Weight Loss TV Shows - Good or Bad?
I am SO out of date with this one but part of my weight loss prep is getting myself motivated by watching weight loss transformations. In the process of doing this I stumbled across a show called Extreme Makeover with Chris Powell. And while it was pretty cool to watch people drop 100+lbs, I found myself completely horrified by the speed of their loss.
80lbs in 90 days? What? That's like 6+lbs a week!
Which got me thinking about shows like the Biggest Loser and etc.
Here's the thing though, while I understand what they're doing isn't possible for the average person working without personal trainers and $25000 gift cards from Walmart... I still found it motivating in a weird way. So it can't be that bad, right?
I'm sure this topic has been discussed on this forum in the past but after a quick browse of this forum I didn't see any recent discussions about it.
So...
Do you think these extreme weight loss TV shows are helpful to inspire people OR hurtful because they create unrealistic expectations which will lead to people crashing and burning?
What do YOU think? What's your gut reaction?
Me? I think it's great. For me, personally, I completely understand it's 'TV' and while I don't think I could ever reach those levels of loss without a personal trainer and a LOT of help, that's okay. In my head I'm like: It'll take me longer, but I could have those results too!
I do wonder about the people on these shows and whether they'll be able to keep that momentum once they lose the support system and personal training and motivation of being filmed. But ultimately, overall, it seems a good thing.
But there is a part of me that wonders if the average person would have the same mindset or if they'd get discouraged after they're not losing 6lbs per week.
80lbs in 90 days? What? That's like 6+lbs a week!
Which got me thinking about shows like the Biggest Loser and etc.
Here's the thing though, while I understand what they're doing isn't possible for the average person working without personal trainers and $25000 gift cards from Walmart... I still found it motivating in a weird way. So it can't be that bad, right?
I'm sure this topic has been discussed on this forum in the past but after a quick browse of this forum I didn't see any recent discussions about it.
So...
Do you think these extreme weight loss TV shows are helpful to inspire people OR hurtful because they create unrealistic expectations which will lead to people crashing and burning?
What do YOU think? What's your gut reaction?
Me? I think it's great. For me, personally, I completely understand it's 'TV' and while I don't think I could ever reach those levels of loss without a personal trainer and a LOT of help, that's okay. In my head I'm like: It'll take me longer, but I could have those results too!
I do wonder about the people on these shows and whether they'll be able to keep that momentum once they lose the support system and personal training and motivation of being filmed. But ultimately, overall, it seems a good thing.
But there is a part of me that wonders if the average person would have the same mindset or if they'd get discouraged after they're not losing 6lbs per week.
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I think some of them are pretty good and even motivational. Like the show "My 600 lbs life". That's a good one. I like the fact that they're doing it for their health and not to compete against someone else. They show people trying to get healthy by changing their habits to healthy ones, and it makes me tear up with happy tears when they accomplish a milestone (like being able to walk outside, walking x amount of distance, etc.) I'm just so happy for them and rooting for them. That's how we all should be in this weight loss journey- rooting for each other and cheering each other on, not competing. But that's just me.
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I love watching them personally. I just love watching people succeed and it kind of intrigues me how other people's lives are. I just bare in mind though that the majority of the shows do make the people lose TOO much too fast and to remember that slow and steady wins the race.1
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Just based on the ones I have happened to see: I think they tend to promote unrealistic time frames for weight loss and push the idea that weight loss has to be some form of punishment or a really grueling activity.15
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In the case of biggest loser, they seemed to push unrealistic expectations both on weight loss results as well as focusing almost entirely on training. In that sense, I thought big fat truth was a better show, but at the same time I thought it was sort of boring and not really interesting to me.5
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janejellyroll wrote: »Just based on the ones I have happened to see: I think they tend to promote unrealistic time frames for weight loss and push the idea that weight loss has to be some form of punishment or a really grueling activity.
I can see that. Like the show I was watching this morning... 2 hours of exercise a day. My insides curled up and died a little watching that girl cry her way through some of those workouts.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Just based on the ones I have happened to see: I think they tend to promote unrealistic time frames for weight loss and push the idea that weight loss has to be some form of punishment or a really grueling activity.
