Thoughts on The Biggest Loser

Before I get into my thoughts from last night's Biggest Loser, here is our menu plan for this coming week:

Monday - French toast and turkey bacon
Tuesday - Chicken pesto bake and roasted sweet potatoes
Wednesday - Chili taco soup and cornbread
Thursday - Chicken alfredo pizza and salad
Friday - Grilled cheeseburgers and baked french fries
Saturday - Chocolate crepes with raspberry and strawberry sauce for breakfast
                 Sandwiches and salad for lunch
                 Leftovers for dinner
Sunday - Banana pancake bites (made with blueberries and raspberries) for breakfast
               Pepperoni pizza mini pizza bites for lunch
               Balsamic chicken with balsamic roasted veggies for dinner

Almost every day my breakfast consists of greek yogurt, fruit, string cheese and lotsa coffee with a little bit of creamer. Lunch is usually leftovers or a salad and occasionally a Lean Cuisine. I like to keep it simple throughout the day and then cook a meal for dinner.

The chicken alfredo pizza (linked above) is one of mine and Todd's favorites! The first time I made it, Todd said, "If we ever open a pizza place, THIS will be on the menu."

We have no plans of opening a pizza place. In our 21 years of marriage that had never been brought up until he made that comment, so I thought it was so funny that he said that!

Chili taco soup is another one of our favorites. I do not use ground turkey though; I use beef. I'm just not a big fan of ground turkey. We make our own ground beef and it's very lean. I haven't found that it effects my weight loss when I eat beef a few times a week, but I know other people feel differently. I think we all have to do what works for us. And I'm a "Where's the beef?" kind of girl. ;)

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I weighed in this morning. Dun, dun, dun ... almost back to where I was at the end of November. I didn't share the number but I mentioned in this post (12/30/12) that I had a significant gain. Confession: My weight was 201.2 on that day.

Ouch.

I didn't think I would ever see a 2 at the beginning of my weight ever again. It honestly scared the living daylights out of me! I was back on track, pronto!

Today I am down to 192.6. That's a big loss in a week's time, I know. But I had eaten so much crap throughout December, I'm sure some of it was water retention. Either way, it's gone and I'm thankful. Only 0.8 to get back to where I was at the end of November. I hope I see that gone by next Monday. It's so frustrating to have to lose the same weight over again.

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Did everyone watch The Biggest Loser last night? I did! Anyone excited that Jillian is back? I am! I love Bob and Dolvett and I think bringing Jillian back makes the perfect trainer combination. They are all different but I just really like them all. I wish I had one of them here to push me out of my comfort zone!

If you haven't watched the episode and don't want to know details about what happened you may want to stop reading now. Please and thank you. :)

So, what did you think? (Don't forget there is another episode on tonight.) I felt so sorry for the person that went home after the weigh in and I hope he continues to do well at home. I know first hand how hard it is to lose weight at home and I know how easy it is to just give up when you feel like things are so hard. I really hope he succeeds!

I was reading on Jessica Limpert's Facebook page last night; she was a contestant on TBL Season 12. I liked hearing things from a contestant's prospective and wanted to share that with anyone who wanted to check it out. Here is a link to her Facebook page if you're interested.

What are your thoughts after reading that?

I do have one issue with The Biggest Loser. I love the inspiration and motivation it gives. I love seeing these people succeed and work hard. I love that they are pushed beyond their limits and that they see how they can push their bodies further than they ever knew was even possible. I love seeing people realize just what they are capable of! I love seeing them drop BIG numbers. But on the other hand, I also hate seeing them drop big numbers. And here's why.

The show starts off each season inspiring people all across America to get up off the couch and start moving. It encourages people eat better. To try harder. But I think it also gives false hope to some of those people. Some people think that they can be just like the contestants on The Biggest Loser. They think that if they workout for 30 minutes a day and eat like a rabbit they can drop 20 lbs. in a week, too. Of course that's not quite how it works. Then when they don't have that kind of weight loss at home, they give up.

I think people need to realize that weight loss in the double digits is just not something that is going to happen at home; at least not for the average Joe. I'm sure there are some people who have that sort of success at home, but it is just not realistic.

Part of me wishes there was a weight loss show that really and truly showed people how to lose weight at home. But I suppose it might not be very interesting to watch people lose 0.5#-2# a week, would it? ha!

Anyway, I love watching the show. I love being inspired by the contestants and the trainers. I want people watching to realize that they too can lose weight without being on a tv show. But I also want them to know that their weight loss at home is not going to mimic what we see on tv, and that's ok. Most of us just don't have 8+ hours a day to work out. We have jobs and families and responsibilities to deal with, unlike people who have been secluded from their lives for the filming of a tv show.

What did you think about the contestant that walked off the show? I'll be honest, it pissed me off. It frustrates me that there are 1,000's of people who wanted to be on this show to try to change their life. A small handful of people were chosen.15 people. And one of them gets there and decides, "Meh, this is harder than I thought. I don't want to do it after all."

Um, shouldn't you have thought about that BEFORE you signed up to be a contestant? Before you were chosen? Before you actually got onto the ranch?

It's just so unfair to all the other people who wanted the opportunity and didn't get it because she took their place. I just think it's wrong.

I know that we all reserve the right to change our minds. I do it all the time. But this is a big deal and by simply not thinking it through, she took away someone else's chance to be there.

I truly hope that she does what she said she would do. She said she was going to seek counseling and do the work at home to lose weight. I guess I feel like she gave up on herself so easily at the ranch, it will be really tough for her to not just give up again. :( Anyway, even though I was frustrated with her choice to walk off, most of all, I just hope she succeeds at home.

How about the kids? What are your thoughts on the show adding children? I'm excited to see where they take that and I hope those kids do well. I am so impressed with the 16 year old girl, Sunny. Well, I am impressed by them all. Evan watched part of the show with me and I think he liked seeing the kids being a part of the show. I'm curious how many young viewers this will bring in and what kind of an impact it will have on overweight children.

One more thing I want to throw out there. :) If you're watching The Biggest loser and you've decided it's TIME to get started. Please do! Don't give up when you don't lose 20 lbs. or 10 lbs. or even 5 lbs. in a week. Losing weight is hard work but it can be done. It just takes dedication, hard work and time.