Home is Where the Heart Is
February 16, 2011 by Deb · Leave a Comment
Well, we are already six weeks into 2011. How are you doing with your fitness and wellness program? 1 out of every 3 people statistically has already given up on their New Year’s Resolution and yet is still paying for their gym membership. Want to know the secret to staying healthy and fit? You don’t need to go to the gym to find out – see article! Once you put your heart into it…then you can get fit anywhere and anytime!
Home is Where the Heart Is
If home is where the heart is, why do so many people neglect their heart, both physically and spiritually? Is your heart suffering due to a lack of exercise or to the foods you eat? Maybe your heart is bogged down with negative emotions (anger, jealousy, bitterness, hatred, fear or resentment). In either case, the heart becomes cluttered with an emotional filth that leaves no room for physical cleanliness. Would you enjoy living in a home that is dirty, cluttered, dangerous, and gloomy? I imagine most would answer that question with an emphatic “No!” Why, then, would anyone live with a heart condition that is equally harmful and depressing?
Your heart is the central operating unit for the entire body, pumping blood, oxygen, and nutrients to every cell. It’s the home base, if you will, from which the entire body receives its commands, including the mind and its ability to think. Phrases such as, “Home is where the heart is,” “Home sweet home,” “A man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), even “homesick” are reminders of where we long to be…HOME! If you are out of shape and depressed, however, do you stuff your home and your heart with things that never fill the hole left by what you are truly seeking? If we long to be home and our heart is the “home” from which we operate to our fullest potential (when we’re healthy), we should honor that home-clean it, purify it, fuel it, and exercise it to offer maximum benefits. The rewards are even far greater than what the heart offers physically. The heart is the home to a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
The first step in clearing the filth that has entered your heart (emotionally or physically) is to change the way you think. When you recognize and accept that you are worth the effort it takes to have a clean and healthy heart, you are ready to put the following necessary steps into action:
1. Emotional triggers: Address them! Whether your triggers concern past or present issues, decide to let go and release the negative thoughts, feelings and actions that go along with that emotion. Ask yourself: Does my attitude serve me or those around me? You may be hanging onto anger and resentment even though the person against whom the emotions are directed has been set free (because she/he did not allow emotions to run her life). Do you find yourself stuffing your emotions with food, alcohol, drugs, lust or shopping, to name a few? If so, consider what your future may look like five years from now if you continue down that path.
2. Action Plan: Put a specific plan in place for every day. Journal your eating, exercise, feelings and actions. Such accountability will develop into a daily pattern or habit. Hiring a coach/Personal trainer or checking in with a close friend also works wonders to keep you accountable.
3. Measure: Take time each week to check in and measure your results. There is no greater motivator than seeing the progression that leads to one’s goals.
4. Reward: When positive results are clearly shown, a healthy reward is key to encouraging you to continue reaching new and perhaps even greater goals.
Once you get to the “heart of the matter,” you will appreciate that home indeed is where the heart is-and that taking care of your heart is critical for you and for those who love you most.
Blessings Always,
Deb
Best Gifts for Father’s Day
June 19, 2010 by Deb · Leave a Comment
If you are like me and waited to the last minute to get your Father’s Day gift, don’t sweat it….. think outside the Father’s Day gift box and surprise him with a present he’ll truly enjoy. These Father’s Day gifts are more than fitting for the hip and healthy dad as well as a husband who deserves something out of the ordinary this year. The best part is that you won’t even have to leave your house to get them! Warning, however, don’t expect dad to ever be satisfied with a typical no-thought present again. Give your dad one of these gifts and he’ll know how much he really means to you!
1. Encourage Dad to Eat Healthily
Most men do tend to eat more fatty foods and fewer fruits and vegetables. Many are very partial to alcoholic beverages too. The result is unsightly beer bellies which can lead to a host of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. So, encourage Dad to eat right to stay healthy and live longer.
Do this by planning meals that are low in saturated fats, sugar and salt for Dad. Instead, include lots of lean mean, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables in his diet. Cut up fresh fruit for breakfast or as a dessert. Men are more likely to develop a healthy fruit habit if fruits are cut up and presented to them.
2. Get Dad to Drink more Water
More water and less alcohol will definitely improve Dad’s health. Get Dad to drink more water by keeping bottles of cold water in the fridge on hot days and making sure water is within reach wherever Dad is – on the desk at his office, in the car, on the coffee table in the living room and on the dining table at mealtimes. If he drinks a lot of alcohol, encourage him to alternate water and alcohol.