I can see that. Like the show I was watching this morning... 2 hours of exercise a day. My insides curled up and died a little watching that girl cry her way through some of those workouts.
Yeah, stuff like that I think can be discouraging to some people. If I thought the only way to effectively lose weight was to exercise for two hours a day at this painful intensity level, I'd just resign myself to being overweight.9 -
fuzzylop72 wrote: »In the case of biggest loser, they seemed to push unrealistic expectations both on weight loss results as well as focusing almost entirely on training.
Yes! It was all about the training and those rare moments when diet was mentioned were usually Jennie-O commercials.
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If the data in this study are reliable, and there is not an issue of causation versus correlation, I would have to vote "bad".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989512/
A lot of people like to follow along or mimic experiences, and if there has been true lasting damage, it would be better to have more "vanilla" shows (healthier regimens) or ones that are built over a long period of time, which could either be in the format of a "season" where things have been edited for fitting regular timeslots, or they could be worked into another show format (e.g. news or daily show) where there are periodic check-ins where people are filled in on what's going on.
I have a feeling neither idea would sell really well to the general public, though.
I love getting my "success fix" in the success thread section. I'm currently noshing on the AMA thread by Vismal. He's got a great thing going there, and has a lot of great advice for people.2 -
I would agree that Biggest Loser creates unrealistic expectations (I have not seen the other shows mentioned), even when working with a trainer. The participants on that show are very similar to lab rats in that they have every aspect of their lives controlled from the time the enter the show to the time they are voted off. They have their workouts, sleep, and nutrition all carefully planned out for them, not to mention they have constant monitoring by a team of medical professionals to make sure that everyone is safe. There are also probably very carefully screened to pick the people who have the absolute lowest risk of severe cardiac event, musculoskeletal injury and probably a whole host of other things that would require them to limit their physical activity. When I was a personal trainer this was a hot topic of discussion among some of the "bigger" clientele of our gym. It was extremely frustrating for us as trainers to explain to clients why they weren't losing weight as quickly as the people on Biggest loser. Those that could afford it worked with a trainer 3+x/week for about an hour each session and sought some nutritional advice. These people did see weight loss, but you cannot compare 3ish hours of personal training a week, which is probably what many people do, to that of a fitness show where participants and trainers sole focus is losing weight. Its like living in a fantasy land where suddenly you don't need a job, and you have limitless time and resources to try and reach your fitness goals. Its just not realistic for 99% of people.5
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MelodiousMermaid wrote: »If the data in this study are reliable, and there is not an issue of causation versus correlation, I would have to vote "bad".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989512/
A lot of people like to follow along or mimic experiences, and if there has been true lasting damage, it would be better to have more "vanilla" shows (healthier regimens) or ones that are built over a long period of time, which could either be in the format of a "season" where things have been edited for fitting regular timeslots, or they could be worked into another show format (e.g. news or daily show) where there are periodic check-ins where people are filled in on what's going on.
I have a feeling neither idea would sell really well to the general public, though.
I love getting my "success fix" in the success thread section. I'm currently noshing on the AMA thread by Vismal. He's got a great thing going there, and has a lot of great advice for people.
Surprisingly YouTube has a lot of great weight loss videos that are SUPER realistic. I have been watching those too. The ones I've seen so far are young women who encourage losing at a rate of 1/2lb per week or 1lb per week and speak very realistically about how long it takes and WHAT it takes.
The good news is, most young people are on YouTube so if those are the role models they can find, that's great!
