So many Americans are inspired by the show "The Biggest loser".
Thousands, if not millions, of television watchers dream of achieving results like the contestants do on the show.
While there is nothing wrong with having a dream and working to achieve it, "The Biggest Loser" promotes an unrealistic, and often dangerous, standard.
Let's tackle these two issues one at a time.
First, let's look at the situation that the contestants find themselves in when they are on the show.
Contestants that are picked for "The Biggest Loser" have four huge advantages over the general population.
First, the contestants are paired with full time trainers.
Of course anyone can hire a personal trainer at any gym they chose.
For most Americans, however, this is simply not cost effective.
According to the website Whatitcosts.
com, the average hourly rate for a personal trainer is $75.
The contestants are routinely exercising for 2-3 hours per day.
When you do the math you can see that the cost for the trainer alone is more than most people make.
Of course anyone can choose to "go it alone".
You can simply buy a gym membership and workout.
While this is certainly a good idea, it does not give you the advantage of having someone instruct you on technique and keep you motivated.
Second, they are instructed on food portioning, ingredients, and meal preparation.
One of the essential elements of losing weight is proper nutrition.
Contestants on "The Biggest Loser' have rigorous training on how to eat healthy.
There is so much misinformation out there on dieting, that it is easy for anyone to become overwhelmed about proper nutrition.
This is one of the main reasons that people fail to lose weight.
Third, the contestants are competing for cold hard cash.
Most people know that the winner of "The Biggest Loser" pockets $250,000.
While getting their health and livelihoods back should be motivation enough, a quarter million dollars can certainly give them that little extra push to get out of bed and hit the gym.
Fourth, probably the biggest advantage that contestants have is that they are removed from their day-to-day lives.
You might ask; "How is that such a huge advantage?" The answer is simple.
Contestants don't have to worry about jobs, children, money, school, or relationships.
They can be 100% committed to losing weight.
Imagine, for a moment that you had no other responsibility in the world and could focus on doing only one thing all day.
Whether it be learning to play the guitar or climbing Mt.
Everest, you would inevitably have more success than someone that goes to work, gives the kids a bath, walks that dog, pays bills, etc.
and then works on the activity.
This single advantage will contribute to no one outside of the show having the success of the contestants.
Now let's talk briefly about how the levels of "success" shown by the contestants can actually paint a dangerous message.
Most doctors will tell you that a health weight loss is around 2 lbs per week.
This can fluctuate slightly depending on just how much weight you need to lose.
The contestants on "The Biggest Loser", however, are routinely shown losing in excess of 10 lbs per week.
Even using the most liberal of standards this is 3-4 times what is recommended.
It should also be noted that more rapid weight loss is correlated directly with regaining the weight lost.
What this means is that the faster you lose the weight, the less likely you will be to keep it off.
The reason for this is that your body is not given enough time to adjust to the lifestyle changes made.
While "the Biggest Loser" can certainly be viewed as entertaining and even inspirational, it just isn't fair to hold yourself up to the standards of the show.
When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady will always win the race.
Thousands, if not millions, of television watchers dream of achieving results like the contestants do on the show.
While there is nothing wrong with having a dream and working to achieve it, "The Biggest Loser" promotes an unrealistic, and often dangerous, standard.
Let's tackle these two issues one at a time.
First, let's look at the situation that the contestants find themselves in when they are on the show.
Contestants that are picked for "The Biggest Loser" have four huge advantages over the general population.
First, the contestants are paired with full time trainers.
Of course anyone can hire a personal trainer at any gym they chose.
For most Americans, however, this is simply not cost effective.
According to the website Whatitcosts.
com, the average hourly rate for a personal trainer is $75.
The contestants are routinely exercising for 2-3 hours per day.
When you do the math you can see that the cost for the trainer alone is more than most people make.
Of course anyone can choose to "go it alone".
You can simply buy a gym membership and workout.
While this is certainly a good idea, it does not give you the advantage of having someone instruct you on technique and keep you motivated.
Second, they are instructed on food portioning, ingredients, and meal preparation.
One of the essential elements of losing weight is proper nutrition.
Contestants on "The Biggest Loser' have rigorous training on how to eat healthy.
There is so much misinformation out there on dieting, that it is easy for anyone to become overwhelmed about proper nutrition.
This is one of the main reasons that people fail to lose weight.
Third, the contestants are competing for cold hard cash.
Most people know that the winner of "The Biggest Loser" pockets $250,000.
While getting their health and livelihoods back should be motivation enough, a quarter million dollars can certainly give them that little extra push to get out of bed and hit the gym.
Fourth, probably the biggest advantage that contestants have is that they are removed from their day-to-day lives.
You might ask; "How is that such a huge advantage?" The answer is simple.
Contestants don't have to worry about jobs, children, money, school, or relationships.
They can be 100% committed to losing weight.
Imagine, for a moment that you had no other responsibility in the world and could focus on doing only one thing all day.
Whether it be learning to play the guitar or climbing Mt.
Everest, you would inevitably have more success than someone that goes to work, gives the kids a bath, walks that dog, pays bills, etc.
and then works on the activity.
This single advantage will contribute to no one outside of the show having the success of the contestants.
Now let's talk briefly about how the levels of "success" shown by the contestants can actually paint a dangerous message.
Most doctors will tell you that a health weight loss is around 2 lbs per week.
This can fluctuate slightly depending on just how much weight you need to lose.
The contestants on "The Biggest Loser", however, are routinely shown losing in excess of 10 lbs per week.
Even using the most liberal of standards this is 3-4 times what is recommended.
It should also be noted that more rapid weight loss is correlated directly with regaining the weight lost.
What this means is that the faster you lose the weight, the less likely you will be to keep it off.
The reason for this is that your body is not given enough time to adjust to the lifestyle changes made.
While "the Biggest Loser" can certainly be viewed as entertaining and even inspirational, it just isn't fair to hold yourself up to the standards of the show.
When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady will always win the race.
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