3. Sign Dad up for a Gym Membership
A good way to help Dad keep fit is to sign him up for a gym membership. If possible, get Mom or other family members involved too. Dad is more likely to make good use of his gym membership and frequent the gym regularly if he has someone to work out with.
4. Be Dad’s Exercise Buddy
Hit the gym with Dad. If a gym membership is a little too costly, just be Dad’s regular exercise buddy. Set up dates with Dad to play tennis, golf, soccer or swim at the local swimming pool. Walking or cycling around the neighborhood park with Dad is also a great way to spend time together while keeping fit together.
5. Remind Dad to Have Health Check-ups
Men also tend to ignore their health until a crisis takes place. So remind Dad to have regular health check-ups to make sure all is well. Make a doctor’s appointment for him if need be. Accompany him to see the doctor if there is time. And if Dad needs to be on medication, remind him to eat his medicines. Get him a pill organizer that comes with an alarm.
Fathers’ Day is a great time to help Dad embark on a healthy lifestyle. Give Dad the gift of health by encouraging him to eat healthily, getting him to drink more water, signing him up for a gym membership, becoming his exercise buddy or reminding him to have regular health check-ups. Over time, these gifts of health will be more precious than other material gifts for Dad.
Hope you all get to spend some quality time with your Dad’s tomorrow and the best gift you can give is your LOVE! Be sure to tell Dad that you love him, and that you are glad he’s your Dad!
Deb 
Lessons Learned
January 14, 2010 by Jenny Neighbour · 1 Comment
I have always encouraged my two precious daughters to seek God when they are in times of turmoil in their lives. Often, as a parent, I wonder if my kids are hearing me…are they getting ANY of the advice that I am trying to give them. Afterall, I am simply trying to save them from some of the same mistakes that I made before I was a Christian! (if only I could really save them from the same, dumb mistakes I made!!!)
This past week, my 16-year old was cramming for final exams. School comes hard to my oldest child and she really has to TRY HARD to get her B’s and C’s. Rarely does she get discouraged but on Monday night…she hit a brick wall…in a big way!
“Why is school so easy for everyone else?”
“Why do I have to work so stinkin’ hard?”
“I have studied my brains out and I will STILL probably get a D on the stupid test!”
As a parent, my heart bled. This is my baby…my precious girl…no parent wants to see their child hurting!
God is so good! In all of my daughters’ fury and anxiety, God showed up…in a BIG WAY! God spoke to her and reminded her to “GO TO A QUIET PLACE AND REST IN ME”.After her little tantrum, Abbi went off into her bedroom and got quiet before her Heavenly Father. She came out about 30-minutes later holding her devotional. She had a wierd look on her little, tear-stained, face.
“Mom, you will not believe what my devotional says for TODAY!”
Basically, her devotional told her that God will SHOW UP in the tough times of your life. He will always take you THROUGH the valley and bring you out stronger, better, and much smarter too! It reminded her that God is in complete control and we just need to TRUST HIM at all times of our lives…even in the HARD TIMES when we are tempted to throw in the towel.
Praise the Lord! My daughter was reminded of all of God’s promises in one little passage in a little devotional book. She wiped her tears and sat back down at the table…ready to work hard again. God gave her STRENGTH to make it through…even for one more day!
Abbi got through her finals this week but it was GOD that brought her along every step of the way. My daughter reminded ME that I am to seek God when I am restless and that only HE can offer me peace! Thank you to my precious daughter for a valuable lesson learned!
Will there be a New “YOU” in 2010?
January 5, 2010 by Deb · Leave a Comment
There will be if you want it bad enough!
There will be if you “CHOOSE” to create a new “you” in 2010.
Make no mistake about it….a new you will be created in
2010 regardless of what you decide.
Your skin is completely replaced every 30 days, the cells in your
blood stream will be replaced in the year 2010, and so will every
bone in your body.
It’s called cellular regeneration.
The trillions of cells in your body will respond to your
self talk and thought commands in 2010.
Here is the GOOD news!!
You get to decide right now….will I do what I have
always done, and get what I have always gotten, or will I take
control and help shape and create the new me that I want in 2010?
You and only you have the power to choose.
