Ok, so I have to admit I watched a movie this weekend that I normally wouldn’t watch – Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married”  I’m a big romantic comedy fan…no joke I’ve seen every Hugh Grant movie ever made But this movie seemed a little too deep/dramatic for me just from reading the description.  But since my wife wanted to watch it, and there wasn’t much else worth watching on the 1500+ channels we have, I decided to make my way through it.   All in all it was ok, but there was one plot line that caught my attention.

The story is about 4 couples (plus, as it turns out, one mistress) who make their way to Colorado for a yearly reunion.  One of the couples was a threesome, a husband named Mike, his obese wife Sheila and Sheila’s “friend” (aka the mistress) Trina.  As each couple made their way to a remote Colorado cabin the movie shifted to show their travel travails.

Mike, Sheila and Trina were planning on flying together…that is until Mike made his wife take the middle seat in the row in front of them.  Sheila was subsequently removed from the flight because airline policy required someone of her size to purchase two seats, and the plane was oversold.  So what did Mike do?  He gives his wife cash to rent a car and drive up to meet them!

Long story short:

• Sheila survives the drive through a snowstorm thanks to the single, good-looking sheriff who sees her for who she is rather than how she looks
• Mike verbally and psychologically abuses his wife once she arrives due to her weight
• Mike reveals he is cheating and his desire for a divorce (and divulges the secrets of the other couples, too)
• Sheila stays behind to start her life over, falls in love with the sheriff and marries him, and loses weight
• Sheila and Troy (sheriff) run into Mike at another function, where Mike realizes the mistakes he has made, but Sheila has moved on

Take aways…

• Abuse does not serve as a motivator to an overweight person.  In fact it often has the opposite effect.
• Even socially awkward situations, like discrimination on an airline, don’t always provide the necessary incentive for someone to lose weight.
• As strong a feeling as revenge can be (you know, the “I’ll show him what he missed out on” line of thinking), that still isn’t enough to get a person over the hurdles that they face.
• If a person really wants to lose weight and make a positive change on their life, the best thing to do is support them in every way possible.  Troy offered to have Sheila come work out with him (after she was oggling his physique), he went on walks with her, and he made her feel special…and she ended up losing weight.  If you truly love someone and you care about their well-being, you need to find a way to give them the support they need.  And emotional support is frequently overlooked but is absolutely critical to weight loss success.

Ok, so watching this move wasn’t a complete waste of time