Hi Jane,
No need to apologize that you find the TV show inspiring...nor are any of us in disagreement with that!
I think we all agree that Biggest Loser is inspiring. That's what got all of us here to this forum in the first place. But I think Muppet's point in starting this discussion thread is that losing weight takes a lot more information and intelligent decision-making than what they show on Biggest Loser, which is essentially a game show.
Obviously there must be a lot more going on behind the scenes that they don't show us on the TV show. For instance, they don't have much information about what they're actually eating as part of their weight loss. Last season especially, most of the information about foods were virtually advertisements! ("Eat Sugar-Free Jello!" etc.)
Also, to make the show entertaining, they concentrate on the game aspects of it--you know, people talking about their strategy, why they're voting certain people off, how they're going to slack off on the week they have immunity and then work hard the following week, stuff like that. Plus, they distill many days and sometimes even weeks and months down into little one-hour segments for TV...so that's not like the day-to-day reality of losing weight at all.
We don't vote anybody off here! LOL! We're all in it for the long haul, and it's not a game. Our strategy is daily commitment to better health. We don't get commercial breaks, weeks of free training and free nutritional food at a luxurious ranch, or the $250,000 at the end!
I think probably the biggest contribution Biggest Loser has made to viewers is that it is an inspirational starting point. But to actually lose weight, it takes so much more than inspiration, and that's the reality that we're talking about here. And, as Missy says, more important than the actual weight loss is the better health that comes out of exercising and eating right. For me, Biggest Loser was like a compass that pointed in the right direction, but I had to leave the show way behind to actually make progress in that direction.
Sue
Last edited by FrugalSue : 04-26-2007 at 07:09 PM.
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