The Biggest Loser creates unrealistic expectations!

So true!

I put off starting a healthier lifestyle because I knew I couldn't work out like that or get those type of results. Even though I knew it wasn't realistic I convinced myself to not even try if I couldn't do it that way.

Finally, I got smart and have started to make changes that I can sustain long term.

I have only seen 2 people that gained back any significant amount of weight on the last follow-up

oh it's horribly unrealistic and some of their info is down right wrong! lots of advertising in there too.

from what i have learned, they do massive dehydrating before weigh ins, especially the last weigh in, which apparently is never actually live!

most of the contestants gain back 10 + lbs immediately after the finale. kai from one of the early seasons is finally outside her contract date and has been speaking openly about the "reality" of it all.

that said, the show has saved lives! many lives i'm sure!!!!

Thank you this I needed to hear.. thank you

This show was an eye opener for me. I always thought that fat people are just that fat and that encouraged me to stay fat. Here, I saw people who sweated, who made own salads etc and lost weight in front of my eyes. I kept thinking there is no way they'll get to have a thin waist, that's only for those who are that way, sure enough, they kept losing till they had a thin waist. It made me think, what if I ate better? What if I began to exercise? Could I look better? It sowed a little seed for me that I could start living healthier that's all.

I do think it creates unrealistic expectations for how much weight to lose per time for a sustainable result, but that said, I admit that I sometimes push myself through my workouts by telling myself that if the contestants on The Biggest Loser keep going until they puke, surely I can keep going if I'm not even to the point of puking.

Personally, I like to watch the show while I exercise. Seeing these 300lbs + people busting their *kitten* until they literally can't do anymore motivates me to stop being a whiney ***** and suck it up, haha. I do agree that they tend to focus more on the fact that it's a contest and less on the fact that it's really about losing weight and getting healthy. Yea, they probably dehydrate before weigh-ins (which I don't agree with) so their actual weight is probably more than they show, but they still lose a ****-ton of weight in the long run, which to me is amazing. Hopefully they are educated on how to live a sustainable, healthy lifestyle after the show.

I agree. It's occasionally good motivation, but I have to admit- after reaching plateaus, it didnt help when I would compare, and be like "SOME PEOPLE CAN LOSE A HUNDRED POUNDS IN A SUMMER AND I CANT GET PAST THESE FIVE" and then I'd have to talk myself out of it and realize how unrealistic that is.

If there is one thing I have learned- slow & steady wins the race.

Those losing weight on those shows have it easier than most. Not easy per se, losing weight takes a lot of work whoever you are.

BUT put me in a situation where I am provided with nutritionists, personal trainers, fully stocked free gyms, fully stocked freezers and fridges with the food the nutritionist recommended for me, a full medical assessment and constant check ups, along with all the monitoring, group support in person and motivation of being in front of millions of people every week for the weigh in, and I think every single one of us would find it relatively easier.

So yer, don't use those shows as the benchmark for your own journey, whoever you are, you don't have that level of complete, intense and focused attention on that one goal in your life

Those shows are ridiculous. Remember that the main goal of a TV show is to make money through selling ad space based on ratings. The higher the ratings the more money they can get for ads. So, what sells? Drama. They have to make everything into a suspenseful drama. If they showed a person losing 1-2 lbs a week while going about it in a normal way, it would be boring. They want them to lose massive amounts of weight is short amount of time. They want them doing workouts that make them puke and pass out and cry. Add in a side sob story, a couple of fights and a touch of comedy and people will be glued.

I agree. It is completely unrealistic and unsustainable. It should not be used as a source of motivation IMO.

Before Jillian Michaels decided to ride that gravy train, she was willing to tell the public that it was a "weight loss olympics" and that the methods employed were likely not sustainable for the majority of contestants on the show. The tension was quite palpable during those early seasons, and was one of the factors that made the show more believable. I lost interest when Jillian Michaels doffed the no-nonsense attitude of a personal trainer and donned the bronze skin and wind-blown hair of a fashion model.

The whole misnomer of "Reality" TV is that you're watching lives unfold, unscripted. In fact, video clips are arranged out of chronological order to maximize drama; many of the biggest moments are scripted. You'll never hear a crescendo of timpani before you step on the scale, just like you'll never hear a crash of cymbals when the scale register's weight loss or descending notes from a cup-muted trumpet when you've gained.

Getting healthy should be like writing a novel or eating an elephant: one page at a time/one bite at a time--i.e. one pound at a time. In the day-to-day of reclaiming your health, you'll never have one of those made-for-TV moments where you step on the scale and see double-digits or break down and cry in front of you trainer in a moment of personal growth that ultimately leads to record-breaking fat-loss. You do all of the stuff that's too boring on-camera, like counting your calories and logging your time spent exercising.

In the end, this isn't a reality show, it's your life. That pound of weight loss registers, and the only soundtrack is the hiss of the word "Yes!" as you whisper it in self-affirmation; the scale registers all gains in silence, other than that voice in your head, reminding you that it's probably just water weight. But the real moments of drama can be better than the made for TV moments: they come when you try on that dress you wore four years ago on a date with your fiancee, and it fits; they come when you spend a day doing the things you did when you where 18, and you're still going at 11:00 PM. Weight loss is not a destination itself, but part of a much longer journey.

Enjoy it.

Well the difference lies in the fact that they are monitored daily by a doctor, we are not. So it isn't unrealistic when you consider you are at home and not on a show that is monitoring health so you don't drop dead on them. They also have daily access to trainers. So it's only unrealistic if you let it be. Of course your results are not going to be like theirs, you are not on the show. The show is designed for quick well monitored weight loss, not our at home slow and steady pace. They are not comparable.

The Biggest Loser is the biggest load of crap on television.

A&E used to have a show called "Heavy" that was actually good and showed realistic weight loss for people who were extremely overweight. But since it wasn't sensational enough, it didn't last beyond one season, sadly.