[barbygirl43]

After watching the weigh-in last night and seeing the men still pull big numbers got me to thinking? Why didn't they have any near 400 pound women on there? The largest women was smaller than the smallest man. When you have more to lose you do in the beginning but it seems to keep tapering off more and more with the women while the men are still going strong. Yeah the percentages help a bit but not when two of the men lost more than all 4 women combined.

Do you think if they would've cast the show with comparable weights, we would have more women on there now than just 3?

[Yogini]

Originally Posted by barbygirl43

After watching the weigh-in last night and seeing the men still pull big numbers got me to thinking? Why didn't they have any near 400 pound women on there?

Because this is America and there is a strong anti-fat bias specifically more so against women who have to fit into society's standard of what is considered "attractive".

Have you noticed that a lot of these women (actually, all of the ones I have seen thus far) could be models? Beautiful faces, hair, skin, and so on. I am sure the producers could have found a beautiful 400 lb. woman, but would the weight loss she could experience show such a drastic change in her appearance? I guess what I am saying is that the women on there currently are "thin" looking "fat" women to begin with, at least in the face.

Off topic: Do you think that these women wear this much makeup in thier usual day to day living? I am sure the shows stylist takes care of all clothing, hair and makeup but some of them wear sooo much that it's like a drag queen convention in there!

[marbleflys]

I don't think the team division was fair at all this year. It seems impossible for the women to pull those big numbers.

I hope they change things around next week.

[Determined Gal]

I'm with marbleflys on this one. It was a very bad idea to put the men against the women. I'm pretty sure that there are not going to be any women left before the show ends. Men lose weight easier than women. The have larger muscle capacity, larger livers, and they can afford to make mistakes and still pull large numbers. The amount of muscle that they are gaining on the show is also contributing to their weight loss. 1 pound of muscle burns 45-50 calories at rest. You can't make your body lose more weight than it wants to lose in any given week. I can see that the women are trying sooooo hard, but you can only do the best that you can. It just was'nt a fair set up. I knew that it was going to turn out like this even before the show started and I heard that it was going to be men against women. It sucks.

[Amarantha2]

I agree with everyone!

I don't think the percentage of weight loss idea works at all in equalizing men v. women. IMO, men just lose weight at a faster rate because in general they have more muscle mass (not meaning that women are not strong and cannot or should not have impressive musculature, just that they tend in general to be less endowed by nature in that regard).

Determined Gal, I also thought this would be the way it would turn out.

Looks like next week they are eliminating the "teams" and pitting everyone against each other, but it the previous weeks have effectively reduced the number of women competiting vs the number of men competiting, so it still doesn't seem fair.

[Determined Gal]

It's so not fair.

[melra]

All the woman are cute 20-somethings...well, one is 30. What's up with that? Is it so much to ask that a 40 something get put on there too? Even in weight loss shows woman still have to be younger thinner and prettier? What a crock to make it men against women. I wonder if the trainers had any input on that decision?

[Amarantha2]

Also agree with your point about the age thing, Melra. It would be really great to have some age diversity on this show ... even so far as to say put an 80-year-old on and show how fitness and weight management apply to every stage of life ... maybe a young teen as well, or a 50-something, or a 60-something, etc. Not everyone is 20-40 years old, yet life without obesity is attainable for ALL of us!

[barbygirl43]

Originally Posted by Yogini

Off topic: Do you think that these women wear this much makeup in thier usual day to day living? I am sure the shows stylist takes care of all clothing, hair and makeup but some of them wear sooo much that it's like a drag queen convention in there!

I guess I haven't paid much attention. I notice they wear a lot during the vote off but not during other times.

[AnnieFannie]

I agree. I does seem a little unfair that the men have so much more to lose then the women. It's like that no matter how hard they try it just isn't good enough. It's sad to see them so disappointed. I know they are sad that they didn't win but they should still be proud of themselves for still losing weight.

I do believe though that they are going to combine both of the teams and it's going to be one big team now. It's not going to be men vs women. It's going to be a free for all. One person to save themselves. I think it will be interesting to see if the women will be able to fair with it or will the men vote each woman off one by one. I really do hope to see atleast one woman in the end.

[MrsJim]

It just hit the newsstands - but you might want to check the November issue of O (Oprah) Magazine. Starting on (I believe) page 154 there is an article on just that topic (it's featured on the cover too - titled "It's Not Fair!"). I think you'll find it of interest regarding the disparities. (I just checked the oprah.com website and unfortunately the article is not summarized there so you'll have to get the magazine itself - but there are plenty of meaty articles to make it worth your while, as usual.)

My opinion for the reason you DON'T see older women in the teams is simple - I think the show's producers actually stacked the deck in the women's favor by choosing YOUNGER women (average age 27.5 years) over older men (average age 34.8 years). I'm sure I don't have to say this to the older chicks here but statistically, the younger you are, the faster you tend to lose weight.

