Biggest Loser thoughts
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I agree with all of these comments. I didn't understand why they didn't do some type of exercise either. I like the show but not a fan of the therapy. I think addiction to food is the hardest addiction. You can live without drugs, booze and tobacco but you need food to live. Just my thoughts.0
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You know I am the one who watches it and every season I cry with them as I sit on my couch and watch it. I know I have health issues at first it did motivate me but after awhile food becomes the comfort again. And that I dont know how to turn off0
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I try to do my workouts when I watch it. Keeps me motivated. I wanted to throw something at the tv last night though when dude was nearly in tears after a 2lb loss. And none of the trainers stood up and said "2lbs is really a healthy weightloss." Dolvett said "At least you're loosing," but I thought they could have debunked the myth of the 13lb per week weight loss being a rational goal.0
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I don’t normally care for reality shows but I do love the Biggest Loser. As for the show last night, they were told they COULD NOT exercise. The whole point of the room was to address childhood obesity, as that is the premise for this season. As the contestants walked out of the room they talked about how sluggish they felt and how they were not motivated to work out. It was to prove a point on how not only are bad food choices, and tv (screen time) hurting our kids, but also the vicious cycle…if you sit around it is hard to get motivated to move….so exercise becomes even more difficult for kids (and sedentary adults for that matter) I think more people need to be concerned about the weight of our kids. My son is 6 ½ and blessed with my husbands quick metabolism, but he also knows what are “good foods vs. bad foods” and honestly he tells my husband when things are “bad”.
Back to the show: They do get upset if they only loose two lbs. When a 2 lb loss a week would be tremendous for most people, when you are 250-400 lbs and obese and you are working out 4 hours or more a day, typically a 2 lb loss isn’t that much.
I ran 3 miles at lunch yesterday, but then got home and hopped on the treadmill and did a nice power walk for 30 minutes while watching the show..I don’t have a lot of weight to lose, but this show even motivates me not to want to sit around and watch without moving…0 -
I didn't see it so much as a food addict being locked in a room, but rather a test on the food choices. A food addict wouldn't care if the room was filled with junk food or healthy food. Had the contestants been locked in their with a bunch of fruit and a salad bar, would you have thought differently?
My husband and I were talking to the tv saying,"Get up and move, lift the couch! Use the soda bottles as weights and lift them." My guess is there was some rule against them working out. But then again, they still could have been playing air hockey and exerting some calories!0 -
Definetly one of my problems too. I read book after book to try and find solutions........it's exhausting! lol0
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I missed the working out to a deck of cards.....what was that?
Bob Harper used a deck of cards to do the last chance workout with his team. He assigned a type of exercise, like burpees or lunges, to certain cards, like spades or diamonds, then a number of reps for the number, like 11 reps for the ace. For each card he threw on the floor, the team did that exercise for that number of reps, like 11 lunges.0 -
I've watched the show for years, its great in some ways, I love the trainers, especially Jillian. That challenge was rough, but exactly what others said, they could of worked out!!!! Lazy people! Was it cruel, a little...did they sign up for a show at chances of $100,000 - $250,000....so it's not going to be a day in the park eating bon-bons....they means business!0
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Food addiction? More like they make crappy decisions and and too lazy to exercise a modicum of will power to not continually overeat0
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I will admit it, I watch it every week. However, I only watch it on my dvr so I can fast forward the BS and get to the good parts- challenges, work outs and weigh ins. I do find it motivates me too. I feel like if they can workout, what's my excuse?0
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Read this, then see whatyour opinion of the show is http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2010/06/09/kai-hibbard-biggest-loser-finalist-part-1-of-3/0
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Also, what is with the disappointment of losing 2 pounds? I know they want to lose it asap, but a loss is a loss. They make people feel like they are failing if they don't have a high loss each week.
