Lessons Learned from...The Biggest Loser

So I am not normally an avid consumer of reality TV. However, I must confess that NBC's The Biggest Loser inspires me. I get excited by the prospect of taking control of your life. What more tangible example is there of making your life better than shedding hundreds of pounds, adding years to your life expectancy, and gaining energy you never knew you had plus perspective you thought you lost?

Lately the question "if you knew you could ___, wouldn't you?" has been perplexing me. Insert whatever you wish for ___: prevent cancer, live longer, be happier. If we knew we could do these things by making changes to our daily lives, wouldn't we? No. Human nature illustrates that we would not necessarily make the required changes. People constantly eat the wrong things, drink too much, watch copious amounts of TV, snap at their children and behave nastily towards their friends. I do understand that we all have momentary lapses when we overeat or say things we don't mean. But often I realize I'm doing something wrong while I'm doing it AND I KEEP DOING IT. As my husband recently reminded me, that is the very definition of being an idiot (thanks, darling...I love you too!).

Well, thanks to The Biggest Loser I am going to be an idiot no longer. If the contestants on this show can make such monumental changes to the way they live, surely I can make the relatively microscopic ones that my life requires. My first adjustment is to eat more slowly. I have constant issues with digestion and I have repeatedly been told that if I eat slowly and chew my food, I could likely resolve these issues. So if I knew I could, why wouldn't I?