Biggest Loser going too far???

Heather1974

Heather1974

Member
I haven't been to the forums in some time but I wanted anyone willing to give their feedback.

First off I'll say that I love love love Biggest Loser. I've seen them all and think it is truly helping the obesity epidemic in the world. My concern is do they go to far? Do they work so hard that they set themselves up to fail?
At the end of last nights show Brady had lost 100lbs and was at a size 34 waist. That seems like a totally amazing accomplishment to me. But he wants to lose another 30lbs!!! If you think back to some of the guys who have won in the past some were as low as 165lbs. I may not be skinny but I'm a healthy athletic, proportioned 150lbs. How can that low a weight be good?

I hate the overly skinny Hollywood image but in reality it's 5-10% of the population that are super skinny. I just wonder and worry that there is such a push to be so small the contests and us watching get overly obsessed with the number. I saw a show on Oprah where several previous contestant had gained as much as 70lbs back.

I just wish health mattered more than the number on the scale.

Thanks for listening/reading and share your thoughts.:)
 
I think if you spend months of your life doing nothing but working out, to great success, then try to go back to real life, where you do nothing but work at a paying job and deal with real-life stress, "failure" is guaranteed. Since the basic concept is flawed I am NOT a fan of The Biggest Loser and don't watch. There's only one way to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, in my book, and that way takes a long time; too long to make a tv show about it.
 
165 lbs is not that low for a guy. DH is 6ft or 6ft1 and weighs 158 and he eats like crazy (a wee bit jealous I am) He's a 33 waist, he looks average/normal in the size dept, so I don't think that's too little. However, I totally agree w/ SSW that the show promotes a lot of unrealistic things. If I could workout 6 hours a day and eat only boiled chicken and lettuce, I would also be a skinny minnie, but life happens. I'll be fit and healthy, please, NOT skinny and starving. I still have fluffy bits on me, but I also maintain my weight, and don't bounce around. Believe me, I've done the "lose 20, gain 40, lose 15, gain 50" game and it isn't fun or healthy. Slow, steady, and reasonable wins the race. However, it does make for fun, guilty pleasure TV! and if the contestants and viewers learn a little and can apply it to their lives, then all the better.

Nan
 
SirenSongWoman said:
I think if you spend months of your life doing nothing but working out, to great success, then try to go back to real life, where you do nothing but work at a paying job and deal with real-life stress, "failure" is guaranteed. Since the basic concept is flawed I am NOT a fan of The Biggest Loser and don't watch. There's only one way to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, in my book, and that way takes a long time; too long to make a tv show about it.
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ITA! I personally know people who have used the "method" as a means to create an unbalanced & unsafe workout plan. The result has been- injuruy and mental burnout.

These TV people are monitored 24/7 by Drs & Nurses and have hunders of crew people around them to catch something unsafe (like feeling faint, passing out, dehydration) ... When someone says to me ITS SO MOTIVATING I try and just have them put it all in perspective...Feeling motivated is good but IMO trying to pull off what you see in snipits on TV is NOT a healthy thing to do.
I think the show should be constantly addressing a DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME ON YOUR OWN throughout the show- maybe a disclaimer by the trainers in the beginning and end segments. Having said that I only watched 1 season 2 years ago- back then there was never a disclaimer of any sort that I ever saw- I thought back then- Irresponsible
 
Biggest Losers don't keep their weight off as a rule

Heather1974 said:
I haven't been to the forums in some time but I wanted anyone willing to give their feedback.

First off I'll say that I love love love Biggest Loser. I've seen them all and think it is truly helping the obesity epidemic in the world. My concern is do they go to far? Do they work so hard that they set themselves up to fail?
At the end of last nights show Brady had lost 100lbs and was at a size 34 waist. That seems like a totally amazing accomplishment to me. But he wants to lose another 30lbs!!! If you think back to some of the guys who have won in the past some were as low as 165lbs. I may not be skinny but I'm a healthy athletic, proportioned 150lbs. How can that low a weight be good?

I hate the overly skinny Hollywood image but in reality it's 5-10% of the population that are super skinny. I just wonder and worry that there is such a push to be so small the contests and us watching get overly obsessed with the number. I saw a show on Oprah where several previous contestant had gained as much as 70lbs back.

I just wish health mattered more than the number on the scale.

Thanks for listening/reading and share your thoughts.:)
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The way they work out is unrealistic, and way they eat is unrealistic - no wonder they gain the weight back. I still watch it because I love to see the transformations.
 
I recommend turning off the tv. I know I have grown tired of hearing out people who when from a size 20 to a size 0 in two days, what stupid thing celebrities are doing these days and how much botox they inject in their faces, etc. There are many people out there who watch this crap and think that they have to do the same to reach their goals.
 
I have watched this show on and off but I'm not a fan. I understand that it's mainly for entertainment value but the weigh-ins take forever and I have often seen very poor form being encouraged. I hope people don't think they can lose that amount of weight just working out normally. I wonder how many people start and then stop when they haven't lost 30 pounds within the first 2 weeks.
 
lioness said:
I have often seen very poor form being encouraged.
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I've seen the show once or twice and I had the same thought. Seemed to be a lot of people huffing and puffing and flinging weights about in an unsafe manner. Of course it's more dramatic that way, and I guess that is the point!
 
That show does not hold my attention. I've watched a few episodes.
I don't like drama that goes with voting members off :rolleyes:, and I don't like the coaches.
 
About a week or 2 ago, both Bob and Jillian from the Biggest Loser were on Oprah. They said the contestants train for 7 hours or so a day and their nutrition closely monitored. They also had several past contestants on the show and most of them had gained back a significant amount of weight. Once they get back to reality it's very hard and stressful for these people to maintain on their own, especially since their weight loss was a very public thing. Too much pressure in my opinion.
 
I think we need some drastic changes. I believe you need to work up to those changes, one baby step at a time and eventually to healthy workouts and healthy choices in our food. I would say stay off the processed food all together and have the correct size servings/portions. Not to be afraid of hard work/exercises, but we have to push ourselves to get there all the time (one step at a time). There is no such thing as a quick fix.

Are they going to far, probably. It's not reality to work (if they do) 7 hours a day on exercising, but hey, it's a TV show and a contest to lose the most pounds, even if it's unhealthy to do so that quickly. Someone eventually is going to get hurt...heart attach, who knows.

Janie
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Ruby

Did any of you watch "Ruby" on the Style channel last week? It is a new series were a morbibdly obese woman is trying to get healthy. I thought it was really good. She is living her life and trying to change the way she does things...
 
I saw a few minutes of Ruby and it did look interesting. She's trying to make changes and seems like a neat person. I might start recording it.
 
To me it is not worth losing weight in a method that is not something you will be able to maintain most of the time for the rest of your life. As a female eating 1,200 calories a day and working out for 7 can not be a permanent lifestyle. It is just done for ratings and the effect of it all. I watch the show occasionally but it is not really something that really hold my interest.
 
"Hour of Tears"

Funny you should mention that, I used to watch that show and take a hit off of a milkshake whenever somebody on the show cried.
 
SirenSongWoman said:
I think if you spend months of your life doing nothing but working out, to great success, then try to go back to real life, where you do nothing but work at a paying job and deal with real-life stress, "failure" is guaranteed. Since the basic concept is flawed I am NOT a fan of The Biggest Loser and don't watch. There's only one way to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, in my book, and that way takes a long time; too long to make a tv show about it.
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I totally agree, It took over three years to lose my weight! And im still trucking along..... I do watch the show though:eek:.....im a reality junkie:eek:
 
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