“You Are What You Eat”
Edited: Now with a link on the hostess, provided by the lovely Bee.
http://www.fmwf.com/newsarticle.php?id=402&cat=5
I’ve never been a particularly big fan of this phrase, and imagine my surprise when I was channel-flipping, and found a show by the same name on the BBC. Curious, I went to go look and watch a bit of it. Now, I’m all for healthy eating (though I know I’m not the healthiest eater myself), but how these people are selected, and the snide little comments about the size and weight of the individuals by the narrator of the show are appalling.
The premise is to take a fatty per episode, tell everyone what TERRIBLE eating habits they have, tell them they’re killing themselves and that they’re at a high risk for diabetes, and heart disease. The host is a nutritionist who basically tells them that they can’t have any of the old foods they enjoyed, or else they will never get rid of TEH FATZ. None of the people I’ve seen on this show are thin, or even have anything less than a 50 inch waist (my estimates, not certainties). After the scare tactics, they are put on 8-weeks of a healthy eating plan (which is actually a good point. They never say anything about portion control, but try to introduce nothing but healthy foods into the diets, such as whole grains, fruits, veggies, etc), and also an exercise plan.
My problem with it is not only the premise of painting fatties as the only unhealthy eaters out there, but also because really, the whole thing is hedges on weight loss. They give the weight of the individual several times throughout the show, and then at the end of the eight weeks, tell use how much they lost, complete with them wearing a pair of pants which is too big, and showing all of us out there how much space they have between their current waist size, and the waist of their pants.
No need to mention that this show, while it might almost have a good concept, does nothing but reinforce the ideas that most people think they already know: That all those damn fatties never exercise and eat nothing but junk food all day long. Nothing new, but still something that I find offensive.
Bee said,
June 18, 2008 at 6:31 am
Actually, the host, Gillian McKeith, is – contrary to what she claims – not a real doctor, not a real clinical nutritionist. In the vague hope that my comment won’t be eaten by Akismet as spam, I’m adding a link:
http://www.fmwf.com/newsarticle.php?id=402&cat=5
integgy said,
June 18, 2008 at 11:53 am
Goodness, that just drops my opinion of the show even further. There’s not way that she should be allowed to give health and medical advice if she doesn’t even have a medical degree.
And thanks for the link, I’m just going to read it right now. You didn’t get eaten by spam at all, actually. Though if you had, I have the ability to approve spam, even, so it could have gotten through anyhow. xD
goodbyemyboy said,
July 31, 2008 at 9:33 pm
My mother watches that. I picked up Gillian McKeith’s book from the library for her (along with my fat acceptance books, lol) and thumbed through the first few pages, and flat out said, “This is one of those ‘it’s not a diet, it’s a ~*~lifestyle change~*~’ things, isn’t it?” And of course the response is, “No, no, not at all, she’s just teaching them now to eat healthy.” Ugh.
(Is it weird commenting on old entries? I’ve just discovered your blog and I quite like it.)
integgy said,
August 1, 2008 at 12:19 am
It’s not strange at all. And welcome! I’m glad you like my blog. I’ve got plenty of room for more folks to talk to here. xD