WARNING *** SPOILERS ***

Oh man, what an incredible episode this week’s show was!  So much inspiration - both by the contestants’ example and the sharing of their new insight.  I can’t imagine how they must have felt to put those body suits on that made them their old weights.  That must have been extremely difficult.  But what perspective it must have given them!  The video flashbacks had me tearing up, of course.  They’ve all come so far and have put themselves through so much over the course of the competition.

I’ll get it out of the way by saying that the weigh-in results were absolutely stunning!  For the one and two spots to have gone to the girls was incredibly amazing.  I was so excited for them!  It was pure craziness that the guy who lost 15 pounds came in fourth place!! 

There were several comments that really stuck with me.

The first was when Jillian was standing with Ali next to the cardboard figure of Ali when she began the competition.  Jillian said, “And she was loveable then, Ali, you just didn’t know it.”  I think that is something we all need to remind ourselves of a bit more often.  Ali also mentioned at one point about how she felt protected by her extra weight.  There’s some truth to that, as well.

I also liked it when Bob told Roger that he is the “same man, only smaller.”

I really felt an impact when Mark said, “Showing emotion is not weakness, it’s strength.  It’s stronger to show emotion and ask for help than internalize it and turn into that [pointing at the figure of him at his starting weight].”  I know that this is where a lot of my weight issues arose, and it also explains how I gained 60 pounds after my brother was killed.  I didn’t really feel like I had anyone to talk to about it and didn’t know how to ask for help.  I also felt that I had to hide everything I was feeling for fear of upsetting my parents that much more (silly, I know).

There are just so many things that you can learn from the contestants on this show and their struggles, whether you have weight issues or not.  We all struggle with something.

Because I have lost my weight so gradually over 22 months, it’s really hard sometimes to put perspective on where I’ve come from.  For those on the show, it’s easy.  They lose it so fast, that it’s like “Boom!  You’re big and then you’re little.  Wow!  Look at the difference!” 

I knew I was big, but while I felt huge at times, there were other times that I didn’t feel as big as I was.  I can look at pictures, but it doesn’t really feel like I’m looking at a picture of me.   It’s also sort of like remembering an old pain or injury.  No matter how bad it gets, or how excruciatingly painful an injury may be, after time the memory is dulled.  We remember it as being bad, but we can never quite grasp the severity of it again (unless, God forbid, it happens again).

The turning point in realizing how much I’ve lost came for me while I was watching this episode.  It was when Bob introduced Roger to the cutout of his old self.  I sat there in awe, amazed at the physical transformation he had overcome and wished I could have as dramatic of a change some day.  I was so proud and happy for him.  And then, all of a sudden, I realized something.  I’ve lost 5.4 more pounds than he had at that point!  By this episode, he’d lost 144 pounds.  I’ve lost 149.4 pounds. 

I remembered how amazed Bob looked at the transformation between old Roger and new Roger, and how proud of him he was.  It made me realize that no matter how embarrassed I am by where I started or by how much I had to lose, I have a right to be proud of what I have accomplished and that it would be absolutely ridiculous to quit now.