I am a HUGE fan of weight loss shows, especially since im trying to drop weight. I like to watch and get tips on healthy exercise and diet plans. Now I know that the contestants on those shows spend about 6-8 hours a day working out, so they drop weight fairly quickly. I just hate how shows like that make me feel like I'm not doing enough. I try to workout 30 min to an hour a day. Some days, like mondays, I work out for over 2 hours. I feel like I need to work out that much everyday, but I know its not logical. I have 2 jobs and work almost all day everyday lol.

That's why I don't like those shows. I think they do more harm then good. People see the results and it may inspire them initially but they ultimately feel like failures when they are losing slowly and many just give up entirely.

Yeah, I think those shows -- especially Biggest Loser, because being sequestered away on a ranch is pretty artificial -- really skew what good/acceptable weight loss is for an average person. I would hate for somebody to just about kill themselves trying to lose 40 pounds in a month unsupervised... especially since Biggest Loser exaggerates the time frame (sometimes a week on the show is longer than a week -- it could be 10 days or even two weeks. Conversely, sometimes the "week" is shorter.)

Personally I remind myself that if I'm losing in a month what some people lose on the show in a week, I'm doing pretty good. You're kicking butt and taking names with your exercise, especially considering that you're working so much, unlike the Biggest Loser folks whose daily job is working out and winning immunity challenges.

I've never watched The Biggest Loser, but I really enjoy Heavy and X-weighted. I have the time to work out 6 hours a day (am a stay at home mom, with 2 kids in school full time) but I don't have the inclination. I go to the gym 3x a week, do a few exercises at home on my "non-gym" days, and stick to 1200-1300 calories.

However, while watching Heavy this week, I looked at a portion of their food, and thought "How the heck are they eating 1200 calories? I eat 1200 calories and I have way more food than that per meal. Has anyone else noticed that?

I know how you feel..i feel the same way...Im a stay at home mom and when my daughter is down for her nap, i work out on my wii fit...I will do it for sometimes 2 hours but i feel like its never enough..Its weird how shows like that can inspire but at the same time, also hinder success for others..Yes, we are motivated to work out, but also we are discouraged by are lack of ability to take all the time we want to do it. I guess what we dont think about often, is how, there needs to be balance in our lives..Cause for them, they arent balancing actual life circumstances. They are working out, eating and sleeping pretty much and thats it..There is no job, no family to worry about, there is no chores and there for the most part, is no temptations that reality holds...and they are surrounded by others with a common goal..So..its easy for them in some senses, more so then for us. However, i believe that we will have success based on the fact that we are living in our every day circumstances, and learning right now before we lose all that weight..Because if i had to choose between losing it and gaining it all back due to going back to real life or trying to figure it out while in reality.. i rather figure it out before i lose it all..so i know how to cope on a day to day basis with what life throws at me.

yes, i even said something to my mom, about the food on heavy this week...are you serious!!!! especially as big as they are, they need some more calories then that, no wonder dude was hoarding food in his room!!

MzJuicy - Working out 30-60 minutes per day is awesome!!! The people on those shows aren't "normal" in the respect that the average, working adult doesn't have 6-8 hours per day to workout. We have lives that don't revolve around our workouts. We have husbands/wives/SOs, kids, jobs, school, etc... You're doing amazing, keep up the good work and I would hardly feel that you're "not doing enough!"

I think the thing to remember is, like you said, that these people are in specific places where they can be completely and totally dedicated to weight loss. What has always bugged me is the major hypocrisy of the shows. The trainers/doctors/etc "Just want to have the people re-gain their lives" but then tell them they're not doing "enough" or when they hit a natural stall or whatever the contestants become chatsised for it.
I like watching the shows but really only to see how people go from before and after for inspiration, I've found myself watching the beginning and then flipping the channel until the very end just to skip all the BS that gets crammed in the middle. That is, after all, what it's about on those shows. No matter what you watch.

Here's the thing - those people on those shows are trying to attain unreasonable goals in a unreasonable time frame. No, those kinds of results aren't attainable for the average person.

As far as I am concerned, there is NO WAY that was a 300 calorie supper!! It was a SMALL piece of fish, and seriously like 5 or 6 green beans. I pointed that out to my husband too. And green beans, fresh or flash frozen, are like 25 calories per cup (I know cause I snack on these when I am hungry cause I can have a lot, and they are good for me).

im so glad you said that. I was thinking the same thing. They make it seem like they can eat nothing but salad and a small piece of fish. It made me very angry to see that. I eat a lot of low calorie food and my plates are full. Makes it seem so much more difficult.

I mean there was one episode of Heavy when the dude went back home and started working out at the gym there and he lost 3 pounds that week. His trainer was pissed! I was like "are you insane?!?!?!?" I did like the guy's comeback. He said something like "3 pounds lost is better than 3 pounds gained!" That made me upset because i WISH i could lose 3 pounds some weeks lol.

If losing weight was your full time job AND you could potentially win 100K then you could lose weight much faster than you are. But wait ... THERE'S MORE!

Water manipulation is used for dramatic effect. We have immunity? Great! Lets drink tons and tons of water. Shock - surprise .... we worked so hard this week. No immunity? Time to dehydrate the **** out of ourselves...

Read this article...

Bottom line is losing weight and keeping it off is all about developing healthy habits which has nothing to do with creating high ratings for television.

I think that's why some of the shows like Biggest Loser got a lot of flack in previous seasons about not showing people how to do this at home. Hence why the past season or two they would talk more about "how to continue at home" and so on.

I remind myself that 2-5 lbs a week is perfectly acceptable weight loss and keep plugging along- to me a loss is a loss!

Funny how we all noticed the piece of fish and couple green beans, my jaw dropped when I saw that. Those very large people sitting in front of an appetizer-sized portion of food called dinner was almost comical! They could easily add two vegetables to that "meal." I wish they would show more of the food aspect of those shows. It is said that losing weight is 80% food and 20% exercise, so I am surprised at the lack of nutrition information they give on the participants. Maybe the fish and five green beans were preceeded by a soup and salad and followed by fruit for dessert? Who knows? But I know they have to eat a lot more than what they showed to sustain 6 hours of workouts. My 344 calorie lunch today was 2 tortillas filled with 3 oz chicken, lettuce, onion, green pepper, 1/2 tsp olive oil, 8 asparagus spears, and one banana. So, ya they must do better than fish and 5 green beans with nutritionists and chefs on hand.

Don't compare your weight loss to the "reality" weight loss shows. For one, it is usually the severely morbidly obese males dropping mega pounds. The woman on this week's Heavy lost 3 lbs the first week, which is awesome, unless you just spent 40 hours that week working out like it is your job while eating a toddler portion of fish and veg. I know when I saw that man drop 21 pounds this week, my first though was DANG!!! If I could do that, I would be done in a week! But it'll never happen for me.

I know that we all logically know not to compare ourselves to these shows, but it is hard not to wish, and sometimes difficult to take that 1/2 pound weight loss for the week after busting our butts day after day, I know that all too well!