Fat club

[daisy]

Did anyone see the 'Fat Club' progamme on TV the other night? Grr! :mad: It made me so angry that they stripped those poor people of so much dignity- making them get weighed in their bathing costumes & struggle with exercise that was clearly beyond them. Was that all really necessary? Or was it more of a 'look at the wobbly fat person running!' style attempt to grab ratings? :mad:

I didn't see the whole programme so I don't know what kind of diet they're on. (Hmm... I wonder :rolleyes: ?!) And maybe the rest of the show was more sympathetic to them. Maybe I'm even being a bit over sensitive (though I've never been accused of THAT before!). Anyway, rant over.

Daisy

[Scotsman]

Daisy,

Couldn't agree more with your views on Fat Club. After seeing the first episode I thought things couldn't get worse.......well they just did in the 2nd part!

This is "human zoo" TV at it's worst and must be causing many people worried about their weight to feel really terrible. The whole angle of the show seems to be to degrade people with serious health problems for the entertainment of the sniggering masses.

The same old "fat-is-bad and carbohydrates are good" message was there as I expected. A week's worth of food for one of the candidates was displayed on a table with the "eat more fruit instead" message underlined by the so-called nutrition expert. This expert completely missed the problem: his current diet was a mass of processed carbohydrates. No wonder he has a weight problem.

There is so much that could be done to help if only the "nutritional experts" would just open their eyes and ears to a world beyond their own "fat-is-bad" one.

Nuff said. I'll get my coat!

Yours aye, Scotsman :rolleyes:

[Aine]

I agree with you both. I watched both episodes and although I think it's a good idea in principle, :idea: I think their approach is totally demeaning and strips the participants of any self respect. :mad: THe bootcamp style cannot help in the long run. See, one woman has already gone home after only losing 4 pounds in a month. How many of us can identify with that! :eek: My heart really went out to her. :cry: I think some of the peple may lose some weight, but I wonder how sustainable the programme will be and at what cost. I don't think losing your dignity in front of millions and being treated subhuman is worth it. :thdown:

Maybe I'm too critical and or sensitive, and just haven' t figured out the positives of this programme. Well the one positive is that for some reason, it is motivating me to stick to my lowcarb way of life. :cool:

[Scotsman]

Aine,

Thank you for your post. Spot on. We are agreed on that they have gone for the demeaning approach to make cheap TV. I am curious to know if the BBC would have done it given the restraints placed on them through us having to pay a TV licence? Will they follow suit? Probably just a matter of ratings not educational TV!

I think you hit the nail on the head when you asked, "Will their weight losss be maintained". That has always been the difference between a short term "diet" and a new way of life, ie one that is both practical and sustainable. If only, sigh!!!!!!!!

You are right and not too critical. I will watch this programme sreies through to the end if I can, if nothing other than to see a classic lesson in how not to appraoch weight loss in a realistic way.

Yors aye, Scotsman :wiggle:

[rustpot]

That way the members of fat club will lose more.

Last night in a food competition she criticised the stir fry meal because of added cashew nuts that had fat in them and made the winner......

Summer pudding ..... tons of added suger to the admittedly low carb fruits covered with a mass of white bread.

[Andy Davies]

I agree with everything that's been said on this thread, and some of the posts were superbly written too, if I may say so.

My only additional contribution is this. There is evidence that violent exercise is a serious heart risk for even thin, healthy, fit, and highly-trained young men. Inflicting the bootcamp kind of exercise regime on overweight and mostly middle-aged people is positively dangerous, and I was watching with the expectation that at least one of these hapless souls would literally keel over on the programme. My information, incidentally, comes from an analysis of several hundred post-mortems into the sudden deaths of US military personnel aged between 17 and 29 by heart attack. A very high percentage of heart attacks took place during, or immediately following, exercise of the kind shown on this programme, administered by military fitness instructors of the kind used on the programme.

My own philosophy is that "exercise" should be restricted in overweight people, especially those just starting out, to normal everyday "being busy" activity.

Andy