The Biggest Loser...interesting....

[eve25]

http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/story.php?s=2940

NBC's 'The Biggest Loser' weight-loss reality show to premiere October 19

By Wade Paulsen, 09/28/2004

If you have been super-sized, NBC claims it might be able to help you.

On Tuesday, October 19, at 8PM ET/PT, NBC will premiere The Biggest Loser, a show in which overweight contestants lose weight -- or, in NBC's words, they "receive the opportunity to undergo a radical physical makeover without any kind of surgery." The show will be hosted by stand-up comedian and former talk-show host Caroline Rhea, who has discussed her own weight-loss struggles in her comedy routines.

The firm announcement of The Biggest Loser means that NBC's much-ballyhooed boxing-reality show The Contender, which was originally scheduled for this time slot, will now definitely be postponed, probably until the rumored January date.

The simple idea of the one-hour unscripted series, familiar to dieters the world over, is that "whomever loses the most...wins." Losing weight will be difficult, though, as the 12 contestants (six male and six female) will be faced with "real-life temptations" that their new "approved weight-loss skills and resources" should help them overcome -- if they want to win, that is.

The twelve contestants will be divided into two teams of six, cleverly named the Blue team and the Red team. The teams will be mixed by gender (unlike, say, the current editions of Survivor and The Apprentice) and will be organized to be approximately equal in weight. Each team will then be assigned a "team trainer" to teach it individual fitness and nutrition regimens. According to NBC, one trainer has a tough 'boot camp' attitude while the other offers a much calmer approach yet remains strict and focused on results. So ... will the carrot or the stick work better?

Viewers will also have the opportunity to study and learn the two dieting methods that the "celebrity trainers" incorporate into their team's nutrition plan. If the success of the Atkins and South Beach diet books is any indication, this part of The Biggest Loser will soon become its own book.

During each week's broadcast, the teams will face difficult and demanding daily work-outs culminating in a weekly competition in the form of a challenge, but the moment of truth will come during a weekly weigh-in. At the weigh-in, each team member will be weighed to determine the total pounds lost as a team. The team that loses the least amount of weight is faced with having to eliminate one of their own. In the end, the winner of The Biggest Loser walks away with $250,000 and a healthier body augmented by new coping skills ... or so NBC claims.

We have another suggestion: the teams could go on the Mark Burnett Survivor diet.

The personal fitness trainers on The Biggest Loser will be Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. Michaels' celebrity clientele includes entertainment mogul David Geffen, Amanda Peet (Something's Gotta Give), Vanessa Marcil (Vegas), Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia), Sarah Paulson (Down with Love) and Jeremy Renner (S.W.A.T.). Harper is a consultant to trainers and teachers alike, and has trained such celebrities as Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Guy Ritchie (pre-Kabbalah, we guess), Lauren Dern, Selma Blair, Jessica Alba and Dermot Mulroney.

To be sure that the contestants do not drop dead on the air from all the unaccustomed exercise, they will be under the supervision of off-camera medical experts, including Robert Huizenga, author of "You're OK, It's Just a Bruise," the book on which the feature film Any Given Sunday was based, and UCLA nutrition professor Dave Heber.

Executive Producer Ben Silverman stated that "The Biggest Loser celebrates hard work and rewards discipline. Hopefully we will inspire an overweight America to get fit." But not so fit that couch potato Americans stop watching television on Tuesdays at 8PM, of course.

The Biggest Loser is a production of Reveille, 25/7 Productions, 3 Ball Productions and NBC Universal Television Studio. Ben Silverman (The Restaurant), David Broome (Jingle Ball Rock), and the trio of JD Roth, John Foy and Todd A. Nelson (For Love or Money, Endurance) are the executive producers.

here is the shows site, looks like the red team is going to be low carb and the blue is lower carb/lower fat. hmmm...whats that saying about low carb hmmm??? perhaps that it might, gasp...work???
http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Biggest_Loser/teams/

[sugarjunky]

They're gonna play dirty, just like every other stupid reality show. No thanks.

[eddiesgirl]

I love reality shows! So this so is a definate must to watch!

[LC-Laur]

I kinda want to see it cause I'm curious what they'll do, but like sugarjunky said, they're going to play dirty - offer people cupcakes and other temptations. That's just cruel. I'm not sure, maybe I'll watch the first and if it's too bad I'll boycot...

[KristyC]

I won't be watching. I hate reality shows!

[Sandie47]

I think I will watch the first episode and go from there. I don't believe that temptation in the form of sweets is etc. is fair. That's down right mean.

Sandie

[angeljandy]

I agree with Sandie, I may watch the first and see where it goes. I really do hate the "dirty" aspect of these shows.

[sunspine17]

Looks interesting. Of course they are going to play dirty-- what's a reality show these days without that?! I went to the site and checked it out. Guess what-- I worked with one of the guys on the show a few years back -- too weird! Reality shows are so popular that I guess it's only a matter of time before every knows at least one person who's been on one.

[sugarjunky]

Of course they are going to play dirty-- what's a reality show these days without that?!

I realize that, but this is a sensitive subject, and I just think that the exploitation of eating disorders/weight problems is lame. It's their decision though. "Reality TV" just seems like freak shows to me.

My husband and daughter watch "Fear Factor." :rolleyes: :Puke:

[Steve175]

Reality shows... yuck! :Puke:

[eve25]

yeah i dont watch reality tv. i just never sat down to actually watch a show. but this could have been an interesting show i think if they didnt bait people with treats and i also think its stupid that they vote each other off instead of the person that lost the least. so it will probably end up being just like all the others.

[laurenra]

"Play dirty"
You mean like the dozen cupcakes, cookies, & brownies I had to make for my son's bake sale a couple of weeks ago? ;-)
Now that is dirty!
I'll probably tune in to see the first episode & if it is interesting I might watch. I can take or leave the TV most of the time.

[allibaba]

I look forward to it, I'm a reality TV junkie and proud of it :D.
Alli

[Ginga]

I look forward to it, I'm a reality TV junkie and proud of it :D.
Alli

Ditto ;)......

[Steve175]

One of the sad things that comes to my mind...

How emotional has failing at this been to some of you in years past? Imagine what an emotional slam it could be in the context of this type of venue. Everybody will cheer on the top contenders while the losers (or more appropriately, the "non-losers") crawl away to deal with not only their weight and eating issues, but their potential public humiliation as well. Where will they be 2 years from now?

I have never liked reality shows, but this particular scenario hits too close to home and kinda bothers me (no offense to those who plan on settling in the Laz-e-boy with a bag of pork rinds and a Diet Rite on Tuesday).

Just an opinion...

[sugarjunky]

"Play dirty"
You mean like the dozen cupcakes, cookies, & brownies I had to make for my son's bake sale a couple of weeks ago? ;-)
Now that is dirty!
I'll probably tune in to see the first episode & if it is interesting I might watch. I can take or leave the TV most of the time.

No. It's the vindictive, conniving, low down dirty way that they get people to not win by losing. That type of “below the belt” competitiveness just doesn’t appeal to me. Besides, I don't like reality TV shows in the first place, as I said in my first post, they’re stupid in my opinion.

I made over 7 dozen assorted cookies, pies, chocolate ganache dipped cakes filled with buttercream frosting, candies, brownies, and more in the past few weeks. Not to mention the peach white wine cake with dark chocolate ganache filling and lemon buttercream frosting I’ve been watching my daughter and husband eat all week long that I made too. Being around sweets is a way of life for me. I just can’t eat them! I can’t wait to start baking LC sweet treats!

Steve175, I completely agree. :thup:

[tom sawyer]

Fear Factor, now there's a show that'll put you off your feed. Never feel the need for a snack after that one.

[nikkil]

awwww, but the bugs and worms are LC for sure! :lol: :lol: :lol:

What I don't get about this show is how they're going to figure out who won! As we all know, everybody loses differently. Especially a young man with a lot of weight to lose, IMO. Are they going to pit a 20-year-old, 400 lb man against a 50-year-old (peri-menopausal) 150 lb woman??? How could that be fair?? Maybe they're going to do a percentage of BF lost? Will they go to the trouble? Hmmm....

