Day 1

I have a serious LOVE for reality television. I think it really does send off those 'happy brain signals' and has rewired my brain or something....

I was so excited when I got TiVo for Christmas a few years ago! Before TiVo, I scheduled everything around the shows I watched. If I were invited to dinner on a Thursday, then I would probably decline because I didn't want to miss Survivor. Sundays were out because of Amazing Race and then it was Tuesday and then Wednesday...before I knew it, I was hooked and tried not to miss at least one show a night....I also had to choose between two really good reality shows that came on different stations at the same time.

TiVo was the greatest....you could pause them and rewind them and skip the commercials. TiVo seemed to be just what I needed. And at first, it was love! I did start getting out more and doing more and watched my shows on my own time. I also began taping shows that both came on at the same time. It was wonderful.

But then, I just could not get enough of the reality shows...they even have a way on TiVo to scroll through and get a Season Pass for every reality television show that is shown. I used this and before you know it....my Season Pass looked like this...

This is my Season Pass list and how many hours are taped each week:


1. The Biggest Loser (2 hours)


2. The Batchelor (2 hours)


3. Project Runway (1 hour)


4. Models of the Runway (30 min.)


6. The Amazing Race (1 hour)


7. Shear Genius (1 hour)


8. American Idol (3 hours)


9. Wife Swap (3 one hour shows per day - seen most of them and they get deleted-so about 1 hour weekly)


10. The Real World (1 hour)


11. 20/20 (1 hour)


12. Dateline (1 hour)


13. King of the Hill (30 min per episode - recorded daily but seen most- so about 1 hour weekly)


14. Survivor (1 hour)


15. America's Next Top Model (1hour)


17. Top 20 Countdown (2 hours)


18. Class Reunion (1 hour)


19. Georgia Traveler (1 hour)

This totals to 21 hours and 30 minutes a week. And this is not even including the news I watch in the morning, the late show with Jay Leno that I watch most of, House Hunters that I watch a lot of, and the other surfing and watching - which is at least another hour each day...

MY GRAND TOTAL: 4 HOURS A DAY!! (Even Fast Forwarding through the commericials)

Also should not shows not "in season" but was looking forward to watching and would surely season pass was: The Batchelorette, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, Jersey Shore

Other shows I have watched regularly: The Apprentice, use to love CSI - there are 3 of them, Dating in the Dark (I hated that show didn't make it past a few episodes), and a bunch of others!!

Therefore, it turns out that TiVo was actually not so much freeing me, but actually got me even more hooked and dependent on TV- TiVo was like a good friend who knew what shows I liked and aided me to seek them all out and saved them for me. TiVo also recorded other shows for me to watch if I ran out of my Season Passes...and they were suggestions based on what I already was watching...Before you know it, I was watching 4 hours a night.

So here I am. I have an addiction to reality tv. and it must stop. I have deleted out my Season Passes. I have done some reading online regarding this addiction. The blog was good mentioned in this article and where I got the idea to blog my own confession...

It is time for change. I wonder why I don't have time to read, or do my devotions, or journal...but it never occurred to me how much television I was actually watching.

The thought of gaining 4 hours of time a day is going to be the thing that is going to help me kick the habit!!

People can change. I can change. I am in control of what I do with my time and I decide what is good for me and what is not. As much as I love to watch tv, it really is no good for me. The pleasure that it brings in my life, isn't real...it is more of a mindless fantasy... helps me escape instead of engage in real life.

Life, here I come!!