So I was watching the new show on A&E called Fit to Fat to Fit. It is about these trainers who gain around 60 pounds to experience what it is like to be heavy and lose the weight with their client. The trainer on the episode I was watching said that he wanted to see his client show that he had internal integrity to keep the commitment to get himself healthy.

The statement of internal integrity really hit home with me. One thing I have always had a bit of pride in is that people refer to me as a person of high integrity. When I say I am going to do something I do my best to keep that word no matter what. However, how good have I been at keeping my word to myself over the years? How many times over the years have I said I will start watching what I eat on Monday, only to see Monday come and go with no changes made? When I had surgery a few months ago it was to help me keep control over my portions but now that I am healed up it does not control what I put in my mouth. That is all up to me. I have to be the one to keep the promise to myself that surgery or not I have to eat right and exercise to maintain my health. Looking at it in the terms of internal integrity really opened my eyes to the fact that if I don't make the proper choices I truly am lying to myself and there is nothing I can't stand more then lying.

One of the things I have learned through years of dealing with my eating issues is how important it is to be rigorously honest with myself.

I don't agree with the concept of the TV show. I think that the idea of fit people gaining weight, just to lose it again is dangerously unhealthy . Short term weight loss is soooo different from a lifetime of obesity.

That been said, I DO agree with everything that YOU said. Great commentary! Good job.

Edited January 21, 201610 yr by Valentina

I don't agree with the concept of the TV show. I think that the idea of fit people gaining weight, just to lose it again is dangerously unhealthy . Short term weight loss is soooo different from a lifetime of obesity.

That been said, I DO agree with everything that YOU said. Great commentary! Good job.

Thank you. I do agree that the whole gain to lose thing is very unhealthy. But I will say for the one episode I watched the trainer that gained the weight had a whole new attitude by the end of the process and made him compassionate to his clients because it made him realize that it's not just eat less and move more to lose weight.

The premise of that show is complete bullshit. Most obese people struggle with addiction to food and coping through food. These trainers don't have that issue, that have no idea what it's like to be wired that way. And the thought of someone purposefully gaining weight makes me sick when so many people struggle to lose it. Plus what they are doing to their bodies. So sad. Reality tv sucks.

The premise of that show is complete bullshit. Most obese people struggle with addiction to food and coping through food. These trainers don't have that issue, that have no idea what it's like to be wired that way. And the thought of someone purposefully gaining weight makes me sick when so many people struggle to lose it. Plus what they are doing to their bodies. So sad. Reality tv sucks.

The post was not really about the show itself, (I only brought up the show to give credit where it was due for the idea of internal integrity) it was about how having internal integrity stuck with me and gave me a bit of a renewed motivation to keep making good choices daily to keep my promises to myself. I will say though that while there are true eating disorders food addiction can come about after months of eating in unhealthy ways even if that had not been the persons norm before due to the addictive nature of grease and sugars.

Edited January 21, 201610 yr by reree6898

The premise of that show is complete bullshit. Most obese people struggle with addiction to food and coping through food. These trainers don't have that issue, that have no idea what it's like to be wired that way. And the thought of someone purposefully gaining weight makes me sick when so many people struggle to lose it. Plus what they are doing to their bodies. So sad. Reality tv sucks.

The post was not really about the show itself, (I only brought up the show to give credit where it was due for the idea of internal integrity) it was about how having internal integrity stuck with me and gave me a bit of a renewed motivation to keep making good choices daily to keep my promises to myself. I will say though that while there are true eating disorders food addiction can come about after months of eating in unhealthy ways even if that had not been the persons norm before due to the addictive nature of grease and sugars.

Good point! What bothers me is the idea that losing weight takes internal integrity and therefore those of us that can't do it naturally lack willpower and integrity. That's not the case at all, it has very little to do with that. Losing weight is supremely difficult due to biological processes that are beyond our control. It has nothing to do with value and strength as a person. I hate fat shaming.

I don't really like the idea of associating integrity with how people eat. It is like saying overweight people have no integrity. Just like calling them lazy, sloppy, sloths and all the other words.

Eating the right food isn't the same thing as not cheating on a math test. People HAVE to eat to live, there is no way to just go cold turkey on it.

I feel like this line of thinking is just another way people beat themselves up.

I don't really like the idea of associating integrity with how people eat. It is like saying overweight people have no integrity. Just like calling them lazy, sloppy, sloths and all the other words.

Eating the right food isn't the same thing as not cheating on a math test. People HAVE to eat to live, there is no way to just go cold turkey on it.

I feel like this line of thinking is just another way people beat themselves up.

Disagree. I think integrity is involved. So are commitment, self respect, self care and discipline.

We weren't all dealt the best cards, but we also were complicit by our actions and lack of actions in creating our obesity. A lot of things were factors.

For me the idea of the internal integrity is about keeping my word to myself, it's not about fat shaming in any way. To me it resonated because as I have been heavy my entire life and had issues with food addiction I have lied to myself over and over again with the whole I'll start on Monday mentality. So for me who hates when people lie, it's a matter of finding myself valuable enough to keep my word to myself to make the choices that I need to make to let go of the addictions and be the person that I want to be for my own well being and physical health.

I don't really like the idea of associating integrity with how people eat. It is like saying overweight people have no integrity. Just like calling them lazy, sloppy, sloths and all the other words.

Eating the right food isn't the same thing as not cheating on a math test. People HAVE to eat to live, there is no way to just go cold turkey on it.

I feel like this line of thinking is just another way people beat themselves up.

I am believing that integrity is an extremely personal character foundation. Ten people will have ten different ways of describing it. Some people call it, gumption, or intestinal fortitude, inner strength, inner character or even a completely different persona living inside of us. If using one's "integrity" to keep one on the straight and narrow, I say "Bravo!". That is how personal the meaning of the word is. Whatever gets one through with their dignity and pride intact is okee dokee with me.