Why I watch The Biggest Loser. Sometimes.

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I really like watching The Biggest Loser. I mean, I wouldn't add it to the schedule of TV programmes I watch, but when I catch it, I'm happy. In all honesty, I think it's because the size of the contestants scares the living daylights out of me. I'm terrified of getting that big. I know people who are obese and it's so not a walk in the park. They have issues with mobility, with seating (which is just plain embarrasing) and eventually with health. What's worse is that it's really difficult for them to lose the weight because there's so much of it.

I think the reason that it scares me so much is because an obese family friend once turned around to me when I was eating a huge plate of curry and said: 'I used to eat like that', meaning that now that she's older she can't eat such large portions. It freaked me out, because I started to think if she used to eat that much - i.e. doesn't anymore - and is that big, what the hell is going to happen to me? That's when I got into healthy living.

It's also why I watch The Biggest Loser: seeing people that heavily overweight struggling so much to get healthy makes me want to work even harder to not get there, to not become them. It makes me start eating more fruit and veg, cut back on portion sizes and make exercise a priority.

And funnily enough it's almost always on when I'm having my dinner. :D

8. TV / Books

I channel flick, watch crap, and will want to watch something on TV even if there’s nothing on and so I usually end up watching reality TV for a few hours, wasting all that time.

Earlier in the year, in an effort to curb this, I bought myself a TV for my bedroom, with no TV or satellite channels whatsoever, and nicked the DVD player from downstairs. Now, when I want to watch something (especially at breakfast) I stick a DVD in and watch about 20-30 minutes (or however long I want/have time for) of a film that I love, from the comfort of my own bed. Invariably, it puts me in a great mood, and then I turn it off.

I watch actual TV (like from a satellite) downstairs, but only for the length of the programme that I particularly want to watch. The only things I tend to watch now are films I don’t own, or series that I really love, like CSI (Vegas and NY – don’t like Miami), House, Criminal Minds, etc. This has freed up a lot of time for me.

Personally, I don’t believe that the TV is anything other than a tool. I can use it to enrich my life (entertainment is enriching, right?), or I can abuse it and let it waste my life. This year I’ve really learnt to use it and, more importantly, the off-button.

Instead of watching so much TV, I’ve started to read more books. I also haven’t re-read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (my favourite book in the English language) or ‘The Lord of the Rings’, which is a good thing, because it’s kind of boring reading the same book several times a year, especially if you don’t get something new from it. I’ve not read a huge amount because I am a slow and irregular reader, but it is a definite improvement. I used to read quite a lot of books (more than 4 a month), but for some reason I stopped doing that over the past few years. I am very glad that I’m getting back into it again.

Climbing out of the rut

I've decided to start doing and try to climb out of the crater-sized laziness rut i've got myself into. As an incentive i have an exam in Qur'an memorisation next Tuesday, and i'm hoping to have got back on the whole memorising thing again. I also have to revise some other subjects by next week, which shouldn't be too hard.

I've also been meaning to buy a tv for myself - believe me, it would actually help things, and not make them worse. I need to get back to my yoga video, plus i'm more disciplined about watching dvds than i am with the tv. With the tv, i decide i'm only going to watch x and end up channel-flicking afterwards and watch a load of other rubbish too. with the dvds i just watch the film and then switch off. see the difference? Anyway, i need to get me a tv, and when last i was in the uk i saw one for £20. Do you think i can find it online now? no. i want to ask some friends to buy it for me as they will be coming by car and have the space, but i don't want them having to trapse all around the town just for a bloody tv! So i'm just gonna look on ebay and see what that throws up.