ColbyJax is doing Taking It Off and it airs in January. It's kind of a competition but more of a support network of nutrtionists, trainers, counsellors and they follow the participants for several months. Bruce happens to be the FIRST person on Taking It Off following LC/Atkins :thup:

Anyway, I might check it out since I LLLOOOOOVVEE reality shows (hate the 'romance' ones, adore Survivor, The Apprentice) and I'm off work on Tuesday night...

Does anybody count shows like What Not To Wear, Trading Spaces, In A Fix, While You Were Out, Clean Sweep as "reality shows" :q:

[Rune1990]

Ya know, all I can see is..well heck, I can picture myself on this show. I can see skinny people watching the 'fat' ppl on tv, as the show puts a plate of cupcakes in front of me. Skinny people leering, waiting for the 'fat' person to gobble them down.

I want to see the show, but if they do a scenario like above, I think I'll get sick first, then let them know that thats horrible to do to someone.

Just wanted to add, its not the fact that the competitor would eat the temptation or not, its the fact that they'd tempt them in the first place..does that make any sense? lol

[hifive]

Does anybody count shows like What Not To Wear, Trading Spaces, In A Fix, While You Were Out, Clean Sweep as "reality shows"?

I think these do count as reality shows but I call them "makeover porn." :lol:

[wwdimmitt]

"TV reality show" is to reality, as "adult movies" are to adult.

The sooner this little fad of brain porn is over the better for our society and culture. IMHO, of course!

[eve25]

Ya know, all I can see is..well heck, I can picture myself on this show. I can see skinny people watching the 'fat' ppl on tv, as the show puts a plate of cupcakes in front of me. Skinny people leering, waiting for the 'fat' person to gobble them down.


i was just thinking about this quote and i totally agree that i couldnt bear to watch that. i mean, i cant imagine that they would really do that would they???? do they really think that just b/c we are fat we would dive into those cupcakes?? please, i dont care if i was dying of starvation, i wouldnt eat them on tv in front of millions of people just b/c they were in front of me!!!! and i am sure a lot of people wouldnt. doesnt mean that we wouldnt do it in the privacy of our own home, or under other circumstances.

if they do this, they are insinuating that just b/c someone is fat, they can't control themselves at ALL.

[jun keater]

I won't be watching. I hate reality shows!


:agree: I agree... I don't think I have watched one yet.

[nikkil]

I think these do count as reality shows but I call them "makeover porn." :lol:


Oh, no!!!! I'm a porn addict!!! :help: :help: :help:


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

The one reality show that I find sickening (other than the "romantic" ones) is Extreme Makeover. It's just disgusting and very, very sad.

[A_Team_Gal]

"TV reality show" is to reality, as "adult movies" are to adult.

The sooner this little fad of brain porn is over the better for our society and culture. IMHO, of course!


Dang couldn't have said it better! Hopefully soon TV execs may just start hiring writers who actually have imaginations AND intelligence! Perhaps I might turn on my TV for more than just news and CSI!

[pocobarb]

I accidentally tripped over a final episode of The Bachelor once (a few years ago) and watched about 15 minutes of it out of incredulity rather than interest. It was like staring at a car wreck as you drive by on the highway. What a load of garbage. Other than that 15 minutes of my life wasted, I have never watched another "reality" show. As someone else said, they are pretty far from reality.

My TV schedule basically consists of the news and CSI (the original Vegas one).

Just my $0.02

Barb

[Ohio Kim]

We all know low carb works. However, this is also similar to going to weight camp. Sure it's easy to lose weight when put into a situation where normal every-day obstacles are taken out of the circle (even if they do "play dirty") AND I'm sure they will all have personal trainers. However, it will still be interesting to see which version of low carb produces the best results.

I HATE reality shows, but this may be one worth pausing for a few minutes as I flip on by.

[KoKo]

I think I will watch the first episode and go from there. I don't believe that temptation in the form of sweets is etc. is fair. That's down right mean.

Sandie


I seem to be the only one who dosen't see anything wrong with this??? What's wrong with it as long as EVERYONE is offered the same temptation. I mean they are on the show to lose weight and win. They know they are on a plan - the plan dosen't include cupcakes or whatever, no one is going to make them eat the treat. The fact that they are being televised probably adds to the willpower factor so maybe throwing in a treat will be an attempt to "normalize" the willpower. In any case - it's not like they wouldn't face temptation in real life, and it dosen't say much for a persons willpower if they can't decline a treat when they know they are being filmed for a dieting show. I mean how many of you would actually eat the cupcake if it was you on this show???

[Nancy LC]

Hmmm... real life plays dirty all the time and presents us with temptations. Maybe seeing how other people cope with temptations (or not) will help people. I'd be a winner with dealing with temptations because I have IRON will powah! I could probably sleep with a cupcake next to my bed and not think about it... much.

[Lobstergal]

Does anybody count shows like What Not To Wear, Trading Spaces, In A Fix, While You Were Out, Clean Sweep as "reality shows" :q:

I don't count them as such but I love watching them along with Survivor, The Apprentice, etc.

Clean Sweep is particularly enjoyable. I often wonder how these people accumulate so much unnecessary stuff and then end up living like that. Another recent fav for me is House Doctor.

[KMagee]

I guess I hadn't really seen it as being totally exploitative (although many reality tv shows are). I guess any time you are booting someone out of the show for not doing as well as others, it gets a little mean-spirited. I was thinking it might be motivating...and that maybe I'd pick up a few good tips or ideas on weight loss/exercise/etc...maybe I don't know enough about it yet. When does it air?
k

[vbrowne]

I'm just glad CSI and L&O are on so much, so I can avoid those shows.

Vikki

[Lobstergal]

I guess I hadn't really seen it as being totally exploitative (although many reality tv shows are). I guess any time you are booting someone out of the show for not doing as well as others, it gets a little mean-spirited. I was thinking it might be motivating...and that maybe I'd pick up a few good tips or ideas on weight loss/exercise/etc...maybe I don't know enough about it yet. When does it air?
k

It airs tonight. Check your tv guide for your area.

[A_Team_Gal]

I seem to be the only one who dosen't see anything wrong with this??? What's wrong with it as long as EVERYONE is offered the same temptation. I mean they are on the show to lose weight and win. They know they are on a plan - the plan dosen't include cupcakes or whatever, no one is going to make them eat the treat. The fact that they are being televised probably adds to the willpower factor so maybe throwing in a treat will be an attempt to "normalize" the willpower. In any case - it's not like they wouldn't face temptation in real life, and it dosen't say much for a persons willpower if they can't decline a treat when they know they are being filmed for a dieting show. I mean how many of you would actually eat the cupcake if it was you on this show???


If this show were truly on the up and up, I would have no problems with it. However, TV is all about ratings and keeping people interested. And, using past formulae for "reality shows" seems to mean placing "twists" and "turns" and keeping the audience gasping and laughing and not knowing what to expext. At the same time trying to show human weakness at it's lowest point. From what I can discern from "reality shows" they are geared toward some weird voyeuristic tendency to gleefully watch others be humiliated and degraded, while sitting comfortably in one's own livingroom. Let's face it: watching strangers lose weight is about as exciting as watching paint dry. TV is going to have to "spice it up" somehow, and I firmly believe they will be revising P.T. Barnum's old freak show - the fat lady.

For encouragement and learning how others overcome adversity in their weight loss journey? I'll visit with some of the friends I've made online or turn to my real life friends. I don't need to watch other overweight people being made fun of.

Yeah, I'll pass....

[LC-Laur]

I'll admit it, I have my Tivo set up to record it....

If, however, it sucks - I'll cancel my season pass... I don't want to judge it too much since I haven't seen it yet, but if it's like other reality programming I'll probably end up canceling it.

[ItsTheWooo]

Sad to say, I'm certain no one who participates will be successful more than a year.

