TV

I'm not a big TV watcher.

I used to be a BIG TV person when I was younger, but I've just kind of fallen out of it and many shows just don't hold my attention anymore.


The L Word is the only show I watch on a regular basis and unless I'm sick, bored out of my mind or I can't sleep, I don't really watch TV at all. I perfer to putz around the house or on the computer or listen to music.

There are times when I feel like I'm missing out on a big part of American culture. People at work will come up to me and say: "Hey...did you watch such and such last night? It was hysterical?" When I tell them no, I've never seen the show they look at me as if I have 3 eyes!

M is a bigger TV watcher than I am. Her big addiction is baseball and games shows. She'll buy the baseball package in the summer time and watch more baseball than I think is appropriate. M is also a big fan of the Apprentice and watches it every season no matter how stupid it really is! (She also likes Sponge Bob Square Pants - there is a whole psychological thing going on here that I don't even want to tap into.)

I never got the whole reality show thing. It kind of creeps me out to see people in these settings. MTV had Real World and my kids used to watch that a lot. I used to cringe when I saw how people behaved on those shows. Then came Survivor and American Idol and soon enough every station was coming up with a new spin on the reality thing.

People at work would come in and talk about the American Idol try outs and how bad people were and how funny it was to watch people make asses of themselves on national television.

I just didn't get it.

I would feel so embarrassed for these people. Some think that they actually have a talent and then they subject themselves to ridcule....yikes...I just don't understand that.

Then came along "The Biggest Loser". I wasn't sure what this show was about at first because I was just going by the name and thought OK...what are people willing to do to humiliate themselves in front of a whole nation to be considered the Biggest Loser. I thought it was another show like Fear Factor where people ate bugs and sat in pens filled with snakes etc.

When I realized it was about people who where overweight I immediately felt empathy. I struggle with my weight all of the time. M had it on last week, so I saw with her to watched it and then I watched it again with her this week as well.

My heart goes out to these people.

I also give them a tremendous amount of credit to be able to put their lives out there for everyone to see. We as a nation look down on anyone who is overweight as someone who is lazy, they don't try hard enough, they're slobs etc.

These people put their lives on hold for up to 4 months while they compete to try and lose weight and get into shape and change their lives. They've left behind children and spouses, friends and family and I don't know...the $250K prize money isn't the real draw for me if I were a contestant, I think I would be more interested into becoming more healthy and getting my life back on track.

The first time I watched them all weigh in...I kind of gasped. The men usually take their shirts of and the women are in nothing but sports bras and spandex shorts. It's a little hard to look at. I can't imagine having the nerve to do that in front of millions of viewers! They tell stories of how much they eat and why they think they eat and how did they get so heavy and even though I cannot relate to all of their stories, some of it hits home.

It's interesting to see the changes in them as they lose the weight. The workouts that the trainers put them through do not look easy at all to me. They get screamed at to work harder and pushed to their limits.

I need that. I need someone to scream at me to get off my lazy ass and get moving!!!

This year they are doing couples or teams of two: There are husbands and wives, brothers, mother/daughter, mother/son, best friends, old team mates and 1 couple are perfect strangers.

I've picked my favorites and I will see how they make out through the next few weeks. I enjoy the different personalities and seeing the alliances that they make.

This past week Neill and Amanda got voted off. I was happy about that one. Neill is a whimp. I don't think he tried hard enough. I felt bad for his wife though, she was working her butt off. Literally! She is really starting to look good!

Anyway - it seems I have been roped into a reality show. I never thought it would happen to me, butt it has.