Tag Archives: The Biggest Loser

Being A Spectator (or Watching And Not Wanting To Do The Marathon)

Posted on March 18, 2015 | 1 comment

This weekend was the LA marathon, and again, I watched a lot of it from my house (it didn’t help that we were having a crazy heat wave).

I’ve previously talked about how in the past I thought that maybe one day I would do a marathon but how I no longer have that desire. I always thought that a marathon was the ultimate thing to do to prove that I’m in better shape than I was before. But I don’t feel like that is the truth anymore.

I was up right after the start of the marathon and watched it live on the news for a good portion of the beginning. I even got to watch the winner cross the finish line.

The marathon starts at Dodgers Stadium and then ends up at the ocean. But part of the course was only about a 10 minute drive from my house. And since I knew a few people running the marathon, I decided to head out and watch the runners for a little while.

I was handing out between mile 19 and 20, so a lot of the racers were starting to look a little tired (plus the heat wasn’t helping).

I think that almost everyone I knew running the race passed where I was before I got there. But I still was cheering on for random people running by. There were runners who were barefoot, wearing crazy costumes, dribbling a basketball the entire time, and blind racers tethered to a guide.

After watching the racers for a while, I saw a somewhat familiar face run past where I was standing. It was Rachel from “The Biggest Loser”. I knew that she had gained some weight back after the finale (she looked much better after not being so incredibly skinny), and she looked pretty great running down Santa Monica Blvd.

I also saw one of my favorite authors running the race. I knew she was running because she posted about it on her Instagram, but it was still pretty exciting to see her! I cheered for her, but she was super focused and didn’t hear me (I told her on twitter that I cheered and she thought that that was pretty cool).

While it was inspiring for me to watch the runners, it made me realize that I have no desire to ever do a marathon anymore. I’m happy with doing a couple of 5Ks each year (it looks like I might only be doing 2 or 3 this year). And maybe one day I’ll do a 10K. But I see no reason to do a longer race than that.

I’ve talked about this before about how in the past I looked at 5Ks as a primary source of exercise. Now that I have a regular workout routine, I look at the races as bonuses and not necessary to try to get in shape.

I feel such a sense of relief that I don’t feel the pressure to ever do a marathon. I’m more than happy to go out and support people I know doing a marathon (I’ll probably try to get a group together for next year’s LA marathon and have a bunch of people cheering). It’s a huge accomplishment and everyone who did race should be insanely proud of themselves.

But it’s nice to know that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on something by not doing a marathon.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged 5K, book nerd, marathon, race, support, The Biggest Loser

Unreal Reality TV (or I Need To Stop Comparing Myself)

Posted on June 18, 2014 | 3 comments

I’ve talked about my love/hate relationship with weight loss reality shows in the past. They are still a guilty pleasure of mine. I really don’t know why I still enjoy them when they make me feel so bad sometimes.

The only weight loss show on during the summer that I watch is “Extreme Weight Loss” (I think “The Biggest Loser” isn’t coming back until the fall or winter). I was watching it last night when I started to think more about why I watch these shows.

On “The Biggest Loser”, time is condensed, obviously. You are watching one week of footage in a single episode. But each week there is only one episode on. So it’s almost like it’s in real-time.

On “Extreme Weight Loss”, each episode represents an entire year (each episode follows a single person for one year). Every week, it’s a different person’s year.

I think I’m holding myself to the standards that these reality shows are creating. It’s not normal to lose weight like that. And I think that “Extreme Weight Loss” is making me judge my weight journey really badly.

Within a 2 hour episode, you go from seeing someone who is even more overweight than I am to seeing someone who is pretty much at a goal weight. That all happens in 2 hours. But in real life, that took a year. It makes things seem so quick and easy when they aren’t. Even though the contestants on these shows have pretty much no distractions while losing weight so they are able to focus on it 24/7, you still don’t really see the struggles someone has when the scale jumps up suddenly. You only see the weigh-in where the weight is down (this is not technically always true, but the majority of the time it is).

