Posts tagged outdoor training

Reality Television. That’s what they call it, don’t they? Let’s explore this for a moment. Putting fifteen strangers into a house with T.V. cameras watching their every move and then have them secretly vote each other out on a weekly basis . What is real about that? How about we Get 12 obese people, and have a competition to see who can lose the most percentage of body weight over the duration. Now I might be pointing out something ridiculously obvious but if networks are willing to refer to these type of programs as reality I would like to offer them a suggestion………Here we go……you ready?

Ask the biggest loser contestants to

• Work full time during the duration of the competition
• Live in their own home for the duration of the competition
• Pay for and cook every meal that they consume for them and their family
• Attend every function they are invited to by friends or colleagues
• Look after their kids if they have them.
• Pay for the 3 P.T sessions a day that they are afforded on the show. (Going on 1hour sessions at $50 per session)  Estimating at a cost of $1050 dollars a week!
• Drive through peak hour to get to the gym after a full day’s work all while their families sacrifice time, money and re arrange their schedule to accommodate your gym time.
• Have to worry about their Husbands, wives, kids and life/society problems like drugs, alcohol, depression etc.
• Pay for physio, dieticians, massage therapists and any specialists associated with starting an exercise program.

Ask the producers to

• Include participants who live with obesity related pre existing health conditions such as, Heart disease, diabetes, High cholesterol, stress injuries, high blood pressure, gout, bladder control and psychological disorders.

And they call this reality TV!! To me it would be more realistic to have the competitors have to deal with all these external life factors as opposed to what is served up to the general public every night.  

Secondly I would like to discuss what I see from my end as a Personal Trainer. I consider the biggest loser as a “double edged sword”.  I actually get a bit of business from the show and some of my best clients have initially come to me because the show inspired them to get off their back sides and do something about their situation. This is outstanding! A TV show that has the ability to do that is not all bad. Unfortunately the situation I’m faced with on a daily basis (when the show is on the air) is that I constantly have to reinforce “healthy” weight loss principles to my clients and dispel the false ideals and unrealistic expectations that the show thrives on. What am I talking about here?? Well I don’t know about you but to me it seems that the sheer amount of weight that these contestants lose in such a short period is not only unrealistic but unachievable in the real world. Would you agree? 

If you have bad eating and exercise habits and this has lead to obesity like in the case of the BL contestants then a key to successfully turning this around is to make changes that are lifelong ( get used to that idea) . To undo a lifetimes worth of self inflicted damage on your body in eight weeks to me is completely unrealistic. To make a change in your habits for eight weeks is one thing but these changes have to be lifelong!! Yes there are contestants that have successfully kept off their weight but I would be interested to see how many contestants have put their weight back on or never got it off in the first place. You would never see them on the cover of New Idea.

The practices of this show are questionable at best, if they really cared for these obese people they would not let them gorge themselves for the first week of the competition, tempt then with yum cha and subsequently shove a camera in their face while they are stuffing theirs. It seems to me that every time a contestant breaks down and tears are cried, the executives see this as more dollars in the pockets. What makes me say this?? Well I’m glad you asked!!

A couple of days ago I was told by a little birdie that when they went  to audition for the biggest loser “as a laugh” they were told basically that they were too mentally stable, confident and strong psychologically to be accepted on the program. Obviously “stable” people wouldn’t make good tv. Stable people don’t cry enough!

But hey, let’s finish on a good note. I will share a piece of advice that I give to my clients that love the show and to anyone who wants to listen…..For the duration of the series, which is four nights a week for 10 weeks………..set your VCR (if you still have one) your tivo or whatever, record the show and for the hour that it’s on………go for a walk, ride your bike, have a swim, take your kids, wife, husband, raise a sweat, spend time with those important to you or have some time to yourself and your I-pod, be consistent. And maybe, just maybe you might find yourself in a good habit by the end of the series. Maybe you might find yourself setting some realistically achievable goals. As for The Biggest Loser, you can make your own mind up, but please, pretty please, with a sugar encrusted temptation on top, see it for what it is….TV.

 Reality? I think not!

X-man out!