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Archive through October 29, 2004

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Archives for 2005-3: The Biggest Loser (ARCHIVES): Archive through October 29, 2004 users admin

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Sewamazing
Member

11-24-2003

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 11:38 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
High exploitation this show! But I like the spirit of the contestants. I weigh more than some of them, but will never even consider gastric bypass. I still believe that healthy eating and exercising is the right thing. I will be stepping up my own program now--although I noticed that these folk were made to work out like they were in Olympic training or something. NO way in heck would I have been running at this weight. Put me in a pool, but not on a track.

Xena
Member

10-14-2004

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 1:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
These people don't care about peoples feelings or their health.At least their doing it naturally instead of chopping their bodys all up in all this plastic surgery. If their willing to lose weight they should not be eliminated. They need all the support they can get.

Vsmart
Member

02-10-2003

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 6:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I would have liked to follow the entire group for the season. Then we would have seen who the real biggest loser was.

Lilfair
Member

07-09-2003

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 7:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
These people signed up for a TV show. I’m guessing the fact that they’d be on TV was a major kicker in all this.

People from 10 lbs over weight to 100’s of lbs can all lose weight, they don’t need a TV shows assistance.

Are these people being exploited, I’m not sure. I don’t see it as exploitation, but I’m sure those more sensitive than I might.

When this show is done I bet most if not all of the contestants will leave with a good experience.

And let’s not forget the $250 grand.


Puttergirl
Member

08-11-2000

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 7:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Schoolmarm, I got so inspired, I walked on my treadmill through the last hour of it. I liked it. I agree with alot of you, though, that its not fair. The woman will go early since woman just don't lose weight as fast as men. It should have been based on percentage of weight lost.

And did anyone feel sorry for Caroline Rhea as the host? She's not so skinny herself; I expected her to be working out with them. Maybe she's eating what they take away from the contestants and may actually gain weight- lol!!

Peeper
Member

06-14-2004

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 8:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
The one guy (Aaron maybe?) had way too much hair.

I think he could lose 5 pounds just by getting a buzz cut.

His hair reminded me of Jason's hair from BB3.

Konamouse
Member

07-16-2001

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 9:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
They needed a disclaimer about "these results are not typical" and that the majority of any initial weight loss is "water". I wonder how dehydrated they were before the weigh-in. These folks are in for a rude awakening the second or third week.

This competition is not fair to women, period! Unless a guy does something to "piss off" the gals, they are not going to figure out the numbers and it will come down to just sweating men. It really should be more about percentage lost, not total weight. And I agree about body fat change rather than actual weight loss.

Another thing that angers me. All this "low carb" crap. It's the CALORIES! that count. All "low carb" does is help your body lose water weight. They gave very little lip service to the actual food plans for these folks - and that is ultimately going to be the most important part of maintaining weight loss - these folks will never be able to keep up with this level of exercise after the show is over, but a healthy eating plan can last a lifetime. Sigh.

'squeek' (pediatric dietitian, diabetes educator)


Xena
Member

10-14-2004

Friday, October 22, 2004 - 7:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I agree with you totally Konamouse. I am so tired of hearing about carbs. It gets annoying. Anyone can lose weight as long as they eat right and excercise.I hope these people keep it up even after being eliminated.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 3:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I finally got to watch my tape of this last night. Good concept, but I absolutelyhate the "time to cut the fat" elimination line. Its not only cheesy, its downright offensive.

Don't like the female trainer. I perceived a lot of self righteousness, and a bit of an evil delight in torturing these people. These people need someone who will inspire them, and understand their initial limitations. Just cause she's able to do that high impact stuff doesn't mean someone carrying 50-100 extra pounds can. Lets see her wear a 100 pound fat suit and do those exercises!

But yea, I will watch again.

Yankee_in_ca
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 4:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Here are 2 articles about this program:

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/10013167.htm

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/196729_loser26.html



Mistysmoke
Member

08-10-2001

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 5:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hmm, Konamouse, when I was preg and had gest. diabetes my nutritionist put me on a diabetic diet that had me counting the carbs (as well as not having certain foods). After having my baby she told me I could continue on the same diet if I wanted to lose weight... now you have me curious of if this is a good thing or not.

I watched it and felt badly for the people, but, they signed up for this and I will root them on.

Beachcomber
Member

08-26-2003

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 6:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
This is going to be boring if they keep kicking off the skinniest people. I wished they had measured everyone in addition to the weigh-in so we could see how many inches people had lost this week. You could really tell by people's faces that they had lost weight even if the scales didn't reflect that.

Curlyq
Member

07-10-2002

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 6:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Tonight's episode was painful to watch. It was so frustrating and sad hearing so many of them say they felt like giving up after the weigh in. They should've been warned that they were gaining muscle weight and that the initial loss was water weight. At least the one trainer explained that after the fact.