Why should I think that my journey should only take 2 hours as well? And the weight loss goals that they reach are completely unreasonable for me. On last night’s episode, the guy features was challenged to lose 118 pounds in 3 months (he was over 200 pounds overweight). If I lost 118 pounds in 3 months, I’d pretty much be done. That’s not possible (or if it is, it is definitely not healthy).

I should not look to these shows to be examples or even inspirations. They are for entertainment purposes only.

It’s hard to find inspiring people in the real world who have gone from obese to a goal weight. Most of those people either gain the weight back (like I have several times), or they aren’t out and about sharing their story. And some of the ones I have seen are people who had weight loss surgery or have used some other method that I don’t want to do.

So I need to turn myself into my own inspiration. I need to start thinking that losing 2 pounds in a week is awesome instead of horrible (since all the people on reality shows seem to lose double digits every week). I need to start think that it’s ok if my journey takes a year, or two years, or even a decade. As long as I keep going. And I need to start thinking of all those reality shows as mindless entertainment instead of examples.

It’s not easy to change how you think, but I’m really going to try.

3 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged Extreme Weight Loss, journey, reality tv, The Biggest Loser, TV, weight loss

Getting Fly (or Spinning With Bloggers)

Posted on May 13, 2014 | 1 comment

As part of being more in the blogging community, I’m trying to get more involved with blogger events. Fortunately, one of the Facebook groups I joined is just for blogger events in Southern California.

One of the first events I saw posted was for a spin class with Biggest Loser trainer Brett Hoebel. Even though I have issues with the show “The Biggest Loser“, I’m still a fan and totally wanted to work out with one of the trainers from the show (he was on season 11).

I signed up for the class and did some more research into it.

The class was held at Flywheel, which is a SoulCycle competitor. Flywheel was created by someone who used to work for SoulCycle, so there is a bit of a rivalry there. When I did some google research, there were some pretty nasty posts saying how much SoulCycle stunk and how amazing Flywheel is. That made me a little weary about going to a new studio, but I was totally willing to give it a try.

According to the Flywheel website, all classes include free shoes, towel, and water. So I didn’t bring anything with me (it felt pretty weird!). The class was held in Larchmont, which was a bit of a drive for me.

Once I walked inside, the first thing I noticed was how nice and open the lobby was.

I signed my release form and got my Flywheel shoes.

It did feel weird using spin shoes other than my own. I like my shoes and the clip on the shoes is in a different place (my legs felt weird while spinning because the clip was on the ball of my foot instead of the toe like on my shoes).

I asked at the front desk for the free water, but they explained to me that the free water was in the form of a drinking fountain. The bottles of water were $2. I explained to the person at the desk how on the website they promote the fact that they have free water for every class (and say how bad it is that SoulCycle charges $2 for a bottle if you need one), so she gave me a free bottle of water. I think that that was kind of misleading advertising, but it was my fault for not thinking to bring my own water.

Before the class started, Brett came out to greet us all. It was very cool to meet him, and of course I had to get a picture with him.

We also took a big group picture with all the bloggers and Brett.

Brett explained how the class would work and we headed inside.

The setup inside the studio is different from SoulCycle. The bikes are done stadium seating. Everyone is supposed to have a great view of the instructor. I had a great view of Brett’s upper body, but his legs were blocked by the laptop doing the soundtrack (I used the mirror to see how fast his legs were going so I could try to keep up).

Another thing that was different was in SoulCycle, we focus on riding as a pack and staying on the beat of the music. Flywheel is very competitive. Every bike has a computer on it and it takes your RPM and the torque being used and gives you a score. And every so often, the top ten scores for the class are shown on a flatscreen tv.

I tried really hard to keep up, but between the clips on the shoes being in a different spot and the fact that this was my first spin class where I didn’t get a cushioned bike seat, I was hurting. I did my best, but I never came close to ranking in the top ten on the tv.

