Is the Biggest loser sending positive messages about weight loss?
Is the Biggest loser sending positive messages about weight loss? Stories are circulating about the weekly weight loss being based on the weight measurements being taken closer to every 10-12 days rather than the televised 7 day period. Not to mention the alleged dehydration techniques being adopted to reduce their weight leading up to the weigh in, is this sending a positive message about weight loss?
This tends to lend it self to the other end of the fashion world that promotes the walking skeleton look as the most desirable image women should strive to achieve. Rather the biggest loser promotes the audience and contestants to become obsessive about weight loss, whereby the end result is more about winning $$$ than being healthier. I would be very surprised if contestants who don’t win the $$$ saying they don’t care about the $$$, it’s all about being a healthier person.
Put simple weight gain happens over a long period of time so shows like the biggest loser promote the instant gratification, instant results, must have it now attitude. Weight loss starts in the mind and all the emotional triggers, belief systems and drivers must be addressed before attempting the first walk or modifying their diet.
Only then can you begin to start changing your diet and adopting an exercise program over a 12 month period, not 12 weeks as losing kilograms of weight per week can place your health at risk.
Unfortunately reality TV is more about the entertainment value and keeping the shareholders happy, documenting some ones weight loss without the tears and vomiting over a year may lead to less eye balls on the TV screen.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 9:56 am
by Andrew Talati
and is filed under Fitness training.
Tags: Exercise, exercise training, Fitness training, Healthy eating, Weight loss
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Andrew, you make some great points, and ones that I have been sharing with the people I meet – weight loss should be a benefit of/side effect of becoming healthier, NOT the goal itself! Doing something for ‘weight loss’ only is not the way to longer term fitness & health.
I remember a Men’s Health magazine article a good few years back about a man who was 120Kg – many looked at a picture of him and assumed he was obese. In fact he was one of the fittest men around and regularly ran marathons and ultramarathons! Weight is not everything – fitness is
March 11th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Thanks for the comment Andrew, goals are great to have but it’s more about the way you achieve the goal than the goal itself.
For some people they achieve their goal and then they return back to their pre goal state.