secret eaters

I binge-watched that show at one point. I don't know why, but for a week or so I was fascinated with it. (I found the episodes on Youtube.)

I thought it got to be a bit much the way the hosts widened their eyes with shock after the hundredth time. Like it's any surprise that so many of us pack away the food, don't count everything, eat our leftovers late at night and that a whole lot of us are overweight. (I do realize Britain is going through this crisis where they're fast catching up to the U.S. which I don't think was expected...we've held the "overweight nation" title for so long.)

I thought it was pretty shaming and I doubted, each time, that the people being highlighted really didn't realize they were overeating. Most shows of this type are at least partially scripted but this one really felt staged.

I'm not putting anyone down for liking the show, and it's not like I never watch silly TV. I definitely do, I'm no upper moral crust about that. But this one...I don't know...I'd bet my lower intestine even the hosts binge once in a while, who has never done this? The ZOMG shock was hard to (wait for it) swallow.

Okay...I did not mean to upset you...my opinion was not about you...it was about the show.

As I said, it isn't a judgment on people who watch the show. I have my just for fun shows.

I like this show, it's one of my favourite trash telly treats, and a real eye-opener when it comes to how your perception of what you're eating can differ from the reality. In general I don't think it is shaming - these people signed up for a reality check, and that's what they get. It would be different if you walked up to someone in the street and did that.

I've wondered about how scripted it is, too - it seems so unbelievable that they could really not realise why they are overweight when they're eating a six pack of sausage rolls as a snack - but overall, I think that part is genuine. A few of the contestants never truly accept it, even when it's there in front of their faces.

None of us live in the real world, we live in an illusion made up of the information our brain chooses to give us. If it thinks something isn't important, it'll just blank it out, and that includes the details of what we are eating. Even people who track calories often just miss out and forget entire snacks. The message of this show - that we are all eating more than we realise and that the only way to overcome obesity is to face up to that - is so valuable that i can easily forgive it for its trashiness and for the moments when it's over-dramatised. There are some good tips too.

I watched some of this when it was first on TV. I think it makes a good point, that people can underestimate their intake and eat without thinking, but it seemed a bit exaggerated. They had managed to find people who could eat a takeaway meal without noticing, for instance!

I thought it might have been more useful if they'd used more ordinary people. (For instance, I sometimes eat when I'm preparing food, and forget about it). But I suppose it wouldn't make good TV!

One thing that was interesting was that with the amount the people were eating, you'd actually expect them to be bigger than they were. I just had a look at one, and the guy was eating 5500 calories a day, but "only" weighed 224 lb.