The Biggest Loser creates unrealistic expectations!

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  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 909 Member
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    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.
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
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    I firmly believe whatever you do, you have to be able to do forever. And if weight comes off more slowly, your body (and mind for that matter) has a better chance of keeping it off and recognizing that as the new normal.

    I have watched a few seasons here and there of the BL, but it's not a good example for normal folks, IMO.
  • nielsenjack
    nielsenjack Posts: 5 Member
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    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.
  • emmalouc93
    emmalouc93 Posts: 328 Member
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    When you're only losing weight for monetary gain, you lose sight of the real point, which is to get healthy.


    So true!!! I only recently started to watch some of the old seasons, and I am driving my boyfriend mad every time we watch it, because if someone loses 8lbs and starts crying I'm just sitting there shouting at the TV like how can you be disappointed????

    It isn't healthy to lose the amount of weight they are made to lose weekly, and I know it is a competition, but the point as you said IS to lose weight the proper way, no just abuse your body, lose a load of weight and then not know how to go back to normal when you leave.

    I think the trainers do somewhat misguide them, I love Jillin, but at the same time, no good trainer would be disappointed at 8lbs a week or so.

    A great show and good motiavtion, but when it comes to weigh ins and some other parts, like calorie contests which involve eating to win points etc, I just start to remember that it is never going to really help people because that wouldn't be as 'entertaining' (even though most of us would prefer that!).

    They never EVER take practical things into account, such as if you have sore muscles, you are BOUND to have some water weight which will affect your result etc

    They don't teach them how to really change as much as they force them to work out 24/7 in order to win a prize.

    The voting does my head in too, it is always unfair and done on game-playing, rather than who actually deserves to stay or go. (Read, Elizabeth in season 10, it really annoyed me to watch her throw opportunities away weekly, and deserving people got sent home)
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
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    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.

    She's a total fraud. She peddles snake oil with the worst of them now. She plays a lot of lip service to the idea that there's no magic pill until you see her commercial for her weight loss supplements that will help you lose weight fast.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I think it's the viewers that twist it into unrealistic expectations. The show doesn't keep it a secret that the contestants workout for most of the day, have access to personal trainers, doctors, and therapists. Their diet is controlled, their groceries bought for them and a nutritionist teaching them what to cook and when. The problems come in when people watching just see the numbers go down and ignore the part where these people are putting as much time into their weight loss as the rest of us put into a full time job.
  • Angeloftheshore
    Angeloftheshore Posts: 227 Member
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    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.
  • lolapedia88
    lolapedia88 Posts: 178 Member
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    Just watch the follow up shows. Nearly all of them gain back the weight and more!

    Only one or two have eve gained it back p
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
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    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.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    Honestly, TBL gives a lot of people hope . I had a client where i had a cube near about 50 calll center people, many vry obese..they were all trying to get on the show. It inspired them.. They started walking at lunch and changed the monthly birthday cake to weekly fruit.

    They were an awesome bunch.
  • chris42376
    chris42376 Posts: 83 Member
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    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.

    I watched Heavy a few times and thought it was a pretty solid show, but you are right it wasn't sensational enough and there was no drama or game to be played.

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