Ryan was a total !^&$*#%. I hope he's next. The fact that Dave's body has the potential to lose more weight does not mean he actually will. If he doesn't have the willpower it doesn't matter how much more fat he has on his body. As sad as I felt for Matt, the one who actually gained weight should've been the one to go, if you're going to go by sheer numbers.

Really, they should be measuring their body fat percentage instead of weighing them. Why did they bother dunking all of them in the first place if those numbers wouldn't be revisited?

Roxip
Member

01-29-2004

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 7:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What Curlyq said!

Lilfair
Member

07-09-2003

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 8:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
A pox covered in mayo on Ryan!

Marej
Member

09-20-2002

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 8:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Lots of Ryan bashing on the show's message boards. Like Will of BB5 said, "Karma will bite you in the ass."

Avrey258
Member

06-23-2002

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 12:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sorry to hear you hate the low carb diet. I am a diabetic and I have to count carbs. I am not overweight and I do execise daily, always have.
I would like to tell you something though. When I found out I was a diabetic my cholesterol was horrible, 278. I had to take medication for the diabetes. This was several yrs. ago. In six weeks, by low carbing it my cholesterol dropped to 153. I also started lifting weights. I am now medication free and have been since 2001.

My whole family eats low carb. It is not a diet for us, it is a lifestyle choice. My kids are both in college and they still eat this way. FYI, I am not trying to convert anyone. I swear. I know calories count but low carb does not mean high fat. As a nation we are eating way to many carbs. I think that is evident. There is an epidemic of overweight children and adults in our country. I am not saying you can't have any carbs, but the current recommendation of 300-400 grams a day is way out of control.

I did hear the food pyramid was going to be changed (does anyone else think it is scandalous that the Dept. of Agriculture is in charge of that?) and I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Sorry if the low-carb. thing is annoying but it is not a fad to me, it's a way of life.



Max
Member

08-12-2000

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 1:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
This show made me angry last night. These people want to lose weight, but they're not being educated about HOW to do it properly. They are faced with a table full of all kinds of foods, yet seem to be given very minimal instruction on how to make intelligent choices. (In the first show, when the gal was in tears because she was hungry and didn't know what she could eat, I felt really angry at the producers for not providing them with more information.)

Losing 20 pounds in one week during the first week was mostly water weight. But they don't seem to have had that explained to them. Sustaining weight loss at that level over time would simply be unhealthy and is totally unrealistic. A one to two pound loss per week is what they should strive for if they want to keep the weight off long term. But no one seems to have explained anything to them, so they all felt like they had failed. And, as has been mentioned, with all the working out they are doing after having done NONE, they are going to be building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Short-term there will be little to no change on the scale, but long-term, their metabolisms will adjust and weight will come off and, with continued lifestyle change, stay off. They don't seem to have an inkling of this.

Yes, they should have been measured. It's a much better representation of the changes they are making to their bodies. Or have them use one of the BMI measurement tools to track percentage of fat vs. lean muscle mass.

But of course, teaching them about nutrition and metabolism and all that kind of thing wouldn't make for as humiliating an experience, and I suppose that's what the producers ultimately want.

Personally, I'd probably punch that lady trainer. As my trainer said today, she's glad that 24-hour Fitness is the name all over the place instead of Bally's! Of course Bally's works with the Discovery Channel's Body Challenge program, so they wouldn't do another show of the same kind, probably. And on the Body Challenge, they DO teach the participants about what they are doing and why.

Oh, that was the first thing that irked me about this show -- they kept advertising it as "the first" weight-loss show on TV. Discovery has been doing the Body Challenge for several years.

Of course, I'll keep watching. because I'm addicted already and want to see how these folks do. I just think that the producers are being a bit irresponsible in the way they are conducting this whole thing. :-)

Alisons
Member

01-10-2003

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 3:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I am also a diabetic and the first thing that the nutritionist told me was to eat in the range of 45-60 grams of carbohydrate per meal. So, I started off doing Weight Watchers for the calories and also counting the carbohydrate. I often found that I ran out of carbohydrates before I ran out of WW points. However now I am doing the South Beach Diet, which I am finding very diabetic friendly by emphasizing the healthy carbs and fats as part of a well rounded diet.

I like this show, but I find it hard to believe that a group of overweight people like that could know SO LITTLE about dieting that it would be "news" to them about the water weight loss the first week and what to expect the second week. I would think that most people in their shoes would have already tried numerous things to lose weight and already been pretty experienced dieters. Didn't someone say they lost 400 pounds over their lifetime??

