I hate the Biggest Loser!

bcattoes

Your doctor tells you that you should be losing more weight but offers no suggestions? Has s/he tested for disorders that could slow weight loss? Given you diet suggestions (it's not all about calories for everyone)? Anything other than offer inane comments?

Lozze

1lb is NOT slow weight loss. It's normal.

I don't watch it anymore but I caught it at the gym this week. (Aussie version) They had morbidily obese individuals perform a MARATHON. 42km on machines. (bikes, ellipticals, rowers, treadies) After the second round three people went down with low blood sugar. One passed out. I was so mad I was ready to break the TV. This is not something people of a 'heathy' weight should do without intense training and they want morbidly obese people to do this off the cuff?

sdrawkcabynot

PS - I love the show. They sometimes do exercises that I want to add to my routine. Plus I am competitive and like shows like that... but I am also realistic and understand that my goal of losing 0.5 lbs per week works for me.

atrjohnson

I don't hate the show but I definitely have issues with it. First of all, those contestants go from not working out at all to working out 2-3 hours in the morning to 2-3 hours in the afternoon. One of the previous posters was dead on, if you didn't work you could devote that much time to working out. Secondly, the players that make it to the finals sometimes use dangerous methods to win. The winning takes away the focus from health. There have been contestants that stopped drinking water a day or two before weigh-in so that there will not be water weight to effect the scale. We all know that water is a daily necessity especially if you are working out.

I am morbidly obese and I have never dropped weight in those numbers without starving myself. Lastly, by the final weigh in you don't see a lot of extra skin because of all the tucking and binding that goes on behind the scenes. The contestants are not supposed to get plastic surgery to reduce skin until after the airing of the final episode.

hanna6774

By the time you read all the responses to your post I am sure you will realize you are doing fantastic! Pretty much ditto on what everyone else said - slow and steady. One pound a week is ideal for a permanent and maintainable weight loss. I fall in that "morbidly obese" category (god who came up with that name?!!!) and yes it would be amazing to see results like they have on that show but it is not real life and in my opinion not healthy. We are doing the one thing they all couldn't and living at the same time. Biggest Loser is not a reality tv show - it's just a show for show. We are living the reality - and I find the results on MFP more inspirational than anything! Thank you everyone!

swekmom

I used to watch it but it is so unrealistic I quit. Those folks are doing nothing but working out 8 - 10 hours a day and they have people cooking food - or at least telling them what to cook! Last time I looked, I have a job which takes my 8-10 hours a day, a family to take care of and no one cooking or helping me cook! I think if any of us went on that show we would lose a ton of weight but what it has done is make people expect unattainable weight loss.
Stop telling your "friends" and family how much you are losing until they start to notice on their own. Don't get down about not losing a lot. I am relatively new to the whole losing game (3-4 weeks) and understand the frustrations! I have only lost about 4 pounds and want to cry sometimes too but then I realize, hey, I HAVE lost 4 pounds!! Good for me!! . Keep up the hard work and it will pay off for you. Every pound - or ounce - counts!!

Kagard11

Celebrate your 1 pound!!! You're doing GREAT!!!

4flamingoz

Ditto for me-one pound in the RIGHT direction-this isn't the biggest loser-more support and realistic goals are the mainstays of this site. You hang in there, and we're all in this together!

ngott

Congratulations on losing 1 pound! Keep it up & you will drop a clothing size in no time! Remember muscle is more dense than fat - you could be gaining muscle, losing fat & never see the needle on the scale move!

I started working out (on & off) 2 years ago, I was surprised how quickly my body adjusted/ become stronger with each workout. It took about 1 week of 4 workouts per week - when I could see the definition change in my muscle tone! Our bodies are amazing! Stay positive & keep moving forward.

Good luck!

