Reality TV Weight Loss - It's So UNReal!

Reality TV Weight Loss - It's So UNReal!

Reality TV programs are popping up everywhere. It started with "Survivor," but since then reality TV has really branched out. We have regular people (not actors) racing around the world and engaging in all kinds of activities in hopes of winning a million bucks. We have people courting and choosing mates. Reality TV seems limitless. So it's no surprise that weight loss reality TV has made it into American living rooms and dens.

It's amazing and to some extent shocking. You see people who are grossly overweight actually lose a lot of weight - and in a relatively short period of time. While it may be inspiring (and a little alarming), we need to remember that these "contestants" live in a vacuum. They don't come anywhere close to emulating real people out there in the real world who are dieting and exercising in an effort to lose unwanted pounds.

The contestants are also surrounded by doctors, dieticians, fitness instructors, and other professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Professionals are in charge of meal planning, portion control, and exercise regimes. In a sense, they are "policed" so the whole project is "extreme" and not really "reality" at all!

There have been reports that the TV audience isn't treated to what REALLY goes on behind the scenes either - things like vomiting, purging, and use of strong diet suppressants and diuretics. The networks, of course, deny these allegations vigorously.

The main objection to these reality weight loss television programs is that viewers can be "tricked" into believing that they can accomplish the same
amazing results at home. They can't.

Those of us who live out here in the "real" reality of the normal world have families, jobs, relationships, and hundreds of other distractions. Nobody prepares our meals for us, and nobody controls portion sizes except us. We don't have a registered dietician on call. We don't have a personal trainer that we can depend upon at any hour of the day or night, either.

Things are a bit different out here in the real world, where diet and exercise programs are a lot harder to stick to! This is why it's so important to find a diet plan that works with your lifestyle and satisfies you, get as much physical activity as you can, and learn to choose healthy foods that you can live with for the rest of your life. That's the real "reality" of weight loss!