Okay, I finally watched about an hour of this because so many of you watch it, and I wondered what I was missing.

Spinning for four hours? That cannot be healthy for a guy who weighs over 300 lbs., can it? I assume, though, that they check these people out medically. I was impressed by all the hard work they are doing with their trainers.

And what's with that whiny "red" woman? If she whines like that every week, they should have dumped her weeks ago. I can understand why they dumped Andrea, though, because she was certainly more of a threat than the guy who is so large and hasn't lost that much relatively speaking.

I think the show will have 3 more episodes or so. they have 5 people left, so not too many more shows.

I swear that Lisa (whiny, crying one) has to cry a minimum of twice per episode. Good grief, I wonder if she is that bad in everyday life. She cries for everything, and it is beyond annoying.

I am really liking the followups at the end of the episode with the before and now photos. Those people are really keeping up with it! I have doubts on whether Maurice will keep up with it after the show. In many ways, he seems the least motivated out of anyone.

They already are casting for the second season! Apparently they are auditioning people across the US.

Hi
I've watched since the beginning - bascially mesmerized by it and yet irritated because it makes sport out of overweight folks.

I have problems with them not showing more about nutrition, and proper exercise techniques..... but it's all about SHOWbusiness I keep telling myself. It's about ratings and controversy and yet again voting off an overweight person. I have issues, huh?

I also dislike the intensity of the exercising. It just looks too unrealistic and makes the world less sensitive to the real-world problems the rest of us have loosing weight. They have lost an amazing amount of weight for the time they've been at it. I notice also them firming up which makes the amount of weight look like more than it is. I like the idea that they are using the % of weight lost, rather than just total pounds. But they don't seem to mention the % body fat lost. I'm interested in that cuz it looks like they are really firming up.

About that spinning for 4 hrs - I wonder if any of them could walk or sit without pain the next day..



The most upsetting thing tho that I saw was in the previews of next week. And how the folks reacted to their photo cut-outs of their former size. It just made me cringe to see them make fun of themselves. It's bad enough that the rest of the world makes fun of us behind our backs when we get overweight... to have folks turn on themselves and turn it inward just gets my goat. To me it was a very disturbing image. I have more compassion for myself at my highest weight than those folks demonstrated.

Anyway.... I've got that off my chest for now. Thanks for listening..... Allie


Still up a few from goal, but maintaining 100 lb loss for 10 months now.

I personally feel Andrea deserved to win. She was never a snake in the grass like the others. I haven't anytime for Lisa. To be honest I don't know if I'll watch the show again. It's horrible how they treat each other. I know it's a game for money but money will come and go friendship is forever!!!

I agree that Andrea should've won. She has a great attitude. You never saw her cutting anyone down but she was a big threat. I don't see Maurice pulling out into the lead anytime soon. His losses haven't been that significant and unless he gets one of those aha moments and starts giving it 100%, he'll be out pretty soon.

My hat does go off to everyone of them for spinning for 4 hours. I couldn't imagine 1 hour much less 4, but when they've been working out for about 2 hours a day, I guess adding a couple more hours wouldn't be too bad.

pyxie--if you go to the website http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/ it shows you their eating plans and a sample menu and such.

Ok, I feel like I've got to stick up for poor Mo. I'm not sure I agree that he isn't as motivated. Nor do I think that the "percentage of weight lost" thing is fair. He started out from 100 to in some cases 200 pounds heavier than some of the others. So mathematically, he's being required to lose at a MUCH faster rate than the others CONTINUALLY, which could happen but isn't necessarily a reasonable expectation. As for his exercise, it's not fair to compare his performance with Andrea's or the other men's, for example; he's around 175-225 pounds heavier than they are, so of COURSE he's not going to be able to put out at the same level. He's gone from the couch to biking for 4 hours (his first time on a spinning bike, by the way) and I think that's simply amazing. I remember exercising at 284 (about a hundred pounds less than he weighs now) and it was PAINFUL. So I don't think it's a question of motivation or aha moments with him -- I really don't. His personality is more low-key and subdued as well, when it comes to speaking about the serious stuff. He's humble and self-effacing, and he makes jokes (at his own expense) about being tempted by food, but seriously, if he were eating off-plan stuff and/or too much, don't you think we would have seen it or heard the other competitors make references to it by now? There's just a really wide span of start weights among the competitors, so I don't think the competition is necessarily set up fairly. We're comparing apples to oranges.

Still love the show, though.....I just can't bear to have my good buddy Mo getting dissed.

congrats on your maintenance that's great!!

i definitely see ur point with the show. i've had qualms with the show myself, and as intrigued to watch it as i am, im not crazy about certain things on that show, like the way they deprecate themselves and how they were before the show. I have a lot of admiration and respect for their committment to such a tough regime, but I have to question the amount of weight loss they're experiencing. It doesn't seem possibly healthy. I know they're monitored by doctors and whatnot, but there's no way putting that much strain on your body when your body's got its own weight to carry, is good for someone at that intensity and duration. Our muscles can only handle so much, and although I'm sure they're burning fat, I wonder at what price to themselves. I think for some of the participants that were maybe a little lighter, this intensity may be okay. But for some of the heavier participants, and Maurice, this seems a little over the top almost. Also, I don't know what their food intake is like and how they monitor that, but I wonder if they all eat the same amount of food. I mean, take a guy like Maurice, who probably needs twice the energy/calories to maintain his weight in comparison to someone like Andrea, yet if he's given the same amount of food, his body can feel like it's being restricted (in an almost fasting sense), if that makes any sense at all. I read somewhere that you should strive to eat the number of calories of your overall weight loss goal. Accordingly then, I should eat 1400 calories a day. I don't know if this is true or not, but 1400 a day seems adequate for me right now.