I think they will all lose some weight, and a few will lose a lot of weight, but none will keep it off. The reason I'm certain is because their methodologies for losing are unsustainable (lots of exercise, very low cal high carb diets). THey aren't learning anything, being "challenged" to run for an hour a day. They aren't learning anything by being "challenged" to eat as little food as possible. They aren't learning what foods make them feel good, what foods make them feel hungry, what foods to eat, how to cope with triggers, etc. Basically this is an exercise in crash dieting, and none of them will stick it out.

Second, they are doing it for the wrong reasons - money. When they win the money, it won't be as important to them to continue with their insane weight loss plan (lots of exercise and starvation) so they'll likely give it up.

I just don't see this being a good experience for anyone except the guy or gal who wins the money.

Another thing, it's not fair to put women against men in a weight loss challenge. Because of the unique hormonal profile of men, as well as their size, men are much more anabolic than females are. They burn way more energy, making it easier for them to create caloric deficits, resulting in faster loss of pounds. We all know this. I hope they have some way of controling for size/gender differences which may give an unfair advantage to some dieters. A 300 lb lady is going to be able to lose faster on the same calories than a 200 lb one, a 175 lb man is going to lose more pounds on the same calories than a 175 lb woman, etc.

Theoretically you can always adjust intake to produce a certain amount of weight loss (eating nothing at all will always produce weight loss of at least 1 or 2 pounds per week)... but as you get smaller and less anabolic, it gets incrementally more difficult to do. So, dieters who are less overweight and women have additional challenges that very obese and men don't usually have.

[VickySail]

I personally wonder how many of the ladies are going to develop eating disorders BECAUSE of this show.

Women who were never bulimic will decide that in order to win, they need to throw up their calories for the day.

Food for thought?

Vicky

[KoKo]

I personally wonder how many of the ladies are going to develop eating disorders BECAUSE of this show.

Women who were never bulimic will decide that in order to win, they need to throw up their calories for the day.

Food for thought?

Vicky


I wondered about that, it seems that it would be pretty tempting to a lot of people. But then we'll have to see how many and how well placed the hidden cameras are, how supervised the people are, are there rules that say you'll be disqualified for purging? On "The Swan" there was a rule that you could not look in a mirror during the whole time period ( 6 weeks or 3 months???) one contestant smuggled a mirror in, was caught and disqualified. On another diet show (taking it off) there were cameras in the participants homes (there was no prize for this show, it just follwed them through a 6 month period of fitness and dieting - their choice of plans and exercise. They had a "cheat of the week" and it was often caught on the home cam, but sometimes in a resturaunt - so how closely will these people be monitered.

Yea, it would be pretty tempting to purge on a show like that, maybe not if you ate on plan, but definitely if you cheated or even if you stayed on plan and didn't lose. They might decide that purging was pretty effective (for the short time)

[WantsMore]

"These people all have one thing in common, they are FAT!" That was just I don't know offensive. On national television plus 250,000 I don't think I would be caving. The whole world knows.

[kingb123]

I love this show. These people are pansies though. I mean, they're crying and whining like babies. Of course dieting is hard; if it weren't everyone would be thin. You don't have to bawl over it though...

[SummerYet]

This is the new reality show created by NBC. Started tonight, and I thought I would start a discussion.

I actually related a lot to the contestants, and felt for them every step of the way. I also wish I had the chance to win $250,000 for loing my weight :lol:

At first I thought this may exploit the overweight, but I thought they dealt with the emotional and physical struggles very realistically.

I already have a favorite :)

Anyone else have an opinion?

~Michelle

[Ms_Pat]

Just watched it, it was actually pretty good. I'll tune in next week; if for no other reason just to watch the infighting amongst the groups

[tamarian]

I noticed that both trainers, for each time, consider their plans "low-carb". But they seem to redicule anyone who eats meat?

One tean is "eat more", and the other is "eat less".

Should be interesting to follow :)

Wa'il

[SummerYet]

Yes, I know!

I posted this in my journal earlier:

Interesting observation...

There are 2 teams in this reality show, and each are on 2 different diets...BUT look at the diets:

EAT LESS DIET
~Burn more calories than you take in
~High fiber, high protein LOW CARB
~Portion control

EAT MORE DIET
~Deal with hunger before it happens
~6 -8 small meals a day
~High volume, low fat, LOW CARB

Hmmmmmmmm......................................

[KoKo]

oh it was AWESOME!!!! I think it would be a chance of a lifetime to be on a show like that. It's too bad they had to vote the way they did, but it only made sense from the team point of view and she had a great attitude about it. Obviously she wasn't going to be able to give them even a 5lb a week weight loss and it could drag their team down.

One thing though, how many of them do you think stoked up on a lot of salty foods before the first weigh in. I mean even with that kind of training and dieting a 20lb loss in ONE week is pretty unreal!!!

It's great that they all live in, easier to control that way and for team members to see who might dig into the cheat fridge.

I'd like to see more of each diet though, we didn't really get to see what each team was eating - I guess they will work up to that. Surely they can't be leaving it totally up to them what to eat.

I know some people will be p'd at what i'm gonna say now, but the woman that was whining about missing her family - what's her problem, didn't she know she'd be leaving them behind for this adventure?? She should've thought about that before she went on the show, nobody twisted her arm.

That woman trainer ROCKS!!!!!!!!!

[BAM0782]

I just finished watching the first episode of "the biggest loser" I also found it interesting that both of the two diets are "low carb" One guy on the show rubbed me the wrong way though. I can't remember his name but hes said something to the affect of "if I lose 10lbs a week & my team loses then it's pointless" that just doens't work for me. I mean, if he's losing 10lbs a week & feels like it's pointless then he's there for the wrong reason. I want to keep watching though....I'm interested to see how it will turn out. I wish I had a trainer to motivate me to exercise everyday. I know if I would exercise then I'd lose more...
BAM

[WantsMore]

I don't think she had enough to lose to be on it, as you can see she did it on her own with only being on the show a week. I don't see the point of working people out day one to the point of throwing up. In most other environments people would quit day one. The trainer chick wow she's just unreal. I would fire her day one. I prefer the man. She's way too much of an extremist. 20lbs in one week? How I want to know. I know people lose a lot at first but one week?

[KoKo]

I don't think she had enough to lose to be on it, as you can see she did it on her own with only being on the show a week. I don't see the point of working people out day one to the point of throwing up. In most other environments people would quit day one. The trainer chick wow she's just unreal. I would fire her day one. I prefer the man. She's way too much of an extremist. 20lbs in one week? How I want to know. I know people lose a lot at first but one week?


I really really bet (to myself) that some of them were smart enough to load up on salt before they weighed in - could've added 5-10 lbs of weight.

[KoKo]

There's a whole nother thread on it

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=214487&page=1&pp=15

maybe they should be merged.

[WantsMore]

Maybe since they knew it was bye bye to their foods they binged the week before the show? Most binging foods are loaded with salt. So they lost a lot of water weight.

[KoKo]

I don't see the point of working people out day one to the point of throwing up.


Often you don't know you're going to throw up until you stop working out, it just happens quite suddenly. It dosen't seem to happen to everyone, but I frequently get sick or feel sick within a few minutes of finishing a workout, it's a sign you've done a good job as it HGC - Human Growth Hormone can cause nausea and you produce it after a good workout. The nauseau doesn't last long and once you know why you feel it, it's very easy to deal with. A person can only work as hard as they can, so if they don't do it from day one they are only cheating themselves. 10 minutes after a workout you feel fine, even if you worked till you think you were going to die and you get better results if you work harder. Look at what they did!!!

[southbel]

I really don't think that they have given these people the tools to lose since it appeared that they didn't know what to eat. The trainers, as most trainers do, were only concerned with exercise and lots of it. I doubt, seriously, that either of these trainers have ever worked with very overweight people. Looking at their clientele, it appears they are all movie stars and the like, which are not generally known to be out of shape and severely overweight.

The most telling moment of the program was when that one woman was upset because she didn't know what to eat. Where is the direction they need?? She said that she had eaten 584 calories for one day and was questioning whether that was enough!!! Duh, it's way too little. Of course they're starved. Successful and lasting weight loss is about more than just extreme exercise, it's about obtaining the tools to live healthy AND eat healthy!

Otherwise, loved the show!

