I saw the ad for this on TV the other day and it made me mad!

Taken from Wikipedia:


Great. Just what the world needs. Another unhealthy diet competition show. I think it is even from the producers of The Biggest Loser and every KNOWS how unhealthy that show is.

there's far too many of those shows... I won't list them, but I have to wonder if other countries have as many as america does.

I'll be honest, weight loss shows don't bother me at all.

They do me, because they have the contestants lose weight unhealthily, working out 4, 5, 6 hours a day plus. There was water loading on The Biggest Loser some episodes (which can be dangerous and even deadly). I think this type of television should be banned.

If they promoted healthy weight loss with normal amounts of exercise and decent diets (there are even rumors contestants on The Biggest Loser were eating too few calories, especially for the amount they exercised daily), then maybe I'd have less problems with it. But they promote unhealthy weight loss, act like a person is a failure if they don't lose close to 10 lb. in 1 week and then I go on the off topics section of my parenting forum and see posts like, "what am I doing wrong trying to lose weight? I only lost 1-2 lb. this week. I suck! I must be doing something wrong. How did Sue (or pick a name) on The Biggest Loser lose 8 lb. this week? I'm a failure." When what these women are losing is actually a normal HEALTHY amount of weight per week. These shows give an unrealistic weight loss goal to millions of people.

I think even Kai from The Biggest Loser claims the show contributed to her switching out one ED (overeating) for another (excessive exercise, too few calories).

And ironic, don't you think, that this show is scheduled to follow the season premiere of America's Next Top Model?

You still watch tv?

These tv shows just contribute to the unhealthy "if im slimmer everything will be better" bullshit way of thinking, why do they feel as if they have to lose weight to 'look good' in their wedding dress?! it shouldn't be that way...

Ha, I keep it on for the company most of the time as a mom can only chatter about My Little Ponies so much (My daughter was playing in her bedroom anyway, and I had computer finance work to do - BORING!.) I think I was watching a House marathon or something, not even on the CW, (on FOX, I think) but they advertised it on the FOX network anyway. I do enjoy that show It was live TV for a changed and not TiVo'ed so I had to deal with the commercials

This is why I don't watch television, hehehehhe

Reading books is where it's at!

In all seriousness though, this is saddening/maddening.

At least there is open acknowledgement that the 'size zero' culture of the fashion world is destructive.

What really irks me about these programmes (e.g. Biggest Loser and now this one) is that, in contrast, they do not acknowledge the unhealthy nature of being obessed with dieting. They tend to dramatise this fixation with weight loss and present it as not only healthy but essential and admirable.

Admittedly, some people genuinely do struggle with their weight and for them, getting down to a healthier weight is worthwhile. But why allow this pursuit to consume you?!

To the producers of these programmes: you think the joy of losing weight is that it allows your healthier self to shine through so that you are no longer burdened by excessive weight? WELL NO! The purpose is defeated when you create a whole television show about it and thus encourage people to take on a new burden, that burden now being the obession with losing weight.

And I really don't like the idea of weight loss competitions - sure it's a competition, but that's not healthy either and different people lose weight at different rates depending on sex & body type (easier for men to put on muscle, etc.), some people have a harder time if they've got thyroid issues or unlying health issues (like my hubby with chronically low testosterone - he is thin but I bet if he had to enter a diet competition, he'd lose weight slower than men with normal testosterone levels or (with women) PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). It just seems unfair to me, somehow. They act like all contestants start out on an even playing field, but they're not, really. Each body is different.

The goal shouldn't be to lose the most amount of weight quickly to but to adopt a better lifestyle (which will hopefully allow them to lose weight in a healthful manner) since admittedly these people generally DO need to lose weight for their health (because the contestants tend to be quite obese) or at least adopt better nutrition and exercise ideals but it is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix and the shows never focus on that.

I think I was the only one trying to fill out for my wedding- it was really strange because everyone expects you to try to lose weight and you're trying to explain to the girl in the store that maybe you should try a size up hehe. people don't get it.

these shows are just a waste of time, spin-offs of the reality tv craze
remember when there was good programming on TLC? then it was crazy mom and pregnancies and this shit.
I don't even bother with those stations anymore. I'm usually on History or Discovery.

I've never watched The Biggest Loser. The weight loss shows I've watched were about morbidly obese people whose health was seriously at risk. "I Eat 30,000 Calories A Day" and "One Tonne Man" were two of the ones I remember. I've also watched a few shows where they were seriously overweight, but from what I could tell they lost the weight in a healthy manner. It spanned over six months and they exercised, but not to excess, and were shown healthy eating habits, but still ate a reasonable amount.

I do agree that the idea that spawned all these weight loss shows (you must lose weight and everything will be be better) is wrong, and that angers me.

But for the most part, the shows I've watched were either an intervention of sorts for those who were seriously at risk because of their weight, or were centred on replacing bad, unhealthy habits with healthy ones.

And those shows don't bother me.

These are the shows we get over here and although sometimes I don't quite agree with their shock tactics to get the people to face up to the fact they have a problem (although maybe it's necessairy in the same way it's necessairy at some point to tell anorexics and bulimics the health concequences of what they're doing and that it will kill them) they are generally really well done.
I've seen ones where they've done interventions on families and also in doing so have spotted an eating disorder developing in one of the young children because she was always hearing her parents talk about how fat they were and was learning to use food as both comfort and also to feel terrible guilt about it all.. and in getting the older family to improve their habits they also spotted it flipping the other way in the child and sat her down and explained that not eating wasn't the way to go and taught the mum it wasn't just about her attitute to food but about the way she treated herself and that her daughter was learning to treat herself in the same negative manner... and it was all really inspiring.
But then it wasn't a competition.

However we do get some of the American shows shown over here now... and they sicken me.. lot's of wedding ones. I have a feeling these sort of shows just wouldn't be allowed to be made here.