It's a good show, it just worries me because of the physiological impact it can have on the participants, and also because it portrays weight loss as such a "possible and do-able" thing - which it totally is, but this show almost seems to simplify it. Like, "well if these people can spin for 4 hours, what's stopping all overweight people from spinning for even 1 hour?". And that's concerning. Maybe if the show was to do more of a focus on what it's like to be overweight/obese, kinda give "outsiders" an insight into it... I don't know, just an idea.

Friends, what I don't understand from those of you who aren't really that keen on the show, is why you think that overweight people on a reality show should be any nicer than say the folks on Survivor or the Amazing Race? I'm desperately hoping that there are not stereotypes lurking about ie that fat people are nice and jolly and wouldn't hurt a fly. I can't see that anyone would say about the people being nasty on Survivor, I guess you expect them to be nasty on that show? These guys are fighting to stay there as long as they can so they can lose as much weight as they can and of course who wouldn't want quarter of a million $$s.

I think Mo is going to through alternate weeks of his body feeling like it is starving so it won't let go of the fat and then the next week he loses many lbs. Andrea was the bigger threat so she had to go but if Mo's body sorts itself out and he starts losing say 12-15 lbs every single week he could move ahead big time. I can't stand that Lisa either, she's so, so annoying with her bawling every week. You know though that she is just scared of being booted off but she really needs to work on some self confidence. I'm really starting to like Ryan, I know a lot of people didn't like him because of some of the comments he had made in the first couple of shows, but I think he's grown a lot as a person during this time. Also I like Gary a lot more than I did in the first couple of shows. It was so sweet that he got to see his wife and kids as a reward for winning the challenge. That stuff makes me weepy because it is such true emotion. You don't see that kind of stuff on Survivor. At this point I"m willing to bet that Gary or Ryan wins.

Hey Jen,
I'm not sure if reading what I wrote gave off the impression of the "jolly fat person", because that wasnt at all my intention. I didn't even come to think of that until you wrote it. (and you're right, it's a horrible stereotype). It totally makes sense why they want to stay on the show. My only point was that it was sad to see people deprecate their past selves.. like "I can't believe I was THAT!".. and not even surprise at the difference in what they look like (bc I think many ppl have that when they experience a visible drastic change), but in a harsh way... I find it sad because regardless of what someone weighs, there should be a self-appreciation and self-respect.. kinda what Andrea said a couple weeks back: that she had a level of self-esteem before, but now she feels priceless.. and I think that was great to hear

Whereabouts in Ontario are you? (if you feel comfortable sharing) I'm around the GTA, well kind of

I like Mo too. I have a huge amount of respect for him and I think he did awesome spinning. I know even at the weight I am now, wouldn't have lasted 4 hours—new clothes or not. Of the clips I've seen of him up until this week, he didn't seem to be working as hard as the others. Yes he weighs a lot more than the others, but I just didn't see the trainer pushing him like the other team members. They would show him doing a couple of the exercises and then sitting down while the others worked out. (Maybe I was chasing a kid around the house during that time and missed part of it. Or it could be that he's the one that ends up winning and they edited it to look like he's been slacking off. who knows). I think he did a superb job this week and I hope the's not the one to go next week. I would love for Lisa (boohoo) to leave next week.
I too think they could've come up with a better way to get the two on the chopping block, because it isn't fair. The only plus to it, is they other's losses will have to start slowing down at one point. (Gary is at 183 now, how much lower can he get?)

It will be interesting to see how they change it up for the next season.

i can't stand lisa either! i knew i wasn't the only one. LOL she should have been kicked off a long time ago. she is such a back stabbing whiney baby! i was really sad to see andrea go but did you see her after pictures? she is doing great!

i do feel bad for mo. i hope he keeps up with the plan.

Dorcia, I wasn't responding in particular to your post, there have been other posts from other weeks where people commented how nasty the people were becoming and it seemed to me that there is the expectation that they should be one big happy family when in truth they are no different than the people that are on Survivor. It felt to me that they were saying that because these people were working towards a nobler goal (weight loss) and that they were all so supportive they shouldn't be nasty. That was just my own particular feeling. BTW I live in Hamilton!

I'm with dorcia in that I don't mind the conniving that has to go on in the name of winning the game, but I resent how they belittle their former selves because of their weight (something you don't see in other reality shows such as Survivor and Amazing Race).

Its great that they're improving their bodies, but they're still the same person they were before this television transformation. I may feel sad when I see my "before" pictures because they bring back painful memories, but I certainly don't mock the pics or put myself down, because I'm the same person inside now as I was then.

Are either of you (dorcia and jen) interested in a mini 3FC get-together in the New Year? I work in downtown Toronto, live in Oakville and am frequently in Hamilton (Mac alumni). Are there any other GTA people here??