That's a good point about people liking to mimic experiences. Definitely an interesting perspective.1 -
Shows like the Biggest Loser piss me off to no end, because these people are rough-housed so badly in such a short period of time, it just is too much for me. However, shows like My 600lb Life, I find helpful because most of these folks are trying to relearn how to live in a sustainable and supportive way.3
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Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover both worry me a lot, personally. I've watched a couple of shows that take a different kind of approach. On British television there has been Supersize vs. Superskinny and Secret Eaters. Neither is still on the air but you can watch on YouTube. Neither is specifically a weight loss program, much less fast and extreme weight loss, and certainly no plastic surgery. In the former they stick an undereater and an overeater in a house together for a week, and they not only rub off on each other but both consult with a doctor. In the latter people who claim they 'eat healthy' but keep gaining weight and can't understand why are tailed by friends, coworkers, and even private investigators to show how they're lying to themselves and/or eating mindlessly. Both are fairly entertaining, and to their credit, seem more useful to the casual viewer to take usable lessons from than some of their American counterparts.6
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Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover both worry me a lot, personally. I've watched a couple of shows that take a different kind of approach. On British television there has been Supersize vs. Superskinny and Secret Eaters. Neither is still on the air but you can watch on YouTube. Neither is specifically a weight loss program, much less fast and extreme weight loss, and certainly no plastic surgery. In the former they stick an undereater and an overeater in a house together for a week, and they not only rub off on each other but both consult with a doctor. In the latter people who claim they 'eat healthy' but keep gaining weight and can't understand why are tailed by friends, coworkers, and even private investigators to show how they're lying to themselves and/or eating mindlessly. Both are fairly entertaining, and to their credit, seem more useful to the casual viewer to take usable lessons from than some of their American counterparts.
Next time I'm looking to veg, I'm totally looking these up! Thanks for the recommendations!2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Just based on the ones I have happened to see: I think they tend to promote unrealistic time frames for weight loss and push the idea that weight loss has to be some form of punishment or a really grueling activity.
I can see that. Like the show I was watching this morning... 2 hours of exercise a day. My insides curled up and died a little watching that girl cry her way through some of those workouts.
I used to feel the same way when I was 80 pounds heavier...now I train for Sprint Triathlon's, miles long swims, and hours long bike rides. I don't do 2 hours a day - that seems obsessive to me too - but I probably average 7 hours a week in the summer, less so in the winter because of less daylight hours and I find the gym to be a bit boring as opposed to exercise outdoors. But on some crazy days I will put in 4 or 5 good hours of biking. Then there is work on our farm...3 -
iWishMyNameWasRebel wrote: »Shows like the Biggest Loser piss me off to no end, because these people are rough-housed so badly in such a short period of time, it just is too much for me. However, shows like My 600lb Life, I find helpful because most of these folks are trying to relearn how to live in a sustainable and supportive way.
^^This.0 -
I enjoy watching them but I always think the amount of weight they expect folk to lose per week is just too high. I also cringe at the amount of exercise they make them do when they are so heavy, I think their hearts will never stand the pace.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »Just based on the ones I have happened to see: I think they tend to promote unrealistic time frames for weight loss and push the idea that weight loss has to be some form of punishment or a really grueling activity.
I 100% agree with this.
We regularly see people show up here, do some kind of crazy low calorie eating plan, exercise to the max, and complain that their weight loss is "so slow" or "they're not losing" based on expectations set by TV nonsense . . . but when you dig into their details, they're actually losing at an adequate or unhealthfully fast rate for their current size (maybe 1-3lb/wk) but thinking they should be losing 5+ pounds weekly to justify their current misery. Coming up next: Burnout or binge city, often.
Fast weight loss is dangerous. It causes unnecessarily high lean tissue loss alongside fat loss (the punitive TV exercise regimens somewhat counteract this). There can be other negative health effects, some severe (fatigue, weakness, hair loss, gallstones. . .). Fast loss is suitable only to those who are extremely obese, and then only under very close medical supervision. Fast loss is generally incompatible with a happy, productive, energetic regular daily life.
Sudden large amounts of intense exercise create unnecessary risks of injury, and reinforce the idea that exercise is deeply unpleasant (when in reality it should ideally be fun).
Extreme eating and exercise routines that a person can't imagine continuing forever . . . those are step 1 in the classic recipe for yo-yo gain and loss, one of the worst, most-health-destructive ways of living over the long haul.