Yes! I was going to bring this up. Losing 2 pounds a week is healthy. Losing more than that is extreme. That's what bothers me. I do like watching the workouts and seeing how hard people push themselves. I wish they would focus more on nutrition since that is the biggest factor in losing weight. I didn't really watch the junk food room part. I did my laundry instead. :-) I also think they should do more with the psychology of it. People are overweight for a reason and you can't change until you figure out why.
They are disappointed with 2 pound weight losses because they are working out for hours a day. They are not in a typical or normal environment. They are removed from real life to focus on nothing but weight loss. Two pounds a week would upset me if I spent 4+ hours a day exercising and did nothing but focus on losing weight.
Oh, the psychology! I wish they would cut that stuff. Every few seconds, a contestant is crying about something, and it turns into impromptu therapy. That's when I read or do something else. Maybe I would be more sympathetic if they were not constantly crying about something. I agree weight loss is mental as well as physical, but come on. Sometimes they burn more calories crying than they do working out.0 -
I thought the junk food room was really useless. This is basically how they were already living, and being with temptations isn't really a helpful tactic.
I think it is. The reality is that if you are living and working with other people who are not following any kind of diet and just eat whatever foods they like, you are going to be surrounded by food that you shouldn't be eating. If you're going to succeed at losing weight and keeping it off, you have to learn how to deal with that. The world is not going to bend to your will and swallow up all unhealthy foods so that you are never tempted to eat them.
I don't watch the Biggest Loser, but I will say people need to stop taking cues from a television show, with regard to their personal life. You don't have to have a trainer in front of you, yelling at you until you're puking. You don't have to work out 4 hours per day. You don't have to systematically starve yourself. When people say this show is terrible because it promotes all these things, I just want to say "It is a TV SHOW! They aren't trying to convince you to go out and do that stuff, as if it's the only possible way to lose weight!"
Would it be more beneficial to the public, in health terms, if they documented the contestants' progress over a longer period of time and used only widely sustainable methods, rather than this rapid, extreme weight loss stuff? Sure, it would. But people would lose interest in that kind of show long before they saw meaningful results, the same as people do with their own diet and exercise programs. They do it quickly on the show so they can keep rolling out a new season on a regular basis. Public health is not the goal of network television, nor should it be.0 -
The tactics are insane but it seriously does echo some REAL LIFE situations they'll have to deal with. Like company luncheons, etc. Like at work we have snack machines that are only $.05 per snack and there's always free food out. You have to learn to deal with that. And of course they have to make it awesome for TV. But 4.5 hours really isn't that bad compared to my job - I'm there 10 hours a day with all the free food!!0
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I try to do my workouts when I watch it. Keeps me motivated. I wanted to throw something at the tv last night though when dude was nearly in tears after a 2lb loss. And none of the trainers stood up and said "2lbs is really a healthy weightloss." Dolvett said "At least you're loosing," but I thought they could have debunked the myth of the 13lb per week weight loss being a rational goal.
True, but when you workout for 6+ hours a day, have healthy food handed to you, have no outside or bad influences - 2lbs a week is pretty depressing0 -
I also just chatted with my roommate about this. She brought up a good point...The challenge was reflective of childhood obesity. and how KIDS sit around with junk food and video games that their PARENTS provide. A 10 year old doesn't grocery shop so he doesn't have say in what he is surrounded by. So he is in the same situation of crap good and comfy couches all the time.
They should have emphasized that point of it being a KIDS environment.
Great post0 -
I have a co worker that "tried out" for the show when it came to DC a few years ago. Some previous contestants were there to fill them in on everything and they said that the trainers are only there for 1-2 hours 3 times a week. The rest of the time you are on your own, so you have to be really dedicated. So of course they only show the moments when they are being trained to death.
Another thing I never thought of - they start out shirtless or sports bras and end in shirts. She said it's because they lose weight so fast they have huge amounts of sagging skin and wear spanks under their clothing so they have to wear shirts as they start losing a lot of weight. After all, America wants to see the fat people looking good, not with flabby skin.
