Biggest Loser Trainer Bob comment

[Guest guest]

I don't normally watch The Biggest Loser, 'cause

it just pushes people back into that " if you just

work harder, do this, don't do that, your weight

will just FALL OFF " mentality. But I was flipping

through the channels the other night and paused at

the show for a few minutes. Heard the most interes-

ing comment - don't know why it resonated so deeply,

but it did. Bob was working with a guy, doing some

yoga, and he was just astonished at how FLEXIBLE the

guy was, especially " for a big guy. " And he leaned

over the guy and said, (in a totally affirming way),

" This weight is NOT YOURS! "

Wow. Like I said, I don't know why it struck me,

but it had a ring of truth to it. I guess I've always

thought of my extra pounds as BEING ME (if that makes

any sense) - that my excess pounds ARE me in some way.

And then, of course, I rail against a world and culture

that can't see that my weight isn't really ME. But

after that comment, I'm thinking, okay... do I really

know it isn't me? Do I seriously believe this weight

isn't MINE? That it doesn't BELONG to me in a very

real way?

And if it isn't MINE, why am I holding on to it so

seriously? If I go to try on clothes I can instantly

tell when something I try on " just isn't me " , and I shed

it and move on to something else because I know what IS

me and what ISN'T me. Why can't I realize the weight

is the same thing? As Bob said, it isn't MINE. It isn't

ME in any way that counts. I've spent my life wishing

OTHER people would see that, would realize it doesn't

define me, isn't really mine, isn't really who I am. But

have I myself believed that?

I think the answer is no. I've OWNED this weight, as if

it were who I am. Consciously, unconsciously, both at

the same time. But I'm married to it in a way.

Time for a divorce, it seems. " This weight ISN'T YOURS. "