Do you want to be:
Confident
Successful
Unstoppable…in 2010?
You can be, you simply have to choose to.
Is it easy?
NO, everything worthwhile takes some effort on your part.
Can you do it?
You bet, and with CrossTrain’s help it will not be that hard
at all. (Well, it will be a lot easier with our support!)
Are your ready?
Let’s get started
My job is to give you the tools you need to create an incredible
new “you” from the inside out. You will become a healthier you, a more successful
you, a confident you, an unstoppable you and a more Spiritual you!
Your job is to digest the information, follow the steps,
take action, and most important of all….visualize
the new “YOU” that you want to be……EVERY DAY.
STEP ONE
Starting today I want you to start visualizing the new you that
you want to create. Think of yourself as a movie producer.
Create a short movie in your mind and replay that movie every
night when you go to bed. Create as much detail as possible; picture
yourself in the home you want, the car you want, with the loving
person you want to be with, earning the income you want, etc.
Look in the mirror every morning and say this:
“Every day I am becoming the person I have visualized in the movie
I play back in my mind, God will help me become that new person and
I will help others in their quest to recreate themselves
as I become the new person I know I will become.”
VERY IMPORTANT!!
Say this statement with faith that your transformation has ALREADY
BEGUN!
Now get going and create your first blockbuster movie ….YOU!!!
Deb
Count Your Blessings!
December 23, 2009 by Deb · Leave a Comment
Not only at Christmas but throughout the year we all need to stop and count our blessings. There are challenging times in our lives, there are dark times, there may be times when you feel hopeless, and there are always happy times. During all of those times we should stop and take a moment to count our blessings. If it is a difficult time you will find by reflecting on the blessings you do have will help your attitude in dealing with the situation you are in.
Many times our own attitude will determine how we see our world. When we are in a happy time we see the world very differently than if we are in a more challenging time. The secret is to always count your blessings; it truly does make life easier.
This past year has been a challenging one for our family – we have seen challenging times, we had some very dark times and hopeless times, and of course we have had happy times. But no matter what was happening I always counted my blessings and looked for the good in the situation. And as difficult as it was in some situations there was good. I can think of a couple of occasions where it was very difficult to even think that there was any good, but it was there.
Thanks to all of you who have helped support me and my family for the past several years….Many days you all were my Blessings!
My Christmas wish to you all is –
May you see and be thankful for all the blessings you have and may many more come your way. And may you experience the blessing that life has to offer when you find the good in every situation.
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.
Elizabeth Bibesco
Deb
Just because it’s a reality show doesn’t make it “REALISTIC”!
November 16, 2009 by Deb · 1 Comment
The Biggest Loser – a reality show which is essentially a race to see who can lose weight the fastest – is one of the most popular in Television history. I’ve known about The Biggest Loser since it debuted in 2005 because people ask me all the time what I think of the program and of course, the burning question: “How do they lose so much weight?”
Until now, I’ve only seen video clips, browsed forum threads and read news about the show. To give informed answers to questions in the future, I finally wanted to see first-hand what this was really all about. So I sat through the entire two-hour 8th season premiere on September 15th.
Despite its worldwide popularity, The Biggest Loser is controversial and responses to the show are highly polarized. Most viewers seem to be either die-hard loyal fans who defend the show tooth and nail or critics who loathe the program to the point of disgust or outrage.
Most fitness professionals and personal trainers dislike the show, mainly due to what they say is inappropriate training program design and extreme (teetering on dangerous) overtraining.
The mixed reviews for the show aren’t surprising because The Biggest Loser clearly has pros and cons. Having finally watched a full episode, it reinforced my previous belief that the cons outweigh the pros. But in any complete and objective review, it’s only fair to show both sides, so here they are:
BIGGEST LOSER PROS
The Power of Accountability
Accountability is one of the most powerful motivational forces. The producers of The Biggest Loser have set up the conditions and environment with so much accountability, it’s impossible for contestants not to lose weight. This program uses all four levels of accountability; (1) accountability to self, (2) accountability to a partner, (3) accountability to a group, and (4) accountability to the public.
The Spirit of Competition
The most impressive and dramatic body, health and fitness transformations I’ve ever seen have come as a result of competition. You can count me as one of them. When ever we have a contest at CT it brings out my competitive side. Why? Because competition is motivating and competition brings out the best in most of us. Although there are downsides to the way the Biggest Loser competition is judged, a healthy competition is a good thing in my book.
