Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition finds its inspiration

Okay, so last week I took a little flack for calling Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition uninspiring. I didn’t mean that the subject of the show and her amazing transformation wasn’t inspiring, but the show itself was more like eating a bag of cheese puffs — just empty calories wrapped around a feel good show that was pretty forgettable once it was over.

This week, the show did a complete 180 with the episode’s subject Alex. Alex started out as a 23-year-old, 459 lb over-grown kid who suffered the loss of his mother at the age of 20. The loss was a life-altering experience for him, and he basically checked out of life so he wouldn’t have to deal with the memories. Once Chris Powell showed up, Alex seemed to find some motivation to fulfill his mother’s dying wish that he get healthy.

Unlike last week, we saw a lot more of Alex and Chris working out over the course of his first 90 days. The Extreme Makeover team remade not only Alex’s den into a gym, but they also redid the kitchen and took out all of the junk food. This was very different from last week when Chris threw out all of the food right in front of the family. Perhaps that was a lesson learned for future episodes, although in some cases the people who need help should witness the trashing of all of their junk food.

I felt bad for Alex when he missed his first milestone by 3 lbs — and lost the Braves season tickets Chris dangled in front of him like a carrot — but he did get to visit the Braves clubhouse and it was really great to see the players congratulate and encourage Alex in his journey. Then it was time for Chris to leave Alex on his own and it didn’t take long for him to lose his motivation. I liked the interesting twist with Chris using webcams to spy on Alex and see that he wasn’t doing any of his workouts, but why didn’t Chris get on the phone and talk to Alex to see where his head was at? This was my biggest complaint with the whole concept, that Chris just leaves these people on their own and doesn’t offer any follow-ups and doesn’t seem to even take a phone call if someone needs guidance.

While Chris didn’t offer to kick Alex in the ass while spying on him, he did bring it up at the six month weigh-in and after his dad’s wedding, Christ enlisted Alex at Fort Benning for a 24-hour boot camp. This kind of thing is what was lacking from the first episode. We still aren’t getting instructions about the workouts and the diet, but Alex and his story were so engaging that it didn’t matter. Your heart went out to this kid who never got over his mother’s death and was worried that his family was going to forget her once dad got remarried. That’s some heavy stuff and it really drew you in and made you root for Alex when he did well and wanted to shake him while he was playing video games instead of exercising.

The boot camp was another life-changing experience for Alex, even if he wasn’t happy about having his head shaved. It’s amazing the discipline he learned in that short period of time and it really helped to have Chris there during that experience. It gave Alex everything he needed to reach his goal for the skin removal surgery — a goal that he exceeded by 7 lbs! By the end of the year, Alex had lost 216 lbs, regained the confidence he had as a kid playing baseball and found the strength to grow up and pursue a degree in sports management. This week, the show and Alex were truly inspirational and I hope that future episodes continue to tell these same kinds of compelling stories.

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Jun 07, 2011 @ 01:44 EST5EDT