Reasons to love and hate The Biggest Loser

I am obsessed with The Biggest Loser. Although I have mixed feelings on the show, I watch it religiously. My biggest complaint is that their weight loss is unreal to me. I have never (and will never) needed to lose that much weight and have always exercised so I cannot really relate to their struggles. The last 30 pounds that they lose is the part I would relate to most, but that is the part of their journey that we never get to see! A friend and I have this idea where we have a mediocre version of the show for people like us who just want to lose “a few” pounds, but somehow I don’t think the networks will go for it. Nevertheless, I am sucked into this show, for the good and the bad.

Here are the reasons I love and hate this show:

1. Shameless product placement. Oh, I think it is ridiculous when they throw out chewing Extra to quench your desire for sweets. Or how they encourage drinking water from your Brita filter. Or when they walk to Subway to eat one of their 6 under 6 sandwiches. But it also makes me laugh every time. I mean, how awkward can it get to try and fit in all those moments into conversation? I imagine that after each one of those shots they break out into hilarious laughter when they realize how absurd they sound. But maybe it works... I did by Brandon a Brita yesterday.
2. Bob. I love Bob. He is the trainer I want. He cares but doesn’t make me want to cry. And I think he is just adorable. I want my own Bob.
3. Jillian. I know she would kick my ass, but honestly, she makes me want to cry. The story goes that she used to weigh 170 pounds and then she lost it all. I don’t care. She scares the shit out of me.
4. Ridiculously long and cheesy suspenseful moments. I just got DVR. Those moments are about to be gone from my life.
5. Weight loss. The weight loss on that show is unbelievable, but doable when you burn as many calories in a day as they do. I love watching them lose weight. I am sucked into it every week as I hope that they get big numbers. I wish I had the opportunity to spend days, weeks or months at a time focusing only on my health.
6. Challenges. I play along. I imagine what I would do if I was there. And in my game, I always win. I don’t think that many of the games they play are that difficult and apparently I am smarter than them.
7. Ridiculous challenges. I was really unimpressed by the fact that on last week’s premiere each team had to ride a stationary bike a combined 26.2 miles. It’s just really not that far. I know these people aren’t used to exercise, but just exertion of energy would have been nearly enough to finish in the top half of the contenders. But I do find that they have some ridiculous challenges later in the season. For example, running of a marathon. I ran a half marathon this year. I trained for 12 weeks. My husband is training for a full marathon—his program is 18 weeks. And everyone else I know who has run marathons also trained like crazy. So I find it ridiculous that one day they just set out to do 26.2 miles. Of course, they did it. So what do I know?
8. Elimination. Someone gets sent home. It is awesome. The two up for elimination either hate each other and beg to stay, or love each other and spend time playing the martyr card so that their friend can stay. And then we get the long, drawn out, two commercial break scene where we see who everyone voted for. Anyone else think that last week’s elimination was possibly the dullest of all time? It was the first episode and up for elimination was a set of identical twins whose names both start with J. I couldn’t tell the difference between them. I don’t think any of the other contestants did either.
9. Crying. This show makes me cry. Don’t lie. You do too.
10. Transformation moment. Call me a cheeseball, but the best part of the show is the very last minute where they show what the eliminated player looks like today. That is why I love this show—I love seeing how people have changed their lives.

Tonight is only the second episode of this season and I am already hooked. Check out Ashley on the pink team... I think she is the long lost triplet of the Olson twins.

I evaluated my eating and concluded that although I had enough calories, I have not been getting enough nutrition. So today my lunch is packed with veggies and fruit and you can expect a better, more balanced day!

Monday, 1/11 Totals
Total Calories: 1530
Exercise: 3.5 mile run (about 45 minutes total, with walking)
Weight loss: 10 pounds
Water: not enough
Food:
Nonfat, toffee nut latte
Lean Cuisine Pepperoni Pizza
Popcorn
Garlic Bread
Angel Hair Pasta w/ tomatoes, basil, 3 ounces of chicken