Last night I was watching"The Biggest Loser" while taking down my Christmas decorations. It's not that I agree with everything the show says or does…but it helps me to understand where the people I work with get their ideas about nutrition and exercise.
Anyway…the first pair to be removed from the competition was a father and daughter team. The father was not too motivated to participate in the competition, much to the frustration of his daughter. Adding to this woman's frustration was the fact that, despite her being in the gym and working at least twice as hard as her father, she lost only 1/3 of the weight.
And every season it seems to be just like that. The women who work the hardest see the least weight loss. And every time I see some woman removed from the show for her low weight loss…I want to throw something at my television and scream,"DUH…insulin resistance!!!"
A few years ago I participated in a local TV station's version of this program. Four teams of two screened videos in order to choose the people who would be competing under our guidance. The trainer I was teamed with actually turned to me in the middle of watching a video of a woman with a PCOS-type body and said…"I hate working with this type of person" I asked why, and he responded,"Because it takes them forever to lose weight."
If you happen to be one of these people who would be kicked off of national TV for not losing weight quickly enough, or if your doctor rolls her eyes when you mention that you're eating less and exercising more with no results…take heart.
It's not that you can't lose weight and get into shape, it's more that the ways we tend to believe it needs to be done in our culture are working against the hormone profile your body has drifted into when it was not getting the right mix of good nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and relaxation.
If you watch to the end of the show, these women always do lose weight, it just takes longer for their body to respond to the new way of doing things.
So don't take these messages or slow weight loss as signs that you're destined to have the body you currently have. Just remember that your body is one that responds better to consistency and diligence and slow changes better than it does to quick fixes.