I also kept almost laughing at how similar things were to SoulCycle. There were a lot of the same moves (but they had different names). And the stretching segment was done in the exact same order as my SoulCycle class. But I guess that’s what you get when the creator of this studio used to work for the other.

Overall, I’d say this class was a bit harder than SoulCycle. It was a much faster class and there is very little focus on upper body work. Also, it felt more like a competition than a dance party.

I had a great time in the class, but it did reinforce that SoulCycle is the place for me. There’s nothing wrong with Flywheel. I’d totally recommend it, especially to my very competitive friends. But it’s just not for me.

After class was done, we were all given a gift bag full of awesome goodies by Kind Snacks, Vega, and Quest.

I actually ate my Quest bar on the drive home and it was amazing! I usually don’t like protein bars, but this was really yummy! I’m looking into ordering some to keep on hand.

I’m so glad that I joined in for this event. I got to try another amazing spin class, meet an awesome trainer, and connected with a ton of new bloggers!

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged blogging, shoes, SoulCycle, spin class, The Biggest Loser

Biggest Loser Finale (or I Wish I Didn’t Have To Write About This)

Posted on February 6, 2014 | Comments Off

On Tuesday evening, the finale for the most recent season of “The Biggest Loser” aired. This is the season that had the contestants that I saw at my birthday spin class. I’ve already written about how the show is a guilty pleasure of mine and that I have issues with how weight loss is shown on the show. But now I feel like I need to write about the reactions to the finale.

In case you aren’t too familiar with the show, the finale is a live event (or at least live for the east coast). Everyone who was eliminated prior to the finale weighs in for the at-home prize. The contestant with the highest percentage of weight loss wins. Then the finalists come out and the finalist with the highest percentage of weight loss wins $250,000.

When the finalists came out, the two men who were finalists looked a little thin, but that’s to be expected when they try to be at their lowest weight to win. Then the girl finalist, Rachel, came out. And you could hear gasps coming from the audience.

(photo courtesy of US Magazine)

I thought she looked pretty thin. Her legs were muscular, but her arms and face seemed very very skinny. When she weighed in, her weight was 105 pounds (she’s 5’4″). She lost about 60% of her body weight in about 8 months.

Immediately people were posting various sites online that Rachel must be anorexic now. People seemed shocked by her appearance. And two of the trainers on the show looked pretty surprised in the live show and later released a statement that they would not comment on her weight since they weren’t her trainers during the show.

It seems like people are finally seeing some of the problems that I’ve noticed with “The Biggest Loser” years ago. When you reward people for the highest percentage of weight loss, people do drastic things to make sure they win in the finale. Historically, the contestants gain weight back after the finale because they are extremely dehydrated (to make sure there is no water weight causing them to lose the weigh in). Many contestants gain back a lot of the weight they lost because the show is not realistic. And when you lose weight with a finish line in mind, you aren’t looking at it as a lifestyle but a temporary situation.

I know that last one for sure. When I did the RFO diet the first time, it was in preparation for my hip surgery. I knew that the less I weighed, the easier my recovery would be from surgery. And since I was about 90 pounds lighter going into surgery, I did have a very easy recovery. But after surgery, I didn’t have the same motivation any more to lose weight. And I gained a lot of it back. I did the RFO diet again, but again looked at it as a temporary situation (you have to when you aren’t eating any real food). And I gained it back again.

The other thing that makes me pretty mad at “The Biggest Loser” is the fact that many, if not all, of the contestants are at high risk for starting anorexic or bulimic behaviors. It’s a pretty safe guess that most of the contestants are going in to the show with an eating disorder. Probably the same eating disorder that I have, a binge eating disorder. When I was in therapy for my eating disorder, the biggest thing that I remembered is that I will always be at a high risk for another eating disorder because I have a history of having one. I’m also at high risk for another addiction of any type.