[ItsTheWooo]

Keep in mind they were following low carb diets. It's not uncommon for glycogen water weight to weigh a lot, especially in a big guy. I suspect the 20 lb losers probably lost over 50% of that in water from depleting glycogen.

[tamarian]

There's a whole nother thread on it

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=214487&page=1&pp=15

maybe they should be merged.


Good point, done.

Wa'il

[rottnhombr]

I'm not a fan of reality shows in general, but I got caught up in this one. I was disappointed in the apparent lack of education about the diets they were supposed to be following. When Maurice had 7 slices of bacon for breakfast, I'm thinking "Good Job!" but his teammates were horrified. They don't get it because low carb wasn't explained to them. Based on what I saw them eating, neither diet was a low carb diet. Boxed cereal for breakfast?

[hifive]

Yeah, really. Low-Carb, my Aunt Fanny.

Glad that Dana chick was nixed. She bugged me.

The red team worked out ALL NIGHT LONG. Um, d'you think that some of what they lost was from sweat? Bet they were pretty dehydrated by weigh-in time.

Major flaw in the show, I agree with above, is that the plans are not clear to the participants. They are not learning a WOE; they are being starved and sweated to try to change a number on a scale. You think Maurice is going to give up carby fried foods and trans fats? after this show is over.

I have a favourite too, though I can't remember her name--she is on the blue team and didn't have her vote revealed (is her name Kim? or is she one of the Kellys?). I don't know why, I just like her, she seems nice.

Um--it was kind of funny that when the person gets voted off, they turn out the light in her refrigerator. I don't know why but that made me LOL

:)Lucy

[Marvin]

I just saw this show. Didn't care for it much, thought nbc made a mockery of the whole issue. Anyhow, I was shocked by some of the contestants weight loss. 20 pounds!! which probably was water weight. And that was a heck of a lot of exercise that trainer made them do. I would have passed out if I was just starting out and doing all that lol.

[KoKo]

I can’t stop thinking about this show and checking this thread to see what others think.

I really think we have to give it more of a chance to see what the two teams really have as a diet, we really only saw one meal (breakfast) and although there were a lot of inappropriate foods on the table no one seemed to eat them. Someone made a crack about just licking a pancake and putting it back but I didn’t see anyone actually EAT a pancake. If there had been some eggs on the table it would have been a better choice for the guy than 8 slices of bacon - more protein, less fat - ok a WHOLE 2 carbs more, but he was going to a challenge afterwards, he needed a couple of carbs, he might have done better on the challenge if he’d had them.

Surely we will see more of the actual diet plan in the weeks to come, this must have just been a big intro to the whole thing. No trainer who works them like either of those two do is going to neglect diet. Trainers know that effective workouts require effective food. They can’t just leave those people to grope their way around a buffet table and hope they make the right choices - it’s really too early to judge the diets. I think that the gentle trainer is going to go on a sort of BFL style eating plan. The sadistic woman trainer (who I want for Christmas) well that’s kind of a mystery. What kind of no-carb(and I’m pretty sure she said -kiss carbs goodbye) plan does she have that will allow people to perform at the level she demands? It’s not even clear yet what the workout plans are, tonight they focussed on a lot of killer cardio, but only the odd shot of any weight training, a few push ups, they have to do more than just hours of cardio, but I guess this too will develop in the weeks to come.

Also, I didn’t see dried cereal on the breakfast table - in the cheat fridge yes, but not on the table, it might have been there but I didn’t see it. That huge glass bowl of cheerios in the cheat fridge was kind of impossible NOT to notice though. Nothing wrong with a bowl of all bran on the table though. (If it had been there)

[KoKo]

and how could I forget the SMOKING. The big mouthed guy that mentioned he smoked should be shot!!! not only did he mess it up for himself, but he ratted out the other smoker on the team. The trainer had no business ripping up their cigarettes, thats too much to ask. Make me sniff a cupcake, waft aromas under my nose but do NOT mess with my cigarettes. Got nothing to do with dieting or working out. I can smoke and workout at the same time :p

[monster66]

My first thought was that you cant really control how much weight you lose in a week. I know I havent cheated at all and stayed right on my plan and have not lost any weight in the last 2 weeks. I was actually up 1 1/2 pounds this morning. I probably wont watch the show just because I am busy at that time of the evening but more power to them!!

[Wickedways]

I was highly disapointed with the show.

I so agree with other comments

Another thing, it's not fair to put women against men in a weight loss challenge

And what about EDUCATION???

I think if they lose some might keep it off, as the initial weight loss might give some the incentive to keep going. BUT they will have to educate themselves and do it a proper way and not do it by exercising FIVE HOURS a day! How unrealistic is that??? WHen do you think starvation mode will kick in with these guys??

And having to vote people out each week?? We all know it takes some YEARS to lose all the weight, we will never see them thin if they kick them off the show every week! How are they going to determine the winner??? It obviously is going to be one of the big guys if they are voting out the slow losers. (why didn't the slow losers form an aliance??)

Again, I was very disapointed in the whole thing.

[kara-z]

KoKo, i love you!!, Like that show and all that wasnt stressing enough, I think I would have killed the trainer at that point and I'm not a lawyer but It would have been justifiable homicide. This show is crazy and I think the smaller girls we put there to lose, and i'm not talking weight. There is no way that those girls could lose like the big guys. They just dont have as much to lose. Anyway, I'm gonna keep on a watching.

[eve25]

There is no way that those girls could lose like the big guys.

yeah i was thinking about that too. i told my husband that i guarantee a man will win. and one of the BIG men. he said not if they dont have the willpower but, from my experience, even a man who cheats once in a while and doesnt stick to the plan perfectly, will STILL lose more/faster.

[Hellistile]

"TV reality show" is to reality, as "adult movies" are to adult.

The sooner this little fad of brain porn is over the better for our society and culture. IMHO, of course!

I agree. I feel the same about soaps and games shows. In fact, I've stopped watching TV altogether.

[ItsTheWooo]

I'm not a fan of reality shows in general, but I got caught up in this one. I was disappointed in the apparent lack of education about the diets they were supposed to be following. When Maurice had 7 slices of bacon for breakfast, I'm thinking "Good Job!" but his teammates were horrified. They don't get it because low carb wasn't explained to them. Based on what I saw them eating, neither diet was a low carb diet. Boxed cereal for breakfast?

They were doing high pro, lower fat lower carb.

Basically, they were doing low cal and lower carb.

Maurice's breakfast was pretty darn unhealthy and high cal to boot. 8 slices of bacon (assuming average slices) is roughly 320 calories of processed "extra" fat. 1 or 2 slices with something healthy, fine, but processed fat along is not a very well balanced meal. The quality of food you eat matters just as much as the raw cals I find. Either way his meal choice was poor. If he was going to eat the bacon with eggs and something else, the breakfast was too high cal. If he was going to just eat the bacon, it's nutritionally poor.

His scale weight loss shows he was really probably eating too much and/or incorrectly. He was carrying half the teams weight practically but lost only a fraction of what he should have, considering how hard everyone else was working.

[kyrasdad]

Watched it. Couple of thoughts.

First, it is exploitation of people's fatness, but they signed up. No sympathy for them when they decided to go on television and show off their bellies and boobs. It reinforces the notion that people will do pretty much anything to get on TV.

Second, It showed me how far I've got to go even after nearly 80 pounds gone. I outweigh over half the people on the show, and maybe I was getting complacent, but I thought the guy who went 223 to begin with looked fatter than I do. Maybe it's a bit of self delusion on my part; maybe I'm more muscular and taller, but his gut is larger than mine, I think (or am deluding myself into thinking).

It wasn't very good television. I know they try to manufacture drama, so no doubt there will be people caught cheating, emotional outbursts, etc. But the truth is, other than to those who are losing the weight, weight loss isn't very exciting or dramatic. Will people really park every week to watch fat people? I won't, I don't think. Even for reality television, this was pretty bad.

I hope the best for the contestants, but the way they are going about this means that most probably cannot sustain the losses in normal life. Extreme excercise isn't going to continue. The diets appear, from what little detail I could glean, to be lower carb, but still low fat as well. If they are teaching them actual skills in terms of weightloss and nutrition, I didn't see it.

