I said I was going on hiatus and here I am again. But I saw this thing on TV on Wednesday and its just stuck in my mind ever since.
It was on that show The Biggest Loser (I think... I was flipping channels and I really didn't stick around too long). The two couples of oversized people were facing their latest challenge. In front of them, arranged on two card tables, were about thirty different dessert items - cakes, pies, cookies, etc... and there were points printed on every plate. The challenge was to stand there and not eat anything. If they ate things, they lost points.
I was insulted. I thought, how stereotypical that they would think that FAT people can't control their urges and would just start splurging. This was going to be the easiest contest ever. All they had to do was stand there and not eat. How hard is that?
And then, as I watched, one of the women couldn't control herself and reached out and took a plate of chocolate chip cookies and ate them. What?! How could she lose control that easily? I thought, wow, she really has a problem.
Ever since then, it seems like I've been stuck on that same show taking that same challenge and I was wondering if anyone else felt like this. You know you shouldn't eat it. You know it will only make you fat and cause you to lose points, and yet you do anyway. You can't control yourself. You can't control your hunger for things that are not good for you.
I guess, ultimately, I was a little too hard on the contestants of this show. It just seemed that compared to some other challenges like dangling over a pool of sharks or scaling Mt. Pinatuba or sliding down the outside of a pyramid, that standing in front of a table full of sweets and not eating anything was, well, extremely easy. I didn't realize how difficult it could actually be.
3 comments:
Yeah- yesterday, I ate 6 zingers in a row. Man, were they good. And, then I went home and had pasta (the kind from the box) and then an ice cream sundae.
You know, it didn't seem all that bad when I ate it, but seeing it written down kind of disgusts me!
Although, I have a really strong stubborn streak and totally would have won that contest.
It does remind me of this Road Rules episode I saw. They had the kids hike into the wilderness. The only thing out there was them and this cabin. The cabin was locked. They were allowed to look inside the windows - it was filled with food. They had done their homework, too - it was filled with the contestants' favorite foods.
They had to stay outside for 2 days, together, and catch and cook their own food. They were not allowed to go into the cabin. If any of them went in the cabin, they would lose the challenge - and $50,000. That's a lot of money to college kids.
For the next two days, the kids starved. It became like Treasure of the Sierra Madre - they watched each other endlessly. They could not bring it upon themselves to kill the chicken they had caught. So, they kept it as a pet. And starved. They survived on odd things they found around - and water.
On the third day, they woke up and realized they had won the challenge and were so excited. But, no more than when they found out that, in addition to the $50,000, they won an evening in the cabin.
I think the kids ate for 24 hours straight.
Its funny what people find tempting. Temptation is so individual. A man who is married and has a daughter and is President of the United States could be tempted by someone even as silly as an intern. I guess we all have our weaknesses. We build up these walls where we think we're safe. We tell ourselves that we are not like those people - that we would never give in and eat a snack cake just because it was in front of us. But we are only kidding ourselves. We are every bit as weak as the next person. We are only strong in our egos.
I think, after this, I've got to think up something for the youth group to do - a whole topic on temptation. Hmm...
Hey, wasn't that part of Pastor Dave's famous $20 bill speech? Funny - we all remember that sermon on the ski trip where he burnt the $20 bill, but none of can remember exactly what the sermon was about.
I know part of it was about wasting your talents and true worth. But, honestly, I can't remember anything other than he started the sermon by saying he would give the $20 to anyone who could give him a valuable use for it.
No one got the $20 and he burnt it.
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