What about the others?

Yesterday, I spent majority of my day relaxing and watching a marathon of, "I Used To Be Fat." It's a documentary type show by MTV that  follows obese/overweight teens as they work with a trainer to lose weight before heading to college and/or the real world. The show is great. I couldn't stop watching and was so amazed by the transformation of the teens in under 100 days. They endured grueling workouts to help their self esteem and pretty much save their lives. The teens averaged about 250lbs each and it was interesting to see how each story varied in terms of how much weight they lost and how fast the lost it. Some lost weight instantly, while others, it took more than a week to see the scale change significantly. While, I personally can't relate to these teens, I was still captured by their struggle yet willingness to change their lives for the better. It made me wonder though, what about the people who go through the same issues but not on the extreme level?

Where are the reality shows that could probably reach the mainstream industry? What about the people who want to lose between 5lbs  and 20 lbs? Don't the health guru's always say that the last 5lbs are the hardest? Call me crazy but I'd actually like to propose a push for reality shows that really reach to people without going to the extreme. Yes, many people in our country are obese; yes these shows are a nice way to make people "wake up, " but what about something less urgent but still interesting. How about a story dealing with a guy that used to be an athlete and in great shape but an injury/illness/family emergency caused fitness to take a back seat. Now he's got "x" amount of days to get back in shape before "y" event. Or a female trying to lose baby weight. Even someone who has a to lose 5 lbs in 2-3weeks for a friends wedding. Whatever the story, I'm sure many people are going through this and could relate to this more than the extreme worlds of "Biggest Loser," "I Used To Be Fat," and so on. I would even love a story about someone who wants to get in shape but just can't motivate themselves. I think about how hard it used to be for me to get up and go to the gym and about the many people who join the gym but don't actually keep up with it. To me, the things would be cool to see and relate to. The more relative it is, the more I, the viewer, will be influenced and take action to better my life.

In the next few posts, I think I'm going to be blogging a series of pitches/thoughts of things I've always been curious about. This all stems from attending a free writing class through Gotham's Writers Workshop. It inspired me to re-visit my former love; writing.