I like this picture. In the past blogs I had shown just the lbs I had lost, but now I am showing the difference between what I have to lose against the lost weight.
It will be interesting to see the scale even out, and then start tipping in the other direction!
My goal is lose this weight in a healthy manner of 1- 1 ½ lb per week. While it may be nice to see a large weight loss fast that is promoted in most crash diets, I don’t care about losing it quickly – and then putting it back when you get off the diet. I am eating healthy most days, watching calories and exercising most days of the week. My goal is to never go back to a diet again – this is a lifestyle change.
An article in Scientific American said that exercise makes you smarter, especially later in life your mental ability is enhanced by exercise.
According to past contestants and one of the advisors on the show The Biggest Loser contestants are exercising 5 hrs per day and eating only 1200 calories. (They actually eat only 2 cups of fruit per day and mainly vegetables). No wonder they lose so much weight so rapidly. Training this hard can cause injuries…can a real person do this? I doubt it. This is a starvation diet and without all the support they receive in vitamin supplements, motivation trainers, physiotherapist and the diuretics the contestants say they use just before weigh-in, it wouldn’t work. This is a show about winning money, not about learning to eat and live healthy. The only contestants that seem to have kept the weight off are the ones who are still being paid by the show for pushing their products and have a financial incentive to keep the weight off - the majority of the ones who are kicked off the show seems to have gained their weight back.
So, the question of the day is….if the article from Scientific American is correct, and the Biggest Loser contestants are exercising 5 hrs per day, how come they have not become smart enough to know that what they are doing is unhealthy and can’t change their way of life. Junk food is junk food, coach potato is coach potato. How come they become smart enough to know this fact?
I love the new visual! I liked the last one but I bet that this one will be even more effective.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at Fitness Ridge we exercised more than 5 hours per day and we ate 1200 calories per day. I don't think that this is a long term solution at all but it made for a great jump start. They did have nutrition classes, a body image coach, and cooking classes.
This sounds pretty much like what they do on the Biggest Loser ranch. Speaking from experience I know that this isn't a sustainable solution. I also know that it is really hard to make belief changes in such a short time with so little counseling. Some will. Some won't. It depends why you went there it depends how much you believed. It depends on your "buy in".
BTW from what I understand 1200 calories isn't starvation unless you are a man. 1200 is the minimum for women. 1400 is the minimum for men to eat and still be "healthy" (depending on what those 1200 calories consist of, of course).
The Biggest Loser show certainly isn't perfect. It isn't the best way to lose weight not even close. But it is a game and it has inspired a lot of people. Their relapse rate (from what I have read) is pretty close to average. So I think that its benefits out way its detractions.
On a final note, despite what I've said here I completely agree with your method and pace of weight loss. I also applaud your commitment to never "diet" again. Just know that I will hold you to it ... said with absolute love :)
PS I don't agree with the diuretic use or the enema use by the contestants. Although I can understand it with $250,000 on the line.
ReplyDeletePPS Also, if even 1/3 of them keep the weight off that is at least 7 people every year that aren't morbidly obese any more. And that is a good thing!