Ideally, one uses the weight loss process to experiment and find permanently sustainable ways of eating nutritiously and moving enjoyably, so that one happily stays at a healthy weight forever . . . which is the most health-promoting way to live long-term.
Few of the TV show participants seem to sustain their loss long term.
OP, you say you find the shows "motivating" and that you "don't think I could ever reach those levels of loss without a personal trainer and a LOT of help", which implies you'd like to try and would be happy if it happened. This makes me worried that you've somewhat bought into the shows' destructive mythology already. Don't.
Watch these shows for entertainment, if you enjoy them. But don't fall into thinking of them as any kind of guide to sensible behavior.
P.S. For the record, I've been successful with a more moderate approach, and am heading into year 3 of maintaining a healthy weight. Some of the others posting cautionary words are also long-term successful. You're not hearing resentful push-back from bitter people who simply couldn't achieve TV-quality results.
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I fall more on the end of the spectrum that thinks these shows are appalling, unrealistic, and exploiting the people they claim to be helping.
Also, I have a lot of friends & acquaintances who watched them in years past and came to expect losses of 6-8 lb per week with any diet they tried. Even for those who did have 100+ to lose (as I once did) it's not realistic most of the time, and I think it's unfortunate that these shows give so many people unrealistic expectations. It sets many up for failure as they try to lose sensibly.
I've also heard a LOT of people (on these forums and in everyday life) saying they love to watch these shows while eating X snack (like a pint of ice cream, fried food, whatever they find indulgent). I can't get over the sheer number of people who say that and I think it's really sick & twisted...on a level that I tend to be wary of those people from then on.6 -
<<<<< Guilty pleasure watcher here. I do enjoy the weight loss programs. I want to see the people be successful and I cheer them on (in most cases). Are they realistic for the common man/woman? No, of course not. It's a TV show and it's always going to be the extreme or it doesn't make for good TV.
Because I feel a certain affinity with the players, I usually only watch these while exercising - walking on the treadmill or doing a dumbbell workout. If I was sitting down eating pizza or a pint of ice cream, then there's something definitely wrong there. I guess if I'm exercising it makes it OK. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with that philosophy, too.
Thoughts on a few of them:
Biggest Loser - lots of hype, extreme exercise regimen and very little nutritional guidance. What passed as nutritional education was advertiser driven and product placement (Jenny-O turkey products and Subway). Most of the contestants have regained the weight they lost. Not sure that I agree that they ruined their metabolisms, as one study has suggested. A lot of them admitted going back to their old patterns. That'll do it every time (as we all know). I do not feel sorry for any of these people. They were all clamoring to get on this "game" show as were thousands of others. The casting call would literally draw thousands of people in every city. Those contestants knew exactly what they were getting in to. There was as much strategy and game play as there was actual weight loss and health improvements. Kind of sad that this one is over AND that trainer Bob Harper had a heart-attack!
My 600-lb life - super sad that people get to the point where this extreme bariatric surgery is their only option. Most of them experienced some psychological trauma in childhood that led them to self-medicate with food. Some of them are success stories in the end and some of them are not. Several of the people on this show are super manipulators who control everyone in their environment and somehow force their caregivers into providing all the food that they desire. In nearly every episode the person sneaks around, cheats on the diet and doesn't lose the weight until they "snap out of it" and start complying so they can get the surgery. Usually they show one brief clip of the person getting counseling or therapy, but that's not the major focus. Often the rest of the family is also obese, just not quite as bad as the main character. This is the part that bothers me the most. The rest of the family rarely changes their eating habits while expecting the bariatric patient to stick to their diet. They've started doing a second year follow-up on some of them and that is rewarding to see them even more successful in year 2. A handful of these folks have really turned their lives around. But then, a few of them are so obnoxious that you really don't care if they're successful or not.
Family by the Ton - a new show about a whole family of extremely obese individuals who decide to all have weight-loss surgery and support each other along the way. I'm about half way through the episodes on this one, so I haven't seen any great transformations yet.
