The Biggest Loser - Episode 2

I don't know what to make of this show. It really is quite amazing
watching what these people are willing to put themselves through and
the trainers that are pushing them to kill themselves to try to win
$200K. IMO, the whole thing is unethical and I wouldn't be suprised
if they wound up killing someone. Do sane doctors believe it's ok to
do this to morbidly obese people?

Then there are the trainers. The girl is a real trip. They are all
on some type of carb restriced diet, though exactly what they eat is
left a mystery. So, the second week, they lose very little compared
to the first week. The guy who lost 22 lbs the first week, gained
back 3 this week and broke down crying like it was a total failure and
the end of the world. The trainer proceeds to tell them all that it's
because she pushed them so hard they hit a plateau early. What a
joke. Obviously she doesn't understand anything about low carb or she
would know that the first week you typically lose a lot more because
of water loss, which doesn't recur.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is the unrealistic expectations these
people all have. It took them 15 years to get fat and they expect to
lose 10 lbs a week, just because they are killing themselves with all
kinds of excercise that is very likely only marginally helpful in
losing weight. If I were doing this, I'd have them on Atkins and
doing as much aerobic excercise as they can comfortably handle, not
feeding them God knows what and making a 400lb guy do crunchs till he
throws up. And I bet they'd lose as much or more weight with a
fraction of the effort and physical risk.

I wonder what viewers make of all this. I envision millions of fat
people sitting at home saying "If this is how hard it is and what I
have to do to lose weight, why bother at all?" And as for the contest
itself, it makes little sense when you have huge 300-400 lb guys
competing against women that way half that. How could the smaller
women possibly win?