The FastDay Forum

For members US and Aussie and some other countries where this series is still showing

Australia has just started a new series. I dont watch it at all. Something about it doesnt gel with me but anyway.. wonder what forum members think of how they lose weight so quickly and then do HIT to the extreme

Must be bad for you and hey whats the hurry!

anyway i dont think there is much we can take from the show in our own journeys to better health and lower weight.

What do you think?

Hi Juliana,
In my mind, 5:2 is a WOE for life with the added benefit of maintaining weight. The Biggest Loser is targeted for the extremely obese people of the world that just cannot get a grip. You will notice on the TV show that along the way they emphasize healthy eating, medical monitoring and emotional support as part of the process. They do work them very hard and the outcomes are mixed, some put weight back on while others have gone to do well and become advocates for health and fitness doing speaking engagements etc. The winner of one season now has her own show.

Hi Juliana..have seen this prog a few times on tv and i agree with @brougham 's viewpoint..lookin v smart too if i may say so Brougham! X
Don't think there's much we five two ers can take from it..plenty of us have several stone to lose but we are doing it our way

I've never watched the show until this season (and it's been on for years!). Maybe in years past they used to talk about nutrition and eating, but this season, the emphasis is pretty much solely on exercise. The way they present it, it appears that the contestants are exercising 8 hours a day, which is --of course--completely non-sustainable. The only time they talk about nutrition is when they have those sneaky product placement ads, and they are for PROCESSED foods, such as cereal bars, Subway subs, and other such things.

I know this is a TV show so they need to have some drama, and it would be boring showing them sitting around NOT eating. But still, in some ways I think it is an irresponsible show, because it might make viewers think losing weight is impossible unless they work out like crazy.

[carieoates]

We have it here too.
I can't watch, I hate the way they get everyone to wear clothes which make them look bigger. How cruel, making the girls wear bra tops and not much else. I do however like to see the determination and sheer guts of those who take part.
It did have a lot about nutrition on some I watched a few years back.

I agree--I think it is exploitative.

Thanks CandiceMarie, that's actually a tribute avtar, it's my Dad. I'll have to post my before and after now that I'm in Maint.

Thanks CandiceMarie, that's actually a tribute avtar, it's my Dad. I'll have to post my before and after now that I'm in Maint.

Ah what a lovely tribute to yr Dad x!
Yes pls @brougham
Some before and after pics ..they inspire us to keep going!

I think it is extreme, but is meant to be that way. It is for those people that have tried to do it on their own and just can't. I think they work with them a lot to deal with the underlying emotional issues that have caused them to become so heavy. I do think they provide support for a while after the show to help them maintain it. I find it inspiring, personally, even though I could never spend that much time exercising.

In a word, abusive, bullying and deeply exploitative (wait, that's four words...) I turn it off and suggest that you do the same. This kind of abuse has no place on tv, bad for the participants' physical and mental health, and yours too, if you watch it - just don't.

It's boring so strike one. I don't like the way the contestants are treated and like any
"reality" show it is contrived and probably scripted. Melinda In NC makes a good point about the processed foods.
To me it's bad TV and bad for people who want to lose wt.

[Betsysgr8]

I watched a couple minutes of this show a few times years ago, I had to change the channel! I thought it was horrendous the way Jillian Michaels bullied and berated the participants.

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.

I haven't been up to date with the British version of The Biggest Loser for a while, but I have just read here that it was last shown on our screens back in 2012, before being axed by ITV. However, I have been able to keep up with the US version of that show from this youtube channel where those shows are uploaded a day or so after it is shown on American TV.

For the benefit of those members of this forum who live in the USA, that is advertised as being on the NBC channel at 8pm, although it is not clear which time zone that is referring to (since the USA is made up of a number of different time zones). I also know this forum has at least one former UK citizen who is now living in the USA (I'm thinking about people like @rawkaren) who will now be able to watch that as it is shown on TV.

Although I don't agree with the methods which that show employs, I enjoy watching it anyway and I particularly like characters like Jillian Michaels whose tactics as a trainer rangers from cracking the whip with them at one moment (when pushing the contestants through their exercise regime) to taking a much softer side when a contestant opens up about discussing elements of their lives which are important to the context of the show, and which contributed towards the weight gain which got them there in the first place.

I can also add that the person who hosts the youtube channel that I have mentioned above, is also a former contestant from the UK version of the show, although he is actually Irish (the UK version of the show was shown in the Republic of Ireland, as well as in the UK). He appeared on that show with his girlfriend at that time, but neither of those people actually went on to win that although they did both lose a lot of weight during their time on that show. The person who hosts that youtube channel began by giving updates of his weight loss progress which is shown in his earlier videos, but he hadn't been giving these updates for quite a while until tonight.

However, he has just uploaded a short video today where he has admitted to having regained quite a lot of the weight which he had lost on the Biggest Loser, and will now be giving updates from now on, on his latest attempts to lose weight (if only he know about the 5:2 diet (or IF in general), then he might not have that problem).

Hi John. Thanks for posting this. No I dont like the programme and I'm glad I don't have TV yet! I know many love Jillian and her 30 day shred but she does absolutely nothing for me at all and her approach on this show seems to bear this out.

Anyone looking for an antidote to Jillian on the fitness front should try Erin O'Brien. I like the fact she is funny and she mixes cardio and weights http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HI ... _sim_mov_1