I watched a show from the UK for awhile that I thought was really entertaining. Not sure if it was Secret Eaters or not. They would talk to these people about their diets and they really thought they were eating healthy, but then there were films of them drinking and eating at the pub, buying take-out, etc. The show producers would show the film to the person and they'd be really surprised at all the "hidden" calories. I can't recall how I stumbled upon that one but it was fun.
I watch these programs for entertainment, but I know there are real people in the stories and this is not a realistic way to lose weight.1 -
It all makes me sad. Just really, really, sad. 600lb life makes me cry. I am not to macho to admit that. I also look at it, that could be me if I fail to keep my weight off.3
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I am a fan of watching Super Size vs Supper Skinny, I like watching weight loss television when I am doing workouts at home. I find it motivating. In Super Size vs Supper Skinny they talk about how a unbalanced diet can effect your body and what not so that part is helpful. I also watched Secret Eaters and it made me look at all the "little snacks" that I would nibble on throughout the day, also made me more aware of portion sizes.
This go around my weight loss journey has been very slow I have only lost about 25 pounds in the last 9 months and that's by choice. I am focusing on a long term lifestyle change, I also did go on a break for 2 months and ate maintenance during November and December due to my work changing and the holidays.
I still enjoy watching the weight loss shows and I have started to switch to shows about bodybuilding and healthy eating to educate myself further then what I was learning from reality TV. Since I started going to the gym in September I have added 15-60lbs on my lifts and I feel a difference in my body and I can see that it is changing.
I still watch things like the biggest looser and my 600lb life just not as often as compared to when I first started.1 -
RaeBeeBaby wrote: »I watched a show from the UK for awhile that I thought was really entertaining. Not sure if it was Secret Eaters or not. They would talk to these people about their diets and they really thought they were eating healthy, but then there were films of them drinking and eating at the pub, buying take-out, etc. The show producers would show the film to the person and they'd be really surprised at all the "hidden" calories. I can't recall how I stumbled upon that one but it was fun.
Yes that sounds like Secret Eaters. The host was a witty woman with a sleek black bob hairdo? Anna Henderson? As I mentioned before, and as has been noted by other too, what I appreciate about this show and Supersize vs. Superskinny is that they depict things that can actually translate into small changes in daily life by people watching, which I think makes the difference from shows like Biggest Loser. I forgot to mention before that the key with Supersize vs. Superskinny was not just that the undereater and overeater bunk up for a week, it's that they have to eat each other's daily diet over the course of that week. So what sometimes happens in a positive outcome is that the overeater, watching the undereater struggle, sweat, and even get ill trying to get through their own 'normal' diet, feels guilty that they're literally physically abusing that person. In turn they realise they've been doing the same to themselves. With the undereater the lightbulb moment may come with the opposite—seeing how they're starving their flatmate—but as someone else pointed out, often comes with the help of the doctor showing pictures of their medical future (say, rickets or osteoporosis just as examples) if they keep being deficient in particular nutrients given their weekly diet. Both also get sent off with personalised meal plans, then there is a 3-month follow-up at the end of the show and a typical weight loss looks like maybe 20–30 pounds in that period. Nothing extreme about that.2 -
Some can be interesting and motivational. There's one on YouTube supersize vs super skinny!! That's my favorite.0
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MelodiousMermaid wrote: »If the data in this study are reliable, and there is not an issue of causation versus correlation, I would have to vote "bad".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989512/
A lot of people like to follow along or mimic experiences, and if there has been true lasting damage, it would be better to have more "vanilla" shows (healthier regimens) or ones that are built over a long period of time, which could either be in the format of a "season" where things have been edited for fitting regular timeslots, or they could be worked into another show format (e.g. news or daily show) where there are periodic check-ins where people are filled in on what's going on.
I have a feeling neither idea would sell really well to the general public, though.
I love getting my "success fix" in the success thread section. I'm currently noshing on the AMA thread by Vismal. He's got a great thing going there, and has a lot of great advice for people.
