I know everyone...

isn't a fan of the show! But, My daughter and I are going to see Jillian Michaels from Biggest Loser, in our home city!!

Hugs

Donna

Have fun!

I am a huge fan of the show and I particularly love Jillian. Tell her I lost 120 lbs just for her and if she were my trainer I would do everything she told me to do.

Why wouldn't everyone be a big fan of the show? I just wish they would incorporate the food aspect a bit more because they sort of gloss over it and because of their sponsors make it look like everyone should try to lose weight by eating at subway, drinking Brita filtered water, and eating packaged foods that are low cal.

"Why wouldn't everyone be a big fan of the show?"

Sometimes I have trouble believing you are for real. Do you actually  believe that there is something that billions of people agree upon 100% and that this show -- which has had plenty of well thought out criticism in the press -- is it? Or do you say these ridiculous things simply to provoke a reaction for "fun"?

Anyway, here is but one of the many, many reasons I am not a big fan of the show:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/01/2 3/when-science-met-the-biggest-loser

That show is lucky if it gets 2 million viewers and there are only 400 million people in the US so billions, not likely. I actually personally know someone who was on the Show. Bigg Vinny from 2 seasons ago and he is doing quite well because of the show.

That being said, my response was meant to be taken lightly so yes I am for real. I would assume people who don't like the show don'****ch. My response was more of a horray for you going to see Jillian than any sort of debate on who does or does not like the show. Sorry if you were offended by my response. I don't think what I said was any more or less ridiculous that "I know everyone doesn't like the show".

There is lot to criticize about that show but it is entertaining and at the end of the day the people who go on that show lose WLS type numbers from diet and exercise. Its not like the hunger games where those people are picked from the population, they ASK to go on that show, so really who gives a crap about the science or health community's crticisms. That show is no different than Fear Factor, American Idol, or that stupid show were people get knocked off padded equipment into the water.

"At the end of the day the people who go on that show lose WLS type numbers from diet and exercise."

And then gain it all back with metabolisms that are worse off than people who lose from diet and exercise but in a more sensible way.

Which, if the participants really understood that, I don't think they'd go on the show. Well, some would, because they want their 15 minutes of fame no matter what and some would because they are desperate and will try anything (like the HCG diet). But the show makes it seem like the people "helping" the participants know what they are doing and are trying to make the weight loss healthy when in fact they are screwing over people for ratings.

So the answer to "who gives a crap about the science or health community's criticisms" would be "anyone who cares about the participants long term health." Which I guess is not you... 

You just described every fat person. How many people do you know who went on a diet, any diet and didn't gain the weight back? Every person I know personally who had lap band (which granted is only 2) gained back ALL of their loss and then some. The one guy I know personally who had RNY at 500lbs lost to 400 and is not back to 450. So WLS is not more healthy than Biggest Loser in that regard.

Do you think WLS is healthy? Because its not? We have to eat a sub nutritional diet and we have to supplement with vitamins and in some cases we need to take special vitamins depending  on the type of WLS surgery we had. Some people are rearranging thier anatomy because they can't lose weight any other way. The Biggest Loser at least says look you can be in control if you do this and here is proof.

Your "So the answer to "who gives a crap about the science or health community's criticisms" would be "anyone who cares about the participants long term health." Which I guess is not you..." doesn't make sense. I don't care about the he scientific community's criticism of a reality game show that the participants willingly participate in. These people going on this show is no different than us choosing WLS or HCG. Its one approach to losing weight. The one guy I know personally that went on that show has kept all his weight off and has built an incredible amount of muscle and that is better than I can say for the people I know personally that have WLS. Now is it a statistically relevant sample, no. Statistically over 14 years has the show helped more than it has hurt? or are the numbers better than WLS, my guess is yes.

If your contention is the the trainers on that show don't know how to help those people you are wrong. They are now entertainers but they weren't idiots off the street who said, hey let me go play a trainer on TV they were trainers first who found some success in show business and they are all in top physical condition. They bring in nutritionists to show them what and how to eat and they have them evaluated by doctors. Is it all sensationalized? yes of course otherwise it would sound just like one of our doctors appointments and who the hell wants to see that. Why do you think they all cry on that show? Its for ratings.

I was saying I don't care about the criticism of the show because it is entertainment yet you try to turn it into a weak argument that I don't care about people trying to lose weight. If I didn't I wouldn't waste time answering questions on here providing my experience so that others might benefit from them or see what to avoid because I share both my successes and failures.

I'm not going to apologize for liking the show. I find it quite entertaining. Knowing what I know about nutrition, exercise, and weight loss now, I would never go on that show nor encourage someone to go on it, but it doesn't mean I will stop watching it.

Well, that was .... long. It didn't have much to do with my post or my link, which you clearly didn't read but it was somewhat amusing to see you make up reason after reason why maybe I didn't like the show and then knock them down one by one. This is called making a Strawman argument, btw. It's a logical falicy.

If you had actually read my post, you would know the answer to your very first sentence. (And you would know why I don't like the show.)

"You just described every fat person. How many people do you know who went on a diet, any diet and didn't gain the weight back?"

As I said in my post, and as it said in the link I posted, people who go on the Biggest Loser don't just gain their weight back. They don't just have a slower metabolism than people who never dieted as we all do. In fact, as it said at the link I posted, their metabolism was over 500 calories a day slower than normally expected of people who lose a lot of weight (be it through Diet & Exercise alone or with WLS thrown on top). So the show seriously trashes their metabolism much more than other diet programs.

To me, that makes every medical person associated with the show someone who has violated their Hipocratic oath to "first do no harm." And think where that leaves these contestants.

We know that a person who weighs a normal weight but used to be obese burns around 20% less than someone who is the same weight but never was obese. So a 150 pound person who used to weigh 250+ now needs to eat only as much food as someone who weighs 120 pounds and was never obese. That's kind of a bummer but 20% isn't that horrible and I've found that intense exercise can help combat this phenomena.

But go on the Biggest Loser to lose your weight and now you don't just have a 20% calorie deficit that a never-obese person doesn't have. Now you have a 20% + 500 calorie deficit over and above what the average person has to deal with.

For a typical office worker who doesn't do a lot of exercise, 1500 calories maintains a 150 pound body. 1500 calories is completely doable even in today's high calorie world. But for the former obese, they'd only need 1200 calories. That's harder if you've never had WLS. But again, I think it's doable. But if you got that 150 pound body on the Biggest Loser, you can only eat 700 calories a day. Forever. Otherwise, you are going to gain all your weight back. 700 calories a day is completely not sustainable for more than a month or two and not without WLS IMO.

So this show is setting these people up not just to gain all their weight back like every other diet program out there. It's setting them up to never be able to ever successfully diet ever again. And I find that criminal and I can't bear to watch it. YMMV.

Oh, and just for the record the whole "Who wouldn't be a big fan of the show?" sentence was in fact sarcasm.

Love the show! Love Jillian, but she scares me lmao!