 110 pounds over the first three months, he spent the next six months, slowly creeping back up the scale. It was really hard to watch for a few reasons. First, you could see the depression etched on this man's face as he realized he was "losing" his battles. Second, how often do you watch a weight loss show and see someone fail? On the Biggest Loser, those who "fail" to lose the most amount of weight are sent home, but we really don't get in depth with them as to why they are stuck. With Chris and Wally, we did.

Wally claimed to have a food addiction, and Chris treated him as an addict. Mr. Kiki and I had a conversation about this after the show was over. Mr. Kiki thought that food addiction is an excuse, that it was just an inability to control yourself with a pretty label put on it. I disagree. Unlike Mr. Kiki, I cannot have junk food in the house. if it's there, I want it. Chocolate in the drawer? Nope, it's in my tummy. Chips on the counter? Nope, that was my lunch. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a food addict, but I know that there are some things that I just can't control, some things that tempt me so much that I give into them readily. I know how "good" it tastes, and so I just want it. Right now. Is that food addiction? Who knows. All I know is that I hesitate to use that term because then it would mean (to me) that I have no self-control.