Rslover
Member

11-19-2002

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 6:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Curylyq, Avery, Alison S,
I totally agree with you regarding carbs. I can attest to losing more than water while on a low carb diet. There are good carbs and bad carbs. The reason low carb does work is because your insulin spikes when you eat carbs and then rapidly drops, which triggers hunger. While on a low carb diet, I was rarely hungry. My friend on WW was constantly hungry. She ate cheerios, snackwell cookies, rice cakes - all full of carbs. I lost 3 lbs a week for 12 weeks straight without counting calories. My cholestrol and triglycerides went down. If you go below 1400 calories, your metabolism will adjust. I have never gone back to the average 400+ carbs that most people eat. You can easily adjust to 100-125 gms a day.

Max, I was thinking the same thing. First week was water weight loss and now they are starting to build muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat - these numbers are so deceiving. They should be measuring inches!

Konamouse
Member

07-16-2001

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 - 7:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Just a clarification: BMI does not measure body fat. It is just a weight to height ratio. They did take body fat measurements at the beginning of the show - probably use that at the end.

I think they should have made it collective body fat change over time, rather than just week to week. But the amount of fat it is possible to lose in one week is really not statistically measureable. A two week or more interval would have been better for them, but less enticing for "reality TV".

Oh, this article appeared in the listserv of the American Dietetic Association:
--------------------------------
Reality TV Check
By Sally Squires
Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page HE01

If you want to see the emotional and physical toll that diets, deprivation and being pushed to physical extremes can take -- and we don't blame you if you don't -- tune in to "The Biggest Loser," the newest reality television show.

In tonight's episode, a dozen desperate obese men and women begin a personal weight-loss odyssey on NBC. "I don't take my shirt off for my family, I can't believe that I'm doing this on national television," one participant laments as the group lines up for the first of their regular public weigh-ins on a humongous scale.

Over nine shows, viewers will watch as two teams of three men and three women (weighing a little more than 1,500 pounds per team at the beginning) live together on a ranch in Malibu. Rather than consider what weight loss plan might work best for every individual, the script calls for each team to be assigned to one of two diets. Both limit portions. One regimen is based on the glycemic index -- which takes into account how much a food raises blood sugar levels. The other focuses on eating six small meals per day.

Two personal trainers with nearly opposite philosophies put the would-be losers through physical paces so grueling (at least during the first show) that it reduces some to tears. One contestant vomits.

Oh, yes, and hovering in the background are glass-fronted refrigerators, labeled with each contestant's name and filled with their favorite high-calorie foods. The team that loses less weight each week must vote a member off the show. The last remaining contestant will win a $250,000 prize.

And what do leading weight-loss experts think about this exercise?

"Very humiliating," said Albert Stunkard, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and a pioneer in the study of obesity.

"Both cruel and counterproductive," said Xavier Pi-Sunyer, director of the New York Obesity Research Center, St. Luke-Roosevelt Hospital, chairman of the National Institutes of Health Obesity Guidelines panel and a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Committee.

"Competition may be a benefit to some people, but it's not a benefit when it damages self-esteem," said Thomas A. Wadden, director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. "If you slip up, you can feel doubly bad because you're letting down the team."

Having said all that, a few things can be learned from this show: Don't try this at home. The artificial lose-as-much-as-possible-in-a-week philosophy violates a major tenet of healthy habit change, the premise upon which the Lean Plate Club is built. The way to achieve long-term weight loss is to change habits for good, not to sprint to see how much weight you can lose under pressure.

As David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, likes to say: "You can lose weight with chemotherapy and crack cocaine, but would you want to?"



Also, some of the contestants lost 10 or more pounds in a week -- far more than the half-pound to two pounds per week considered a safe rate, experts say. (And don't be fooled: Rapid and large drops in weight are due mostly to diuresis -- water loss.)

Go ahead, compete -- but within limits. Jump-starting your efforts with a small dose of good-natured competition may provide some extra motivation toward a healthier weight, according to Stunkard. Just be sure there are limits -- say, a pound per week per person -- so that no one gets too carried away and tries crash diets or fasting.

Reality check: Competition gives no lasting edge in long-term weight-loss success. "It's good for initial weight loss, but when people are pushed for longer [periods], they don't maintain it," Stunkard said. "And if they don't lose [enough] weight, it adds to their shame and failure," Wadden said. "It triggers those feelings of thinking 'I have no willpower. I'm not successful. Look how I've let people down again.' ''

Get a physical exam. Participants in "The Biggest Loser" not only underwent physical exams prior to the show but also were monitored regularly during the tapings by two physicians. Experts say physical exams are particularly important if you've either got a lot of weight to lose or haven't had a recent checkup. Gallstones and irregular heartbeats are two potential weight-loss complications for those who are obese or who try to lose weight too rapidly.