When you take away the food from a food addict (which is similar to a binge eater), they have to find their addiction somewhere else. You can see this a lot in people who have had weight loss surgery. When you can’t turn to your comfort item, you find something else that gives you comfort. And if it isn’t comfort that you are seeking, it’s order or control. And anorexia or bulimia gives you a sense of control (even if it’s a false sense).

I’m sorry for the rant, but I’ve been holding this in for a while when watching “The Biggest Loser”. And it seems like many people are now seeing things the same way that I do. I don’t know if they will change “The Biggest Loser” now due to all this backlash, but personally I would love to see them focus on body fat percentage instead of weight. Or maybe on inches lost. But sadly, seeing someone drop 155 pounds still makes good tv.

But at least now, some people will think about it a bit differently.

Comments Off on Biggest Loser Finale (or I Wish I Didn’t Have To Write About This)

Posted in Fitness, Food, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged binge eating, competition, eating disorder, reality tv, The Biggest Loser, TV, weight loss

Reality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed)

Posted on August 8, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ll admit that reality tv is one of my guilty pleasures. I love “America’s Next Top Model”, “The Amazing Race”, and “Food Network Star”. But I also watch a couple of weight loss related reality tv like “The Biggest Loser” and “Extreme Weight Loss”.

One reason that I enjoy the weight loss reality shows is because most of the time, the people at the beginning are in a worse place than me. I know this is a horrible thought, but it’s nice to see that I’m not the most out of shape person in the world. And it gives me a bit of hope that maybe I can win this battle eventually.

But there are a lot of negative things about these shows. First of all, they are extremely unrealistic. The contestants on them typically aren’t working their jobs (and they get a small stipend from the show for participating). Also, they are working out sometimes 5 or 6 hours a day. If you have a job, you probably don’t have the time to do that. Sometimes contestants on these shows also have either a chef or food delivery service so they don’t have to worry about their food.

Another negative thing about these shows is how the contestants feel about weight loss. On “The Biggest Loser”, when a contestant loses 7 or 8 pounds in a week, they feel like they are a failure. Sometimes the other contestants mention how that person isn’t doing enough. Seriously?!?!?! If I lost 7 pounds in a week I’d be so excited!

But something that really ticked me off happened on this week’s “Extreme Weight Loss”. If you don’t watch the show, it takes place over 1 year and each episode follows one person’s journey. This week is was a girl name Alyssa. She weighed over 400 pounds when everything started. The show gives weight loss goals for every 3 months. She met her first weight loss goal and then started to struggle with the second. And in her struggle, she started to have anorexic and bulimic tendencies. The host of the show did offer her help and had her do a blind weigh in (this is something I have to do at the doctors because I don’t trust their scale).

At the final weigh in for Alyssa, they did it in front of all her friends and family (this is the format for the show). She weighed in and had lost over 200 pounds in one year! But she was a few pounds short of her overall weight loss goal, so when the final number came up, the crowd booed. My mouth dropped open when I watched that. Since when is losing 200 pounds something to boo about? They should be cheering her on no matter what.

But I guess that wouldn’t make good reality tv.

Will I still watch these weight loss reality shows? Yes. They do have good tips in them and they do help motivate me. But I really hope that other people watching can see how what they see on tv isn’t always the most helpful thing when trying to lose weight.

While it may be reality tv, it isn’t reality.

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Food, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged eating disorder, Extreme Weight Loss, reality tv, scale, The Biggest Loser

Tag Archives: The Biggest Loser

Being A Spectator (or Watching And Not Wanting To Do The Marathon)

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Unreal Reality TV (or I Need To Stop Comparing Myself)

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Getting Fly (or Spinning With Bloggers)

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Biggest Loser Finale (or I Wish I Didn’t Have To Write About This)

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Reality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed)

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Being A Spectator (or Watching And Not Wanting To Do The Marathon)

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Unreal Reality TV (or I Need To Stop Comparing Myself)

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Getting Fly (or Spinning With Bloggers)

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Biggest Loser Finale (or I Wish I Didn’t Have To Write About This)

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Reality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed)

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