[ItsTheWooo]

My first thought was that you cant really control how much weight you lose in a week. I know I haven't cheated at all and stayed right on my plan and have not lost any weight in the last 2 weeks. I was actually up 1 1/2 pounds this morning. I probably wont watch the show just because I am busy at that time of the evening but more power to them!!

When you approach weight loss healthfully and reasonably as a lifestyle change, it's hard to control or predict weight loss.

WHen you work out like an exercise bulimic and eat almost nothing... AND you are significantly overweight (lots of surplus fat, high metabolism), AND this is a fresh diet (no metabolic adaptations made yet to restriction)... you bet your butt you're going to lose lots of weight. The only question is who will lose the most?

I think the show gives people an unrealistic view of how hard it is to defeat obesity. The show makes it seem like becoming and staying slim is as easy as not eating and exercising like someone with an eating disorder. Physically it's true, everyone loses weight in a concentration camp. In practical reality, obesity is more complex than that. The reasons why people eat and how they react to foods are key. Obesity is an all encompassing disease, primarily a symptom of emotional disorder and poor lifestyle habits. Sugar metabolism disorder is another cause of over eating and obesity, and it may be a primary or secondary contributer (i.e. in some people sugar metabolism problems precede over eating and obesity, in others sugar metabolism problems are the result of emotional/behavioral eating disorders).

While anyone can cover up the symptoms for a brief period of time, and rather quickly too if they are encouraged/forced to, actually dealing with the disease so as to eradicate the problem permanently is an entirely different issue. They won't show the part where everyone goes home and promptly binge eats junkfood, because they've learned nothing about how to deal with their feelings in ways other than food use. They won't show how they revert to the exact same lifestyle they were living before, because they just can't make the switch to something more healthy and reasonable, as they weren't TAUGHT how to do that.
They will all return to compulsive over eating and living unhealthy lifestyles, because there really is no other outcome. They aren't being taught a better way. They are being taught how to crash diet and nothing more.

All this show is doing is showing that fat people can be manipulated like lab rats to give a desired result. It's also reinforcing the stigma that fat people do it to themselves, that it's "easy" to become and stay slim, that we are all gluttons who simply eat too much.

Obesity is a symptom complex physical, emotional, and behavioral disease and disorder. They are dehumanizing those of us with obesity, and they aren't approaching obesity as the symptom of disease that it is.

[irisda]

ashlee and i watched the show together last night. when looking at some of the women's weights we were both stunned. they looked a lot heavier than what the scale was reporting. did anyone else get that? maybe we are just deluding ourselves that we look better at our own posted weights than we do.

[ItsTheWooo]

Watched it. Couple of thoughts.

First, it is exploitation of people's fatness, but they signed up. No sympathy for them when they decided to go on television and show off their bellies and boobs. It reinforces the notion that people will do pretty much anything to get on TV.

Second, It showed me how far I've got to go even after nearly 80 pounds gone. I outweigh over half the people on the show, and maybe I was getting complacent, but I thought the guy who went 223 to begin with looked fatter than I do. Maybe it's a bit of self delusion on my part; maybe I'm more muscular and taller, but his gut is larger than mine, I think (or am deluding myself into thinking).

It wasn't very good television. I know they try to manufacture drama, so no doubt there will be people caught cheating, emotional outbursts, etc. But the truth is, other than to those who are losing the weight, weight loss isn't very exciting or dramatic. Will people really park every week to watch fat people? I won't, I don't think. Even for reality television, this was pretty bad.

I hope the best for the contestants, but the way they are going about this means that most probably cannot sustain the losses in normal life. Extreme excercise isn't going to continue. The diets appear, from what little detail I could glean, to be lower carb, but still low fat as well. If they are teaching them actual skills in terms of weightloss and nutrition, I didn't see it.

Kyrasdad, I think the real "carrot" to goad the dumb masses into watching yet another reality show isn't the weight loss itself, it's the humiliation factor the participants are exposed to. The weight loss is just an excuse to show people physically being presented as a sideshow (very overweight and sweaty), being tortured (e.g. the forced marathon exercise sessions), deprived (e.g. the starvation diets), taunted (e.g. the "who can resist the food they haven't eaten for weeks" challenges), and otherwise humiliated and debased.

The "humiliation and shame" angle seems to be big for NBCs new reality shows. I guess they figure the other networks weren't exploiting it to it's full extent.

I don't know if you saw the commercial or not during the biggest loser, but they have another show where a woman has to pretend to have won the lottery, and she has to spend all the money on herself... in front of her family... who's every lurid horrified guttural reaction will be documented detail by detail. The shame and embarrassment factor is huge there.

[BAM0782]

I'm probably gonna watch the show. I watched the first episode last night & I have to say that it was entertaining to watch. However I feel sort of torn. I agree with someone earlier that said it's like watching a car accident when you're driving down the road. How wrong is it to pit people against each other to see who can lose the most weight? Would people be ok with this show if, instead of weight loss, it was dealing with some other type of problem. What if they got a bunch of people who had been injured & the winner was the person that recovered the fastest? Is it really that much different? I don't know.....I mainly want to watch because it is a visual representation of the fact that there are people in the world that are dealing with being over weight. I can come to this message board everyday but in the end it still kinda feels "virtual." I know that it's a tv show & the producers will make it happen the way they want it too, but it kinda makes me feel a little less abnormal to see these people on the show. Eating, working out, crying because they don't think they can do it. Maybe it will motivate me to get to the rec center finally.....who knows.
BAM

[nikkil]

watched the second 1/2 last night (forgot it was on)...

I don't see how a very overweight man isn't going to win if it's based on losses alone. I agree with them for voting out the girl who has the least to lose if that's what it's all going to be based on.

I thought it was like a freak show - put on for all the normal-weight people to watch and be disgusted by all the fat, lazy, pathetic participants. It's just the stereotype that all fat people got that way because they're lazy and eat like pigs and have no self-control. I would like to see 90% of 'normal sized' people do even 10% of what I do in my daily life (3 jobs, volunteer work, 3 kids, working all graveyard shifts at that, housework, etc) and tell me that I'm lazy :p

I agree with the people who said they were surprised at people's weights. I started at 214lbs and there was a girl there who was that weight and I couldn't believe that I actually looked like that! Now I'm at 184 and I think the girl that got voted out was about that?? I had a nasty wakeup call with that, too. I agree with the poster (Kyrasdad??) who said that some of us are deluding ourselves on the positive side - thinking we look better or are smaller than we really are. I do that all the time and get a nasty surprise when a) I see pictures of myself and b) when I try on clothes. Very depressing....

I'm probably going to continue to watch just to see how the food part works out. I also find the exercise extreme, but motivating. I would love to go to a boot camp and then have followup personal training :thup: I felt bad for the girl who was crying about not knowing what to eat -- been there! I also don't blame these people for crying. Be honest, if you were getting your butt kicked like that and you were starving and in pain from unaccustomed exercise, dieting, being away from home, meeting all of these new people I can't see anybody not getting emotional. I know I would, even tho I was there of my own free will and wanted to do what they were doing.

Lastly, I thought that at the very end when they showed the girl who got kicked off and they did a little update -- that was just too "perfect". She lost an additional 15 lbs, got a new job and a new boyfriend -- there ya go, like we all know, life is PERFECT when you've lost weight and you're not fat anymore -- gimme a break!!

[sunspine17]

Lastly, I thought that at the very end when they showed the girl who got kicked off and they did a little update -- that was just too "perfect". She lost an additional 15 lbs, got a new job and a new boyfriend -- there ya go, like we all know, life is PERFECT when you've lost weight and you're not fat anymore -- gimme a break!!
I agree-- that rubbed me the wrong way too. Her life is GREAT now because she's thin?! 15 lbs lost gave her a "new lease on life?!" Yeah, I didn't like that too much . . . . .

[Angeline]

...."humiliation and shame" angle seems to be big for NBCs new reality shows. I guess they figure the other networks weren't exploiting it to it's full extent.

