This Week In Weight Loss

So after watching the season premier of The Office last night, entitled "Weight Loss," I decided that I needed to do a rundown of a couple of my favorite TV shows that dealt with weight loss. Read on... I promise there's something to take from these shows.

It was week two of the Biggest Loser, and as was historically the case, the contestants lost nowhere near the amount of weight they lost in week one. Week two is always a tough one on the show because the contestants are hitting plateaus. Their bodies have been through so much over their brief time on the show that they are fighting for what our bodies always seek - stasis.

I say this a lot, and because the words "stasis" and "equilibrium" sound kind of boring, I sense people gloss over a bit. But if you have weight loss goals, you must have the fundamental understanding that your body wants things to stay exactly as they are at this moment. This is why I preach intense exercise. Your body is only going to adapt if you give it a big enough challenge. You can't just give it a gentle nudge - you have to shove the thing with all you've got.

Getting back to where I started - The Office - I had a great time watching the characters try to lose weight. Their strategies more or less amount to starvation and sweating off weight. Now I realize that this is a fictional comedy show, but the reality of the situation is that our country has more or less the same ideas about weight loss - we really don't know up from down.

We as a country sink millions of dollars into pills, diet plans and ab machines. The Office was clearly making fun of this fact, but it is somewhat troubling that most people don't know the role simple physics plays in weight loss or how to exercise without having a gym membership or a treadmill. We don't understand how simple it all is.

That's one of the main reasons I have this blog. Having success in fitness is far from complicated, and I want to help people see that. Make sure that if you have a question about anything fitness related, you leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

And with that, have a great weekend!