All of this is second hand information, so I can't testity to the accuracy of it but that's what she claims she was told. Made me look at it a little differently though.0 -
I think what people really fail to realize, because it's NOT publicized, is how extreme the Biggest Loser crash diet really is. There is a reason that there are all kinds of fitness professionals, nutritionists, and doctors hanging around the set. If anybody here were to try to embark on this on their own, without this sort of supervision, the results could be absolutely disasterous. Most of the people who have appeared on the show do not experience long term success, and that's really sad.0
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They were specifically told they could not workout while in the room.
That was the challenge that they lost.. be stuck in the room for that time period, surrounded by food, not working out.0 -
The only positive thing about that show is that it helps people who want change to change. Otherwise.... it's entertainment at the expense of obese people. The challenges are ludicrous and the workouts insane -- nothing is real world about this.0
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I'm pretty hard faced and think you should call a spade a spade. A bit of straight talking never hurt anyone.
But, to me this show (the US version) is closer to bullying than helping people find life long fixes to issues.
It's like the entertainment of a school-room bully0 -
I did use part of that 2 hours as motivation to exercise. Stationary bike in front of the tv.0
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I know TBL has a lot of downfalls, but I like that they are highlighting childhood obesity. Some of those statistics in the quiz portion of last night's episode shocked me! As parents, if you have struggled with your weight your entire life, wouldn't you want better for your children? As for the kids on the show, how do you let your 11 year old son play video games for 11 hours straight on the weekends?!! What about going for a walk or to the park or something! I don't think video games are the cause of childhood obesity though, it's the parents who are buying the food and not monitoring the child's behavior. Hopefully this opens some parents' eyes who have overweight children.0
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The only positive thing about that show is that it helps people who want change to change. Otherwise.... it's entertainment at the expense of obese people. The challenges are ludicrous and the workouts insane -- nothing is real world about this.
If they wanted to change, why didn't they? Why were they still obese? Laziness?0 -
I did use part of that 2 hours as motivation to exercise. Stationary bike in front of the tv.
Me too! :-) I did some squats, lunges and a one minute plank. I would love a stationary bike (i work from home, so that would be a great place to park it while I work all day). But I'm on the 2nd floor in an apartment. I'm guessing my downstairs neighbor wouldn't appreciate that.0 -
Well last night we had it on and my fiance said "This show is terrible". He said, "They are putting these people with eating disorders in a room filled with junk food for 4 hours to test them. If this show was about alcoholics and they forced them into a room with a fully stocked bar people would be outraged!"
In the real world this happens to us every day doesn’t it? We could be at home walking by the cupboard that has the food we shouldn’t eat or at work where there are donuts left by a vendor.0 -
I perfer Super Size vs Super Skinny.0
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Well last night we had it on and my fiance said "This show is terrible". He said, "They are putting these people with eating disorders in a room filled with junk food for 4 hours to test them. If this show was about alcoholics and they forced them into a room with a fully stocked bar people would be outraged!"
In the real world this happens to us every day doesn’t it? We could be at home walking by the cupboard that has the food we shouldn’t eat or at work where there are donuts left by a vendor.
Its happening to me today in fact. Boss brought in homemade chocolate chip cookies which are on the table less than 10 feet away from me!!! Lock down for 8 hrs with chocolate...OH MY...LOL0 -
Obesity is not the result of laziness and I am surprised to hear that answer in a forum here. There are so many reasons a person is obese that to just say laziness is ignorant and even discriminatory. You don't know another person's journey unless you walk in their shoes you should not just outright like that.0
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The only positive thing about that show is that it helps people who want change to change. Otherwise.... it's entertainment at the expense of obese people. The challenges are ludicrous and the workouts insane -- nothing is real world about this.
If they wanted to change, why didn't they? Why were they still obese? Laziness?
My response above was to this post.0
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