Yeah, i thought that was rediculous too. Just another way to make money, because you know that suckers will pay for it too. Whatever they are doing, while they are getting results, can't be something you'd want to do long term, in my opinion anyway. It just seems a little wrong that they would take advantage of people by making them pay for everything on their site. They're a little sneaky about it too, i was over there looking at it, and you don't find out you have to pay til you're about half way through signing up for it.
Suzanne checked out the 'paid' site and the basic skinny is that the diet and exercise plans on the site (and outlined in the PDFs at the link above) is NOT the same as the ones given the contestants - the calories aren't as low and there's a LOT less exercise involved - they also dissuade anyone from trying to lose more than 2 lb a week, which is a GOOD thing - after looking at the calorie counts and exercise levels the contestants are doing, I guess NBC and Rodale (who is running the paid site) doesn't want people dropping dead from eating 1000 calories a day and working out HARD for 3 hours 6 days a week!
I did their free "profile" so I could enter the sweepstakes. It said to lose weight I should eat 1200 cals a day, which is way too low for me but would certainly result in weight loss. If the contestants on that show are only eating 1000 cals a day at the weight they are at, that doesn't seem like a good idea, to me, but no wonder they are getting the massive results.
I probably should've used my calculator before saying 1,000 a day. :duh:
Both trainers are using "calorie cycling" or "zig-zagging" judging from the posted sample menus. The women's range is a low of 964 cal/day to a high of 1263 cal/day, averaging out to 1,137 calories daily. The men's range is a bit higher - the average caloric intake is 1,634 a day (from the daily menus) or 1,285 (from the "Rough Daily Guide" on page 1 of Jillians' PDF).
Still pretty low though, especially considering all the exercise they're doing!
The important thing to keep in mind is that the show is primarily for *entertainment purposes*. Of course it IS motivating and inspiring to see these contestants push themselves and attempt to change their lives - but at least for this season, the contestants all knew what they were getting into; I'm sure they had to sign an ironclad liability release. Also, as I've mentioned, they have onsite, constant medical supervision.
One of the reasons that Suzanne created this subforum was to encourage discussion about HEALTHY weight loss. I'm CERTAIN that there are many, many viewers watching TBL and thinking that *they* can do the same thing on their own and get the same results as the players, but that's just asking for trouble!
Nevertheless, I would hazard to guess that for anyone who is interested in the topics of weight loss and fitness, it's kind of a hard show NOT to watch, and it CAN be inspiring
We were watching "Ultimate Goal" and the trainer had the man eating a lot. She said everyone told her he'd not lose, but she said that his body needed the fuel since he was doing intense workouts. Sure enough, he lost a lot.
I believe now that the diet PDFs on the page linked above were the plans they followed last year. I remember them from last year.
I personally think the program they are following on the tv show should be called "how NOT to diet". I really dislike the image the show projects, because it makes the reality of losing 1 or 2 pounds per week appear as a failure instead of success, especially to non-dieters that don't have a clue what safe and realistic weight loss is. They will watch the contestants lose 15 pounds in a week and wonder why the rest of us have weight problems if losing weight is that easy and fast. But that's just my personal opinion, and I'm aware that it's not shared by everyone
I am trying to get enthused, though. I'd rather not feel so negative about a reality show, lol. Maybe some of your good vibes will rub off on me
I agree with your point, Suzanne. I think it's a bad message that the 1-2 pound losses of the women seemed so disappointing (I'm deliriously happy when I lose .5), but then they do stand to win a whole pile of money if they win the contest and well it's a TV show and they have to have a big dramatic thing going on, I guess.
Is this *reality*? You get to take 2-10 weeks off from work, stay in a controlled diet-environment and work out 3-5 hours a day with a professional trainer and think of nothing else....
No kids, family, housework, daytoday problems to deal with, no responsibilities of changing the catbox or walking the dog.......you only have to focus on changing your eating habits and improving your body.
Sleep away camp for adults with the embarrassment factor of standing on a scale in your underwear on National TV!
I like the show for reminding me to take care of my body and I admire the people who have the courage to stand on a scale in their underwear. but no thanks.
Is this *reality*? You get to take 2-10 weeks off from work, stay in a controlled diet-environment and work out 3-5 hours a day with a professional trainer and think of nothing else....
Not *just* from this show but Webster's will probably have to update their definition of reality pretty soon.
IMO...it beats watching Danny Bonaduce shoot up steroids on VH1.
(I don't make a habit of watching "reality" shows but my favorite so far is still Frontier House which ran a couple years ago on PBS - THOSE people took SIX MONTHS off work to participate and lost a BUNCH of weight...although that wasn't the show's intended purpose! )
has anyone noticed?
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