Fit to Fat to Fit

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Anabug81
Anabug81 Posts: 161 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone watch the show? I find it motivates me to eat right, what about everyone else?

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  • Golferdrone
    Golferdrone Posts: 68 Member
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    I watch for trainers transition and how the different weight changes appearance.
  • jamacianredhair
    jamacianredhair Posts: 230 Member
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    I'm watching it right now, very inspiring
  • Anabug81
    Anabug81 Posts: 161 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Me too! I like it. @jamacianredhair
  • ChrisStPeter1
    ChrisStPeter1 Posts: 2 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I have checked this show out, and it's every bit as disingenuous as I expected an A&E show to be. The problem here, as other reviewers have already explained, is that it takes fat shaming to a new level. For these personal trainers, being fit and eating healthy is a way of life. Gaining some weight over a few months does not in any way shape or form give them (or the viewers) any idea of what it's like to spend years, decades, or an entire lifetime struggling with weight issues. It does not give anyone any idea of what it's like when some, many, or all of the factors contributing to obesity are out of your control. It doesn't give anyone any idea of what it's like to break a lifetime of bad habits, or psychological issues, or the mental, emotional, and physical issues that come from dealing with weight issues for a lifetime. It does not give them any idea of what it's like to be judged, mocked, and even discriminated against for their weight since elementary school or the crippling anxiety self-esteem issues that come with that. Hell, everyone in their lives knows this is a stunt, so they don't even have to deal with these issues for the brief amount of time they have that extra weight.

    Instead, it reinforces the idea that "anyone can do it", that it's "not that hard, you just have to try", that you "just need to exercise some willpower". For many, and probably most people with severe weight issues, it is NOT that easy, it is a struggle that lasts a life time... even when we achieve success and meet our goals, we face a lifetime of struggling to avoid falling into old habits and mindsets, whereas these personal trainers only have to fall into THEIR old habits and mindsets to get back to the way they were. Sure, not everyone who is trying to lose weight is struggling against a lifetime of obesity, or elements outside of their control. But this sort of garbage completely reinforces the assumptions and stereotypes that people tend to have towards those of us who are.

    If they truly want to put these trainers on the "same level", and help anyone understand the struggle, they should have the trainers gain 80-100 lbs, move them to a new city, tell everyone the cameras are there for something else not weight related, and make them wait 10 years or more before they start losing weight. And that still won't give the audience or trainers the full picture of the struggles of a lifetime of obesity, but it would be a start.

    EDIT: I did not, of course, address every issue this show has. Check out these reviews that touch on some stuff I did not:
    http://www.salon.com/2016/01/25/its_dear_fat_people_for_tv_new_fit_to_fat_to_fit_show_oozes_contempt_disguised_as_empathy/
    http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/fit-to-fat-to-fit.html
  • tmking1150
    tmking1150 Posts: 38 Member
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    I like it and it is very encouraging. I was fit; gained weight during the winter months. And now im on a mission to drop the weight I gained. This show gives me hope.
  • monicaale38
    monicaale38 Posts: 23 Member
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    Anabug81 wrote: »
    Does anyone watch the show? I find it motivates me to eat right, what about everyone else?

    Yes I'm watching it as I type
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    ChrisStPeter1 wrote: »
    I have checked this show out, and it's every bit as disingenuous as I expected an A&E show to be. The problem here, as other reviewers have already explained, is that it takes fat shaming to a new level. For these personal trainers, being fit and eating healthy is a way of life. Gaining some weight over a few months does not in any way shape or form give them (or the viewers) any idea of what it's like to spend years, decades, or an entire lifetime struggling with weight issues. It does not give anyone any idea of what it's like when some, many, or all of the factors contributing to obesity are out of your control. It doesn't give anyone any idea of what it's like to break a lifetime of bad habits, or psychological issues, or the mental, emotional, and physical issues that come from dealing with weight issues for a lifetime. It does not give them any idea of what it's like to be judged, mocked, and even discriminated against for their weight since elementary school or the crippling anxiety self-esteem issues that come with that. Hell, everyone in their lives knows this is a stunt, so they don't even have to deal with these issues for the brief amount of time they have that extra weight.

    Instead, it reinforces the idea that "anyone can do it", that it's "not that hard, you just have to try", that you "just need to exercise some willpower". For many, and probably most people with severe weight issues, it is NOT that easy, it is a struggle that lasts a life time... even when we achieve success and meet our goals, we face a lifetime of struggling to avoid falling into old habits and mindsets, whereas these personal trainers only have to fall into THEIR old habits and mindsets to get back to the way they were. Sure, not everyone who is trying to lose weight is struggling against a lifetime of obesity, or elements outside of their control. But this sort of garbage completely reinforces the assumptions and stereotypes that people tend to have towards those of us who are.

    If they truly want to put these trainers on the "same level", and help anyone understand the struggle, they should have the trainers gain 80-100 lbs, move them to a new city, tell everyone the cameras are there for something else not weight related, and make them wait 10 years or more before they start losing weight. And that still won't give the audience or trainers the full picture of the struggles of a lifetime of obesity, but it would be a start.

