Weight Loss Shows Inspire And Frustrate Me

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My new favorite weight loss show - Heavy. It takes an honest approach to losing weight. I just wish it spent a little more time on nutrition.

I’m done watching Heavy. Now I need a new show to help give me that little push to keep going. Will My 600-LB Life or The Biggest Loser give me my fix?

I just finished watching the first season of Heavy and now I’m looking for another show to get me pumped about eating right and working out. I’ve got two options – My 600-lb Life and The Biggest Loser.

Like Heavy, My 600-lb Life is shot documentary-style. It focuses on people who undergone bypass surgery to lose weight. The camera crew follows them around for 7 years.

I’m curious to see if this one gets more into the nutrition side of things. If you spend 7 years following a person dealing with obesity, you think what that person eats might be of significance.

While I enjoy the documentary format of a show like Heavy, I can’t help but think people who’ve never been fat make these shows.  They almost never focus on nutrition.

Note to these TV shows producers: What you eat is 80% of the battle.

If food or nutrition isn’t interesting visually, how the heck do you explain the success of The Food Network?  Not one show, but a whole frickin’ network dedicated to food. Hell, even Hungry Girl has a healthy eating show on The Food Network.

As for The Biggest Loser I’ve never seen it, but I do own the yoga DVD.

I’m a little skeptical about the show. I know it’s a contest with a huge marketing machine behind it (hence my DVD!). That’s about it. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a marketer, so I like the idea of a huge marketing machine.  But this topic hits close to home so I’m leery of a weight loss competition via reality TV.

I watch shows like Heavy not to see the train wreck that is people’s lives, but to feel inspired. Also, I actually want to learn something. I’m just not sure what I’ll get out of watching The Biggest Loser. But I think I need to watch it at least once before writing it off.

2 thoughts on “Weight Loss Shows Inspire And Frustrate Me

  1. I think Biggest Loser is almost more for entertainment. The people lose way more weight per week than is realistic for people, plus they have to kick people off, plus they focus on a little bit of nutrition but mostly exercise. The nutrition is there, you can tell, but the show itself doesn’t show a whole lot of it. I don’t think there is much to learn from it, but it can be entertaining.

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