Andy Lien

So, I watched “The Biggest Loser” tonight.  It was metformin weight loss buy the season premiere.  I’ve got to say that it was a pretty big decision for me to make; I don’t watch shows on a regular basis.  I don’t make sure I’m home for a television show.  I have a problem with commitment…I’d rather just watch old episodes of “Bones,” “Criminal Minds,” or whatever grotesque human anomaly is being showcased on TLC or DSC.

Okay, I tune in to “Ghost Hunters” fairly regularly.

I’m not ashamed to say it.

Anyway, I figured I’d tune in for Season 9 of what has made FatTV mainstream…with Bob, Jillian, and the poor former “Days of Our Lives” star who just always seemed too chubby.

I’m glad I watched it; I will try to tune in for the entire season.

I saw people who weighed less than I’ve weighed and people who weighed more than I’ve weighed.  Very peculiar.  To look at the biggest woman on the show–a young blonde–and watch her try to climb up and down steps to the scale without the safety net of railings was striking.  I’ve weighed more than she did tonight at my highest.  I was scared to death of climbing down steps without a railing for fear of my body’s momentum getting away from me…causing me to fall down the stairs to certain injury.  She and her mother walked down together, gingerly holding hands, watching each step they took.

Other people might have been watching how her body moved in the tight, revealing clothes…I was watching her watch the steps she was lowering herself down onto, worried.

I’ve had many of the same feelings the people on the show talked about; maybe even all of them.  The relief and excitement over getting help.  The confession that–at age 30–one of the gals has never been in love.  One of the guys has never had a girlfriend, but was everyone’s friend.  One mother who takes care of everyone else first.  The man who weighed in at the highest who didn’t know how much he weighed; no scale went high enough.  A will not to give up; to not be a loser.  A woman who was a sleeper, not seeming to draw much attention but who lost the most weight in a week for a woman in the history of the show.  A group of people who weighed in the first time in front of their families and communities…and who, while ashamed, didn’t want to let them down.

A group of people who decided to vote off the one who had the better support system for losing weight at home rather than the person who might be the biggest threat in the weight loss competition.

I can relate to all of that.

On the other hand, I watched the rerun of “Law & Order: SVU” called “Fat” directly following “The Biggest Loser” and could also relate to the character who felt so terrorized for being obese that he lashed out violently at his tormentor.

How rich the emotions I am feeling tonight.

FATtv, what am I going to do with you?