The Lack of Reality in Reality Weight Loss Television

Shows about weight loss or fitness tend to teach us nothing about weight loss or fitness. Rather, they stress that exercise should be debilitating, unbearable, intimidating and unenjoyable all while emphasizing that what the scale says is all that matters.

Since these shows tend to lack the information about increasing your metabolism, building muscle, or becoming leaner permanently, out of shape viewers only learn from what they see: obese people being forced to work out in excess.

Exercise does not need to be excruciating to be effective. We do not need to go to extremes in order to transform our bodies (unless if you think cutting out oreos, ice cream and pizza constitutes extreme).

I understand why they do this. It does make for better television. Seeing grown adults on the floor crying and/or puking has a little more shock value. The problem is that many of the people watching think that is what is necessary to lose weight and get healthy. Which in turn, makes people say “if that is what it takes, forget it – pass the chips”.

The slower, sustainable progress that makes you successful at losing the weight and keeping it off isn’t going to really do well with the ratings.

You do not need that all or nothing approach. You need balance. You need consistency. Realize that your workouts make everything in your life better. Your energy levels, your state of mind, your productivity, your moods.

No need to put that kind of pressure on your self. Set a program, set short term goals, and focus on the task that is in front of you that day – not what you want to achieve a year from now.

When you focus on rapid weight loss rather than gradual permanent weight loss, you are destined to be right back where you started. The majority of the weight lost will be water and muscle, and least of all fat.

There are many ways to make progress that have nothing to do with weight. Emphasizing it negates the achievements that don’t always show up on the scale. Example: building muscle, improving body composition, stress relief, state of mind, and overall health.

If you lose fat and build muscle at the same time, the scale will stay the same. Which doesn’t mean you didn’t make any progress. The scale is unpredictable. Simple biological things, like water retention, constipation, and muscle glycogen can all make body weight fluctuate dramatically.

If I want to lose 10 pounds in five days all I have to do is deplete my muscle glycogen by dropping carbs. My hard earned muscles will be flat, and leaving me with deflated appearance. I won’t have any less fat on my body, just less water in my body. Since that water left my muscles, it would actually give me an appearance of a higher body fat percentage.

Do you think just because the scale would say 10 pounds less; I would be in better shape?

That is why the mirror, clothes, and how you feel are all better markers of progress. The scale doesn’t know the difference between fat, muscle, water, or poop.

These shows also promote cardio over strength training, which is the biggest mistake. If you don’t believe me, look up former contestants from previous years of these shows. If they have even been successful at keeping the weight off, they are skinny fat at best – not lean. They are not building muscle.

If you are trying to raise your metabolism and hang on to muscle, the last thing you should start doing is long duration cardio. The body adapts to it. The more efficient a runner you become, the less of an impact it will have on your waistline.

Like I said balance and consistency is key – Weight training, intense shorter duration cardio, and healthy eating. They need to teach how to balance.

These unrealistic reality shows put you in an artificial unsustainable environment. They are only able to eat what they have been given; trained 4-6 hours per day, kept away from family, and work….never taught how to balance the stresses of life.

Once they are thrown back into reality, it’s like teaching someone to juggle with 3 balls for 3 months then the next day as they juggle, throwing 5 more balls at them expecting them not to miss a beat.

People who lose weight for good are the ones who make improvements without trying to alter every aspect of their existence. I have always preached to every client over the past 22 years that I have been a trainer, baby steps. No matter who they are, or how much weight they need to lose. Getting them to understand that we are looking at a permanent change for life. There is no need to rush. Too often clients who make drastic changes tend to fail. You can’t live the life of a couch potato for 40 years, then train and eat like a professional athlete the next day and expect to keep that up.

The successful learn to avoid situations that will tempt them to go backwards. They learn to prepare meals ahead of time. Cut out bad foods that will only make them hungrier and serve no nutritional value whatsoever. They learn to program exercise into their week, without exceptions. They begin to master these changes, until they become habit.

The most frustrating thing for me about these shows is that it has a huge platform to educate the public on what works and they choose not to. Why? Because it doesn’t make for good television. Why do gyms have rows, and rows of cardiovascular equipment? Because that is what the general public believes is necessary to lose weight.

When I worked for Ballys, I asked a supervisor why they focus on always adding more cardio equipment when they really should focus on the benefit of weights. Believe it or not, the answer was- “because the average person decides what gym to join based on the number of cardio equipment that gym has, and not the strength training equipment and we can’t educate those people on why strength training is superior to cardio in the 5 minutes we have to take them on a tour.”

That is one of the reasons I started DTC. I want to educate the public, not just take their money as they walk in place for an hour. That is why we have a huge sign in our parking lot giving tips to passers by, that is why I write these articles, that is why I continue to educate my staff so that they pass it along to their clients.

The problem with these shows and big gyms is that they underestimate the intelligence of society. Rather than educate us, they tell us what we want to hear so it doesn’t affect their bottom line.