The Biggest Loser

All the people I know who like and watch this show are thin.  I've never gotten into it, mainly because I hate reality TV, but on some level, I'm also annoyed by the unrealistic premise.  I'm not sure if this is a show that would actually motivate people to lose weight, since their methods and weight loss amounts are unattainable by most.

Making people work out for 6 hrs/day, taking tons of supplements and caffeine pills to "maximize" their workout and weight loss, and being in a cocoon cannot possibly teach the contestants, let alone the at home viewers, how to sustain long term weight loss.  It is no wonder that many of the contestants gain the weight back, and I can only imagine the shame they must feel and the lengths they must go to in order to hide their weight gain or the desperations they reach to keep the weight off...with the whole country looking.

Probably, as a big person, I don't like the fact that they lose so much weight so quickly as well.  I don't want my thinner counterparts to think there's something wrong with me because I only lose 1 or 2 or 5 lbs/week...that I'm not trying hard enough.  Call me crazy, but haven't there been about 4,000 studies that show the slower you lose the weight, the slower you will keep it off?  I don't think this is news, and it's the same thing that weight loss surgery candidates need to be wary of as well.  The faster you lose, the faster you can gain it back.

I decided to give this show a second shot - to see if I could learn something or find some motivation from it.  I had DVR'd Tuesday night's show, and I saw one of the contestants lose 15 lbs in one week, bringing his 6 week total to 87 lbs lost.  That's an average of 14.5 lbs lost each week.  Don't get me wrong, he's a big boy, but still, are we actually pretending that's healthy?  Am I just put off by all of this because I'm jealous?  LOL - maybe.  :)

As I tried to watch the show again, I was very put off by the reality show framing.  I can't stand reality TV shows, so I don't think I'll be able to get "into" watching this show weekly, but the one thing that struck me was the theme that they all pushed themselves so much harder when they had friends to work out with and a trainer pushing them.  That was the learning point for me.

I went to the gym last night, and I had kind of a lame workout.  I'm still not feeling my best, and I hadn't taken my thyroid meds in a week because I couldn't find them with the construction (I did find and take them this morning, Mom!!), and I was weak.  I also limited my calories to 660 yesterday, so perhaps that was part of it, but I honestly doubt it.  I still got 50 grams of protein in, and some good whole grains and fruits and veggies.

The last time I used the treadmill, I set it to 3.7, and I would spike it up from time to time.  My heart rate was between 140-160 which is just where it should be, and I did about 30 minutes.  Last night, my shins were killing me, my knees were wobbley, and I kept it set to 3.2, which is even lamer than 3.7.  From time to time, I would jog at 4.1 or 4.5, and at those points, my heart rate jumped to 140, but when I was at 3.2, it was down around 116 to 120 - completely lame.  My heart rate wasn't at all challenged, but I did manage to work up a decent sweat.  I put in 25 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the bike.  I wanted to do a lot more, but my body was just not functioning properly.

I did extra activity yesterday, like I talked about.  I didn't bob my knees up and down because it just didn't occur to me, but I made unscheduled trips to my car to get things I would normally wait to bring in the next day - I walked up and down all the aisles at home depot while I waited for my paint to be mixed - I went up and down the stairs at home each time I forgot something, rather than just deciding I didn't need it (LOL).

Yesterday morning, I had gained those 9 lbs back that I had just lost, since I fed my cold (far too much) on Monday and Tuesday.  That put me back at my all time high of 35 lbs above my lowest weight since banding.  Today, I was down 4 of those lbs.  I was disappointed, but then I remembered that when I gained those 9 lbs last week, it was for almost no reason at all, but when I gained those 9 lbs between Monday and Tuesday, I had done the actual damage with food.  I still have no reason to gain 9 lbs in 2 days, but my metabolism and body is completely messed up from the past few months of being crazy good and then sick and eating junk and then crazy good, and blah blah blah.  Now I just need to be crazy good.  JK - I just need to be good.

So after remembering the bad food I ate on Monday and Tuesday when I was sick, I remembered that this new 9 lbs wasn't water weight like last week, so 4 lbs in one day is perfectly respectable.  I'm not going to focus on the past few months or year.  I'm not going to constantly obsess about the fact that I'm re-losing the same weight over and over and over and over again.  I'm giving myself a clean slate.

The weight I weighed yesterday was my new high weight.  Forget all the weight I lost before.  That was forever ago.  TJ has predicted that I'll hit my goal weight by 8/12/10.  Where did this date come from?  I have absolutely no idea, but I'm hoping it's because he can tell the future.  :)  That would be cool to be at goal in 10 mos.  It's possible.  I have about 80 lbs to go to my realistic, attainable, sustainable goal weight.  8 lbs/month is on the high side, but if the biggest losers can lose 80 lbs in 6 weeks, I should be able to give it heck in 10 mos.

For yesterday, I cut out all empty calories, and it wasn't as hard as I thought.  I'm tapping my feet now...don't I look skinnier already?  ;-)