The drive of emotions
The producers of The Biggest Loser have done a meticulous job with contestant selection by finding individuals with touching life stories (as contrived as they may be, to encourage made-for TV drama ranging from romance to backstabbing).
It’s Television, so they need storylines and human interest and there’s no shortage of that here. I’m sure many viewers have to break out the Kleenex – it’s a real tear jerker that pulls at the heart strings. (I’m sorry to my dear friend Shannon who LOVES the show). At least because she is friends with myself and Carol she does know the show isn’t realistic and she finds it “motivating” as she workouts on her home elliptical while she watches the show….you go girlfriend!
If this program stirs up some emotions in viewers that stimulate them to get up off the couch and start a health and fitness program, then that’s a good thing. People are not inspired to action with logic; they are driven to action with emotion and only later justify their decisions and actions with logic.
Hope and inspiration
Having inspirational role models moves people from “What’s the use; I’ve tried everything and nothing will ever work for me” to, “If they can do it, I can do it.”
I’m tempted to say that these are not the right role models for the public and I do NOT recommend anyone at home try to duplicate what these contestants are doing. However, I can see the value of extreme role models purely for inspiration.
When a 65 year old runs a 135 mile ultra marathon, it makes a 20 or 30-something runner ask, “What’s stopping me from running a paltry 26.2 miles?” If an amputee sprints around a track on prosthetic legs, it makes sedentary able-bodied people, say, “What’s my excuse?” When a 425 pound person loses half his bodyweight, someone with only 40 pounds of excess fat says, “What’s stopping me?”
Seeing those who have already done it forces you to answer, “Nothing was stopping me but my own excuses and limiting beliefs. Now I see it’s not hopeless… it’s possible!”
The reality of hard work
Unlike most weight loss programs which promise results without effort, The Biggest Loser shows the contestants busting their butts. Arguably the biggest loser goes too far, replete with brutal training montages and plenty of crying, screaming, puking and falling down. That’s television for you.
Fitness for life can be enjoyable and even become part of your fun and recreation time. But to think that spectacular and quick results can be achieved without incredibly hard work is naïve. For above average results, it takes an above average effort. For mind blowing results, it takes a mind blowing effort. With effort and hard work, amazing transformations can happen.
BIGGEST LOSER CONS
The Biggest Loser is judged on weight loss, not body composition.
There is no doubt that contestants are losing huge amounts of fat – far above the average, which is usually 1-2 pounds per week. Even obese individuals rarely lose more than 3 pounds of pure fat per week consistently in a real world situation.
The results on the show – often 10 pounds a week with 20-25 not uncommon for first and last week – should not be surprising when you calculate the massive caloric deficit achieved from 4-6 hours of daily training and physical activity, combined with low calorie dieting.
What many fans seem to ignore is that weight loss is not the same as fat loss. Body weight includes muscle, bones, internal organs, water, glycogen and don’t forget the contents of the digestive tract. The weight loss on The Biggest Loser is deceiving. Much of the loss is water. Many contestants may be losing muscle and other lean tissue.
The solution would be simple: judge the competition on body composition, not body weight. Body fat testing is admittedly prone to error, but with the big budget of this show, there’s no reason they couldn’t use gold standard testing methods such as hydrostatic weighing or Near Infrared scans like we use at CT. They used a Body Bug in the last episode, but the contest wasn’t judged on the results of those tests (it was more like, “look how fat you are!”)
What’s most alarming to me is that because the show is judged on weight loss, not body composition, contestants are penalized for gaining muscle and actually rewarded for losing muscle. Think about that one for a while……isn’t that setting them for FAILURE in the future??
Rapid weight loss competition encourages physically dangerous practices
The network, the trainers and other supporters of the show say they do not promote or endorse drugs or any unhealthy methods of weight loss. Official statements notwithstanding, the inherent nature of the show promotes dangerous behavior.
Listen to what Biggest Loser season one winner Ryan Benson had to say on his my space blog:
“I wanted to win so bad that the last ten days before the final weigh-in I didn’t eat one piece of solid food! If you’ve heard of “The Master Cleanse” that’s what I did. It’s basically drinking lemonade made with water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The rules of the show said we couldn’t use any weight-loss drugs, well I didn’t take any drugs, I just starved myself! Twenty-four hours before the final weigh-in I stopped putting ANYTHING in my body, liquid or solid, then I started using some old high school wrestling tricks. I wore a rubber suit while jogging on the treadmill, and then spent a lot of time in the steam room. In the final 24 hours I probably dropped 10-13 lbs in just pure water weight. By the time of the final weigh-in I was peeing blood.