An electrocardiogram, which monitors heartbeats, is one of the essential tests used by many clinic-based weight loss programs. Obese people who lose weight rapidly "need an EKG once a week," Pi-Sunyer said. Those who lose about a pound per week need an EKG every four to six weeks to monitor heart rate and be sure that no electrical abnormalities have developed, he said. That's something that most commercial weight-loss programs and diet books fail to recommend.

Find support. Stunkard has organized weight-loss contests pitting individuals or teams against each other at work sites. Both men and women lost more weight and stuck with their weight-loss efforts longer when they were part of a team, Stunkard found. (Dropout rates were just 1 percent during 12-week work site contests.) So if you can't get a team going at your office or within your extended family, find a buddy to help support your efforts. In a recent Lean Plate Club Web chat, a member from Michigan noted that she uses the Web to stay in contact with her exercise buddy in another state. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (www.fitness.gov) offers a free tool to enable you to set up your own password-protected fitness group -- and to pursue a presidential medal if you choose.

Take charge. Participants in the show were told what diets to use and when and how to exercise. Research suggests that any diet will help you lose weight in the short run. If you want to sustain that loss, you have to find the healthy foods and physical activity that you like best. If you don't, the habit changes won't last.

Plan to avoid temptation. To reflect the many choices in real life, "The Biggest Loser" puts participants' favorite high-calorie foods within reach, beginning with breakfast tables laden with platters of bacon, sausage and pancakes as well as fruit and whole grain cereals. "It's very important for the viewer not to say, 'You put me on a ranch for 70 days, get me a trainer and I will lose weight too,' " said Dave Broome, an executive producer of the show. "So we made a show about choices." But most research suggests that it's important to surround yourself with good choices and to step away from the foods that are likely to trigger overeating.

Ratchet up physical activity slowly. Lean Plate Club members already know that it takes eating less and moving more to succeed in achieving a healthier weight. "Biggest Loser" participants get a minimum of two hours of exercise in the morning and two hours in the evening -- about four times what the National Academy of Sciences says is important for weight loss maintenance and eight times what the U.S. Surgeon General recommends on most days.Those four hours per day are unsustainable for most people in the real world. Also, going from an extremely sedentary lifestyle to that much activity overnight took a toll on participants, who complained of extremely sore muscles. So go ahead, boost physical activity to burn calories and stay in shape, but go slowly. Be sure to get instructional help as needed on weight machines and with other equipment. Aim for about 30 to 60 minutes of activity on most days, including so-called "lifestyle" exercises such as taking the stairs.

Be accountable. "The Biggest Loser" requires participants to publicly weigh themselves on a huge scale. Average Joes and Janes don't need to go that extreme, but finding a way to be accountable in some fashion is a good thing, studies suggest. Regular weigh-ins are also a key part of the Weight Watchers program. Members of the National Weight Control Registry -- a group of several thousand "successful losers" who have shed at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least three years -- report monitoring their weight in some fashion. Various online communities, including SparkPeople and E-diets, provide it, too. So climb on the scale, check your body fat or measure your waistline -- whatever it takes to track your progress of instilling healthy habits and, if you choose, to be accountable about them to others.

Oh, one final thing: Limit your time in front of the tube. Research shows that it's linked to an increased body weight.
------------------------------

'squeek'



Avrey258
Member

06-23-2002

Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 11:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dang, I got caught up in the low carb. thing and forgot to post my views about the second show. LOL.

O.K., that Ryan really made me MAD. Being an overweight person himself it is surprising that he has so little empathy for others. That smirk didn't help either. I don't blame that woman for calling him out about the way he treated the girl who left. I wonder about people sometimes. Btw, I found it odd that the heavier people did not lose any weight. I did weight watchers many yrs. ago and I lost five pounds the first week and two and a half the second week. I know the first week is usually huge for people. I am surprised that some gained and some lost nothing.

Also, that food on the table, the KFC and stuff. Did they eat as much as they wanted? They really did not explain the purpose of that. I thought the meals were pre-planned. Perhaps I missed something.

Reader234
Member

08-13-2000

Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 12:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I dont think they want to give us the details. I think I saw footage of the one guy in the blue team who is over 300#'s and he hasnt lost any - they showed footage of him cheating... On extra I think he was showing the film crew around saying there is always food and candy and stuff out to tempt them, but "you dont want to eat that - it will slow down your weight loss goals"... so after a 2nd week of slow loss, I know some/most is due to above posts, but I think they'll show us some of the people cheating too...

Xena
Member

10-14-2004

Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 8:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I thought they would definitly cheat when they were baking. I was suprised they didn't because its so easy to lick the spoon or your fingers when your baking something sweet.

Sweetbabygirl
Member

08-31-2002

Friday, October 29, 2004 - 1:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Still loving this show....the highlight for me this week was Maurice talking about "Fuuuuuuuuudge"; aw man, I still LMAO whenever I think about it.