Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Unrealistic Weightloss

There seems to be a trend of extreme weight loss shows of late. The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition and I Used to Be Fat to name a few. I've watched The Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.Yesterday I watched I Used to Be Fat on MTV for the first time. I enjoy watching these shows because usually the stories are inspirational.But I worry about these shows because they have unrealistic weightloss in my opinion.

On I Used to Be Fat they have 110-115 days to lose their goal weight and on the couple of episodes the girls were trying to lose 90 lbs. They succeeded and they looked great at the end. But for one girl she went to the gym from 9-2 then worked from 4-9 and then came home and slept. She had no life outside work and and working out. And from what I can tell Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover have similar work-out schedules. Now I realize these are people in extreme weight loss situations who are trying to lose large amounts of weight but I think it sets an unrealistic outlook for the average watcher.

Yet as I watch I think wow...90 lbs in 100 days that's pretty sweet. And I get inspired to eat better and exercise more. So maybe the shows serve a purpose to give us a jump-start, realizing that we won't be able to do exactly what they do because we don't have a live-in personal trainer or the flexibility in our schedules to work out for 4-5 hours a day. But that we can make time in our schedule to work out, eat well, and take care of ourselves.

So do you think extreme weight loss shows are a good thing?

2 comments:

Becca said...

I think we like seeing other people succeed and overcome because it means we too have that capability. I think especially the extreme situations are inspiring.

Mrs. Duh said...

I think they are good because they brin awareness to things like exercising and eating healthy. The bad part about these shows is that they do set unrealistic expectations. Most people can't work out for 12 hours a day like they do on the Biggest Loser. Not to mention that the people on the Biggest Loser have doctors and massage therapists watching them and helping them avoid injury. In reality, most people can spare an hour or two a day to work out and have to find ways to cook healthier, etc.