Weight Loss Isn’t a Spectator Sport
I have to admit, this New York Times article made me want to bang my head my head against my keyboard.
So it stands to reason that weight-loss shows are now a part of the television landscape, spanning NBC, the Style Network and Discovery Health, as common as crime procedurals, soap operas or talk shows. (All television genres have signature moments. On westerns it’s the cattle stampede; on weight-loss shows it’s the weigh-in, presented in slow motion and in black and white.)
These fat-reduction spectacles are embedded in a mixed message that mirrors a broader cultural clash of appearance and appetite — and our obsession with both. Against a loop of talk shows and made-for-TV dramas about eating disorders, Americans are goaded into ever more drastic and extreme expectations of physical perfection on prime time, while their path is mined with Double Croissan’wich specials at Burger King and Olive Garden “Tour of Italy” triptychs (lasagna, chicken parmigiana and fettuccine Alfredo). On “Today” a homily on sensible dieting from the Joy Fit Club is followed by instructions in a following segment for hibiscus margaritas and churros — deep-fried, sugar-dipped Mexican crullers. On the WE network’s show “The Secret Lives of Women,” a tribute to three women’s hard-won journey to extreme weight loss is interrupted by an ad for Baskin-Robbins Oreo sundae.
This is a perfect summary of the completely schizophrenic way we deal with the subject of food. Food is anything but an enjoyable source of nutrition in this scenario. Rather, it’s a “can’t-live-with-it/can’t-live-without-it” obsession that has a stranglehold on everyone’s psyche, and leaves people careening between the extremes of no-holds-barred gluttony and rigid, unyielding deprivation.
It’s at times like this when I think the Fat Acceptance folks have a point: something is deeply, horribly wrong when people feel that subjecting themselves to public exposure and humiliation are a natural part of the territory of losing excess fat and getting fit. Self-loathing shouldn’t be a prerequisite for self-improvement.
