Some posts on MFP are starting to concern me

Things like "Biggest Loser" competitions at work are appalling to me. OK I get that they are trying, but still, really, there's gotta be SOMEONE in the office that has basic nutritional knowledge that will speak up. I know that in my office if they ever tried to start that, I'd smack it down with a vengeance! In fact, I offered (and will be starting after my vacation) a 1/2 hour lunch and learn in my office once every other week covering a different topic every session. The first one will be Basic Nutrition, the second Exercises to keep you healthy in a office environment, it'll get more specific from there. If anyone wants to offer up something like this, I can give you my notes after each one, it's a great thing to do, and you don't need to be an expert to do it, as long as people know you aren't an expert, it's fine to do this stuff, more like communal learning with a team leader than teaching.

Actually...I kinda disagree with this....my "biggest loser" competition was within my family...I am the single most competitive person on the planet... I needed SOMETHING to jump start my weight loss.. It was my sister, her husband, my husband and myself against eachother. This also got my husband on it as welll so we could eat healthy together. The things I learned during that 2 months promoted me to continue even after and have kept it off for well over a year. It was a life changer for me because once I'd lost the weight, i refused to go back...that was my choice and MY hard work to keep it up on my own....

Actually...I kinda disagree with this....my "biggest loser" competition was within my family...I am the single most competitive person on the planet... I needed SOMETHING to jump start my weight loss.. It was my sister, her husband, my husband and myself against eachother. This also got my husband on it as welll so we could eat healthy together. The things I learned during that 2 months promoted me to continue even after and have kept it off for well over a year. It was a life changer for me because once I'd lost the weight, i refused to go back...that was my choice and MY hard work to keep it up on my own....

I think it's fine if that's what motivates you, but it doesn't change the idea that "Biggest Loser" type competitions don't encourage healthy weight loss, and while some one offs can be helped by this type of program (a one off is basically an exception to the rule), the concept in general promotes the wrong ideas IMHO. As I said in a subsequent post, if the Biggest Loser competition is augmented with things like nutrition discussions and classes, and proper exercise techniques, then I'm fine with it, but to just put out a prize for the person who has the lowest percentage of weight loss is no better than handing out diet pills IMHO. Remember that there is plenty of research out there to back up the fact that "diets" that force fast weight loss without enforcing proper nutrition and adherence techniques lead to a 90% long term failure rate, and 50% of that 90% actually gains more weight than their starting weight (or maybe it's 30% of that 90%, I forget, but it's something like that).

Whether or not this type of program works for you is incidental in the grand scheme of things, we can't base our overall opinion on what works for a small segment of the population (or at least I can't base my opinion on it, you are free to form any opinion you want).

When I started here at MFP - the thing that drew me in is that it was truly something that I hadn't seen before... I'd been told to "eat right and exercise" all my life - but no one could ever tell me "HOW" or what exactly that meant. If I wanted another "diet" or fad - there are plenty of other websites to find.

Maybe Mike needs Moderators?

A pound a week, that's all I ask.

I agree. I also don't like the people on here telling people to give up bread or whatever. What does that accomplish? You lose weight but are you supposed to do without bread for the rest of your life? I agree we should try for whole grain choices and those that have fiber in them but are you really supposed to give up an entire food group (the one you're supposed to get most of your cals from) for the rest of your life?

I agree with you as long as you're not talking about posts that may involve people talking about eating gluten or wheat-free. I've seen posts recently where people were utterly slammed for suggesting that someone who is having digestive issues might want to look at cutting out gluten. Gluten and Wheat allergies are very prominent. It doesn't mean that they're not eating carbs... just that they're eating rice, potatos and beans instead of wheat, cereal and bread.

I am not sure how much this will add to this topic, but after reading, I felt compelled to share my story: I was a lineman in HS and college football -- highest weight (in shape) was 300 -- size 44 waist. After I stopped playing (1997), my weight went up to 315 pounds (and was a size 48 waist). I could barely make it up a flight of stairs without losing my breath -- this was until 2001. That entire time, I would say "I'm going to make a change" and that would last all of a week, before I was right back into my old habits again.

Around 2001, I remember that "Stacker" was the big craze. I tried it for exactly 7 days. I didn't sleep more than 2 hours a night for those 7 days, and I felt my heart race faster than I could ever explain. The day I stopped, my sleep went back to normal. That would forever scare me away from any quick fix.

However, I was still 315...so something had to change. I consider myself a very determined person, and I decided that if I was going to lose the weight, it would have to be done as a long process. Not "how much can I lose by XXX"

I started by simply looking at what I was eating, and researching what I was taking in and what I was burning (long before MFP). I borrowed a friend's WW book and looked at points, and using the point system, I was able to drop down to 285 in about 6 months. That was the only "fast" part of my journey (2002). However, that initial boost was all I needed to realize that it COULD be done without any help from pills. That this WAS possible, but if I stopped,I would be right back up at 315 faster than I could imagine!!

Slowly but surely, a pound here, a pound there would come off -- all while consistently working out and eating (to what I knew) was healthy. By 2005 (3 years later), I was 230. I stayed around 230 (give or take 10 pounds) until I became a father in late 2008.

Originally, I had a MFP account, but didn't stick with it and just went back to the routine that worked so well for me. I hit a plateau in November of 2009, and that's when I decided to re-join MFP and really write in EVERYTHING and see if it helps. I am currently weighing in at 198, a mere 13 pounds away from my BMI finally being "healthy."

I am not looking to pump my chest on here, but I am hoping someone will read this and realize that losing weight isn't an overnight process!! It has taken me almost 10 years -- but now I am running into old teammates who don't believe me when I say I am who I am! 10 years is a long time, but I would do it all again, over and over, because I never want to be that person who can't make it up a flight of stairs ever again.

Please, if you're reading this, don't believe the fads or hype. Pills don't help. If you lose it fast, you'll gain it back faster. Just make this a one day at a time process, and as time passes, you'll see results!

Thanks for reading guys, and good luck in you journeys!!