The Biggest Loser...

is really starting to PISS ME OFF! Considering the fact that I have seen every single episode of the show (some more than once) AND at least one season of TBL Australia...most of them watched from the comfort of my couch at home with a bucket of fried chicken or a bowl of ice cream close at hand and the thought, "I could do that!" bouncing around in my head, my being a suddenly disgruntled fan is really saying something.

These are my "issues":::

1. The TITLE of the show. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a play on words. I know the "contestants" or whatever you want to call them are there to lose weight. There are no two ways about it, however, the words "BIGGEST" and "LOSER" are a none too subtle negative jab. What could they have called the show instead? I'm no advertising executive so, I don't really know...something a little more positive, maybe? Do you have an idea?

2. Jillian is no longer "Jillian." She's become a brand...and therefore a characture of her former self. She used to really seem to care about her team/the contestants/her clients/whatever you want to call them. Now, it just seems like she's going through the motions to sell her protein powder and diet pills. DIET PILLS??!!

3. Bob was always a weiner. Now, perhaps jealous of Jillian's financial success, he's trying not to be weiner. He's putting on a Jillian cape of "tough guy" attitude. It only serves to make him come off as a bigger weiner...and therefore MORE annoying.

4. Taking an extremely obese, sedentary, person straight off the couch and telling them to run a mile on concrete is, at least under most circumstances, a recipe for major injuries if not a heart attack or stroke. It's not only dangerous, it should almost be criminal. I don't know what sort of medical evaluation they put the contestants through before accepting them for the show, but part of it must be determining that they have that special metal bonded with their bones...like Hugh Jackman in Wolverine. My orthopaedic surgeon says, "fat people shouldn't do jumping jacks." He's right. There are so many ways to lose weight and get cardiovascular exercise without putting tremendous impact on your joints. How about swimming? How about biking? Why take the risk of injury? If you get hurt, it only sets you back. I've learned this lesson the hard way.

5. The numbers are unrealistic. By now, maybe some of you have read some of the "behind the scenes" interviews with past contestants too. I've read about them coming into the weekly weigh-ins on diuretics and laxatives...dehydrated to the point of delirium. Not good. Even if all of that is sour grapes, however, the numbers are STILL unrealistic...or certainly unachievable in real life. I lived the "fat camp" life for a month. We were on a strict 1200 calorie a day diet. We didn't cook for ourselves, so there was no easy way to obtain a significant number of additional calories. We were at the gym an average of 14 hours a day. Even the heaviest men there didn't hit numbers like they did on TBL....nowhere close. The average weekly weight loss that I saw for women was in the 3 - 5 pound range...often quite a bit less.

I'm home now and averaging 2 pounds or so a week. I'm always ecstatic...right up until I see the numbers on The Biggest Loser. When I see those, I feel, for a moment, like I'm doing something wrong...like I should have exercised more or eaten less. AND that, more than anything, is why I'm pissed off at the show right now! I'm busting my ass. (Hear that, ass? You're busted!) I'm working harder than I ever have in my life. I'm eating more carefully than I ever have in my life. Then I sit down and watch a show that USED to motivate me and all of a sudden it's starting to make me feel like I'm not doing "enough." It's starting to make me feel like a "big loser." I don't like that feeling...because when I'm at the gym, dripping sweat on the elliptical machine, or staring down my reflection in the mirror in yoga while I hold "warrior 3," I feel like the "BIGGEST WINNER"....or maybe just the strongest one. I think it's time to change the channel.