And while we only see a small bit of their actual workouts on the show, I tend to feel that the women just aren't putting forth as much effort in their workouts as the men (with the exception of Jen, which is why I think she preferred working out with the guys). Not Bob's fault - he can cajole and try and persuade them to push themselves but bottom line it's up to them, you know?

And the way the rest of the Blue team seemed to ostracize Jen for hanging out with the guys was ridiculous - just because they're on two different teams doesn't mean they can't socialize. I recall that last season the two teams seemed to mingle more than these do. Maybe it's because traditionally women aren't raised to be team players, I don't know. Since they kicked off Jen, though, I feel I like the remnants of the Blues less so it will probably be a good thing that they are changing the team format next week (I got the impression that they were going to pairs) - maybe the guys will push the gals into really giving their all...who knows?

On the 400-pound women question - I dunno...I just don't see your average 400-pound woman being able to do anywhere NEAR those workouts. Judging from what I've read on female WLS patients who pre-op are 400+ pounds, most females that age can barely WALK, let alone jog, climb a hill, etc. (I don't know what the male equivlant is to a 400-lb woman...perhaps it would be a 500-lb male - there are a lot of factors) Remember...this show is in PRIME TIME - the main goal as far as the network is concerned is to entertain and get in those ratings.

Also - I just took a look at the Voluntary Participation Agreement for Season 3 - note condition #2 which reads as follows: I represent and warrant that I am in good health and that I have no medical, physical or emotional condition that might interfere with my ability to engage in the Activity. I would take that to mean that people who are confined to a scooter or wheelchair would be precluded from the show. Additionally, if you check the application page on NBC's site, they are looking for family members who want to tackle their weightloss goals as a team. Not sure if that includes teenagers though...

[marbleflys]

I agree with Mrs. Jim......I don't see how a 45+ 400# year old woman could have the stamina to keep up these work outs, or even 50% of them....plus I would think they would have major health issues ranging from pulmonary function to HTN or type 2 diabetes at that weight. IT's a given that their body fat % would be higher.

make-up is a non-issue, for close scenes when they vote, they dress nicer, so what?

Face it, the show is geared toward hard physical workouts, that's why we see younger people. (what is the average age of the Survivor contestant?)

As for putting an overweight teen on the show? These type of contestants are minors and there may be some insurance issues.

As I said in the other current thread, the women on the Blue team are just a little too emotional and their mental outlook seems to be setting them up for failure.

[MrsJim]

I don't think the teen BL idea is necessarily a bad idea (after all, Dr. Phil did a great series of shows with his son Jay featuring his book The Ultimate Weight Solution for Teens a couple of years ago).

The issue IMO would be *after* the kids leave the ranch and have to go home and face the same environment that made them fat to begin with. These days especially, fat kids come from fat parents ("Children Learn What They Live") or fat families who do NOT feel motivated to change their lifestyles - the contestants in this season and last season's Biggest Loser are adults and have more control over their environment than kids do - IMO it would have to be a FAMILY effort for this concept to suceed.

(BTW this is why the show kind of reminds me of the weight-loss camp I attended for 8 weeks back when I was 16...we worked out HARD but I had the BEST time...unfortunately there were a number of girls there who were back for their second/third/even fourth time since they would go home, back to their old environment, and regain the weight )

[marbleflys]

Last year there was a show on FITTV called "Health Cops" where a trainer/nutritionist was each assigned a family in Philadelphia. There was one poor guy assigned to a young fat family with a 5-7 year old daughter....They simply would not change their habits and were very hard for him to motivate....the kid wouldn't eat or even TRY healthy foods as she was raised on tasty-high fat junk 24-7, (now that's the parents fault to not serve the kid a decent diet)...they wouldn't even consider a one day a week veggie meal, they didn't have time to exercise and in the end, they blamed the poor trainer because he didn't understand their needs.....

It ended badly for reality tV.....He pounded on their apt. door, got verbally abused by the couple, took the exercise bike he gave them back and went back to the rest of his group of health cops with a defeat.

[MrsJim]

Originally Posted by marbleflys

Last year there was a show on FITTV called "Health Cops" where a trainer/nutritionist was each assigned a family in Philadelphia. There was one poor guy assigned to a young fat family with a 5-7 year old daughter....They simply would not change their habits and were very hard for him to motivate....the kid wouldn't eat or even TRY healthy foods as she was raised on tasty-high fat junk 24-7, (now that's the parents fault to not serve the kid a decent diet)...they wouldn't even consider a one day a week veggie meal, they didn't have time to exercise and in the end, they blamed the poor trainer because he didn't understand their needs.....

It ended badly for reality tV.....He pounded on their apt. door, got verbally abused by the couple, took the exercise bike he gave them back and went back to the rest of his group of health cops with a defeat.

Ah you gotta love those happy endings...

We don't get Fit TV - my sister does but when I'm babysitting (ahem...SUPERVISING as they're 9 and 14 years old!!! ) our viewing choices are generally limited to Comedy Central and whatever DVDs they happened to get from Netflix that day.