I don't know what's in the American psyche that makes these shows popular. Yesterday I was watching where male contestants were told they would participate in some sort of Fear Factor show. They came prepared to eat worms and found out, at the last minute, that they had been tricked. The contest is in actually a beauty contest.... with them dressed in drags.

It was funny I suppose. But there was a sadistic element to it. To see exposed the lengths at which people are prepared to humiliate themselves to get money. And, more to the point, the lengths at which producers are willing to go.

Let me contrast this with a show that ran in Quebec last year. It was a sort of American Idol type of show with local talent. Came the time when some of the contestants had to be eliminated. They had the usual humiliating bit where they are told basically that they aren't good enough to be the next idol and are booted off the show. In this particular show, the score was determined by a pannel of judges.

Well, they had so many complaints from the audience that they had to change their format. They changed it to a secret vote. The participant was simply told he was not choosen. They skipped the whole humiliation bit.

[CindyG]

This was a pretty interesting show. I keep thinking to myself, for a chance at $250K would I be willing to go on tv and bust my rear to lose weight? Heck no! But if I had nothing else to do except exercise all day (do they get any time away from trainers?) and eat very little of what the world considers a good diet could I lose 20 pounds in a week? Maybe, but certainly not after 11 months of low carbing.

I thought the female trainer was terrible! I would have quit if she was the person "helping" me succeed at weightloss. Did anyone else notice the disclaimer at the end about all participants being monitored by a doctor for nutrition and exercise. I hope so! That trainer was terrifying! It appeared that no consideration was given to anyone's level of fitness. Just put them to work and goad them into doing 1 more! Even if they were crying. I much preferred the male trainer. Least they showed him trying to learn more about the participants before cranking up the treadmill. I know it was editing, but it was distrubing.

I too was surprised at the weight of most of the larger women. I outweigh all of them, but think I look smaller than some of them. That was weird. I guess TV really does add pounds to your appearance. I never want to be TV thin anyway. I've been seeing lots of photos of actresses who have the lolly pop syndrome. Their heads look like giant balls on a stick! I never want to look that way.

I too think that most people will watch this show to see these folks fail. Thats too bad. I honestly don't think they'll be able to maintain their loss. There is no way any of them will be able to keep up this level of effort in real life. I mean does anyone really jog on the treadmill overnight to lose a couple more pounds?

I may watch again but it's certainly not on my "must see tv" list!

[irisda]

I am truly watching for some tips. Which is what I think a lot of people are doing as well. The exercise segments were so quick. Its like they didnt want to give away any secrets. They dwelled way too long on the cupcakes and bbq in my opinion. I wanna see some concrete exercises to slim my arms! :lol:

[ItsTheWooo]

I don't know what's in the American psyche that makes these shows popular. Yesterday I was watching where male contestants were told they would participate in some sort of Fear Factor show. They came prepared to eat worms and found out, at the last minute, that they had been tricked. The contest is in actually a beauty contest.... with them dressed in drags.

It was funny I suppose. But there was a sadistic element to it. To see exposed the lengths at which people are prepared to humiliate themselves to get money. And, more to the point, the lengths at which producers are willing to go.

Let me contrast this with a show that ran in Quebec last year. It was a sort of American Idol type of show with local talent. Came the time when some of the contestants had to be eliminated. They had the usual humiliating bit where they are told basically that they aren't good enough to be the next idol and are booted off the show. In this particular show, the score was determined by a pannel of judges.

Well, they had so many complaints from the audience that they had to change their format. They changed it to a secret vote. The participant was simply told he was not choosen. They skipped the whole humiliation bit.
Personally...
I think the American desire to see fellow humans shamed and humiliated is a product of our materialistic culture. We are a very materialistic country... we have inadequate spiritual bonds to humanity and the collective, we worship the false idols of wealth and status above all else, even before meaningful human relationships (e.g. family, husband/wife relationships, roots, and in general transpersonal/spiritual relationships with other beings).

Status and wealth seeking behaviors are at odds with family/emotional/tradition preservationist ones. The two drives exist on an axis, and one pulls against the other.
Seeing as America is a country founded on the former principles (status, wealth, and productivity being greater than anything), if our country is to sustain itself that means our culture must condition its people to share similar views and to hold those ideals in high regard. We carefully condition our people toward being fearful, distrustful, anti-social, and isolated. There are numerous examples of this... for example, our nightly news (which would have you believe all people are criminals and exist only to somehow try to exploit you), the slow deterioration of family/social structures, and what passes for entertainment (reality shows where people are debased into objects for exploition and humiliation). The goal of all of this is to condition the individual toward hyper expression of individual/selfish/me-first nature, and away from a collective/selfless/community/empathetic oriented one. People would prefer to work 40 hours a week to afford material things, instead of live a modest life and spend more time with family.

It's important that the American be conditioned in this way. When individuals worship only themselves and their base desires, they naturally seek superficial augments to it - status, wealth, clothes, items, industry fuel and fodder. When individuals are more spiritual, when they value intangiable, permanent things like heratige, culture, family, roots, tradition, the soul, or have some kind of religion, when they are more socially aware and better socialized, they are less focused on their superficial individual sensual desires/wants/goals. They are less likely to look for self aggrandizing augments like buying the biggest house in the suburbs or the most expensive SUV. By logical extension, spiritual people tend to live modest lifestyles and do not support industrial growth nearly as well as materialistic people.

Other countries are much more balanced between materialism and spiritualism. Their culture reflects this, and so the individuals within are better socialized... they don't tend toward being as fearful, hateful, and otherwise anti-social as your average american. Generally speaking, in Canada a trashy show where people are humiliated wouldn't be nearly as successful, because canadians have a much more sophisticated eomtional awareness for fellow human beings. They feel more of a sense of community with people, they have a stronger neighborly spirit, and empathy would kick in. They would feel bad for the other people and not find their misery a source of entertainment, instead of objectifying them and laughing at their plight like an American audience might do. The sense of community and brotherhood and unity with a collective has been so utterly demolished in your average American.

[irisda]

or it could just be entertainment

[Angeline]

or it could just be entertainment

But you still need to question WHY it is entertaining.

Some find people crashing, falling, or being catapulted out of various vehicles very entertaining. (that's another show on tv, whose name escape me now). I find it upsetting and I worry that people were hurt.

<shrug> It could also be a guy thing.

[southbel]

I spend more than ample time with my husband and my daughter, and yet I still desire the nice house and even the nice car. As a matter of fact, my daughter at eight years old, has never even had a babysitter. Additionally, we eat as a family every night, go on vacations together, and spend plenty of time together in various activities.

I think this show is fine to watch. Why do I find this show entertaining? Look at some of the posts. First of all, there are more Americans overweight than normal weight. Several of the previous posters have compared their own bodies to those they have seen and have commented on how they would or would not react to certain situations that came up during the show. I think the show is entertaining because all of us, in one way or another, can see a little of ourselves in these people. Will some fail? Absolutely, and in this way, it actually does mimic real life because, as I am sure we have all experienced, failure when dieting does occur.

I completely disagree with some of the approaches towards both diet and exercise in this show. However, I found something really odd happened. After watching this show, I turned to my husband and started talking about playing tennis and going rollerblading. Perhaps a little motivation? After all, I look at some of these people that are larger than myself and they are doing this extreme exercise and are still living the next day. Hey, in that case, I should be able to do some moderate exercise just fine then.

There is this holier than thou attitude towards reality television. You know what, I don't care. I enjoy the show. I realize that everyone of these people went on this show voluntarily, and I'll continue to watch it all without degrading the quality of my family life or my intelligence.

[serrelind]

It's entertainment. A contest to win $250k. My gosh, I'd love to get a crack at that :) Unfortunately I would not fare well there because I don't have a lot of weight to lose and therefore at the elimination round, I would probably be the first to go :( They should really change that because I don't think that's fair. Just because a 150lb woman loses less than a 300lb woman doesn't mean the former is lazy or not working as hard.

[VickySail]

Often you don't know you're going to throw up until you stop working out, it just happens quite suddenly. It dosen't seem to happen to everyone, but I frequently get sick or feel sick within a few minutes of finishing a workout, it's a sign you've done a good job as it HGC - Human Growth Hormone can cause nausea and you produce it after a good workout. The nauseau doesn't last long and once you know why you feel it, it's very easy to deal with.

