Have any of you seen the show Fit to Fat to Fit on A&E channel?  We started watching it four or five weeks ago. If you haven’t seen the show let me recap it for you and explain why I am writing about it and what we can learn from it.

The shows premise is that many trainers can’t relate to overweight people and that is why there sometimes can be a disconnect between trainer and trainee. The trainer thinks trainee is overweight because they are lazy or have no initiative or just don’t care enough about themselves to make healthy food choices. (Note: This isn’t all trainers. My wife isn’t like that.)

For the first 16 weeks the trainer gains as much weight as they can, so far it has been anywhere from 40 -70 pounds. They also can not work out during that 16 weeks. They are having to eat 6-10000 calories a day to gain the weight. At first most of them are okay with it. They get to eat foods they never eat, donuts, fast food, deserts, etc., and eat it in big portions. I am talking like a table full of food.  I don’t see how they can keep it down, and some do struggle. They go out with friends drinking and eating late at night.  What is amazing is how fast they lose what they had and how long it takes to get it back. During the 16 weeks the show shows the emotional, physical, and mental toil gaining all this weight takes on the trainers. Many quit playing with their kids or spending time with their spouses because they have no energy or think they don’t deserve it because of how they look. They get depressed and some have had to go to the doctor because of high blood pressure or heart troubles,  all in 16 weeks.

The next 16 weeks the trainers and trainees start working out together to lose weight and learn how to make healthy eating choices.  The trainers talk about how hard it is to break the bad habits. They crave the bad food they were eating. They didn’t think it would be that hard to quit eating bad and get back into shape. They now know what it is like to be overweight and to have to lose the weight and make the right choices.

Why am I writing about it? Because it shows how easy it is to make bad choices and how hard it is to break them once you start.  How easy it is to bust your butt to get healthy and just a couple weeks of bad choices can take it all away. It is a daily choice to make to be healthy. You will have setbacks but don’t let one bad day turn into two or three. These trainers see how addictive bad food is. Why is it? Because food companies spend millions and millions of dollars to see how food affects a person and your brain and they put ingredients in it to get you addicted. All for the mighty dollar. Just think what they could do with those millions of dollars to make our food how God made it to be, clean, natural, organic.

Working out is hard. You have to get mentally there before you can get physically there. The hardest step is always the first. There are days I don’t feel like working out or running but my mental note is once I put the shoes on, I am doing it. For you it may be just getting out of bed and saying I am going to do something today. Even if it is just ten push-ups or walk around the house twenty times.  Maybe it’s to do jumping jacks during commercials, get off the couch. Eat an apple instead of a cookie. Grab a handful of grapes instead a handful of M&M’s – my enemy.

 

 

Don’t give up. Every day make small changes that will add up to big lifetime changes over time. Give it time. Make clear, specific goals. It doesn’t have to be about weight. It can be about not buying junk food this week. Or to be a one size smaller. Or to lose 10 lbs. by March 12th.  Then once you hit those goals, make new ones.

The most powerful change you will see is the change inside you. The voice in your head that goes from you can’t to you can. Every little step will give you confidence to take the next step.

On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons – 

Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer – 

Fighter by Gym Class Heroes (feat Ryan Tedder) – 

Best Day Of My Life by American Authors – 

Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson – 

Stronger by Building 429 – 

Overcomer by Mandisa – 

Not Afraid by Eminem – 

Fight Song by Rachel Platten –