Biggest Loser lessons: Things to remember

by Martha Edwards (Subscribe to Martha Edwards's posts)
Oct 28th 2008 7:30AM

I love The Biggest Loser -- I've been following Bev's updates as religiously as I have the show. And I think it's great for the viewers -- all that encouragement to slim down, shape up and take back control of their health. So I was interested when I saw this article titled Biggest Loser lessons to forget. Huh?

Using the show as motivation to get healthy is a fantastic idea but before you get discouraged that you can't keep up with the show, there are a few issues you should keep in mind, according to the folks over at Divine Caroline:

Results are not typical. Normal people don't lose more than two pounds a week.
They put their lives on hold. Contestants spend weeks focused solely on losing weight. The rest of us can't afford that luxury.
They're probably over-training. Think about it -- they go from no exercise to working out for hours each day. This isn't healthy -- or realistic.
They have trainers. Celebrity trainers are there with them for every workout. Can you afford that? Didn't think so.

Hmm. I never thought of it that way. But I still think the show does more good then harm. Your thoughts?

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multiman 10-28-2008 @ 2:10PM

I still enjoy watching the show and the main lesson to take away from it is that everyone has the ability to loose weight. They have fantastic stories to share with the country and influence people to get off of the couch and drop some pounds.
But you do have to take in to account some of the real world aspects. I have never dropped more than 2-3 lbs a week, but that is still a loss. I know I can reach my goals and to see people go through the same thing I am is great. Sure we would all want to loose weight at a rapid pace, but as that article points out, we can't just put our lives on hold. The point is though we don't have to put them on hold, just adjust and maintain.