Wow! So THAT'S why I always felt like barfing after running across a parking lot and up a couple of flights of stairs for a train!

Ya learn something new every day.

I don't know if you saw the commercial or not during the biggest loser, but they have another show where a woman has to pretend to have won the lottery, and she has to spend all the money on herself... in front of her family... who's every lurid horrified guttural reaction will be documented detail by detail. The shame and embarrassment factor is huge there.

Geez, even THINKING about doing that in front of my kid breaks my heart.

Vicky

[Lisa N]

But you still need to question WHY it is entertaining.

Personally, I think I'd be a bit embarassed to have my 2 girls seeing me enjoying or being entertained by someone else's public humiliation whether that person agreed to it/is willing to submit to it for money or not since it contradicts what I've been trying to teach them about how to relate to and treat others. I don't think I'd want to send them the message that public humiliation and shaming is funny or entertaining as long as the person is being paid well enough or has the prospect of being paid well for submitting to it; in other words, "money makes everything okay".
*Shrug* I guess that's why we don't watch shows like that at my house.

[K Walt]

Why is it entertaining?

My theory.

Most of us have to endure a lot of frustration throughout the day. That obnoxious bank teller with way too much make-up, we would all LOVE to tell her, "you're way too ugly, you are mean and grouchy, and you are fired from this bank forever." Of course, we can't.

A co-worked makes some asinine comment. We would LOVE to put him in his place. . ."You are too stupid to live. You are fired, good bye"." Of course, we can't.

We'd love to see our pompous-assed bosses humiliated and downgraded. (Of course, we can't do that.) We'd love to see that rich, haugthy wive-of-the-boss slapped down and tossed out of the party.

We can't do any of this, so we have to settle for watching someone else do it.

[irisda]

There are things that I wont watch i.e. Jerry Springer (its a personal opinion that I think its a big factor in the decline of western civilization but thats just me)

What I dont quite get is this whole notion that "reality tv" is just so horrible. I do agree that some shows are better than others. I would never watch for instance the swawn. I just thought the whole concept about fixing your life with plastic surgery and then having a beauty contest was not so great but I do watch plastic surgery shows such as before and after on discovery channel.

We all know that a lot of reality tv shows are contrived but the people's reactions are generally real. You can only hide your true self for so long before it comes out. I am not laughing at the overweight people on the biggest looser. As a matter of fact I admire how brave they are that they would step to the forefront like that. How many of us would be willing to strip down and get in front of people on a scale. I dont think my name would be at the top of the list to do it.

There is a whole pompous sort of attitude towards reality tv. The way that it used to be with just regular tv. You would talk about a television program with someone and before you could finish the sentence you would hear 'oh i dont watch television'. As if that put them on some sort of higher level. Gimme a break.

[ItsTheWooo]

Why is it entertaining?

My theory.

Most of us have to endure a lot of frustration throughout the day. That obnoxious bank teller with way too much make-up, we would all LOVE to tell her, "you're way too ugly, you are mean and grouchy, and you are fired from this bank forever." Of course, we can't.

A co-worked makes some asinine comment. We would LOVE to put him in his place. . ."You are too stupid to live. You are fired, good bye"." Of course, we can't.

We'd love to see our pompous-assed bosses humiliated and downgraded. (Of course, we can't do that.) We'd love to see that rich, haugthy wive-of-the-boss slapped down and tossed out of the party.

We can't do any of this, so we have to settle for watching someone else do it.

Good points.

IMO the frustration we feel with people during our daily lives is a direct consequence of the structure of american society (as outlined in my post - people are isolated, have very poor sense of community/neighborly spirit, tend toward objectifying/exploiting rather than personalizing/empathizing with others, etc).

The profound feelings of frustration and intolerance with other humans we experience are resulting from our consumer materialistic culture. They are not an ultimate cause.

If otherwise were true, humiliation and exploitation would have universal appeal in all societies. It does not. There must be something about american society which encourages this.

Again just my theory :D

[Lisa N]

There is a whole pompous sort of attitude towards reality tv. The way that it used to be with just regular tv. You would talk about a television program with someone and before you could finish the sentence you would hear 'oh i dont watch television'. As if that put them on some sort of higher level. Gimme a break.

Angela, why is a negative reaction towards reality TV pompous? The way I see it, people react to such shows based on their personal morals and values regarding what is and is not "okay", even you. Maybe I'm giving people too much credit for actually thinking about what they are watching on TV, but there are a lot of shows that I don't allow my kids to watch above and beyond reality TV because I'm very aware of the power that the media holds over impressionable young minds. I don't think caring about what kinds of values the media is feeding my kids makes me pompous, just a concerned parent.
BTW, I don't have objections to most reality TV shows for moral reasons other than the humiliation aspect, I just see most of them as plain stupid. How is getting someone to eat road kill for money entertainment or redeemable in any way? :p

[irisda]

I certainly would never suggest that you are pompous because there are shows you wont let your kids watch. I would put that more under the category of being a responsible parent.

The thing with the forum is that one conversation turns into a completely different topic. Your parenting skills or anyone else's really are truly not my concern.

[Nancy LC]

I think some people simply don't like to watch the worst in other people. I'm like that. I tend to like the reality shows that bring out the best in people, like Queer Eye and that Extreme Home makeover one. But watching people being treated horribly, fighting amongst themselves, lying, cheating whatever... I get enough of that sort of reality simply by watching the latest in politics on CNN or CNBC and if I want to really be horrified by the worst of human reality shows, although I'm not sure the word reality really applies, I could go watch Fox News. :p

[Lisa N]

I certainly would never suggest that you are pompous because there are shows you wont let your kids watch. I would put that more under the category of being a responsible parent.

The thing with the forum is that one conversation turns into a completely different topic. Your parenting skills or anyone else's really are truly not my concern.

Angela, my point wasn't about parenting skills although I used that as an example of why some people might find reality TV distasteful.
Shows like Extreme Home Makeover are one thing, but shows like Fear Factor are a different breed altogether. This one may be more in the middle.

[Angeline]

I could go watch Fox News. :p There is very little reality and a lot of fantasy on Fox News ....so I guess it compares very well with other reality shows :)

Yes I think you've hit the nail on the head. Some reality shows are good. The ones that aim to educate or inform. Queer Eye, What Not to Wear, ect... The ones we object to are the ones that are exploitative.

It's a fine line that goes somewhat like the old saying ..... we are not laughing at you we are laughing with you. When participants in a show are included in the joke that's fine. When THEY are the joke, it's not.

[nikkil]

To me it's not the participants but the depiction of fat people in general. The participants agreed to be put on the show, must have had some idea of what was going to happen and went ahead with it. It bothers me that it feeds the perception that fat people have no willpower and are very lazy. It also way oversimplifies weightloss - "if you'd just get up off your fat, lazy butt and exercise and stop stuffing your face you would lose weight".

I love reality TV like the home reno shows (while you were out, extreme home makeover, trading spaces) and the makeover shows like what not to wear - not Extreme Makeover, tho, because I just think it's sad and kind of creepy. I hate the romance/marriage shows the most, tho!!! IMO, it cheapens love, commitment and marriage - how the heck can these people propose to somebody when they were making out with somebody else the day before??? That's just insane....

Love or hate reality shows, it's our own choice to turn on the TV and what channel we choose to watch, right??

Nicole

[JHTuresson]

Did anyone on the western side of the Atlantic ever come up with the idea to just throw out the TV?? I did it 12 years ago and have never regret it. I read papers and books, life goes on - HT

[serrelind]

I need to throw out my computer.

[TDB]

Why do you people want to lose weight. I mean, Being large is better then trying to be like the rest. My current weight is 160KG or so and i intend to rise to 350KG as fast a possible.

