First off - my overall opinion of TBL: I am a fan, it's an entertaining show, I particularly like seeing the changes in people after they leave the show. Overall it's inspiring, even a little tearjerking at times as I find myself identifying with people who had some of the worst habits I developed as an obese adult AND THEN SOME. I mean damn, I thought I was fat, but these folks take it to a whole other level - and we're getting more of their back-stories this year which I think is great. And just like every other reality show out there, there's people to love and hate, whether it's fair or not. Last year I hated Joelle, whose overt helplessness and over-the-top Budget Oprah impersonation even made Bob lose it...and probably my favorite contestant was Tara, who I felt gave the most inspired effort and really deserved to win (came in 3rd). This year, although she's from my home state, I gotta say Amanda is the one that just strikes me the wrong way - just something about the "holier-than-thou" expression on her face and the repeated mentions of "America chose me..." I guess; my early favorites are Daniel and Rebecca for overall good attitudes. I admit though, whenever I get to the point with one of these shows where I'm actually rooting for or against someone on it, I want to smack myself across the face - this is a stupid reality show. But ultimately I realize it's me being angry at my own behavior that is now thankfully in the past.
The negatives from this show - it's probably setting most people's expectations of their own personal weight-loss far too high. For instance, these people are given 24-hour access to top-notch gym equipment, nothing but nutritious food, two excellent high-priced personal trainers, examined by excellent doctors and physio staff, and taken completely out of their environment for any number of weeks - they don't have to work, they don't have family obligations, hell they barely have any contact with the outside world at all. It's like sending people away to Fatty Boombah Boot Camp, which quite honestly would not be such a bad idea for large portions of the Midwest and South. But in real life, that sort of perfect storm for losing weight is damn near impossible unless you're of incredible independent means - we have jobs, we have kids, we have friends and special occasions, we drive past acres of unhealthy options every single day. So when I see one of these FAT contestants crying about only losing 5 pounds in a week, that does bother me a bit because I know in real life that sort of loss would be cause for spectacular celebration. It's only within the context of a race-against-time that it becomes bad news. Fortunately most of us are not in that race and can lose at a more gradual pace. It's better to lose at the slower pace anyway (1-2 pounds per week), because if you notice by the end the people who've lost the most weight the quickest tend to look like a giant deflated skin balloon with some bones in it. Losing more slowly gives the loose skin a chance to contract so you wind up with less of it because it preserves more of the skin's natural elasticity.
Another thing I noticed that I don't necessarily feel has a real world bearing - the use of protein powder as a supplement. I realize there's some people out there that swear by it, and I've taken it in the past to try and speed up my metabolism...but the bottom line is that for me the effects of the stuff have proved negligible. If you're only taking in 1200 calories a day like these folks, and maybe not as much protein in the diet while working 5-6 hours a day in the gym, then just PERHAPS you might need that extra burst of protein to help rebuild your muscles for the next day's punishment. Sort of like a natural steroid cream. But the truth is, most Americans already get way more protein in their diets than their body needs - the norm is supposed to be about 52-56g for men and 46g for women, yet we average 75-100g for men and 60-65g for women as a country. One serving of the Biggest Loser Protein Powder is about 6g of protein alone, so if you did that twice a day, that's about 25% of your daily protein right there. And I'm sorry, whey protein powder tastes like shit no matter what you put it in so you're better off searching for your protein in lean meats, eggs and beans.
Anyway back to the current show - this week everyone had to lose 150 pounds to give everyone immunity, which they did (155 lbs was the final total). It's quite obvious that many of these people are dealing with heavy emotional issues, which is also good to see because a lot of times it's that stress and inability to deal with it that causes some to overeat and blow up. Usually week # 2 is the week where everyone hits a giant wall and the contestants either don't lose much or sometimes even gain weight, but with the trainers pushing a bit harder to reach that goal, they were able to continue the huge losses from the first week. I'm imagining that next week will be quite a different story. Also - hey Producers, WTF happened to Tracey??? She collapsed in week # 1 and we never get to find out why. I think that's a big mistake if the overall goal is to keep people from dying from FAT-ness, then they ought to be confronted with it face-to-face. Perhaps it's some sort of privacy issue where Tracey blocked the right to talk about it and therefore it's not the producers' fault, but I think that's a big opportunity missed right there. Anyway I'll still watch it, at least the show hasn't fallen off like American Hide-All. More next week...
Diet for Tuesday 9/22/09:
Breakfast
- Cheerios w/fat-free milk
- 4 oz apple juice w/vitamins - ran out of OJ and YUCK
- big cup of coffee
- 2 pieces wheat toast w/yogurt spread
Lunch (had to eat quick before soccer practice)
- PB&J sandwich on wheat w/fat-free cheese. Go on, say your "ew's" and get it out of the way, then go ahead and put cheese on EVERY other kind of sandwich in the world...
Dinner
- Subway foot-long roasted chicken breast on wheat
- one apple
Dessert
- 1 serving fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt
Exercise for Tuesday 9/22/09:
- 5 min warmup @ 3.5 mph on treadmill
- 10 min stretching
- Circuits 1 & 2 of the Total Exhaustion Workout - would have done the whole thing if I wasn't pressed for time again, will hopefully do the whole thing on Saturday
I know this is an old post but.
ReplyDelete1. The protein requirement does not go by gender, it goes by body weight. The whole point of protein intake is to maintain lean mass (and you even need it for your bones). If you don't go by bodyweight then you're not getting enough.
2. Good lord boy, you are eating way too much sugar. If you're still having weight trouble, ditch the fruit juice and the bread and the jellies and God knows what else, switch to full-fat dairy and get some meat into ya. Sugar is not a weight-loss drug. Your body needs real food and real nutrients, and meat and vegetables give you way more bang for your caloric buck.
Never mind PETA or the occasional odd vegan athlete who's gonna be hunched over with two broken hips in ten years. You live in the real world.
Actually my sugar/carbs are in line with normal numbers - I switched to a better tracking tool (BodyBugg) and found that my carb/fat/protein ratios are for the most part fine (I occasionally eat less protein and/or fat than I should, but usually I'm on point for my weight/age/gender). The real problem in my diet currently is sodium. Normal intake is 2500 mg/day, I was averaging more like 5000 mg. I'm making strides to cut that back but it's difficult, seeing as how there are 500 tons of sodium in freakin everything. You might get your wish by default here though, as I have to switch to eating more raw fruits/vegetables just to avoid salt...thanks for reading!
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