Was this healthy? Heck no! My wife wanted to kill me if I didn’t do it to myself first. But I was in a different place, I knew winning the show could put us in a better place financially and I was willing to do some crazy stuff. All this torture I put myself through has had no lasting effects on me (that I know of) and at the time it was sort of a fun adventure for me – but I am sure it reeked havoc on my system.
In the five days after the show was over I gained about 32 lbs. Not from eating, just from getting my system back to normal (mostly re-hydrating myself). So in five days I was back up to 240 – crazy!”
It’s unknown whether any Biggest Loser contestants have taken diuretics (they’re not allowed, but then again Major League baseball players aren’t allowed to take roids either). The greater the rewards and monetary incentives, the greater the willingness to cheat. One thing that’s clear is that even non-drug manipulation of water and electrolyte balance is incredibly dangerous. Would you trade $250,000 for a kidney?
The media often sensationalizes anabolic steroids as a big problem in sports and performance enhancement. What’s been underplayed is another drug used (un-medically supervised) by athletes to shed water and make weight classes – diuretics. It’s not the steroids, but the diuretics, combined with extreme dieting, which have resulted in more confirmed deaths, coronary events, kidney problems and emergency room visits.
Benson wasn’t alone. Kai Hibbard (season 3) answered a question about this on her my space blog:
Q: I’m curious on just how much did you all dehydrate yourselves before the BIG WEIGH IN?
A: I dehydrated off 19 pounds in the last two weeks before the BIG weigh in. I stopped eating solid food after eating only protein and asparagus (a diuretic) then I had two colonics and spent the night before the weigh in and out of a sauna, there really was no “diet” the day of the weigh in, we weigh in as dehydrated as possible on empty stomachs after 2 hour workouts in the morning.
As with Benson, Hibbard’s final week weight came flying back:
“I actually put on about 31 pounds in two weeks. After my body had a chance to stabilize I spent all last year hovering between 159 and 175, I fight everyday to find some stability.”
The Biggest Loser pushes overtraining to the point of high injury risk
On the first season 8 episode, just minutes after getting off the bus, contestants faced the first workout “challenge.” The group of morbidly obese contestants (weighing up to 460 pounds), were instructed to take a 1 mile run down the beach. It was NOT a go at your own pace type of thing, it was a RACE with a prize for the winner.
One of them collapsed just short of the finish line, at first looking dehydrated and fatigued and then progressing into looking seriously ill, incoherent and unconscious. She was flown by a life flight chopper to the hospital. The hospitalization was weaved into the drama of the episode, but alarmingly trivialized.
It was not the first time. Contestants from previous seasons have also been admitted to the hospital and one suffered a stress fracture.
Later during the workout, contestants were shown climbing a Jacob’s ladder, pushing sleds, doing intense cardio and calisthenics, lifting weights and performing plyometrics. These did not look like beginner-level workouts and the form on some of the exercises was sloppy enough to make a certified personal trainer cringe.
Before the show (off camera), the contestants took a stress test to screen out people who might be at risk for a heart attack, and no doubt, they all signed airtight liability releases. There was also a disclaimer on the screen for the viewing audience. But aside from that, there seemed to be a disturbing absence of proper risk warnings in light of the physical tasks they were asked to perform.
There was also no mention that 4-6 hours of training per day for weight loss is gross overtraining, almost certain to bring overuse injuries, and something that no one at home should EVER try to emulate, even if they could.
The Biggest Loser has no relevance to real world situations
The producers of The Biggest Loser have created the perfect environment for success. Contestants have personal trainers, nutritionists, group support, accountability, a national audience, and the biggest carrot imaginable – a prize of $250,000 and a potential platform to launch a motivational speaking or fitness career.
The participants move out of their homes and onto The Biggest Loser “Ranch” where they have no job other than losing weight. There are no kids to worry about, no work, no social obligations, and no chores, nothing – just working out and dieting.