    EDIT: I did not, of course, address every issue this show has. Check out these reviews that touch on some stuff I did not:
    http://www.salon.com/2016/01/25/its_dear_fat_people_for_tv_new_fit_to_fat_to_fit_show_oozes_contempt_disguised_as_empathy/
    http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding/fit-to-fat-to-fit.html

    Well written, thanks for your perspective.

    I watched one episode and thought the trainer looked better when he eased up on the hardcore fitness and put on some pounds. Ha! Probably not the effect they intended...

    The trainer & his wife struck me as icky.

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I haven't watched the show, but I did fat to fit to fat once! I gained vast amounts of empathy for fit people. Oh, yes indeed. Women lusted for me. Men lusted for me. I was accepted at the best universities, hired at the best companies, promoted to the highest heights, and it all happened in the 1 week I was below 180. When I was 14.
  • tracymayhall
    tracymayhall Posts: 10 Member
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    I have never even heard of the show, but I don't have directv anymore. Ironically, I have a fb group called fat to fit to fat........this thread caught my attention.
  • leahfit77
    leahfit77 Posts: 18 Member
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    Watching it now!
  • Mavrick_RN
    Mavrick_RN Posts: 439 Member
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    I knew there was something not quite right about that show. Thanks ChrisStPeter.

    So the fatty has to wait three months for the trainer to pack on a few role-playing pounds then they both lose them together for the entertainment value of a contrived-reality show?
  • Trump2016
    Trump2016 Posts: 80 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I wanted to smack the ever living hell out of JD from last week. What a total scumbag who wasted everyone's time.

    Lost track of how many times he blatantly lied throughout the episode and had an infantile attitude. All the other folks from previous ones had better attitudes even when they were scratching the bottom of the barrels and at their most trying times.

    "I SWEAR ALL I HAD WERE PROTEIN SHAKES AND SALADS!!!"
  • Golferdrone
    Golferdrone Posts: 68 Member
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    A show is on tv for entertainment. It is not a documentary, if you focus on what is wrong with the show the list is long. However, seeing different trainers with weight gain, and loss helps reinforce possibilities.
  • Zoe678
    Zoe678 Posts: 134 Member
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    Trump2016 wrote: »
    I wanted to smack the ever living hell out of JD from last week. What a total scumbag who wasted everyone's time.

    Lost track of how many times he blatantly lied throughout the episode and had an infantile attitude. All the other folks from previous ones had better attitudes even when they were scratching the bottom of the barrels and at their most trying times.

    "I SWEAR ALL I HAD WERE PROTEIN SHAKES AND SALADS!!!"

    OMG, yes! He was so frustrating!
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    Mavrick_RN wrote: »
    I knew there was something not quite right about that show. Thanks ChrisStPeter.

    So the fatty has to wait three months for the trainer to pack on a few role-playing pounds then they both lose them together for the entertainment value of a contrived-reality show?

    That's it. The episode I saw was so blatantly pandering - the trainer, who had been ultra-buff and worked out umpteen hours a day, begins to exercise after putting on 40 lbs. and gasps, "This is hard!" Meanwhile, his client - a woman needing to lose much more than 40 lbs. - is supposed to take that as ...comfort? Commiseration? It was just so silly & hollow.

  • xtina315
    xtina315 Posts: 218 Member
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    I personally do not like the show. It takes years to put on, and years to take off. The strain the weight puts on you is difficult. These trainers do not understand at all. They were "fat" for a few short months, but they also had all that muscle memory, and you could see blantly see all their muscles still. It took me a lot longer, nor had all those hard core binges like they did to gain the weight that I did. My fit self 4 years ago if I gained 10 lbs I could easily knock it off due to having more muscle mass, my extremely heavy current self has a hard time knocking 10 lbs off because I haven't done much of any exercise in three years. All these trainers lose all their weight that they gained, not one trainee lost all the weight that they wanted to lose. I also feel like none of the trainers gained anything from that experience.
  • marivilen713
    marivilen713 Posts: 1 Member
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    I watched a couple of the shows, but frankly, I found them boring and uninspiring. I will never understand why someone who is in top physical condition would do something to themselves like gain that much weight just to help a client lose weight?? Also, some of those clients spent the whole show just whining and complaining about having to work out and then cheated on the foods they were eating. The whole show is a joke....don't think I'll be watching again
  • Vanessalookingood
    Vanessalookingood Posts: 135 Member
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    I love the show. One thing that really made an impression on me was how ill, depressed and lethargic these personal trainers would become after eating huge amounts of junk and gaining all that weight. A light bulb suddenly went off for me. I never realized until I stopped eating so much junk that that was why I was so lazy, depressed and unmotivated, it made me realize that it was not so much that "I" was a failure because I couldn't lose weight but it was more a result of being poisoned by all the garbage I was constantly ingesting, that I was stuck.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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    As I cannot access Ep 1, I've started with Ep 2 on http://www.aetv.com/shows/fit-to-fat-to-fit/season-1/episode-2 .

    The trainer Steve is struggling to gain weight and has the same attitude towards the scale that I see with a lot of new posters here.

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