P.S. This week, I started back to tracking my daily exercise & food intake. I have spent the last 4 years, since my youngest daughter was born - teetering between 10 lbs - losing, gaining, losing....! It's time for a change. I think MFP is a great tool to help make healthy changes (BTW I didn't see a setting, in "weight loss goal," to select lose more than 2 lbs per week on this program!)

cmayfield3

Maybe instead of listening to your goofball friends and family, add some more MFP friends. We're all in this together and I can't imagine ANYONE on here EVER saying, "1 pound? that's it?"

huntindawg1962

Don't let what other do on any TV show discourage you. I don't know that we are qualified to say what they are doing is right, wrong, healthy or not? Any of us on the path are really wishing we had some magic that would make us lose everything we wanted this week and promise ourselves that we would not gain it back. Remember - they are doing it as their full-time job for many hours per day in the gym whereas the rest of us have real lives that get in the way of gym time for 6-8 hours EVERY DAY.

Too - they also have nutrition coaches, doctors (as others have said) - trainers (more than the couple we see on TV), etc. The players there also have tricks they use weekly in their "game play mode." Oh, and a $250K motivator, too.

I guess I would say I am more shocked at the people there on the show that only post 3-4 lb loss weeks than I am when I hear (or even I experience) a no or 1-2 lb loss week for myself!

Keep going! And remember there is more to it than what the scale says even though that is the one metric we all focus on the most.

AllTehBeers

I think as much as they try to teach good habits at the ranch, all they are doing is creating unrealistic expectations in the competitors heads. They had a follow up show on one of the guys that won biggest loser and he gained a lot of the weight back that he lost. How do you go from working out 8 hours a day to real life where sometimes you can only fit in a half hour in with out feeling like you're going to fail anyways?

The also are hidden away with cooks and only healthy food available and aren't (for the most part) exposed to things like family get togethers and parties where there is a buffet of food and alcohol. In their mind they probably feel like one bite will void all the hard work they did.

Losing weight in huge amounts like that teaches you nothing about living a long healthy lifestyle. Just like some fad diet. You can lose the weight, but as soon as you get off of it, the weight comes back, and usually with more. To actually succeed in creating a lifestyle, you have to learn about yourself and what works for you through trial and error and patience.

1 pound is great so keep up the good work!

teenytinii

On the Biggest Loser their one week is more like 2. The show has become a 2 hour long infomercial for all sorts of processed foods. That life style is NOT sustainable or healthy. Unless you are morbidly obese if you are losing 1-2 pounds a week you are doing great. To hell with any of the naysayers!

agreed!!!

sebbysmommy

I stopped watching when it turned into nothing but a big commercial for their products and their sponsors. Just irritates me to no end when they do that, like I am so stupid I don't know they are acting?!

nnylee

You lost a POUND. Do you realize that is A LOT? It is a lot!!!

You lost THIS. Rejoice in that!

esteelewis

What they do on the show is very unhealthy and puts a lot of strain on the body. Remember these contestants are being monitored all day by doctors. Due to the unhealthy nature of what they are doing they need to be monitored closely.

Here is a guide for setting appropriate weekly weight loss goals that are healthy and sustainable:.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

LOVE! Thanks for posting this. I agree
I am morbidly obese and I don't lose much more than 2 lbs a week. I exercise, I eat right, I drink water. But I would rather it be slow, steady and sustainable than drop 10 lbs a week like the Biggest Loser people. I don't want to kill myself at a gym working out 7 hours a day and eat 1000 calories (or so) like they do on the show. I would rather lose 100 lbs in a year, going at a rate of 2 lbs a week, than lose it in 3 months...gain it back once I stop being hardcore, and probably have a whole gamut of health problems.

I looked into gastric at one point. My dietitian told me the first year you drop so quickly a lot of people get pasty pale skin, will start to lose their hair, will get really ill, and generally have other medical issues creep up because your body is not equipped to deal with losing weight that quickly. Yeah I said no to gastric on the spot.
Slow, steady and natural. Sustainable. That is the way to do it.