"I Used to be Fat" on MTV - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

precieuseamande · 01-03-2011, 05:47 PM

I just caught the end of the new MTV show "I Used to be Fat," it was the premiere episode about the young woman Gabrielle who lost 90 pounds in 111 days. That just seems so incredibly fast to lose that much weight based on what I think I know. I was wondering if earlier in the show they said what she did to lose so much weight so fast? How many calories was she eating and how much was she working out? (I have no desire to lose weight that fast--the prospect extreme measures is very unappealing to me, it just blew my mind that that was even possible.) I looked on the website for the show and they didn't talk about what kind of strategies the participants follow.

Lady Stardust · 01-03-2011, 06:10 PM

I thought it was really fast too. It's almost a pound a day. However, thats what is on TBL too. She is young and you do tend to lose more weight at first when you're overweight (bc of all the extra weigh, you burn more calories when you exercise). I do think they might have exaggerated the time spent, I think it was longer than 111 days. It is tv. I hope she can keep it off. I can imagine, though, that MTV is probably still paying for a trainer for her so she can keep it off.

Thats what is bad about these shows, sure its very inspiring to see such transformations, but every doctor and nutritionist says 2 lbs a week MAX for weight loss. She was losing like 5 lbs a week consistently. Big weight losses are normal in the first couple of weeks and then tend to taper off. I really do help she maintains it.

I know the show will be on reruns on MTV and on their website. I don't recall her saying how many calories she was eating or how long she worked out every day.

DisgruntledOne · 01-03-2011, 06:59 PM

If I recall correctly they didn't mention too much or anything about her food plan. I soo wish shows like this would focus more on eating or lack of than working out. I do realize that is what most of us need to do more of and it is important but I recall hearing somewhere working out is only like 20% of the solution compaired to a a much higher % for the nutrition part.
But I have to say I can't wait for the next show to air. From what I saw in the preview I am soooo like the next girl.

Bac0s · 01-03-2011, 09:33 PM

They did, at the end of the show, suggest checking out MTV.com for food tips from some nutritionist.

I enjoyed the show, but really disliked the unrealistic weight loss. The poor girl got so used to losing a pound a day that she broke down in tears after "only" losing 7 pounds in 3 weeks.

Lady Stardust · 01-03-2011, 10:08 PM

And then her mother had the nerve to criticize her for it and tell her it's ok to quit.

Bac0s · 01-03-2011, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Stardust

And then her mother had the nerve to criticize her for it and tell her it's ok to quit.

Yeah, her mother sucks.

3FCer344892 · 01-04-2011, 05:35 AM

I caught most of the episode, and will definitely be tuning in from now on. I love weight-loss shows (I think that drives my hubby mad sometimes, though hehe).

But, yeah, her mother irritated me bad. She was so unsupportive.

LandonsBaby · 01-05-2011, 08:06 PM

I watched it yesterday. I too think they may have exaggerated the time frame. It was early in the summer when she started and she was wearing a coat at the end. She was also going to a homecoming game. Are those usually in October? I don't know, my high school didn't have them but I was thinking they were in October? Still, probably only 5 months. When I saw the commercial I started ranting to my poor husband about MTV being morons who are going to make young girls think it's normal to lose 6lbs a week.

Lady Stardust · 01-05-2011, 08:21 PM

I've heard if you are very sedentary and eat a ton of calories, and then start working out and cut your calories down to like 1200-1500/day, it is possible to start losing at that rate, but then your body evens out and then it slows to 1-2 lbs/week after a few weeks. Which is why I am suspicious that it was over a longer length of time.

precieuseamande · 01-05-2011, 09:14 PM

You guys might be right about the time frame. She had that calendar she was pulling off day by day, so I naively assumed they were being up front about the time frame. I know I was pretty disillusioned when I found out TBL misrepresented the time frames on their show. And I agree with the person who said they wished there was more info about the food plan. These shows are entertaining, but it would be more helpful if they actually tried to give people information. The information on TBL consists of product placements couched as nutrition tips! (Don't get me wrong, I started eating Greek yogurt because of TBL but not their crappy Yoplait version, no offense if you like the Yoplait.)

There is plenty of nutrition information available between the internet and books, but I wish these shows would actually tell us about what these specific people are doing while they are showing us their weight loss. Knowing how many calories it takes to lose a pound of fat, it just staggers me that this girl had a big enough calorie deficit to lose so much so fast. In any case, it was a good show. I liked that it didn't have all the gimmicks associated with TBL and I'll be watching the new episode tonight.

Lady Stardust · 01-06-2011, 06:59 PM

Interestingly, the next episode featured a young woman, who weighed the same as the first young woman, and lost 90 lbs in less time, this time something like 93 days. She went from 250 to 160. The girl supposedly lost 7lbs/week consistently, 30 lbs/month is a LOT. I wonder how much she worked out every day.

I think these shows do serve a good purpose, but I hope there isn't any long-term damage due to both young women losing 90lbs in roughly 3 months.

Goodness, if I lost 90 lbs in a month, I would look like a holocaust survivor.

Bac0s · 01-06-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandonsBaby

I watched it yesterday. I too think they may have exaggerated the time frame. It was early in the summer when she started and she was wearing a coat at the end. She was also going to a homecoming game. Are those usually in October? I don't know, my high school didn't have them but I was thinking they were in October? Still, probably only 5 months. When I saw the commercial I started ranting to my poor husband about MTV being morons who are going to make young girls think it's normal to lose 6lbs a week.

I think the Homecoming Game was a follow-up b/c she had stressed how badly she wanted to lose weight to look good at it.

Thighs Be Gone · 01-06-2011, 07:32 PM

I really disliked the mother. I could not believe the mother actually said, "I want HER to be perfect." I was so proud of Gabrielle when she finally stood up to her mom. She looked beautiful at the passing the crown.

I was very curious about something though. She had been crowned as homecoming queen at her highest weight. Obviously people liked her a lot? No matter her size? Even for a homecoming queen? If so, I really dig that school and class. I wish someone that graduated with her or at least attended the school would chime in.

Lady Stardust · 01-06-2011, 07:53 PM

I wish my high school had been like that too. If I remember correctly, the same girl from my class got sophomore princess, junior princess, and then homecoming queen senior year. Shes a nice person and I always really liked her, but I was like come on people! Pick someone different!

I gathered that Gabrielle was popular because she was just one of those people who was friends with everyone and everyone liked her. And I think its awesome she was homecoming queen, and the next queen was overweight too! I think she wanted to lose weight because she was just sick of being fat. Thats my reason.

Thighs Be Gone · 01-06-2011, 08:52 PM

I really hope that was indeed the case. One year of HS, someone appeared on the ballot as a joke. It was a terrible thing.