I’m talking The Biggest Loser here! I looooove that show. And with the writer’s strike still in full swing, reality shows like it seem to rule the airwaves. This season isn’t about individuals losing weight, it’s a couple competition. Now, not all the couples are married. Some of the match-ups are mother/son, brothers, ex-team mates, friends and my personal favorites - the divorced couple of Kelly and Paul (The Yellow Team).

When the show started, I was already for all out war between (thank you editors), but really these two people work so well together and support one another so much, it’s amazing to think that things between them were so bad they ended their marriage. From what I’ve gathered they didn’t like to compromise much and I also think infertility played a role in the divorce. But they both say they are still very close friends. In fact, they promised one another they wouldn’t be negative about their marriage while on the show. Paul slipped up once, hurting Kelly’s feelings but his sincere and gentle apology was enough for her to forgive.

On last night’s episode, the yellow team wound up having to compete against the other 6 teams for an entire week. More than ever it was important that support one another. They were perceived as a threat because they had lost the most weight the week before. Because the were the biggest loser for the week, they got to pick an envelope with a prize. Kelly really wanted a prize from an envelope marked family (letters from home, phone calls, etc) or luxury (trips, money, etc). Of course, given their situation Paul wisely said they needed to pick the envelope marked gameplay. That envelope would give them something that would help them out in the game, like extra pounds off or extra voting power. The Kelly begged a little and then said if they picked the gameplay envelope this week, then the next time they would pick one of the fun envelopes. The Paul agreed, adding that if they would have compromised a little more while they were married, they probably wouldn’t be divorced.

I’m really pulling for those two. I’d love to see them lose the weight but I also think they have a special chance to see what went wrong in their marriage the first time around. They have a unique opportunity to shut out outside influences and take the time to support one another. Now that they have a common goal they can reflect on how small shifts in attitude in the marriage could have saved them a lot of heartache and legal issues.

Husbands and wives always have a common goals in marriage - to support, defend, comfort, and lift one another up. Sometimes our personal goals and values get in the way of the marriage goals. Like Kelly and Paul are doing to get their health back (and maybe marriage?), sometimes you have to stand back as a team and figure out what’s best for couple and it might not always be what’s most desirable for one.

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