This is a totally artificial and controlled environment with no relevance to the average person. In the real world, people who work out 4-6 hours a day for weight loss are not called inspirational and dedicated, they are called obsessive-compulsive or exercise anorexics.
Shouldn’t contestants (and viewers) be taught to exercise in a way that fits into a normal person’s daily life, between work, family and social obligations? Achieving health and fitness as part of total life balance is probably one of the biggest missing pieces in the obesity crisis, yet you won’t find solutions for that challenge on The Biggest Loser.
The Biggest Loser trainers are walking a fine line between tough love and abuse
I’ve listened to an interview or two with Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels and she was motivating, informative and seemed like a good spokesperson for fitness. That’s why I was shocked by her yelling profanities in the face of the contestants. She was using profanities like crazy.
I believe strongly that a good coach sometimes has to get in a client’s face and be very tough. People are motivated by different styles of leadership and coaching, but in general, most people need to be pushed, not coddled, out of their comfort zones and they will always perform beyond what they believed they could accomplish when they are put under pressure.
On The Biggest Loser, normal rates of weight loss are penalized and frowned on as failure
One of my first exposures to this show was a video clip of the weigh ins, which I saw a couple years ago. A blue team member lost 20 pounds in one week. Mouths were open, gasps were heard, and jaws were hitting the floor, followed by congratulations and applause.
When the other blue teammate stepped on the scale and registered “only” an 8 pound loss, the congratulations quickly faded, heads were shaking, facial expressions turned to contempt and blue team member number two sulked off in shame because it appeared as if she did something horribly wrong and that only one member of the team pulled her weight.
When an 8 pound weight loss is seen as a failure, imagine what viewers at home will think about a perfectly normal 1-2 pound weekly weight loss.
The Biggest Loser encourages unrealistic weight loss expectations
Surely any clear-thinking person realizes The Biggest Loser is a contest and at home they are NOT going to drop 25 pounds their first week and 8-10 pounds every week after that. However, more and more people are posting on forums online and asking their trainers why they “only” lost 3-5 pounds their first week or why they can’t lose more than 2 pounds per week.
When people get discouraged with perfectly reasonable weight loss, it makes our job as fitness professionals and health educators much harder. This is a big reason why most trainers hate this show.
Do you know how difficult it is to persuade a Biggest Loser fan that 3 pounds per week is exceptionally good fat loss? A 3 pound weekly weight loss of pure fat is outstanding and above average, but it’s more difficult than ever today to get people to accept slow and steady weight loss as a best practice for healthy, maintainable results. I suggest my clients try to lose 1% of their body weight per week, that’s safe and it’s realistic!
Is it fair to pin the blame on one reality TV show? Well, not entirely. We can pin blame on a combination of human nature and the approach of the weight loss industry at large, including diet programs, pill and supplement advertising, especially those which show “results not typical” (or even phony) before and after pictures. But reality TV courtesy of The Biggest Loser is certainly one of the culprits.
The Biggest Loser teaches you absolutely nothing about setting realistic goals. It actually encourages the opposite.
The Biggest Loser does not teach real-world lifestyle strategies
I haven’t watched enough of the show to assess whether the participants are given any kind of nutrition, exercise and health education that they can take home with them and make a part of their lifestyles for the long term.
Even if the contestants get psychological counseling, fitness education, motivational tools and time with dieticians – off camera or on – the structure of the competition leads me to think it is all for naught.
Participants and viewers are not learning about nutrition and training as a lifestyle, because the inherent nature of the show only teaches them how to crash diet, crash exercise and achieve short-term weight loss.
In particular, where is the emphasis on nutrition? I guess there’s not much time to film nutrition education when 45 minutes of the show is spent on the high drama of the weigh-in and elimination round.
The Biggest Loser doesn’t focus on lifelong maintenance
Weight loss is easy. Whether you lose 1-2 pounds a week or 10 pounds a week, either way, maintenance is going to be the true challenge.
A study from Oxford showed that 80% of weight losers will gain all the weight back within 3-5 years. A report from the National Weight Control Registry suggested that this relapse rate could be as high as 95%.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that you’ll regain weight after a large and or rapid weight loss. Some can keep it off. Most won’t, and if you lose weight rapidly, the odds are against you. Without a plan for maintenance, the odds are close to nil.
Where is the focus in The Biggest Loser on teaching contestants maintenance strategies for keeping the weight off after they get back into the real world?
