So could anything make a show that continually and falsely suggests to Canadians that exercising till you throw up is how best to lose weight any less helpful?
Yup.
And we get it this week when the show starts off with the person who thinks it's, "pathetic" that she's only lost 5lbs, another who's upset she's only lost 2bs, another who can't see her 12lb loss, and a dad who thinks his young son's a failure and should be busting his hump 24/7 because he's only lost 9lbs.
Never mind that to lose faster than 1-3lbs per week pretty much necessitates non-sustainable approaches, this show's all about the non-sustainable, and while Dr. Zentner puts the dad in his place in her office, and later tries to make Jamie feel better about her 12lb loss, it doesn't seem as if she sat down the show's producers. Oh, and don't bother discussing energy balance with viewers - better just to think as the show suggests for most of the episode, that the town's just not working out hard enough.
But that's not all. Today we also get taught that healthy eating has to include ingredients that I'd bet the vast, vast majority of Canadians aren't familiar with, nor interested in. Think that's going to inspire viewers to want to change what they're eating? Think perhaps it would have been more helpful to explore healthy eating that didn't include tofu and quinoa?
Oh, and their registered dietitian's given a new nickname by British accent voice over guy - "calorie cop". Way to inspire Canadians to consider seeing dietitians.
But it's probably just TV. You know if I had to wager, I'd bet that in the town the Taylorites got far better treatment, advice and help than what viewers have been shown.
So why are Canadians getting the short end of the Village on a Diet stick?
I want to share part of a comment from last week's recap.
"These programs are popular as they are designed to produce a sense of unearned superiority in the audience, with pat,over simplistic solutions presented as the answer to complex problems (see eat less,move more)."I don't disagree.
It's interesting too, each week in the comments a few folks will tell me the show's inspirational, that I shouldn't rush to judgment, that great changes are taking place.
So let me ask you - would it be inspirational to watch a show about depression where people simply yelled at you to, "pull yourself up from your bootstraps"? Would you judge a show on stock market investing as lacking if the only formative advice they aired was, "buy low, sell high"? Would you consider a show teaching a family how to hold their breath as proof the family will be able to hold it forever?
I wish I could be applauding this show. I wish that each and every week I commented about how wonderfully the show tackled another facet of the struggle against obesity.
Ultimately I wish that it was a show that focused on education, not entertainment.
There's always Season 2.
Posts
The fact they put this crap on the air at all, just shows the discrimination towards "fat people". Total ignoramuses who think they're helping by yelling or degrading people into losing weight. Stupid CBC for even showing this junk.
ReplyDeleteOk, so let me get this straight. People get yelled at to lose weight, then yelled at when they do lose weight, then yelled at some more to lose more weight. This show sounds perpetually miserable.
ReplyDeleteWell, if this show is intended to foster discussion it's obtaining its objective. The underlying message is that weight loss is hard work and most of us just don't want to work that hard at it. As far as the show's ability to educate viewers, you have to admit that it's very weak in that department. Close-ups of people in tears and bouncing bellies seem to be de rigueur with these kinds of shows. I fear that most of these dumplings (sorry, but the truth hurts) will have packed the pounds back on over this winter and that the weight scale will be collecting dust somewhere. It's so very hard to get that weight off...and to keep it off!
ReplyDeleteThe lunch they provided for the hike infuriated me, and I logged into CBC's live chat during the show to call them on it.
ReplyDeleteI questioned why they would go straight to the tofu and quinoa, instead of teaching them new ways to cook with more familiar foods. I was told they didn't "have enough air time to show all the recipes" then the mods deleted my comment about sensationalizing for the sake of good TV and making the participants look like idiots.
Knowing some of the participants has kept me watching the show, I can't help but cheer for Jamie, I want her and George to have their dream wedding that has been waiting for 3 years. I promised Brent I'd cook him up some good camping food when we seem him at the campground in the summer.
I think you should write an outline for a TV show you COULD get behind. Take it to your local TV station or even your local Cable channel. I'll bet someone would be willing to help you get it made!
ReplyDeleteThe "tofu and quinoa" thing is frustrating for me, too. It seems like a lot of the healthy diet advice out there these days, not just in this TV show but in a lot of venues, is aimed at upper-middle-class Caucasians shopping at "natural food stores". What if you wanted to eat a healthy diet from your local small grocer, on a miniscule budget? What if quinoa costs $6.99 for an 8-oz box, but brown rice is 65 cents a pound? Or tofu is expensive, but the local dried beans are dirt cheap? Sustainable eating is eating you can shop for in your local stores on your budget, and cook in the time you actually have. I hope all the yelling and drama is for ratings- but it does set a terrible example.
ReplyDeleteK Ross -- insult fail: "dumpling (sorry, but the truth hurts)". Formal definition of a dumpling: "a rounded mass of steamed and seasoned dough, often served in soup or with stewed meat." Even if we stretch this a little further to the informal definition, we get: "a short plump person". So unless you were out there with a tape measure to determine the height of the show's participants or you were planning to make some soup out of a few people, dumplings would be an innacurate term to describe the show's participants. So while you're in the business of trying to hurt people over the internet with untruths (otherwise you would not post hurtful comments in the first place), you would do a much better job with insulting words that are at least accurate.
ReplyDeleteAs for your belief that the show's participants will be putting the weight back on in the wintertime, if the show's underlying message truly is, "weight loss is hard work and most of us just don't want to work that hard at it", well no wonder the weight would come back on. How are you to be inspired to a lifetime of change when it all boils down to that main message? I think for the show to influence any permanent change, the message needs to be positive enough that people will want to follow it, comprehensive enough for people to understand how to follow it, and versatile enough for people to be able to sustain it for life. Also, if the show is intended to foster discussion, what good will that get us? If I am inspired by the show to speak to my family doctor or my friends about weight loss/ management, and neither of them has a clue how to help me, I'm just going to be talking in circles. Usually people talk to their friends and co-workers about TV shows and all they know is what they've seen on the TV show. If the TV show is giving proper educational information, what good could we possibly obtain by talking to eachother? We may be able to effect small positive changes in our lives, but alot of people who are affected by obesity need ALOT more than small positive changes to affect a permanent change in their weight.
I like this show. It is far from being perfect, but I think its interesting. I like Dr. Ali Zentner's approach especially because she is someone who has accomplished amazing weight loss the hard way. I do admit my bias, as I went to high school with her and think she is great.
ReplyDeleteI can see a lot of excuses , neatly wrapped up in cynical bashing of this show.
ReplyDeleteI was one of the people helping to make this show on the ground, and the truth is...it changed lives in Taylor!!
Most of the brave people willing to get off their clever opinions , and get out there...did actually see real results.
I was there for the duration, and the 'nightmare on ELMM street' as you put it...worked 100% for those who applied it.
So bash away from the safety of your armchairs..and watch the proof of the pudding!
Lets see if you are not 'offended' by the last comment, and actually put it up...:-))
ReplyDelete"...the show starts off with the person who thinks it's, "pathetic" that she's only lost 5lbs, another who's upset she's only lost 2bs, another who can't see her 12lb loss, and a dad who thinks his young son's a failure and should be busting his hump 24/7 because he's only lost 9lbs."
ReplyDeleteI think that most viewers understand that the behaviour of the "real" people on this show (or others like X-Weighted) is not always healthy, and is often a window into the mindsets that caused their weight problems in the first place. With this understanding, I think the show can benefit people. For example, in light of the dad's impossible expectations of his son, I found myself re-evaluation my own parenting and wondering if I might sometimes have exceedingly high expectations of my children.