The Biggest Winner

I like TV. A lot. My husband will attest to this (and he probably won't be smiling). One of my current shows is "The Biggest Loser." This season, the theme is families. There are teams of husbands and wives, and teams of parents and children. Well on last night's episode, and father and daughter fell "below the yellow line" and had to choose which one of them would return home. This became such an emotional experience for me, and I wanted to share my story with you.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has been overweight. It has been no secret that he loves to eat. Growing up, the whole family knew that while we were sleeping, dad was up snacking. I know my mom has always worried about his health, but she wasn't too overbearing, at least not in front of us kids. Think of "The Cosby Show" when Phylicia Rashad would kindly tease Bill Cosby of his love for hoagies (yes, I realize how old of a reference that is!). It wasn't until I was old enough to realize the seriousness of obesity that his weight became a concern for me as well.

Both of our favorite Pastime

But in recent years, I really started to worry about him. Any time I received a call from my mom that was at an unusual time of day, my heart would sink to the pit of my stomach as I thought "Oh no, it's dad." Even though it was fabricated fear, it was such a terrible feeling...I would never wish that on anyone!

Well I am ecstatic to say that this past winter, my dad finally took his life into his own hands. He went on the Subway diet for 90 days, and has slimmed down tremendously. I believe he has lost 50-60 pounds, and he looks better than I've ever seen! I know it's kind of ironic for a child to say that they're proud of their parent, but I could not be more proud of my father. Now I don't have to worry that he'll be around to support my mom, to see me have kids, and maybe one day see my brothers get married and have kids too. Watching the show last night, and seeing the turmoil on that daughter's face allowed me to relive all of those emotions, and remind me just how grateful I am that I have a father who cares enough to do something about his situation. I love you dad!