I have been fascinated, ok obsessed with this study post weight loss. What I find odd is that predicted TDEE's came out, but metabolism slid. That's my understanding at least. I think there may have been some issues with he formulas they used when making original RMR studies and new RMR studies. Kevin Hall, while brilliant, is not infallible.0 -
psychod787 wrote: »MelodiousMermaid wrote: »If the data in this study are reliable, and there is not an issue of causation versus correlation, I would have to vote "bad".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989512/
A lot of people like to follow along or mimic experiences, and if there has been true lasting damage, it would be better to have more "vanilla" shows (healthier regimens) or ones that are built over a long period of time, which could either be in the format of a "season" where things have been edited for fitting regular timeslots, or they could be worked into another show format (e.g. news or daily show) where there are periodic check-ins where people are filled in on what's going on.
I have a feeling neither idea would sell really well to the general public, though.
I love getting my "success fix" in the success thread section. I'm currently noshing on the AMA thread by Vismal. He's got a great thing going there, and has a lot of great advice for people.
I have been fascinated, ok obsessed with this study post weight loss. What I find odd is that predicted TDEE's came out, but metabolism slid. That's my understanding at least. I think there may have been some issues with he formulas they used when making original RMR studies and new RMR studies. Kevin Hall, while brilliant, is not infallible.
There's something about this that I'm curious about as well. I have no idea where the truth lies in any of this, but it seems like if the 'lowered metabolism' thing being talked about in this article is 'adaptive thermogenesis' then according to what I've seen on the MFP boards, the effect is usually temporary rather than permanent, as this article suggests? Now, even if these are the same two things, maybe there's still a difference, like an effect that the extreme crash diet vs. the slow and steady (and maybe with occasional diet breaks/refeeds) approach on one's permanent metabolic state, but I'd like to know more about this if anybody out there has solid information. I'd just like to know what I have waiting for me when I reach goal weight, metabolic slowness-wise, and whether there are proven strategies to position myself well for the switch to maintenance.0 -
Some weight shows good and bad. Sometimes I think when people lose weight they become to obsessed then lose to much.0
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Oohh good topic!
Some shows can be great and others terrible!
Biggest loser - Terrible!
Some of the contestants have even come out and said that they were given all kinds of drugs to keep them going in the gym and dehydrate them down...
Ever noticed how the beginning of the season, everyone takes their shirts off for weighing, for no other reason than to show how obese they are to the camera, but at the end of the season, they all weigh with shirts.... To hide the loose skin!
Also, it's just terrible how they starve these people with insane caloric deficits and then bait them with cash and food to break their diets... They are not trying to help these people, they are just trying to exploit them
Most of the contest gain the weight back, many end up heavier than before, because they did not lose the weight properly, nor learn and develop the necessary tools to sustain it...
That show is terrible imo4 -
I don't like them. They're often too unrealistic, so having to watch an entire episode just to weed out a couple of things I could use, if any, doesn't sound very appealing to me. They are also full of reality TV kind of drama which I don't find enjoyable because it feels like unsolicited emotional manipulation. I don't enjoy any "modern freak show" kind of programmes and documentaries for the same reason, weight related or not. That's why I don't watch them personally, because they don't interest me. I have issues with the ethics of how some of these shows are structured, but that's show business for you and the participants are adults who made their own choices. With that said, I don't see why someone who enjoys these shows shouldn't watch them as long as they know it's purely for entertainment. Some people find them motivating too, and there is nothing wrong with that. What's sad is that not everyone who watches them knows how skewed and far from what can be realistically achieved some of these shows are.2
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The 600 lb life is probably most realistic they show how to really change people life just by starting slow. Saw one lady just started with simple bike peddler that goes on the floor did that while watching TV, another guy just started walking at first just down the driveway and built up over time. I started the same build up slowly I had hard time going a block now I can do 5Ks no problem. I went in a medical weight loss program and until you really take an honest look at both nutritional value and your own mental hangups on food everything else is just a diet not a lifestyle change.2
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I watch the shows all the time. I think it does a good job at "scaring" me. I get scared and do not want to turn into a morbidly obese person.1
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