Greetings,
A wanna-be-fat-person

[Angeline]

:yawn: oh look .... A troll

[tofi]

Just someone being a nuisance - maybe a kid. Look at the silly stats.
Angeline - you've got his number alright. :lol:

[Lobstergal]

Just someone being a nuisance - maybe a kid. Look at the silly stats.
Angeline - you've got his number alright. :lol:

I sent a complaint so hopefully that will be the end of him.

[honeydust]

I think the show is in bad taste. It reminds me of the "fat farm" show that was on MTV. Its making desperate overweight people feel like they have hope...putting temptations in front of them, and then filming the parts where they cheat on the diet, and it gives millions of people a reason to laugh.

[beccak511]

I watched the show, and thought it was intresting. Not really fair though, as some people are going to lose a lot slower than others. The ones with the least amount of weight to lose, are not going to be around for long, Im sure they knew this before signing up. I love reality TV.
Becca

[LukeA]

I watched this show for the first time this evening. Frankly i was sickened. It was horribly disgusting, and makes overweight people seem like circus participants. Plus giving them unatainable goals which make them think things like that losing almost 20 pounds in two weeks is "disapointing". There is very little doubt in my mind that the majority of these people will gain back what they have lost within a couple years since they are not dwelling on the long term, rather only getting the poundage off asap in whatever way possible. I refuse to watch this ever again.

[southbel]

Does anyone find it odd that these people seem to have no idea about water weight loss and that the first week is always the fastest? I ask this because, as a fat person, I knew about diets galore, but just couldn't commit to one due to the starvation factor. I even tried the exercise my brains out method. I always knew that water weight was the first thing to go and that a loss of 3-5 pounds a week is incredible. Perhaps it is the game factor that is causing this sharp disappointment in the participants? I thought the first show was interesting but it was a little disturbing to me this week. Even the trainers seemed disappointed in their weight loss and they should know that these people are losing at a very normal rate!

[KoKo]

Does anyone find it odd that these people seem to have no idea about water weight loss and that the first week is always the fastest? I ask this because, as a fat person, I knew about diets galore, but just couldn't commit to one due to the starvation factor. I even tried the exercise my brains out method. I always knew that water weight was the first thing to go and that a loss of 3-5 pounds a week is incredible. Perhaps it is the game factor that is causing this sharp disappointment in the participants? I thought the first show was interesting but it was a little disturbing to me this week. Even the trainers seemed disappointed in their weight loss and they should know that these people are losing at a very normal rate!


Yes, I was really disappointed that none of them seemed to have enough experience with dieting to understand this. Surely this is not the first time they've been on a diet and the trainers should have stressed this fact to them plus the fact that they might have gained muscle while still losing body fat. To be really fair they should not only weigh but measure each week and incorporate the inches lost into the pounds lost.

[southbel]

I agree completely! When they were first starting, they did their body fat percentage. Why don't they do that?? I guess the big dramatic scale moment is more TV worthy.

[rottnhombr]

The woman trainer told them that they had plateaued because they only lost a pound or two that week. I screamed BULLSH*T at the tv. She said NOTHING about the first week being mostly water weight loss. OMG. She is clueless. The people following her advice have no hope of permanent success. It's sad.

[eve25]

i like the guy trainer. he said he isnt interested in the "sprint," he wants to focus on the long term goals.

by the way, if you go to the website you can get the trainers menus AND their excercise plans.

[nawchem]

The thing I got from the show was a new perspective on myself. I am very overweight! I weigh the same as Lisette but could never see myself as being that heavy. I am very short so I'm sure I'm not carrying it better. My only mirror is a top half but when I stand back I can finally see that role of fat on my lower abs and my large size hips. It also inspires me to see how hard they are working out. I think it would be fun to work out with a group like that and a trainer. I am surprised also that they don't take into account muscle growth.

[eve25]

when i first saw the show, my guesses for these peoples weights were soooo much higher. none of the women were even NEAR what i weigh. some of them are on the shorter side, but still it really put it in perspective for me too. i am even huger than i thought!!

[DebPenny]

I don't watch the show, I can't watch those types of shows, they really offend me. But my GF watches it with her flatmate and they really like it.

About the women's looking large at their weights, keep two things in mind: 1) The camera adds the appearance of more weight, and 2) As low-carbers, our muscle to fat ratio is probably a lot higher than theirs. When I started losing weight doing low-carb, I was amazed at how fast the sizes came down. Before, when I had lost the same amount of weight doing low-fat, my size changed very slowly, if at all, for the same amount of weight lost. On low-carb, we tend to maintain or gain muscle mass while losing fat mass, whereas, on low-fat, they lose at least as much muscle mass as fat mass even with exercise. If you don't feed your body what it needs to build muscle, no amount of exercising is going to build it up.

[Wickedways]

I didn't watch the second one, can someone give me a quick run through? I.E> how much weight did they lose this week? A normal amount like 1-2lbs?

The show is SO off, I agree with all of you. Sad Sad Sad, as it does reinforce all those WRONG beliefs both to fat people and those others ;) I mean how realistic is it too exercise ALL day for the rest of your life?? We all knew they wouldn't lose the same amount this week, even if they were exercising all day and night. They must have known too, surely ??

[hifive]

Hey, wickedways. I think they have an "encore" presentation of each show later in the week (Check the website at nbc.com), but here is the rundown

Weight loss was MINIMAL--blue team beat red team, but I think blue team lost only like 11 pounds total.

The "challenge" was a bake sale where the teams had to bake all the goodies themselves, without eating anything--or even licking their fingers--and then go out to hawk the goods at a local market. It was weird bcs one of the voice-overs said that they were selling peanut butter brownies for like 20 dollars apiece!? Didn't explain how they managed that. The team who sold more (got more money from the sales) got to choose which Red team member's weight loss would be eliminated from the total this week (since the teams are uneven)...red team won and chose to eliminate Lizzeth's weight loss.

And wow. Lizzeth lost nothing. Almost everyone lost nothing (including Maurice), and that guy on the red team (25 years old, gay, kinda sweet-seeming kid) GAINED 3 lbs. He broke down and wept on the scale.

Then the red team had to vote someone off. It was between Dave (the lazy bald guy) and Lizzeth (who had been getting up early before everyone else and running miles, but who was the smallest member of the team). there was an ugly scene with the voting, when Ryan (flippant obnoxious guy, don't know how else to describe him) pretended he was going to vote off Dave, but instead revealed Lizzeth's name and laughed at her when she started to cry. She got the majority of the votes off (3 to 2 I think) and had to leave. The update showed that she had lost 9 more pounds since leaving, and had gotten her family into a more healthy way of eating and exercising.

The most striking thing about this week's episode was that the lack of weight loss really startled the teams--they were discouraged and shocked and just couldn't believe it. No one had prepared them for the fact that their first week's huge losses were water/glycogen from the liver, and that anything from here on in would be real fat. The male trainer did mention something about it when consoling the blue team after the weigh-in, but I think no one had warned any of them beforehand. You want to shake them and say, "You lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks! Stop complaining!" but it was clear that all of these people were naive to dieting, and just had no idea what to expect. And never was it mentioned that muscles must be swelling with all the exercise, and taking on some weight to offset the fat loss. The male trainer did say that inches and bodyfat were more important goals than the scale number, and that he was "not in a sprint, but a marathon," meaning that he wanted these folks to change their lives, not just lose weight rapidly. So someone has a brain on that show. The red team trainer might have said stuff like that too, but if she did it was edited out...and I bet she didn't, evil little witch :lol: (I don't like her)

So...that's the recap.

:)Lucy

[rottnhombr]

I weigh as much as or more than some of the women on the show, but I am smaller than they are (and taller, too) because I have a lot of muscle mass from my body building days. I agree with nawchem -- they don't seem to be considering muscle gain in their weigh-ins.

[eve25]

wickedways, they go into major details of what happened on the website. http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/
they also give the menus and excercise plans, etc.

[nikkil]

I was busy doing kid stuff around here and missed the show -- what happened?!!?!?

[Elihnig]

We didn't get to watch it this week here because of the election coverage. It will probably be back next week.

Beth

[KoKo]

Is anyone still watching this? - I fell asleep before the end last night and don't know who got voted off :help:

[hifive]

KoKo, I put an answer in your journal.

Lucy