http://spartatraining.com/blog/fitness-news/biggest-loser/ S.P.A.R.T.A. Training™ Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:27:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://spartatraining.com/blog/fitness-news/biggest-loser/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Chris Lutz Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:03:38 +0000 http://spartatraining.com/blog/?p=7#comment-94 Yes, Beth and I have talked fairly in depth about this before. I think on the show they see and recognize these mental issues, but I don't think they are addressed thoroughly. Great response, Beth! Yes, Beth and I have talked fairly in depth about this before. I think on the show they see and recognize these mental issues, but I don’t think they are addressed thoroughly. Great response, Beth!

]]> http://spartatraining.com/blog/fitness-news/biggest-loser/comment-page-1/#comment-93 Beth Ratchford Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:50:54 +0000 http://spartatraining.com/blog/?p=7#comment-93 First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I've never watched an entire episode of the Biggest Loser. I've only seen bits of it and know the premise of the show. From what I understand people lose weight very quickly (which I would think is a health risk) and under circumstances that aren't realistic. Also, does the show deal with the bigger picture of dieting and weight/food issues? I'm a therapist and I see a lot of people in my practice that have issues with weight/food/body image/disordered eating. And what I've come to realize is that if someone is struggling with these issues, utlimately it's not about food, dieting, etc. It's about the reasons that they use food and dieting the way that they do. I've found this to be true of every client that I've worked with about these types of issues. Obsessing about food and weight is a coping strategy to avoid dealing with things that are going on in their life. And it's almost always a coping strategy that has been with the person for most of their life so ulimately, what they're trying to avoid is things from their past. It's often a coping strategy that works well when we're a child--it gives us a way to not deal with the reality of what's happening. The problem is, we take those coping strategies into adulthood and they get in the way of us leading healthy lives. So usually what I find with my clients is that the way to deal with the eating issues is to deal with the things in their lives they've avoided or hidden from. And by doing that we're taking care of the food issues because eventually they'll no longer need that coping strategy. That's not to say that a focus on food and weight, eating in healthy ways, etc. aren't a part of the work, they are--but in my opinion they're only part of the work not the focus of the work. So I suppose the ideal scenario would be to deal with the things from your story along with consulting with nutritionists and folks like Chris and his team. Does the process of the Biggest Loser lay the foundation for folks to deal with these deeper issues so that the truly can experience freedom in this area of their lives? A loss of pounds doesn't necessarily lead to that freedom. First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I’ve never watched an entire episode of the Biggest Loser. I’ve only seen bits of it and know the premise of the show. From what I understand people lose weight very quickly (which I would think is a health risk) and under circumstances that aren’t realistic. Also, does the show deal with the bigger picture of dieting and weight/food issues? I’m a therapist and I see a lot of people in my practice that have issues with weight/food/body image/disordered eating. And what I’ve come to realize is that if someone is struggling with these issues, utlimately it’s not about food, dieting, etc. It’s about the reasons that they use food and dieting the way that they do. I’ve found this to be true of every client that I’ve worked with about these types of issues. Obsessing about food and weight is a coping strategy to avoid dealing with things that are going on in their life. And it’s almost always a coping strategy that has been with the person for most of their life so ulimately, what they’re trying to avoid is things from their past. It’s often a coping strategy that works well when we’re a child–it gives us a way to not deal with the reality of what’s happening. The problem is, we take those coping strategies into adulthood and they get in the way of us leading healthy lives. So usually what I find with my clients is that the way to deal with the eating issues is to deal with the things in their lives they’ve avoided or hidden from. And by doing that we’re taking care of the food issues because eventually they’ll no longer need that coping strategy. That’s not to say that a focus on food and weight, eating in healthy ways, etc. aren’t a part of the work, they are–but in my opinion they’re only part of the work not the focus of the work. So I suppose the ideal scenario would be to deal with the things from your story along with consulting with nutritionists and folks like Chris and his team. Does the process of the Biggest Loser lay the foundation for folks to deal with these deeper issues so that the truly can experience freedom in this area of their lives? A loss of pounds doesn’t necessarily lead to that freedom.

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