The FastDay Forum

Hi:

It is just a show. One of the trainers admitted that the amount of weight lost depended on the diet and that exercise had little to do with the weight loss: 5-2-diet-chat-f6/diet-beats-exercise-for-weight-loss-biggest-loser-trainer-t7846.html?hilit=exercise loser#p89956

However, watching people sit around not eating does not make much of a show, so they put in the massive amounts of exercise for its entertainment value.

If you like to watch people being tortured for no real reason other than entertainment, I guess it is fine.

I don't wish to watch people being bullied and abused. They'll keep doing it while folk keep watching.

I used to watch it religiously but this year it clashes with My Kitchen Rules(I'm addicted to cooking shows and Manu ). I do like seeing some of the contestants regain their confidence and self esteem, I just hope that it lasts for them. I think it is far too extreme but then it's reality tv so it has to be, doesn't mean it right though.
Michelle Bridges the Aussie trainer has admitted that it's the diet not the exercise that's causes the weight loss and you would lose weight on 1000 cals a day.

We have a show here in Ireland called Operation Transformation. They pick "leaders" - people who have weight to lose and reasons why it hasn't happened yet - and you can follow a leader and do your own weight loss journey. They weigh the leaders every week. Each leader has a diet, exercise, time management plan, and that is shared on the RTE website for you to follow too.
In the grocery stores, there are signs saying "this is an ingredient for your Operation Transformation", and there is a 5K planned in a park (one of the leaders has it on his plan).
I think it's a great way to watch someone's journey in a more realistic setting, and to make it more interactive and useful for viewers.

I'm always amazed that no-one has had a heart attack or something similar given the intensity of the exercise they seem to get very obese and unfit people to do. The programme isn't on here in the UK anymore (I don't think) but I remember seeing one episode where a 32st man was made to run up umpteen flights of stairs to get to the top of a lighthouse or something. That would have killed me, never mind him! I too think it's pretty exploitative and a bit cruel tbh.

yeah wiki told me they stopped in UK in 2012 after 5 series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Loser

im surprised Australia is keeping it going but i guess the ratings are enough. Usually we will abandon these syndicated programs after a few years (like Idol) each year they do something different and this years its something about making a whole town lose weight but dont know details there.

didnt we all say here that if you havent lost weight before that exercise doesnt help you lose weight.. so i dont get it.. why are they doing the exercise orientation more than the food orientation. i guess it makes for better tv to see them sweat and carry on.

The Oz one is much longer with a much bigger prize. Lots more to it. I had forgotten about My Restaurant Rules...

I admit to being a huge Biggest Loser fan every season. The coaches are there to support and challenge you. I would totally need Jillian in my face to keep me going, Bob would be too easy. If you have read Jillian's books (I have all of them) she admits to not liking to recommend some of the products.

She is all about eating real food, healthy fats, low sugar...much like many of us here. Hey, if someone had offered me a 4 month stint away from work and home life to concentrate just on fixing myself, I would have jumped at the chance. Do agree though that the tops for the girls are ridiculously small.

OMG i thought id see if i can watch an episode while washing up tonight. had it on "in the background" ... all i remember vividly is some poor guy on all fours in the sand dry wretching on his first training session. That mustnt give people a good message about exercise for good health. Surely you dont have to dry retch in order to have a good workout

As someone else said in this thread, this program is just waiting for a heart attack to happen. that'll put an end to the show for sure. Of course, i hope it doesnt happen but boy are they risking it. I guess their "insurance" premiums are high

Oh they've had some medical issues before. No one died, but they've collapsed with heart issues and such. They have doctors and paramedics standing right near by. And all the contestants are checked out by doctors in the beginning and along the way.

IMO It's cruel. Why is it a competition? All these people are there because they want help with their weight/health, so why eliminate any of them and send them home just for losing less than the others? For cheating or slacking, yes. And why show them in tears when they go?

Dont they often need surgery to remove the "loose skin" which is almost inevitable in such intense weight loss and training methods. that mustnt be a good thing.

do any of the contestants go back to old weight in the years after the show. they should do a "whatever happened to the Biggest Losers" tv show... bit like 7up, 21 up . 28 up.. that UK show thats traced some private college kids through the years from 1964 to today. they are all getting older arent they? this one.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_Series has links to all the people. thats interesting reading

Hate would not be too strong a word for how I feel about BL. It is fat shaming to the extreme & perpetuates stereotypes & misconceptions about fat people. Linda Bacon, PhD (of the Health at Every Size philosophy) writes extensively about everything that's harmful about it, not just to the contestants, but to societal portrayals & perceptions of size diversity. BTW, I think 5:2 aligns w/HAES standards very well, it encourages intuitive eating, getting in touch with your hunger cues & joyful movement, developing sustainable healthful habits & working each day to make your life more balanced. Win-win, unlike BL.

Hate would not be too strong a word for how I feel about BL. It is fat shaming to the extreme & perpetuates stereotypes & misconceptions about fat people. Linda Bacon, PhD (of the Health at Every Size philosophy) writes extensively about everything that's harmful about it, not just to the contestants, but to societal portrayals & perceptions of size diversity. BTW, I think 5:2 aligns w/HAES standards very well, it encourages intuitive eating, getting in touch with your hunger cues & joyful movement, developing sustainable healthful habits & working each day to make your life more balanced. Win-win, unlike BL.

Thanks Mary Lynn. Im not to familaiar with w/HAES standards ... do you have some good reference links. im sure 5:2 would be given a gold rating for sustainable health habits.

Ive watched BL in the background for many years but wasnt till i adopted 5:2 that i have appreciated that which it portrays.

theyve done that "temptation challenge" now.. not sure what the end result was as i switched it off (was my fast day after all) . what did happen anyone (from Oz).

i think the temptation is .. eat the bad food and win money. how gross

Hi Juliana.Rivers,
If you google Health at Every Size, Linda Bacon Ph.D, Dr Jon Robison or HAES, you will find books, articles,journals galore. She has a book called "Health at Every Size, the truth about your weight." Also, "Acceptable Predjudice" by Lonnie McMichaels, Ph.D was quite the enlightening read for me.
The thing is, having lived as an overweight to obese to morbidly obese person, it wasn't until I accepted myself for who I am that 5:2 could have worked. Linda & Jon's work helped me realize I wasn't loving myself enough to take good care of my health because I was allowing external factors to define who I was & how I was supposed to feel about myself. When I found out all the health benefits behind 5:2, I was finally at a point that I don't care if I lose weight, but I do want to be fit, functional & healthy. But, the bonus is I am slowly losing, but that's not my primary focus like it would have been years ago. Didn't mean for this to get so long, just skip it if you need to:)
pax all