Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Chris Powell, Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition

Where do you start with this guy?  I've watched most seasons of Biggest Loser and to be honest I do like his show a little better.  The competition side of BL takes away from the crazy amounts of weight these people lose.  Now, Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition is 1 person vs themselves.  Watching this show, while they are given all the tools to hit their goals, just seems a little more real.  Chris Powell, a trainer that was made famous for helping a guy go from the size of an F-150 to a Smart Car.  He helped David Smith lose 401 lbs in 26 months.  That is not a typo, 401 lbs!  If you haven't watched this show before, and since your reading this blog I highly recommend it.  You can find the first 2 seasons on Hulu.com.

Quick rundown of the show.  He takes a morbidly obese person and moves in with them for 3 months.  Sets an outrageous goal for them, sometimes upwards up 150 lbs.  They hit the goal, they get some reward.  He moves out then real life begins.  That would be just a snippet of whats going on, but you get the idea.  So other then talking up this show, why did I bring him up specifically?  This guy is no Bob Harper.  Other then his negative body fat %, he is an EXTREMELY positive person.  At first your like, COME ON! This guy can't be real.  After watching a few episodes you get used to it and then crazy enough I started to like him.  He is kinda like Nascar driver Jimmies Johnson.  He is good at what he does and always comes off as a nice guy.  When you think about it, how often does anyone have a person like that in their life?  Someone that 110% believes that they can do this.

I started to watch this show at a perfect time. I watched a few episodes last season while it was on but missed most of them. I was just hitting month 11 and knew my 100 lb goal in a year was going to be close.  While he is motivating these folks to lose crazy amounts of weight, it was motivating me.   One of those if they can do it, so could I.  I was talking with someone who I worked with for over 10 years.  She has seen my entire range of emotions.  My funny side, my serious side, my sad side, and my I have smoke coming out of ears rage side.  I was a big guy.  At 340+ lbs I could fit all those sides on me.  She said I can tell you have changed.  I told her, I've lost 100 lbs. lol  She said no, it was more that you seem happier.

You know what?  She's right...  I just lost 100 lbs without stepping 1 foot in a gym or taking a single Tom Cruise voodoo pill.  My confidence is off the chart and oddly enough I owe a small percentage of that to him.  It was just refreshing to see.  When you believe in yourself, you can achieve goals you used to think were untouchable.  That's what he does in the show.  Chris says, "If you say I can't do something, I will prove to you that you can."

http://chrispowell.com/