Like many of us, I try to be healthy. I just want to feel good and strong. Like many of us, there is work to do. My work is to shed pounds and move more. This year I will be 70 in November, and I want to feel better than I do today. Yeah, I am eating less and choosing fresh and nutrient rich foods and doing easy yoga online with Silver Sneakers. But what is really keeping me motivated is watching a television show called My 600 Lb. Life. These people are big! I watch in unbelievable aw what these people eat and how some are bed bound trapped inside their own oversized bodies. Although I know my struggle is not their struggle, seeing how big a body can get makes one want to have the best healthy body possible. So, I watch.
It feels like some sort of behavior modification. Like when people are arrested for drunk driving and part of their rehabilitation and punishment are forced to watch car accidents where drunken people cause deadly accidents. These scenes are filled with blood, broken bodies, and mangled metal.
Watching 600 pound people eat donuts and pizza may not be as disturbing as Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, A Clockwork Orange where Malcom McDowell (Alex) has surgical pieces inserted into his eyes, forcing his wide open eyes to watch horrific acts of violence. But it is close. And those remembered images keep me from buying pastries and candy.