'Biggest Loser': A Big Loser; Week of Ups and Downs, and other 'Stuff'

Once or twice a week I receive a "newsletter" via e-mail from Beginner Triathlete.com. Most of the time I just glance at it because most of the info is not really new to me. However, last week's caught my eye with the article entitled: TV's 'Biggest Loser': A Big Loser, written by Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD.

I clicked on the link and truly enjoyed the article. Her thoughts on the show articulated my exact feelings. But since she is more qualified than I will ever be to give such an opinion, it was great to read. Just a sample:

"The messages in The Biggest Loser are all about deprivation, denial, starvation, and punishment. Exercise is akin to torture. Food is the fattening enemy. The participants use sheer willpower to white-knuckle themselves through each grueling day. They are praised if they lose ten pounds in a week (as if they are now better people), scorned if they lose only two (as if they are scum of the earth), and ridiculed if the scale barely moves. The participants get no credit for having inner beauty that shines from the inside out, nor do they get treated as if they are decent people with tender feelings. The scale is the sole judge of their worthiness."

I LOVE IT! The article continues and offers tremendous insight into the show, and how unhealthy in the long run the weight-loss method is. It's an excellent article and she explains the proper way to lose weight permanently--and it is not by dieting. Read the article for some excellent insight on this subject.

And while I'm at it, I'd like to talk about how a person loses 10-20 lbs. in a week. I don't care how overweight someone is, that just sounds impossible. OK, they may be losing weight, but it is definitely not fat weight. Think about it--to lose one pound of fat, our bodies need to burn approximately 3,500 calories. So, if you were to lose 10 lbs. of fat in one week, that would mean that you would have to burn 35,000 more calories than you took in. Now tell me, how is that even possible? That would mean you would average burning about 5,000 calories PER DAY! I think that the riders in the Tour de France may do that, but I don't know anyone else who can. When I did the ironman in August, I burned about 6,000 calories during the swim and bike portion. That was after 9+ hours of competition. So you tell me--are these contestants really losing that much fat every week? I don't believe it for a second.

One contestant lost 21 lbs. in a week once. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 21 x 3,500 = 73,500. You mean to tell me that man burned 73,500 calories more than he ate that week? NO FREAKIN WAY!

So, now that I have that out of my system, what's new? Typical 'spring' weather in Chicagoland brought rain/wind/cold and snow for the weekend. While I worked out indoors, the good news was that I had a 'decent' run on the treadmill Saturday. I felt horrible when I started, but managed to hang in there and felt pretty good after 6.2 miles or so. My leg is much better--it feels good more days than it does bad now. But I have to say I can feel every pound I've added to my frame over the winter, especially when I run. YUK!

Last week was one of ups and downs. Some days I felt really motivated and OK; most days I was sad, depressed and just miserable. I know I need to go to the doctor--I'm really convinced I have an under active thyroid and need to be tested again. But money is a huge issue right now, so it will have to wait.

Because things are so tight (and I haven't run much), I haven't signed up for any races. Which also makes me sad and miserable. I feel like I have no reason to train, but will continue to do so just because it's what I do.

I also seem to have an even shorter fuse than normal. The only up side to that is when my family knows I'm upset, they actually listen and do what they're supposed to do. One of my big questions in life is "why do I have to get upset/scream/yell for people to actually listen and hear what I'm saying?". When I'm calm and nice, it's like no one can hear me. Well, if that's what it takes...... but, I SO don't want to be that person.

Next week is spring break for my kids and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I'll be able to get outside to run. That will be really good, because next week's training is very run intensive. This week is swim intensive, which I always like. Six days in the pool, three of them long, three shorter. Just a couple rides and runs squeezed in.

Last week was a recovery week, which was really nice. I still put in 13 plus hours, but the sessions were shorter and less intense.

One more thing--in June I will be attending my 40th grade school reunion. Yes, I graduated from 8th grade in 1969. We've got quite a group together on facebook. I'm trying to get better at using it. My son gets really frustrated when I ask him for help. He thinks everyone should just know how to use it. Me, not so much. I still haven't figured out how to post pictures and other fun stuff.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone had a great week. Happy spring and training.

Until next time--God bless!