“The Biggest Loser”: Much worse than a clever name
I have one final con; more of a personal pet peeve, really. I despise the name of the show. No one wants to be a loser. Anyone who sets a goal and achieves it is a winner, but in this show, if you win, you’re a loser.
The words “lose” and “loser” should be stricken from your vocabulary. Release, shed, discard, incinerate, and burn are much better words and for your own sake, please don’t call yourself a loser.
“But it’s just semantics, Deb.” Precisely, and the hidden meanings of words, names and labels carry great power. They can shape a person’s identity, affect self-esteem and influence behavior.
Conclusion
As a show so widely broadcast and publicized, which spotlights the worldwide obesity problem and encourages people to do something about it, The Biggest Loser could have been something great. But it falls short in many areas. There are unredeemable flaws weaved into the very fabric of the show.
The trainers and physicians get on their soapboxes and tell the contestants how sick they are. But is this show really about health? Depending on how you approach it, getting skinny doesn’t always mean getting healthy – physically or psychologically.
Not only do the cons outweigh the pros, if you go back and look at my list of positive qualities in the show, you can find every one of them somewhere else in a healthier context. It’s important to have role models, but this show is no model for physically and emotionally healthy weight loss.
The Biggest Loser is just Television, where the bottom line is ratings and sponsors. If you can, draw some inspiration from the show, but not your education. If you watch, then please recognize this show for what it is – entertainment; show business. Nothing more, nothing less. I challenge the show to do a “realistic” season next year….follow YOU in your real life, working full-time, running kids here and there, preparing your own meals etc. They could help people learn how to fit realistic workouts into their already crazy schedules, and help them learn to prepare healthy meals for their families. The WINNER would be the person who lost the most over-all body fat percentage, which would NOT help if you lost muscle mass or water…..that would truly be a show worth watching and it would be called “THE BIGGEST WINNER”!
Deb
Use It or Lose It!
August 23, 2009 by Jenny Neighbour · Leave a Comment
I just got out of church this morning. There is something wonderful about going to church for me…I get myself centered around God and it really starts my week off right. Today’s sermon was a great reminder for me…it reminded me that if I do not USE my Faith…I will LOSE it!
It is kind of like anything else. If you don’t use your muscles very often…soon, we get sore after walking up and down stairs or we take a long walk only to feel REALLY old and tired the next day. We must USE our muscles in order for our bodies to be the most healthy.
The same goes for the MIND. We need to use our mind from time to time in order to ensure that we are using and processing brain cells. Crossword puzzles and mind ‘games’ can be a fun way to wake up the brain and force ourselves to work the muscles in the brain, just like we work the muscles in our bodies with exercise. One way that I have used my brain muscles lately is helping my kids with their homework! (UGH – I hated algebra the first time I took it!) Helping my kids with homework is a great way to wake up some brain cells IF I do not fall asleep in the process!
FAITH is the same way. We need to USE our faith and practice our faith on a daily basis so it is there for us when we really need it. As our pastor pointed out today, life will get tough from time to time. We cannot deny that. If our faith is strong and our relationship with God is strong and secure, we will have an easier time when we have to face challenges in our lives. When we seek God in our daily life through bible reading, daily prayer, bible studies, Christian books, and fellowship with other Christians, we are developing a strong and committed life with Jesus Christ and when “stuff happens”, we will likely have a way to battle the demons or at least stay in the game of life long enough to conquer whatever happens!
When we don’t practice our faith, we don’t know HOW to seek Him when things are rough. In addition, we seem to get a little selfish and forget WHO is in charge of our lives. We need to live for Him in all aspects of our lives and when we live our lives “on our knees” and praising our Heavenly Father in good times AND in bad, He knows that we really do want at active relationship with Him. He loves that!
I am currently not active in a bible study. My group is on a “break” and is set to meet again later in September. I seem to have a HARD time getting in the Word and working on growing my relationship with God when I am not active in a study. Today’s sermon reminded me that I need to get started NOW. I cannot simply wait for my new study to start in 4 weeks – I need to USE MY FAITH now or I am likely to LOSE IT!
I thank God for that reminder today in church. After I type this blog – I plan on spending some much needed time with God, my Bible, and enjoy a little QUIET time so that I can listen to what He wants me to hear!
CrossTrain-Testimonials-Support
April 8, 2009 by Jenny Neighbour · Leave a Comment
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